So for the past year my truck has been slowly getting harder and harder to get into first and second gears, to the point where it is now nearly impossible to drive in stop and go traffic.

What are my options and approximate costs to move from here? Have a shop rebuild the transmission? Replace it with a junkyard one? Replace it with a rebuild? How hard is it to replace the engine for a tree shade mechaninc?

 

I've had mine out several times, trans wise and had the motor out completely once. 2wd or 4wd.
It would all come down to the cost involved to me, but not knowing the history of a junkyard trans would probably make me think hard about it. Especially since these trans tend to have so many strength issues.

 

Its 4wd, so theres the transfer case to deal with too. Are there any other transmissions to consider (keeping the manual) in the swap? I know the zf5 was popular on the older fords, I didnt know if there were any other like that.

So you would lean toawrds a rebuild one?

 

Do you have a body lift?

 

Nope

 

I know the ZF 6speed swap requires at least a 3 inch body lift to clear our floor pan. So that would be a consideration. I don't know about the zf5 speeds

 

Hmm, maybe its lift time

 

If it were me and I had a 4wd I would do the ZF swap in a second. It's cost effective and much stronger than the m5. You may want to look into the transfer case differences but it will bolt up!!

 

Well its certainly something to consider. I'm also toying with the idea of selling the truck. While I like it overall and its been good to me, I'm really disappointed by the measly 3,000lbs towing capacity, Heck, my 5 speed ranger was rated to 3,200lbs.

 

Yeah that towing capacity is a kick in the junk ain't it. Ya not a concern of mine since I also have a f350 but it does suck.