I took off yesterday from a light pretty fast the other day and when i went to go back to shift into first it was extreamly hard to push into 1st, and then when i went to go into 2nd it was hard too. all the other gears slide in just perfictly. Whats going on?? is this common? I hope to god its cheap to fix.
i dont think its the sycros becuase it will shift into gear smoothly but does need alot presusre to move into either gear. I didnt pull to hard on the shifter when this happened just went quickly. would that have bent the shift fork if so wow these trannies are junk sense i have been harder on my bronco II tranny and those are junk. also its hard to move into these gears when the motors stop.
This is a 01 f250 diesel with a manual 6 speed.

the zf6 is a really strong trans it takes some doin to break em

how many miles are on your truck?
is it hard to get out of gear when shifting or just when putting it into gear?
how old is the clutch?
how is the fluid level?
are you sure your getting full clutch travel?

ive seen guys bend the release fingers on a pres. plate when bang shifting, and have this symptom.
also super dutys, in 99 at least, had a problem bending clutch forks.

if the clutch isnt fully disengaged it will be harder to shift into lower gears.

It has 175k on it. I pulled the trans and its still hard to shift sitting on the floor.

It has 175k on it. I pulled the trans and its still hard to shift sitting on the floor.

So your saying the shifter feels real stiff, like it is binding or something is stuck against it.?

I have the 6 speed in my 6.0 CC F350. If the RPMs are too high, it won't shift to a lower gear quickly. If you revved it too high, the shift to 3rd would have been fine, I'd bet, but 2nd would be sticky.

I have never seen the inside of a ZF trans but what are the odds that the shift collar that sides between the two is messed up?

It shifts hard even now that its out of the trans. Im hoping its the shift collars messed up. I pulled the tail part of the trans off. Everything looked good but honestly i have never worked on the insides of a trans so im not sure what to look for. So its most likely going to a shop in the next couple days. It feels like it has high resistance when shifting. Doesnt grind or anything like that.