1993 Ford 24v Cummins crew cab

[ZWilson07]

Dang tough luck but it looks like your taking it well. Id be super pissed at myself esp when normally the projects that im doing, im barely affording so messing up is a big deal lol.

Also I meant to ask you, I dont know if I already PM'd you about weeks back but how come you decided to go auto over manual? Seems like you def test it out and pull some big weight sometimes, so I figured you would've went manual.

[johnny499]

Originally Posted by bftank

great learning experience, neat to see you tackling this!

Yes this has definitely been a learning experience. I'm glad i am doing it, I enjoy learning new things, Which has been the case with most of the stuff i have done to this truck.

Originally Posted by ZWilson07

Dang tough luck but it looks like your taking it well. Id be super pissed at myself esp when normally the projects that im doing, im barely affording so messing up is a big deal lol.

Also I meant to ask you, I dont know if I already PM'd you about weeks back but how come you decided to go auto over manual? Seems like you def test it out and pull some big weight sometimes, so I figured you would've went manual.

Thanks man!!
Yeah it's kind of strange i was way more pissed when i dropped the old transmission and broke the bell housing. I must be mellowing in my old age, not long ago i would have freaked out and been throwing stuff. This is definitely one of those barely affording projects. For that matter this is the single most expensive project i have done of my own.
For the transmission there was no perfect choice. I could not afford an nv4500, plus a clutch that would hold up. They are hard to find around here. plus the nv271 would have been the next choice to put behind it and they aren't cheap either. That combo would have needed a t-case input shaft change also not cheap. Or i would have had to do a divorced np205, the mounts, stronger yokes and extra drive shaft to make that work. I have a zf-5 from a 7.3 but that would have required the divorce t-case and such, but most of all it wouldn't handle the torque. Then for automatics i wanted to do an allison, but that needed an upgraded torque converter, internal parts just like all of the automatics. The problem with it is shear cost. You need an adapter for the engine and t-case. You also need an external controller @ $1200 all by itself on top of the cost of the allison. So for me i already had a working E4OD with unknown mileage since rebuild and the question of how long it would last. To make it work i had to make an adapter plate for the engine and an adapter extension for the $100 mated np205. The adapter material cost about $200 and a couple days time. I decided to make a new stronger transmission cross member with dual mounts. To control it i had to adapt the throttle position sensor and temp sensor to the cummins, make a tach ring and sensor mount. That setup only made it a couple of thousand miles. Honestly i was happy with that, i knew it was only a matter of time before i had to upgrade it's internals and torque converter. All of the upgrade/rebuild parts came in at around $2000, plus now probably another $300-$400 to fix it. This was definitely the less expensive route for me, it is one of a kind and i don't have to push in a clutch all day..

[ZWilson07]

Originally Posted by johnny499

Yes this has definitely been a learning experience. I'm glad i am doing it, I enjoy learning new things, Which has been the case with most of the stuff i have done to this truck.

Thanks man!!
Yeah it's kind of strange i was way more pissed when i dropped the old transmission and broke the bell housing. I must be mellowing in my old age, not long ago i would have freaked out and been throwing stuff. This is definitely one of those barely affording projects. For that matter this is the single most expensive project i have done of my own.
For the transmission there was no perfect choice. I could not afford an nv4500, plus a clutch that would hold up. They are hard to find around here. plus the nv271 would have been the next choice to put behind it and they aren't cheap either. That combo would have needed a t-case input shaft change also not cheap. Or i would have had to do a divorced np205, the mounts, stronger yokes and extra drive shaft to make that work. I have a zf-5 from a 7.3 but that would have required the divorce t-case and such, but most of all it wouldn't handle the torque. Then for automatics i wanted to do an allison, but that needed an upgraded torque converter, internal parts just like all of the automatics. The problem with it is shear cost. You need an adapter for the engine and t-case. You also need an external controller @ $1200 all by itself on top of the cost of the allison. So for me i already had a working E4OD with unknown mileage since rebuild and the question of how long it would last. To make it work i had to make an adapter plate for the engine and an adapter extension for the $100 mated np205. The adapter material cost about $200 and a couple days time. I decided to make a new stronger transmission cross member with dual mounts. To control it i had to adapt the throttle position sensor and temp sensor to the cummins, make a tach ring and sensor mount. That setup only made it a couple of thousand miles. Honestly i was happy with that, i knew it was only a matter of time before i had to upgrade it's internals and torque converter. All of the upgrade/rebuild parts came in at around $2000, plus now probably another $300-$400 to fix it. This was definitely the less expensive route for me, it is one of a kind and i don't have to push in a clutch all day..

