I am wondering if there is a way to bypass or "override" the shift fork on the front axle of my 03 F-150 (4.6, 5 speed, manual shift transfer) my fork is broken and i dont have the funds to fix it right now
please help!

 

Fork is only $40ish on Ebay. Takes some serious time and effort to replace it, tho.

 

I just ordered a fork off ebay and hope to put it in later this week.

It doesn't look like a hard job as long at nothing is seized and rusted in place. I have already started soaking all the bolts with deep creep. I have no garage so will be laying in the driveway on top of 6" of packed snow/ice.

 

Yeah i know i should just buy the part, its just the idea of doin the work and putting in a part that has plastic on it and will fail right when i need it most, anyone know where i can get one made up with the brass inserts?

 

Where did you here about that lol. Yea, I believe you can have a machine shop make you up some brass ones, if you bring the part in, but it's really not necessary IMO. Unless your very hard on it. The plastic guides aren't as problematic as you may think. IMO anyway. Your choice of course.

 

Don't forget to soak the shift actuator motor where it fits into the ear on the differential.

 

Pretty basic job. I now have 4x4 again. Cleared away the snow and ice so it melted before today, a couple big pieces of cardboard and temps in the upper 40's made it comfortable. It took me just over 2 hours using only hand tools.

Axle tube came off easy, plenty of penetrating oil over the last week.


No damage in the diff and all the pieces were laying there. Removed the mount bolt on the tube and loosened the other two so the diff would pivot down.


Plenty of room and only jacked the right wheel so I could turn it. Did remove the sway bar link.


Broken fork.


New Dorman 600-560 fork looks identical to the original including the casting marks.

 

Nice job man

How long did it take yuh?

 

Just over 2 hours.

 

Shift actuator motor on the differential? sorry im not following you never seen such a thing on my f 150

 

Where did you get that dorman replacement part? also does your truck have a newer front diff in it? if not then damn that thins is pretty shiny for old

 

Ebay for the fork. $37 with free shipping. There were a few sellers and the cheapest was in Baltimore. I got it 2 days later.

This is a 2003 f150. I got this from my dad last year, it just turned 55K miles. I sold my 99 with 180K on it. No need to have two red f150's.

As for JMC, he is talking about the shift actuator on the diff. You can see the ear with the hole in on the axle tube. (first pic)
Mine was stuck in the so I left it on there and pulled the tube down then knocked it out with a few light taps of a hammer. I then used some emery cloth to clean the hole so it slid back in easily.

If you have some basic mechanical ability and some tools then this job will be no problem.

 

Man o man o man, why did I go to the scrap yard to pull one off of an Expedition?
I should have checked further online for just the fork!
Luckily the one I pulled was like new-and they only charged me $10.

 

Check out this youtube video. September 2015. This video and your photos gave me the push I needed to tackle the job. It was a lot easier than I thought. Unfortunately, my shift fork was intact and is apparently not the issue I am experiencing. I've done everything I know and my '01 F150 will not STAY in 4wd. As soon as a put a load on it (sand) it BANGs out. Shift to 2H and back to 4H or 4L and I get 4wd. Put a load on it and BANG, out it goes. I've replaced the transfer case shift motor, solenoids, actuator, and now the shift fork. No luck. Any other ideas?