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1996 F250 E40d torque coveter bolt up

In the past couple years I bought a couple of 1996 F250 trucks. One I bought because it had 31,100 miles on it. I purchased it from a County Highway Dept, it spent it's life in a parking lot plowing the court house. Ran terrific, but pretty much stick your fingers thru the frame. I mean really rusty. 1996 XL with 5.8, E4OD, BW gear transfer case, MVGW# was listed as 8580, had "Super Duty" badging on the front fenders. I drove it home from PA to NY and it ran and shifted perfectly, and it was smooth enough to run in 4wd at hiway speeds without vibration. I didn't realize it was in 4WD until I bumped the 4x4 shifter and the dash light came on, then shifter the transfer case into 2wd and unlocked the hubs.

The 2nd truck came from Ocean City MD. Has 130,000 miles, 5.8, E4OD, same "super duty" badging on the fenders, chain drive transfer case.XLT version, king cab. Transmission was great in reverse, no forward gears. Turns out previous owner towed heavy trailers with out trans cooler and never turned off the overdrive. Took the transmission apart after I pulled it. Look like the snap ring on the secondary came apart and the transmission ate it's innards.

So the plan originally was to transplant the engine and transmission/transfer case in one shot due to the low mileage. That changed when i see how eroded the cast iron was on the sides of the block. It might have last, ,but it most liked would have started leaking in the water jacket. It had chucks of rust around in areas that when picked off left a huge pit in the cast. So I pulled the transmission/transfer case as a unit and installed it in the king cab. Same shift solenoid same switch's and plugs, just bolted it in.

Well, unfortunately it was really close to dark when we bolted the transmission to the engine, and luck would have it I aligned the studs on the torque converter with the wrong holes. They all lined up, but the hole is about twice the size of the stud. I can reach with my finger and move the torque easy, so it isn't bound. However the studs clang inside the holes.

So now that admitted to the stupidity, my question is this - has anyone ever tried to take the trans mount off the transmission , loosen the transmission bolt and sliding the trans back 1/2" to gain clearance to roll the torque to the correct holes?
 

Fellro

Moderator
Staff member
What you could do to avoid losing bell housing alignment is to take out 2 bolts on opposing sides and put in two much longer bolts. If you want, you couldod thatwith more as well, but two will do the trick. Remove the crossmember and slide it back. When done, you should be able to go back forward with it and not have to wrestle with it as much.
 
Thanks for the reply. That's is what I am going to try to do. Although the trans mount has a nice flat top on it so I think I can slide it better on the top the mount. There is nothing I can see stopping the transmission and transfer case from sliding back enough to rotate the torque so it aligns with the smaller bolt hole sequence.
I was thinking about a couple of longer bolts, but I am sure I would not find any local. The thread is 7/16" which is not widely available, and when you do find them they are full thread. 7/16" thread is usually used in "machine" applications. Hardened very well, very strong rockwell rating, full thread.
I guess I could go to a machine ship and have 7/6"stud made by turning one end down to 7/16 and having it threaded. But I think the cost would be exurbanite
 

Fellro

Moderator
Staff member
Try mcmaster.com. They will have them and ship it quickly to you. Lowes and such should have them as well, many farm stores do as well.
 
McMaster only had full thread, and the bolts were $ 12 each up, plus their shipping charges was $ 18.00 for 2 bolts from Chicago to NY. They have always had ridiculous shipping rates. I think they got the cost padded. Because i have sent pkgs back to McMaster with the identical items in the pkg when I endine up not getting the shipment in time. My cost was like $ 7 to $8 less than they charged me for the same carrier, UPS Ground. I ordered a 100' flat belt once. From NJ to NY was $45 shipping. They sent it in a box that was like 20x18x18 with a wad of paper in it that would level a forest.

I ended supporting the engine with a jack, then loosening all of the bolts to the engine about 1/2" but not taking them out. Took out the bolts that hold the transmission mount to the transmission, left the trans mount bolted to the cross member. Put a chain and come-along from the rear diff to the transfer case. Pulled back gently with the come-along and got enough space to turn the flywheel and torque opposite ways until it lined up with the correct bolt pattern.

Hopefully anybody runs into this issue can be saved some time by doing what I did.
 

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