Aod Mods

[vap13]

OK,here goes my first time on the forum. I have a 76 Sport I'm restoring and just installed a 351W and AOD. Now what about my shift linkage, kickdown linkage and trans lines,what fits? Also it looks like the front driveshaft might hit the AOD pan. Appreciate any help.Thanks

 

[TonyPDX]

Vap, Your AOD doesn't have a true "kickdown" linkage it uses a "TV" link or cable. I would get the TV cable kit from Lokar as it is easy to install and adjust. Having the TV calble adjusted right is very important, your transmission will burn up very quickly if it is too loose and it will shift wrong if it is too tight. You should be able to adapt your stock linkage to the AOD pretty easily, or use a B&M Sport shifter (or comparable) if you don't have a stock system.


My front driveline did rub the pan on full compression but a gental massaging of the pan with a hammer took care of that. All you need is about 1/4" more clearence.

Regards, Tony

 

[vap13]

AOD MOD

Thanks Tony, I do have a Lokar kit but I will have to make sure its the one your talking about in case they make more than one for the AOD. I'm sure I will have to do the same on the pan. One other thing, what about the wiring harness hookup to the tranny compared to the hookup I had on the C-4.
Thanks again - Paul

 

[Bart]

Mornin' Vap13. I installed and then removed my aod (different story). Front drive shaft to trans oil pan was a problem. I ended up having a new shaft made that was only 2" diameter as as apposed to the oem 2 3/4" shaft. Have fun with the second gear control if you off road (why have a Bronco and not off road it?:? ?:? ?:? ).

 

[j.r.nice]

Lokar part # KD-2AODHT is the brushed one. They actually erroneously call it a HI-TECH FORD AOD KICKDOWN KIT.

 

[vap13]

Thanks for the info, I do have the Hi - Tech kit . Whats with the second gear problem? Is this a problem everyone has, I sure dont want to remove it after all this. Paul

 

[j.r.nice]

....whats wrong with 2nd?

 

[Bart]

The only thing wrong with second gear in an aod is that you can't control it. If you're not off roadin' there's no problem. But when you're crawling around the rocks at a couple of miles an hour and first is too slow and 3rd is too fast what then??? You can shift it out of first gear and after the shift is completed into second, pull the lever back into the first position. This will keep in second, but at anything it wants to it can shift back into first. If you're running off road gear ratios (I want 5.13s) the change can be sudden, harsh and surprising.

 

[vap13]

I'm hearing that the AOD's jump out of second gear. Any truth to that?

 

[Bart]

I would say that because second gear can move into 3rd or 1st all by itself, some may call it "jumping out of gear". There's no second gear position on the shifter so you can't prevent the transmission from moving from 2nd into 1st and 3rd. There's a company "Lentech" that modifies the valve body to change it so that it operates like a gm 700R4. The shifter controls the 1-2-3 shifts and there's an electric overdrive switch. But it cost $500. and I hear that those driver instituted shifts are immediate and harsh. I don't know about that. Add this cost to the $500 for the adaptor and the thousand dollars (in my case) for the trans rebuild (better gear ratios) and you know have over $2000 in the transmission and that's if you install it yourself. That's why mine is still sitting on the work bench along with the custom front driveshift. :'(

 

[broncoman1972]

The quirky 2nd shift on the AOD is correct. You can do the manual low-drive-pull back to low, but I believe it only works at or near WOT. Works great for racing... This, plus the programmability of shifts, is the reason I decided I will use a 4r70w.

 

[Lttrbox]

Okay, Ill through in .02. Ive got the Lintec valve body in mine. It basically sets up the AOD like the new ones. I flip a switch and its a 3 speed. The second gear control I havent tried as described, but my set up (with the shifter in 2) will shift back down to 1st and back as needed (OD delete on). I need to add, that at my current settings, it wont shift down into 1st until very close to a stop, at least on the street

Now for the harsh shifting, Im not convinced. Lintec has three stages of valve bodies. Ive got the "lowest" form. Mine shifts similar to the C-4 I had in there with a shift kit. My AOD shifts extremely fast compared to the C-4, but it doesnt yank your head off. But then again I dont drive it wide open either.

