Dan Wheeler's 69 4R70W/Atlas Build Thread

After about 8 months with the NP435/D20 combo I'm already sick of it.

It's time for a 4R70W 4 speed automatic w/ overdrive transmission and Atlas II transfer case.

I picked up the 4R70W today from a guy in Vancouver, WA for $150. The donor Explorer was a 2001 with 110,000 miles on it that rolled in a recent snow storm. He had 2 5.0 explorers that had rolled. The transmission appears to be in perfect shape. At this point because of the expense of the swap, the atlas and all necessary parts and the very few miles I drive per year I plan on installing it as-is. I may rebuild it later if necessary.

I'm going to try to keep this thread up to date with parts, prices, what works, what doesn't work, etc.

Parts:
- 4R70W Transmission from a 5.0 Ford Explorer - $150

Some output shaft info on my 4R70W:
- 1" of spline protruding past the flange (flange = end of the transmission)
- 3/8" of taper past the 1" spline (total of 1-3/8" sticking out past the flange)
- 1-3/4" of spline inside the flange
- The shaft behind the spline is smaller in diameter than the splined area

- 3/4" multi-clock spacer - $60
- Baummanator electronic transmission controller - $400
- Baummanator full harness - $150
- Atlas II Transfer Case w/ short tailhousing (saves ~2" in length)- about $2200
- portable GPS unit since the short Atlas tailhousing won't accept a speedo cable - $100
- Transmission temperature gauge

- Derale Atomic-Cool plate transmission cooler kit - Derale 13950 - $180
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=DER%2D13950&N=700+115&autoview=sku
The Derale Hyper-Cool is one step up from the Atomic-Cool and is 1" thicker than the Atomic-Cool. The Derale guys siad the Atomic-Cool should be sufficient for heavy offroading so I will go with that since it is cheaper. The kit (Derale 13950) comes with some hose and fittings and an inline thermostat.

- 3G alternator upgrade so I can run the Derale transmission cooler fan - Ebay from Romeo Electric - $190

- Transmission backing plate / separator - $70
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=PMA%2DPA26445&autoview=sku

- 164 tooth / 28oz flex plate - $63
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=FMS%2DM%2D6375%2DG302&view=1&N=700

Hedman Hedders shorty headers - $150
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=HED-88400
These have been confirmed to fit an early Bronco

2.5" to 2.5" reducer flange for Hedman headers. The hedman headers say they are 2.5" collector and thats true but the reducer flange they come with goes down to 2". This kit is a 2.5" flange for 2.5" exhaust.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HED-21123/

- New exhaust TBD - either make my own or take it to Muffler King in Kirkland
- New Explorere 5.0 starter - $49 from 14Rebuilders on ebay
- Torque Converter (Will use the stock one from the Explorer)
- Throttle position sensor (more info on this later)
- Floor shifter (going to try to re-use a Hurst shifter I had lying around or a new Lokar)

- New driveshafts (TBD)
Write-up on Pirate 4x4 about cutting down driveshafts

I may be able to chop my almost new Wild Horses extreme driveshaft and put it in the front or pick up some driveshafts from a 90's explorer. If they don't work or vibrate I'm only out $60. I may also purchase a new rear shaft from Wild Horses since my truck sees plenty of highway speeds and then chop a junkyard shaft for the front. I can't remember the last time I went over 20MPH in 4wd.

Notes: (will be updating these as I go and cleaning up when I'm done)
- ZF crossmember from BC Broncos will probably not work for 4R70W (Confirmed by Stretch) it's close but not close enough to be worth it.
- AOD crossmember from Tom's will NOT work for 4R70W (Confirmed by Tom's)
- 4R70W length w/ 4x4 tailshaft housing - 27"
- Mounting holes on stock Bronco crossmember are 22" from front of bellhousing.
- Mounting holes for 4R70W are 23" from front of bellhousing.
- No adapter necessary to attach an Atlas II transfer case to a 4R70W
- A spacer may be necessary between the 4R70W and the Atlas II (there are 3 available from Advance Adapters)
- The 3/4" spacer allows for several clocking options
- 4R70W cooler lines are 3/8" steel tube
- Top line is the return line for cool fluid coming from the cooler
- Bottom line is the send line for hot fluid going to the cooler

I'll be editing and adding information as I go but for now here are some pictures.







4R70W from bellhousing to tailshaft housing is exactly 27"


27" puts the end of the 4R70W right about in the middle of my Dana 20


The Atlas II with short tailhousing is about 12" so I think I'll be adding 5-6" to my drivetrain. More accurate numbers when I get the Atlas.

Subscribed for the info;D

X2 on the subscribed. I want one

Thanks for doing this. I'm putting together the same combo, your learnings will help.

