My ZF5 broke

[Jameson Bearden]

Alright a little backstory first.

I've been dealing w/ a rattling dual mass flywheel since I bought the truck in November. I finally bought a 13" valair flywheel and a clutch at the end of January. I had it put in a local transmission shop because I don't have a tranny jack and it's tax season and I don't have time to deal with it. When I picked it up it was like a new truck. The clutch pedal was sooo easy to press down and it drove like a dream. The only thing is it was making a noise when it was in neutral w/ the clutch released.

I took it back to the transmission shop where I had the clutch installed and of course they couldn't have done it, and I couldn't prove they did so I'm stuck w/ it. I called Dan at Valair and he told me that noise was normal after a SMF swap. It was too dang loud though...so I took it to another shop and it turns out that the..

1. the front bearing is shot
2. the 3-4 syncro is in the bottom of the pan all chewed up
3. the 1-2 and 3-4 shift rails are messed up and need to be replaced

I verified all this yesterday w/ my own eyes. The tranny shop wants 2300.00 dollars to rebuild it. Am I getting ripped off here? I can get one rebuilt w/ a year warranty online for 1300.00 dollars.

Also, yesterday I looked at the tag on the side and it said the ratio was 4.14-.77. I looked this up and that is a gas engine ZF5 ratio. What's the deal there?

I can get a zf6 for 600.00 bucks, and 6 gears are better than 5 lol. I thought about going this route, and I've researched a whole bunch of info on the web about the swap, the only thing is I have a 650 dollar clutch and flywheel that I don't want to have to sell because if I read correctly the ZF6 has a bigger input shaft.

Sorry so long, just wanted to get all the info on here.

Any input on this guys? All opinions are welcome

[erics diesel]

Sorry to hear that and iirc if you go to a zf6 the tunnel has to get beat upwards a little and you will need the transfer case from it but others have done it and know more about it than I do

[Jameson Bearden]

Right, well the ZF6 I'm looking at is from a 6.0 and I'm not sure if it will be the correct bolt pattern for the back of the engine. Maybe someone knows?

[Jameson Bearden]

Is there anyone that knows why my ZF5 would have the 4.14 1st gear ratio? I thought the gas engine transmissions wouldn't interchange w/ diesel engines?

[glovemeister]

Originally Posted by Jameson Bearden

Alright a little backstory first.

I've been dealing w/ a rattling dual mass flywheel since I bought the truck in November. I finally bought a 13" valair flywheel and a clutch at the end of January. I had it put in a local transmission shop because I don't have a tranny jack and it's tax season and I don't have time to deal with it. When I picked it up it was like a new truck. The clutch pedal was sooo easy to press down and it drove like a dream. The only thing is it was making a noise when it was in neutral w/ the clutch released.

I took it back to the transmission shop where I had the clutch installed and of course they couldn't have done it, and I couldn't prove they did so I'm stuck w/ it. I called Dan at Valair and he told me that noise was normal after a SMF swap. It was too dang loud though...so I took it to another shop and it turns out that the..

1. the front bearing is shot
2. the 3-4 syncro is in the bottom of the pan all chewed up
3. the 1-2 and 3-4 shift rails are messed up and need to be replaced

I verified all this yesterday w/ my own eyes. The tranny shop wants 2300.00 dollars to rebuild it. Am I getting ripped off here? I can get one rebuilt w/ a year warranty online for 1300.00 dollars.

Also, yesterday I looked at the tag on the side and it said the ratio was 4.14-.77. I looked this up and that is a gas engine ZF5 ratio. What's the deal there?

I can get a zf6 for 600.00 bucks, and 6 gears are better than 5 lol. I thought about going this route, and I've researched a whole bunch of info on the web about the swap, the only thing is I have a 650 dollar clutch and flywheel that I don't want to have to sell because if I read correctly the ZF6 has a bigger input shaft.

Sorry so long, just wanted to get all the info on here.

Any input on this guys? All opinions are welcome

You can buy a brand new rebuilt zf5 for $1,500 from ebay.

[glovemeister]

Originally Posted by Jameson Bearden

Is there anyone that knows why my ZF5 would have the 4.14 1st gear ratio? I thought the gas engine transmissions wouldn't interchange w/ diesel engines?

They will indeed interchange, most people just prefer to have the lower gearing in the trans for pulling or whatever. You can run a wider ratio though. ZF6 means new clutch, flywheel, pp, and I think you start getting into mc/slave territory too.

[Jameson Bearden]

Yeah, I know. I've been looking at those. I'll end up just getting another ZF5, I just found a 6 for 600.00 so I was kinda interested in it for the "cool" factor.

The guy at the trans shop told me it probably went bad b/c it had ATF in it instead of gear oil....I was thinking "So, I'm definitely NOT letting you rebuild it now" lol

[Jameson Bearden]

Originally Posted by glovemeister

most people just prefer to have the lower gearing in the trans for pulling or whatever.

I just prefer the lower gear so I can start off in 2nd w/o having to rev it up. I always wondered why it was such a dog doin that. I don't really tow that often, but when I do it's usually around 20-25k lbs, so I guess the lower gears could help there too.

[glovemeister]

The gears are fantastic for that. I've got the narrow ratio and even unloaded with 35's and 3.55s I can't really start in second, unless I'm already in motion.

In terms of the gear oil vs ATF that is very funny lol. That being said many people run MTF and have good luck. There are a couple of threads on rebuilding the zf5, cost about $300-$500.

[terryknight]

Originally Posted by Jameson Bearden

Yeah, I know. I've been looking at those. I'll end up just getting another ZF5, I just found a 6 for 600.00 so I was kinda interested in it for the "cool" factor.

The guy at the trans shop told me it probably went bad b/c it had ATF in it instead of gear oil....I was thinking "So, I'm definitely NOT letting you rebuild it now" lol

these trans take atf