I have romped on it a few times, the motor running around 3K, and it will bark the 37/12.5 MTRs going from 1 to 2. Good or bad - I havent decided, because it will also bark em from 1 to 2 with just a few r's on the motor. I might have the TV cable to tight by 1 or 2 notches.

Sorry for the disertation, but I have been very happy with my setup, especially the 2200 r's or so to hit 75 mph. If I had it to over, would I - Yup with a big research ? on the electric AOD.

 

[Bart]

Lttrbox, thanks for the information. I may go ahead and get the Lentech valve body. I like firm shifts, not head yankers.

 

[vap13]

Thanks for the wealth of information everyone. It sounds like the AOD is not perfect but its in now with a fresh 351W so since most of my driving will be on the highway i'm hoping it will be okay. I have a lot to do yet before I get this on the road. what have you done with the trans cooling lines, they seem like they will be awful tight to headers. Any flexable ones out there that work? Also have to figure our my wire harness hookup.
Thanks again - Paul

 

[Unregistered]

BcBroncos sells a great trans cooler. It has a 16 pass unit with it's own cooler fan. I'm getting one and it will be mounted up under the body on the passenger side. Cooler lines will therefore be short. I'm going to use 3/8" steel tube to connect the two. That should be too tough. Most parts houses carry various length steel lines that work well for this. This way the cooler lines won't be near the exhaust system.
If your Bronco is mainly a freeway flyer the stock aod shouldn't be any problem.
Don't forget to Vote for this site.

 

[vap13]

Sounds like a great idea, I'll definately look into it. Don't want to go cheap at this point.

 

[highrlr]

I dont want to steal the thread but I just wanna make sure im understanding this correctly since I am planning on running an aod in my own bronco. So in stock form you can get the aod into second but it will shift back into first or third depending on rpm's right? But with the Lentech manual valve body you then have full control of all three gears right? So if I do this mod i can put it in any gear I want and it will stay in that gear until i decide to shift it into another?

 

[Lttrbox]

But with the Lentech manual valve body you then have full control of all three gears right? So if I do this mod i can put it in any gear I want and it will stay in that gear until i decide to shift it into another?

Not quite, although Lentech might have a version that allows full control. Mine does the following (as I stated, I havent tried the manual shifting thing stated earlier).

OD Switch Column
OD delete on - 3 2 1
OD delete off - D 2 1

With the OD delete on (no overdrive), where I put the shift is the highest gear it will go into. Ex. Column shifter in 2 - the truck goes 1 to 2 and will not go past two. Similar, 1st stays in first, 3rd allows 1, 2, and 3. The downshift depends on speed. My current settings wont shift from 2 to 1 until almost stopped (easily < 5 mph).

I still have some playing to do (e.g., with the manual shifting to see what if anything that does). If you guys are interested I can play around this weekend with it and post results. I got it back on the road last weekend and it needs somemore shake down anyway.

 

[Broncobowsher]

For those doing comparisons, the 4R70W gives a little different pattern then the Lentech

D= normal drive, all gears
D (OD off) = normal drive doesn't shift into OD
2 = starts and holds 2 gear forever. Never shift
1 = This one has a lot of options. you can set the maximum speed that you will allow to shift into 1st, prevents over-reving the engine if you downshift at too high of speed, but you can set it anywhere you want so you can over-rev if you like. You can also do a forced upshift to second, but that speed is adjustable as well. If you really want 1st no matter what you are doing, just set the settings on the Baumantor to 100 MPH and have a happy time knowing that when you shift into 1, it will go there.

The 2nd gear starts are nice touch. IF you are someplace slick, like snow or a boat ramp, starting in second gear reduces the tendency to blow your traction. Also works good with low gears when the idle creep wants to push the truck at traffic lights. Another good place for a 2nd gear start is on an easy part of a trail while in low-range. that 1-2 shift at 2 MPH just gets anoying after a while. When you get to a real challange, just pull the shifter into 1.

 

[bsaunder]

My Lentech VB operates like Lttrbox has mentioned. On mine, it will not shift to 1st when the shifter is in 2 unless I am below 600 rpm (I do have a low gear set, so that may be a slight difference than Lttrbox's). Since my engine idles (in neutral) at 800 rpm, it rarely ever shifts to 1st when I have it in 2. I don't have the ability to start in 2nd though. All in all I love the valve body and I really like pulling 75mph at 2500rpm;D