Sold the S&S and Red
My son in Oregon has been bugging me for a few years now to buy the whole setup..........so I sold it to him, lock, stock, and barrel. We will be moving into an RV park in between our Moms houses s...
Forum Discussion
Did not know that about the C6/PSD. Never seen one. Thanks.
Overdrive choices would be to swap the C6 for an E4OD or 4R100, or add a Gear Vendors behind the C6, or swap to a ZF 5speed or 6speed manual.
The Gear Vendors would be the easiest swap. Could possibly be done inexpensively, if you find a used one for sale. New, they are pricey. Of course, a built 4R100 or E4OD are very pricey too, especially if you don't already have one in the truck to rebuild!
I hate the E4OD tranny in my 7.3 powerstroke diesel truck, engine all stock. I had my tranny rebuilt, with a lot of modifications for better shifting pattern, higher line pressures, greater engine braking and heavy duty torque converter. It also has extra coolers to keep it safe and cool. I've towed plenty of long hard grades loaded to 18,000-21,000 GCW with the truck. The tranny does the job, but I'm still not that happy with it. It provides very little help braking when descending hills, even with the braking modifications I had done to it. Swapping the E4OD for a built 4R100 would have been a better choice than rebuilding the E4OD, since the 4R100 provides better braking in all gears.
What I really should do is swap it for ZF 6 speed! It would be a more difficult and expensive swap than a 4R100 swap, due to needing to change both driveshafts and swap out the brake pedal and clutch pedal systems, add the slave cylinder, change the floorboard center pan for higher hump shape, etc. I believe the power control module would have to be changed too, along with the tranny wiring harness. I would have to find a good tranny too, from a 4wd, then adapt it to my Borg-Warner 1344 transfer case, since the 4wd ZF 6speed was made to use with New Venture transfer cases. A ZF 5speed swap would be easier, since it came in these old body trucks, stock and a 4wd model would mate to the BW-1344 without issue and the wiring harness would mate up from a stock application.
I think the ZF-6 swap would be worth all the trouble though, to get rid of the auto tranny altogether and go straight manual, with 6 gears. The extra low granny reverse and first gears would be really nice to have. There are some really, really steep driveways in California I have been on that required me to shift to 4 Low with hubs unlocked to make it up without burning the tranny, loaded to 13,000 GVW for truck alone.
The E4OD, 4R100 and both ZF manuals have the same .71 or .72 overdrive ratio and 1:1 direct gear ratios.
There is a modification I have heard about, done with an engine tuner, that can use the turbo wastegate as a sort of exhaust brake, on 7.3 Powerstrokes. I am planning to do that modification at some point, when I can afford to buy a tuner program. I don't know that I will do any engine tuning, but I may try a very low tune to see what it does. The engine could use some more grunt, but I am leary of tuning it, considering how heavy the truck is loaded, all the time.
Overdrive choices would be to swap the C6 for an E4OD or 4R100, or add a Gear Vendors behind the C6, or swap to a ZF 5speed or 6speed manual.
The Gear Vendors would be the easiest swap. Could possibly be done inexpensively, if you find a used one for sale. New, they are pricey. Of course, a built 4R100 or E4OD are very pricey too, especially if you don't already have one in the truck to rebuild!
I hate the E4OD tranny in my 7.3 powerstroke diesel truck, engine all stock. I had my tranny rebuilt, with a lot of modifications for better shifting pattern, higher line pressures, greater engine braking and heavy duty torque converter. It also has extra coolers to keep it safe and cool. I've towed plenty of long hard grades loaded to 18,000-21,000 GCW with the truck. The tranny does the job, but I'm still not that happy with it. It provides very little help braking when descending hills, even with the braking modifications I had done to it. Swapping the E4OD for a built 4R100 would have been a better choice than rebuilding the E4OD, since the 4R100 provides better braking in all gears.
What I really should do is swap it for ZF 6 speed! It would be a more difficult and expensive swap than a 4R100 swap, due to needing to change both driveshafts and swap out the brake pedal and clutch pedal systems, add the slave cylinder, change the floorboard center pan for higher hump shape, etc. I believe the power control module would have to be changed too, along with the tranny wiring harness. I would have to find a good tranny too, from a 4wd, then adapt it to my Borg-Warner 1344 transfer case, since the 4wd ZF 6speed was made to use with New Venture transfer cases. A ZF 5speed swap would be easier, since it came in these old body trucks, stock and a 4wd model would mate to the BW-1344 without issue and the wiring harness would mate up from a stock application.
I think the ZF-6 swap would be worth all the trouble though, to get rid of the auto tranny altogether and go straight manual, with 6 gears. The extra low granny reverse and first gears would be really nice to have. There are some really, really steep driveways in California I have been on that required me to shift to 4 Low with hubs unlocked to make it up without burning the tranny, loaded to 13,000 GVW for truck alone.
The E4OD, 4R100 and both ZF manuals have the same .71 or .72 overdrive ratio and 1:1 direct gear ratios.
There is a modification I have heard about, done with an engine tuner, that can use the turbo wastegate as a sort of exhaust brake, on 7.3 Powerstrokes. I am planning to do that modification at some point, when I can afford to buy a tuner program. I don't know that I will do any engine tuning, but I may try a very low tune to see what it does. The engine could use some more grunt, but I am leary of tuning it, considering how heavy the truck is loaded, all the time.
