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Manual transmissions

aj

Jr. Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2011
Messages
97
Loc.
Holts Summit , Mo
So I'm considering possibly doing a manual transmission swap into my 76 sport someday down the road. I have always liked the way the M5OD transmission shifted in the later Ford Rangers. I believe theu call it the R1. There is an R2 for the F150s and such. I'd like to run a 5.0 but I can find 4.0s with lower miles on them frequently for decent price. Has anyone ever done a 4.0 out of a Ranger or such into a Bronco? I have never used a NP4500 or 3500 or any others for that matter except a Honda civic with a 5-speed. Do you all have any insite of what would be the best route to go as far as transmission?

Something I don't want is a shift stick on the floor that doesn't look factoryish. I do plan to keep the Dana 20. Can any of you share pictures of your shiting area inside your Broncos with how it is set up and how it looks? Also, would like feedback on performance.

Thanks
Aj
 

Broncobowsher

Total hack
Joined
Jun 4, 2002
Messages
34,835
No, the 4.0 isn't something that people look for as a swapped engine. Having had a Ranger with the 4.0, and later swapped in V8, apples and oranges. The Ranger is lighter, thus the 4.0 feel fine. But the V8 was a huge performance difference. There is a reason the 5.0 was a premium engine over the 4.0 in the Explorers.

The F150 5-speed is a good one. Search the rubber plugs that age and fall out and the metal cup plugs that prevent the problem. Be warned right up front, the overdrive probably won't be very useful without regearing for it.
 

Nevadasmith

Full Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
182
Loc.
Fallon, Nv
So i looked at doing this when I first got my bronco (no engine, tranny or tcase)..... The way I remember it, there isn't an adapter for the m5odr1 or really any of the ranger manual transmissions to a Dana 20 28 spline.
I didn't some measurements and I think the ranger BW tcase would fit in the frame rails but with out an engine and transmission I was doing a lot of guessing and it was close....
Also the 4.0's I've driven have always seemed doggy to me. The 3.0l seems peppier in my opinion.
There is an adapter for the m5odr2 (same as the zf5) so you could run a Dana 20. There's a few guys who have done 4.9L swaps... just to give you another option..I see fairly cheap low mileage 4.9l F-150's with the m5odr2 come up for sale pretty often and I was going to go that way, but all the pieces for my build kinda fell in my lap.... good luck!
 

blubuckaroo

Grease Monkey
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
11,795
Loc.
Ridgefield WA
Those 4.0 drivetrain should be plentiful. I think the power would be sufficient in a Bronco, since the weight a Ranger is about 3k. A fully loaded Ranger would weigh just about the weight of an average Bronco. It would probably make a nice driver.
I'm looking at the 4.0 drivetrain for my '62 Falcon Ranchero project. It should work great in a 2300 pound car.
 

Broncobowsher

Total hack
Joined
Jun 4, 2002
Messages
34,835
Also the 4.0 is taller than the 5.0
I was surprised at how much hood room I had with the Explorer 5.0 over the 4.0 that came out. The 4.0 is a narrower V-angle.
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,355
...Something I don't want is a shift stick on the floor that doesn't look factoryish.

Good thing you said "ish" with that. Figure you mean factory-Ford, vs factory-Bronco though, since the EB's never had any kind of a floor shifting transmission and don't even have the same dimensions in the floor pan/tunnel to work with. Makes it harder to get things to look like they were meant to go there.
But it's not impossible. Just harder...

Also, would like feedback on performance.

Not sure about the shifting performance vs all around engine performance "feel" but as was mentioned already, the gearing of the Bronco differentials is often not compatible with the overdrive and a stock engine.
By '76 most EB's were coming with 3.50 gearing. The 4.11's were still an option, but more and more with the automatic transmissions were had with the 3.50's I think.
Are you running stock carbureted still? What about tire size? Everything still relatively stock in that department, with 29-30-ish inch tires?

If you are lucky enough to have the 4.11 gears (or a previously swapped in low gear set), a really strong running engine and the stock size tires, then the overdrive might actually be a great thing just as it is.
If any of those things are negative though, you may need to re-gear the differential(s) to be able to take full advantage of having an overdrive.

Good luck.

Paul
 
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