Transmission Crossmember Info Missing From MPC?

[salans7]

Ok, this gets weird, Darth is a 1986 F350 crew cab long bed with dual rear wheels. That makes him 168" wheelbase which jives with everything I've seen.

83/ F350 - - 168" WB list number 14

I go to list 14 and I see:

F 4.9L, 5.0L, 5.8L eng. - - coil spgs. E8TZ-5C139-A

F 4/W/D - - dsl. & 7.5L eng. -- leaf spgs. E8TZ-5C139-B

F 4/W/D - - exc. dsl. & 7.5L eng. -- leaf spgs. E8TZ-5C139-E

F 2/W/D - - dsl. & 7.5L eng. -- leaf spgs. E8TZ-5C139-D

This all well and good, BUT Darth is a 2 WD as according to his owners manual 4WD wasn't available on the DRW trucks in 1986. Here are the front springs when I had them out to install the front sway bar.

Strangest looking leaf spring I've ever seen.

I saw that yesterday and had to do a double take because it's completely incorrect.

 

[Gary Lewis]

I saw that yesterday and had to do a double take because it's completely incorrect.

I thought about suggesting that we take that bit out. But it is better than nothing. So maybe we need to make notes in my MPC and then update the web page.

Seem reasonable?

[myrl883]

I thought about suggesting that we take that bit out. But it is better than nothing. So maybe we need to make notes in my MPC and then update the web page.

Seem reasonable?

C/C crossmember is different because the frames are narrower than a pickup.

[Dan Crowley]

All - I got the transmission crossmember section done, I think. And before you ask, I cannot find gusset part numbers for the little 230, in spite of them showing in the illustrations. The MPC shows them for the B and R-series trucks with the 230, but not the F-Series.

Shaun - It really is bizarre! Confusing! Hard to believe, actually, that they'd have that many different #'s.

At some point it would be good to cross-ref the numbers and see which vehicles got what parts.

And yes, mine seems to work fine - now that I got the u-joint in correctly.

Hi Gary, First, my truck is a 1984 F-250 HD Diesel 4X4 which had a 4 speed trans. I bought it new so no one has messed with it but me. I have been doing a frame up restoration on it for many years do to lack of money and a lot of health issues. I am going to put a ZF-5 in as soon as I finish rebuilding it. My original cross member will work fine, also there are no part #'s on it at all which seams odd. What I need are the gussets that you used that will bolt to the upper holes and move the cross member back one inch. Can you tell me what year trucks had those or the part #'s so that I might be able to find some. Thank you. Dan

[Gary Lewis]

Hi Gary, First, my truck is a 1984 F-250 HD Diesel 4X4 which had a 4 speed trans. I bought it new so no one has messed with it but me. I have been doing a frame up restoration on it for many years do to lack of money and a lot of health issues. I am going to put a ZF-5 in as soon as I finish rebuilding it. My original cross member will work fine, also there are no part #'s on it at all which seams odd. What I need are the gussets that you used that will bolt to the upper holes and move the cross member back one inch. Can you tell me what year trucks had those or the part #'s so that I might be able to find some. Thank you. Dan

Dan - I used the original gussets from Big Blue in the original holes, but moved the crossmember back ~1". In this post you can see that they didn't fit perfectly when put in place, but when the bolts were torqued down they conformed nicely.

Does that answer the question?

[Dan Crowley]

Dan - I used the original gussets from Big Blue in the original holes, but moved the crossmember back ~1". In this post you can see that they didn't fit perfectly when put in place, but when the bolts were torqued down they conformed nicely.

Does that answer the question?

Hi Gary, The link to (This post) just went to a list of your post. Are you saying that the gussets on all the 1985 trucks are angled to the back about an inch? Are there any other years that are the same? Dan

[Gary Lewis]

Hi Gary, The link to (This post) just went to a list of your post. Are you saying that the gussets on all the 1985 trucks are angled to the back about an inch? Are there any other years that are the same? Dan

Dan - My guess is that the server is slow and that it was taking a long time to go to the post. But if you click this link and and wait a bit you should be rewarded with a post where I showed the initial gap when I put the top of my gusset in the factory holes and the bottom into the holes on the crossmember that was moved back about an inch. But, in case you don't get it I'll include the pic below.

So what I'm saying is that you can use your existing gussets even with the crossmember set back an inch. They'll be angled and have a bit of a gap initially, but when you torque the bolts down they'll flex to fit.

Here's what one looked like before torquing:

And here's a view after torquing, although it isn't a closeup:

[Dan Crowley]

Dan - My guess is that the server is slow and that it was taking a long time to go to the post. But if you click this link and and wait a bit you should be rewarded with a post where I showed the initial gap when I put the top of my gusset in the factory holes and the bottom into the holes on the crossmember that was moved back about an inch. But, in case you don't get it I'll include the pic below.

So what I'm saying is that you can use your existing gussets even with the crossmember set back an inch. They'll be angled and have a bit of a gap initially, but when you torque the bolts down they'll flex to fit.

Here's what one looked like before torquing:

And here's a view after torquing, although it isn't a closeup:

Thanks Gary, I was under the impression that Ford made some gussets that angled back about an inch or so. Dan

[85lebaront2]

Dan - My guess is that the server is slow and that it was taking a long time to go to the post. But if you click this link and and wait a bit you should be rewarded with a post where I showed the initial gap when I put the top of my gusset in the factory holes and the bottom into the holes on the crossmember that was moved back about an inch. But, in case you don't get it I'll include the pic below.

So what I'm saying is that you can use your existing gussets even with the crossmember set back an inch. They'll be angled and have a bit of a gap initially, but when you torque the bolts down they'll flex to fit.

Here's what one looked like before torquing:

And here's a view after torquing, although it isn't a closeup:

Gary, that's interesting, when I put the transmission crossmember for the E4OD in Darth it was 7" further back and everything bolted up perfectly once I drilled the holes. I did have the entire crossmember and gussets from an E4OD truck. Could the gussets be different to account for the frame height change as you move further back?

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks Gary, I was under the impression that Ford made some gussets that angled back about an inch or so. Dan

Dan - I do think there are gussets that angle back, but I didn't have them and just used the original ones.

Bill - I used the E4OD crossmember and gussets I got off Huck, the 1990 half-truck, on Dad's truck, and it all fit fine once I drilled the holes in the right place.