BTW - That quite a lot of oil and grease under your rig.

I'll also tag along on this as I have a 99 explorer 5.0 with the 4r70w, but alas it came from a 2x4 and has the wrong output shaft. spence

About 3" back from the looks of your photos. That sounds about right. Real close to the same setback as the AA kit to keep the D20. I think that was 2-7/8"

jjwtwice said:

BTW - That quite a lot of oil and grease under your rig.

Click to expand...

I installed an external lubrication system. It works great don't you think?

having some shifter trouble. I had a Hurst V-Matic shifter laying around that came with my Trans-Am. It's supposed to be universal - works with a TH350, C4, C6 etc. but the travel distance and detents don't seem to match up at all.



Park


Reverse



Neutral


Drive


didn't get a pic of 2nd

1st


So not knowing anything about automatic transmissions and shifters I'm gonna say this just wont work but if someone can tell me how to adjust this so it works that would be pretty cool

Too bad the shifter didn't work out because the cable mounting was perfect

The stock shift lever can be modified to work with universal shifters. Just shave off the ball and the pressed piece on the other side flush with the lever then punch out the center section

You could probably get the shifter to work if you modify the gates in the shifter. Take a look at this article on Pirate it goes into a lot of detail about modifying the gates. If it is just a overall travel issue try moving where the cable attaches to the shift arm on the trans (or shifter if possible). Too little travel move it towards the pivot to much move it away (on the trans end).

Drill another hole in the arm to make it work.

X2 on adjusting the stops on the shifter gates.

So what are you guys with the Explorer 5.0 and 4R70W combo doing for computer controls. Are you installing a dizzy and using th EECIV for the engine, then using a Bauminator on the trans? I guess the real question is there an EECIV out there that will run the 4R70W? I hope this is on topic, I didn't mean to hi-jack.

Wyldebill said:

So what are you guys with the Explorer 5.0 and 4R70W combo doing for computer controls. Are you installing a dizzy and using th EECIV for the engine, then using a Bauminator on the trans? I guess the real question is there an EECIV out there that will run the 4R70W? I hope this is on topic, I didn't mean to hi-jack.

Click to expand...

Get a Baumanator! http://www.becontrols.com/ourfaqs/aodefaq_1.htm

I spoke with the lokar guys, all their shifters have the same gates. They just change the length of the arms.
Tom

Seeing your pictures reminded me of something AA told me. You will need a 1" spacer between the 4R70W and the Atlas II or cut down the output shaft about 3/4". The output shaft needs to be about flush with the rear of the housing.

Wyldebill said:

So what are you guys with the Explorer 5.0 and 4R70W combo doing for computer controls. Are you installing a dizzy and using th EECIV for the engine, then using a Bauminator on the trans? I guess the real question is there an EECIV out there that will run the 4R70W? I hope this is on topic, I didn't mean to hi-jack.

Click to expand...

yes and no. You can make a '94/5 mustang EEC-IV computer work on the 4R70W. But the gear ratios are off and the shift points don't work that good. I tried one on a Ranger project. Less then stellar results. The Baumanator works so much better it is really worth it.

This is an adjustable selector shaft from lokar for the 4r70w. You can adjust the arm to fit any universal shifter.

http://www.lokar.com/product-descriptions/ford-4r70w-aode.htm

COBlu77 said:

Seeing your pictures reminded me of something AA told me. You will need a 1" spacer between the 4R70W and the Atlas II or cut down the output shaft about 3/4". The output shaft needs to be about flush with the rear of the housing.

Click to expand...

right, there are actually 3 spacers you can use. The first two are 1" and 1/2" spacers which have the standard mounting holes. The 3rd spacer is a 3/4" spacer that has many different clocking options:



I am considering notching the frame and clocking the Atlas flat so I may go with the 3/4" spacer but I was doing some reading and someone on this board had to take their atlas in to get tapped so they could clock it flat.

Does anyone know if the 3/4" spacer will allow you to clock the atlas completely flat without any machine work?

bighorn said:

This is an adjustable selector shaft from lokar for the 4r70w. You can adjust the arm to fit any universal shifter.

http://www.lokar.com/product-descriptions/ford-4r70w-aode.htm

Click to expand...

I was thinking about getting that adjustable selector arm but I'm not sure about it's design for an offroad rig. Looks like one rog or big stick could rip that arm off of there. How does a shifter cable attach to the arm with that long slot?

the other thing I noticed (and I'm sure it's not a problem since it's sold specifically for the 4R70W) is that the stock selector arm has a bend in it which moves the attachment point away from that little block box. I'm wondering how close the Lokar arm is to the black box