ZF5 2wd to ZF5 4x4 questions ?

White Elephant

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Howdy I have a 88 f350 4x4 crew cab dually 351w gas with a 5 speed and a 1356 bw transfer case and i just purchased a 91 7.3 idi with a 5 speed out of a 2wd for a swap into my truck. I was wondering if yall knew if i would have to swap main shafts ? in the trannys to make my transfer case bolt to the 2wd tranny? or if its even possible to swap the main shafts if i have to? or will it just be bolt up w/o swapping any shafts or such? thanks for any responses... i would just like to find out before i break the truck down for the swap so i can get the needed pieces and such cause i use this truck all the time.
 

White Elephant

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I know my 5 speed gasser tranny wont bolt to the diesel. Thats why i bought the 5 speed tranny that came with diesel engine i got. Except the diesel one is 2wd and my truck is 4 wheel. So i have to bolt the transfercase offa my gasser 5 speed to the diesel 5 speed. but im wondering if i will have to change out mainshafts in the trannys to make the transfercase work on the diesel 5 speed out of the 2wd?
 

Silver Burner

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I think you need a whole 4wd case to make it work as the ZF's have a one-piece case. Either that or run a divorced TC. I think it would be easier for you to sell your 2WD tranny and buy a 4wd diesel ZF. You CAN buy a 4wd big block ZF, but you need to do some minor mods to make it fit. I've heard a few people do this because they like the 1st gear ratios better in the gasser tranny.
 

bghnkinf350

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Simple answer, yes. Are you able to do it, or you might be better off selling both and buying a Diesel ZF-5.
 

White Elephant

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Hmm.. i was pretty sure that you could unbolt the tailhousing part of the tranny and bolt that transfercase on. I thought u could anyways. If not this swap is gonna be more time and more expensive then i thought.
 

Diesel_brad

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Yes , the tail housing of the 2wd diesel trans tailhousing can be unbolted, the main shaft removed, the gasser 4wd main shaft installed, the 4wd gasser tailhousing installed. then you will have a 4wd diesel trans
 
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From what I understand about the 4wheel drive zf-5 and the 2 wheel drive model is the 2 wheel drive model does not have the tail section needed to bolt up to a TC. Unless you were fortunate enuf to get the 2 wheel setup with the driveline brake attached to it out of a 450 or 550 superduty. This supposely has the same tail section as a 4 wheel drive model. However, I do think that you can buy the right tail section by itself and change main shafts from the 4 wheel drive unit you have now onto the other after you add the tail section.
I have been doing a build of a 1985 truck right now and I took the c6 out and went to a zf 5 speed and I did a heck of alot of research on this. I hope this helps and of course, I would keep asking just in case all my information isnt corrrct.
 

White Elephant

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diesel brad.. i hope your right..... because thats what i wanna hear. haha. so them mainshafts dont have different number of splines or anythin like that? and do u think it will take any specialty tools to take the shafts out of these ZF"s?
 
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or swap the tail sections out. wasnt thinkin along those lines......... I was thinkin that the zf-4wheel tranny was broke or something. now I remember:frustrate you wanna diesel! lol
 

White Elephant

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Yessir... all i want is a diesel. I was thinkin all ya had to do was swap out the tail section parts. Just wasnt completly sure.
 

biggin92

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You need to disassemble both trannies and use the diesel front half of the case and the gasser rear half also use your diesel input shaft and slide it on to your gasser main shaft with all the gears,syncros and shift barrels from the 4x4 trans, however there is a seal in the end of the input shaft that will probably break when you pull it apart so make sure you have one on hand when you put it back together or else your front main bearing will burn up cause it cant keep oil in it at all times, other than that it is straight forward, if you have any other Q's just ask, i have built like 3 or 4 of these.
 

benton

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hell now that i know that i can pull the tail shaft off of a 2wd zf i know where there is one! will the transfer case from a E4od bolt up to the zf if i swap the 4x4 rear shaft on?
 
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White Elephant

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Thanks biggin and thanks everone else. I"m new to this site but i heard yall know alot bout these idi trucks. So thats why i joined here. lol But thanks yall and i hope i can help yall with some of yalls problems when they come up.
 

trapper

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Well i know most of the gasser C6 Zf and most E4od's along with the diesel trans used the BW1356 T-Case and they all should be able to swap
 
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