well that def explains it then. Hope you dont have anymore problems, because ina lil more money, you couldve just went manual lol. Ive just never been in a diesel with an auto so I dont know how well it is. To me it just doesnt seem like it would act like id want it to and be able to tow big things and act the way I wanted to, etc. I guess i Could always jsut go with some great built southbend tranny, but hell if im going to drop 5 to 6 grand on a tranny and tc setup, its still hard to swallow that for an auto. But again that goes back to never being in a diesel with an auto tranny so I dont know what to expect.

[BBslider001]

Well, live and learn I guess? I'd be throwing stuff too, unless of course there was enough Keystone to take the edge off

[johnny499]

Well i got back to it on sunday, checked everything out and made a parts list. I took the old sealing rings and reinstalled them and the leaking stopped, so much for upgrading to teflon. I got everything ordered sunday night. Now i am hoping that it will be here by the weekend, if so i can try to put it back together again.
On a side note it takes right around three hours to remove all the pieces and get the transmission out on the ground. The surprising part is the exhaust can stay in place i just have to take the down pipe loose at both ends and rotate a little.

[ZWilson07]

Originally Posted by johnny499

Well i got back to it on sunday, checked everything out and made a parts list. I took the old sealing rings and reinstalled them and the leaking stopped, so much for upgrading to teflon. I got everything ordered sunday night. Now i am hoping that it will be here by the weekend, if so i can try to put it back together again.
On a side note it takes right around three hours to remove all the pieces and get the transmission out on the ground. The surprising part is the exhaust can stay in place i just have to take the down pipe loose at both ends and rotate a little.

Ha well as many times as you've done it and dropped the tranny, you should be able to do it in your sleep lmao.

Are you ever going to go manual or always stay auto?

I just cant see an auto being good in a diesel and doing everything well and shifting when you want it to the right way, etc unless you spend big money on a fully built auto and tune and control it.

[johnny499]

Originally Posted by ZWilson07

Ha well as many times as you've done it and dropped the tyranny, you should be able to do it in your sleep lmao.

Are you ever going to go manual or always stay auto?

I just cant see an auto being good in a diesel and doing everything well and shifting when you want it to the right way, etc unless you spend big money on a fully built auto and tune and control it.

I am going to stick with the auto, it isn't perfect but then again you can miss shift a manual too. The auto actually shifts pretty good. When this goes back in it will be a fully built trans. The only real upgrade could possibly be an external controller if i don't like the shift points of the factory unit now that i have the traction bars installed. If thats the case i will try the opti shift it looks like a good unit for the price.

Obviously the automatic isn't for everyone. But it's what I'm going with.

Parts update. Some of the parts will be here tomorrow and the balance are do in the middle of next week. So i will be taking a break from it then work feverishly to get it in next weekend hopefully.

[johnny499]

With the transmission failing i forgot to post pics of the traction bars and side steps installed.



I also got the tool box mounted on the drivers side.

These were taken the night before the transmission failed, so i don't have a feel for how the traction bars are going to function. The steps are at a great height to help get in and out.

[g-ray19792]

what did you do about the wiring?

[johnny499]

Originally Posted by g-ray19792

what did you do about the wiring?

Wiring?
If you mean the wiring to control the transmission, i used the factory controller, wiring and adapted the sensors to the cummins.

[BBslider001]

looks sharp bro...good work!

[g-ray19792]

I'm looking into doing a 24v swap my self into my 1979 ford f250. I have been looking at the wiring harness on the motor and it looks like that will be quite the project to wire into the truck.