MG Metal Works DIY kit knowledge share

[wild-kiwi]

[Mikerson]

I too bought some axles! I went for front and rear 4:30 from a 2013. Planning on picking up my MG kit soon! I’m excited to get going on this conversion, but I have some questions for you all.

1) What are people doing for a cross-member? Can one mod the original, or do you need a donor?
2) What year front f250 and f350 driveshafts work for donors?
3) Those of you with the shift-on-the-fly nv273f, What has your experience been? Has it been worth the electrical hassles? I saw that somebody had agile off-road make them a wiring harness. I’ll have to call them and see if that’s still a possibility. Is a DIY install challenging?
4) My van is a 2001 5.4L with the 4r70. If I can find this transmission in 4wd would it be easier/cheaper to just swap that in rather than have my tranny modded at a shop? Any reason why that wouldn’t work?

Wish there was a van icon. cool guy will have to do. Thanks much!

[gnty]

Originally Posted by JimGee

Yes, it is a DRW front axle and I expect to keep the rear duallies, at least initially. May go to a rear SRW 10.5" later. I'm chewing on what to do about wheels and wheel bolt patterns. On my last Van I converted the stock rear axle lug bolt pattern from 8x6.5" to 8x170mm using quality adapters. I don't know yet if this is advisable or even possible on a heavy ambulance with duallies.

I did a bunch of checking into this when I did mine, there wasn't a good safe way to ad adapters to a dually to change bolt pattern. So currently my rear is 8 x 6.5 and front is 8 on 170, so I carry a spare for the front as I'm banking I can limp a dually to a tire repair shop.

[Brian94ht]

Originally Posted by Mikerson

I too bought some axles! I went for front and rear 4:30 from a 2013. Planning on picking up my MG kit soon! I’m excited to get going on this conversion, but I have some questions for you all.

1) What are people doing for a cross-member? Can one mod the original, or do you need a donor?
2) What year front f250 and f350 driveshafts work for donors?
3) Those of you with the shift-on-the-fly nv273f, What has your experience been? Has it been worth the electrical hassles? I saw that somebody had agile off-road make them a wiring harness. I’ll have to call them and see if that’s still a possibility. Is a DIY install challenging?
4) My van is a 2001 5.4L with the 4r70. If I can find this transmission in 4wd would it be easier/cheaper to just swap that in rather than have my tranny modded at a shop? Any reason why that wouldn’t work?

Wish there was a van icon. cool guy will have to do. Thanks much!

Since no one else has chimed in...
1. You will be modifying the cross member in the van using the supplied template. It would be very difficult to remove and replace.
2. You can use either model front DS. It will have to be lengthened. (IIRC)
3. I went through the "electrical hassles" of doing Eshift on a previous conversion. It wasn't much of a hassle really. I would only say its not worth it from the perspective of it only gets you half way there. Shift on the fly would have the hubs lock/unlock too. It can be done. Shifft on the fly is great for snow driving. If you go wheeling or only need 4x4 for when you get stuck manual shift will suffice because you have to get out and lock hubs anyways.
4. If the new tranny is in known good condition sure. Seems like a time saver rather than having to wait for a rebuild.
Nice score on the 4.30's. Keep us updated on your progress.
B

[JimGee]

Mikerson:
My last Van was also a 5.4 gas witha 4R75E and some exhaust mods had to be done as the catalytic converters were in the way of the front driveshaft. The amidships gas tank and rear driveshaft have to be shortened to accommodate the transfer case. Ujoint Ofroad has an end plate and template for the gas tank mod.

Brian94ht
Thanks for the comments on your lug bolt pattern decision. The "Limping dually with a Spare" is the easiest solution Did you explore the option of redrilling either the front or back hubs to match. I know this presents complications on brake rotor replacement and the front unitized bearing hub replacement and one would best have adapted spares. The "Limping Dually" sounds better all the time
I just bought a 2008 esof T/C with 23K kilometers so those "electrical hassles" are on the horizon. Last time I used the floor shifted NV271F.

[Mikerson]

Thanks for the info Brian. I wasn't clear about in my question. I was talking about the transmission cross-member. I see that ujoint sells a unit with drop so the transfer case will clear the van floor. Can you mod the stock cross-member, or should I try to get one off an F-series, or is it worth it to buy one from ujoint?


The donor truck my axle is from had SOTF so, the auto hubs are already there. Does anybody know of a good thread here that discusses SOTF conversion? I need to learn more.

Originally Posted by Brian94ht

1. You will be modifying the cross member in the van using the supplied template. It would be very difficult to remove and replace.
2. You can use either model front DS. It will have to be lengthened. (IIRC)
3. I went through the "electrical hassles" of doing Eshift on a previous conversion. It wasn't much of a hassle really. I would only say its not worth it from the perspective of it only gets you half way there. Shift on the fly would have the hubs lock/unlock too. It can be done. Shifft on the fly is great for snow driving. If you go wheeling or only need 4x4 for when you get stuck manual shift will suffice because you have to get out and lock hubs anyways.
4. If the new tranny is in known good condition sure. Seems like a time saver rather than having to wait for a rebuild.
Nice score on the 4.30's. Keep us updated on your progress.
B

[AdvRob]

As far as the electric shifter goes. You need the t case control switch and control module out of the f series. The vacuum operated hubs are controlled by the same module, so you just need to add the wiring, the solenoid, vacuum, etc. and it should function. Its been a little while since i was studying the wiring diagrams but i recall it all looking pretty simple.
My reaserch was for my generation van swap, i guess i should add that. 2003 e350 eb 7.3td 4r100

[AdvRob]

Does anybody know the rear fox shock part number needed?

[Jsweezy]

For ESOF info I just went through it all on my van and am willing to help if someone needs it. I'd rather not go through it all unless I need to but if you get the wiring manual for your van and then the one for the truck it came out of you'll be good to go. It's actually very simple, just needs some patience to get it all right.

[mgmetalworks]

I will at some point do a write up of the ESOF install with pictures and part numbers list but for the time being, here's a quick run down.

(This is in reference to using controls from a ~2008-2009 NV273...probably the simplest set up there is for this tcase)
You'll need:
-NV273 Transfercase
-Connector for shift motor (available through Motorcraft)
-Connector for encoder motor (available through multiple sources)
-Shift module and grey + black connectors (2008 F250 PN-8C3T-14B205-AB)
-Mode select switch and connector
-2 12V automotive relays
-small aux fuse panel (I use this rather than trying to find empty fuses in the van)

The tcase has the two wires from the shift motor going to the two relays (we mount relays under the hood, left side of inner fender). Then 6 wires from the encoder motor to where the shift module is located (inside the van).

The switch will get a dash light wire, two wires to the control module and a ground

The shift module will need these inputs:
-12V+
-Ign 12V+
-GND
-VSS (see van's wiring diagram for easiest place to tap into this)
-Neutral indicator (essentially, the module is looking for a ground when in park or neutral)
-Brake switch

The module outputs to:
-4wd hi light (this wire goes to ground when in 4 hi)
-4wd lo light (this wire goes to ground when in 4 lo)
-6 wires to encoder
-2 wires to the vacuum hub solenoid
-2 wires to the mode select switch
-2 wires to control the relays

The vacuum hub solenoid has the two inputs from the shift module plus a 12V+ source. You "T" into the vacuum line running across the top of the firewall (it goes back behind the heater to a vacuum reservoir) and run the vacuum line to the solenoid. The other line splits to the two hubs. check valves before the solenoid and after the solenoid but before the split to the two hubs are needed (just like Fseries set up).

That's all there is to it.