Transmission Help

[ganktime]

I have a 1969 Bronco with a 302 in it and a 4 speed manual Gran Torino transmission in it. The previous owner had it put in about 6-7 years ago and only drove it on the street.

I want to do some light offroading and snow driving and the transmission can hardly go over any bumps when starting from a stop and going uphill.

Does anyone know if a certain manual transmission would work best for me? Or match a similar adapter to the Gran Torino 4 speed?

I'm also considering a C-4 auto, but it is looking more $$$.


Thanks!

Jason

 

[rwill]

I would find out what my rear ratio is and work from there.It will determine if a trans is all you need.
Good luck.
Roger

 

[bad 68]

Is it top shifted or linkage shifted? If its out of the Torino than first and reverse gear ratios are horrible for off road of any kind. This transmission was built by Tremec off of the Ford top loader car transmission. 3rd gear will be 1:1. Fourth gear will be .80 overdrive. The trans will work ok in low range for mild off roading if you have 4.56 gears or lower. If you have 3:50 axel gears that trans is gonna suck on road and off.

 

[broncnaz]

The torino was no longer made when the 4sp OD transmission came out. So if it is out of a torino then its a standard toploader. Basically Toploader transmissions suck for offroading there first gear is higher than the stock 3sp. As was said if your running 3.50 axle gearing and say 33in tires then it really sucks. Using lowrange in the tcase is your only option and it still is not great.
For the most part there is no direct swap other than back to a stock 3 speed or the 4sp OD transmission(a output shaft will still be needed to convert tho) that was mentioned although gearing in that is only marginally better than what you currently have.
To me one of the best and cheapest swaps tends to be the NP435 or the T18 swap. you get the granny low first gear and the swap is fairly cheap with transmissions usually running about $100 and adapters around $450. These swaps also help if your axle gearing/tire size combo is not great.
Of course as was said earlier check your axle gearing and tire size that can help us make the best suggestions. Bad rearing can be really bad for automatic transmissions especailly when your offroad.

 

[John Marinan]

If the gears load from the top, it's a top loader. Dan Williams toploader transmissions can probably help you out with gears.

 

[ganktime]

Thanks for the info guys. I have 33" tires and I'm going to check the rear axle and confirm that the trans is a toploader.

 

[bad 68]

My bad. The Tremec showed up in the Granada. Top Loader-Torino.

 

[KyleQ]

You could go NP435 with a straight 6 adapter housing and Kurt's billet spacer. That maintains your drive shaft length as its the same length overall. I would recommend at least a 1" body lift it you are not comfortable cutting a large hole in your floor.

The NP435 is a great 4x4 transmission - tough as nails and has a nice low granny gear for wheeling.