Ford F834 Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 I have been poking around online looking for donors/parts-ads to potentially fix the recent damage to my ‘81. I came across something that does not help me with that truck, but was just too good to pass up. Non-running 1989 F250 4x4 supercab IDI with a ZF-5. It supposedly ran strong until he switched to the front fuel tank which resulted in some fuel system bad-ness and it’s been parked ever since. (2-3 years? Last registration was 2016). It turns over by the damper bolt but starter would not crank. The engine is not original. It’s a late 6.9 with bolt in oilers, not a 7.3. The shift lever is broken off at the stub, and he was shifting it with a pipe. He said it shifted fine for the year or so that he used it. The body is bit crusty. I’m guessing it came from the salt belt. It’s useable, but I wouldn’t invest heavily into it. It might also serve as a parts donor to get my crew cab on the road, or re-power a Bronco at some later time. For the $500 price tag I can recover most of my expense even if I simply scrap it. If I’m lucky I’ll get a user 6.9 diesel and 5 speed out of it. It has a good manual tilt column and Lund visor, and some other goodies. Axles are 4.10 ratio (bummer). Front is a D50. Transfer case is a slip yoke BW1356. First step will be to see if I can get it started on a can of fuel and a new starter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 Charlie seems to like it. Seriously though, you can't go wrong at that price - as long as you don't plan to put it back on the road. And if the engine and tranny are good you are miles ahead. Might the front axle be a D50? Bigger lockouts than the D44's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 Charlie seems to like it. Seriously though, you can't go wrong at that price - as long as you don't plan to put it back on the road. And if the engine and tranny are good you are miles ahead. Might the front axle be a D50? Bigger lockouts than the D44's? Gary, D50 are default for supercab 250's. Looks like Jonathan found the 4x4 Zf I mentioned to him when I parted the Superduty. That gearbox, even with diesel ratios, is worth more than five bills. Good find! :nabble_smiley_good:" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford F834 Posted July 24, 2019 Author Share Posted July 24, 2019 Charlie seems to like it. Seriously though, you can't go wrong at that price - as long as you don't plan to put it back on the road. And if the engine and tranny are good you are miles ahead. Might the front axle be a D50? Bigger lockouts than the D44's? The kids were having a blast playing in it while I checked it out. They drove it around the world. And yes, supercab 250’s got the D50 TTB. I’m not really sure how I want to use this, I just know viable IDI donors and 4x4 ZF’s are getting tough to come by... especially at a low price. I may have a dud, but don’t think so. I can definitely recover the price of admission if nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 The kids were having a blast playing in it while I checked it out. They drove it around the world. And yes, supercab 250’s got the D50 TTB. I’m not really sure how I want to use this, I just know viable IDI donors and 4x4 ZF’s are getting tough to come by... especially at a low price. I may have a dud, but don’t think so. I can definitely recover the price of admission if nothing else. The shifter broke in the 88 7.3 with the ZF I used to own. Pulled up to a stop sign reached over for the shifter, couldn’t find it, look over and it’s laying on the floor! My wife had drove it before, so naturally... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford F834 Posted July 24, 2019 Author Share Posted July 24, 2019 The shifter broke in the 88 7.3 with the ZF I used to own. Pulled up to a stop sign reached over for the shifter, couldn’t find it, look over and it’s laying on the floor! My wife had drove it before, so naturally... I’m not sure why this is such a common fail, as the stub is a fairly substantial piece of metal. I’m guessing the bolt threaded into it must slightly act as a wedge and a crack grows over time and breaks under the leverage of the shift cane. It’s not difficult to remedy, but the thought of it breaking off in your hand at an inopportune moment is unsettling. I don’t really know what to do preemptively except carry a spare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 I’m not sure why this is such a common fail, as the stub is a fairly substantial piece of metal. I’m guessing the bolt threaded into it must slightly act as a wedge and a crack grows over time and breaks under the leverage of the shift cane. It’s not difficult to remedy, but the thought of it breaking off in your hand at an inopportune moment is unsettling. I don’t really know what to do preemptively except carry a spare. I've welded up 3 or 4 of these in my day. From 302-460's. I always weld full penetration and then clean up the groove with a flex shaft or Dremel leaving a root radius. I knock the sharp corners back on both the stub and stick. Don't know if this is SOP or even the best method, but it is what I have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 I’m not sure why this is such a common fail, as the stub is a fairly substantial piece of metal. You just reminded me of something I hadn't thought of for many years. I was doing some forestry work for a while back when I finished college and we were driving an F350 diesel dually 5spd every day. It was a cab and chassis truck and I forget what year it was, but it was definitely a Bricknose...1988-1991 somewhere. This happened in late 1992 I would say and the truck was already a few years old. Anyway, we were back in the woods...probably 20 miles from civilization, and the damn shifter snapped off when we went to leave one day. I remember Terry went to push the shifter forward and his hand smacked the dash with the shifter in it...lol. 27 years ago I forget how big that broken stub was, but we used a bunch of extensions out of the tool box to make a shifter out of. It was sloppy as shit, but it worked to get us home. Jon, that truck doesn't look all that crusty in the pics....well, at least not what I call crusty anyway...lol. In any case, not a bad investment imho. Even if you did have to part it out, the bed would be worth what you paid for the truck (in my area at least). I didn't even realize until recently that some of these trucks had fiberglass bed sides? PS: Is that your Jetta in the pics? ALH or BEW? I had three different Mk4 ALH cars, and man those things were so awesome. Consistently in the high 40's for MPG, and if you drove them easy on the highway 50MPG was achievable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 ...the thought of it breaking off in your hand at an inopportune moment is unsettling. Now I'm going to worry about that for a long time. I'll be in the back of beyond, in 1st, and it'll break off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorsai Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 It’s not difficult to remedy, but the thought of it breaking off in your hand at an inopportune moment is unsettling. Is there ever an opportune moment for your shifter to fail? This kind of thing even happens to those of us with automatics. Me in 2011: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts