Pollarican
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- October 10, 2006
- Messages
- 387
- Reaction score
- 5
- City, State
- Wall Township, New Jersey
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1991 EB 4dr
Hey guys,
A little less than a year ago I converted the 1991 Ex to Manual, ditching the old A4LD. The U join-t had spit a cap doing about 70 mph, and the jolt of the trunnion hitting the driveshaft cracked the back of the A4LD case/ 4x4 housing exstension. At this point I swapped in an M5OD with about 160k on it. Shifted pretty smooth in the donor it came out of.
Within the following months I could not get it to up shift perfectly into 3rd. I would get a grind if I wasn't careful, and I had to limp the damn thing most of the time between that 2-3 shift. I figured replacing the shifter bushings would mitigate the problem, and it did in fact help. It got to maybe 10-20% of the time clipping a gear as it went in, but this still wasn't satisfying me. To my dismay, driving home the other day it seemed fourth did not want to go in first try anymore, and at this point I began looking around for a real solution.
Doing a little research, I'd narrowed the problem down to most likely being either worn syncros, or a worn shift fork. Pricing out the parts, it seemed the syncro and bearing kit came to about $200, and the shift fork could be had for about $30. Not bad I guess, but curious to see what a replacement tranny would cost me, I ventured over to Car-part.com.
The deal I found there baffled me - $550 for a BRAND NEW M5OD from a 2003 Ranger, and after calling the Ford dealer to cross-reference the model number, I discovered this was an HD unit. The benefits of the HD over the normal R1 seem to be trivial, but from what I have came across in my reading, I have determined there to be two pros to installing the HD unit.
1) The HD M5OD has a bellhousing that will bolt to your good old OHV, yet it has 1 more hole that will be left bolt-less if you decide to mate it to the OHV. This hole is used when the HD is mated to the SOHC, meaning the trans is compatible with both motors. I have no immediate intentions of ditching the OHV, but should a great deal on a SOHC motor come up, you have the option.
2) The HD M5OD is said to have stouter syncros between the 1st and 2nd gears. My 1st and 2nd never troubled me, however you cant argue with added reliability. You have to figure, if this trans was meant to deliver the power of a motor pushing around 50 more hp then its predecessor, they must have beefed it up in some aspects.
Now that I have broken down some of the basics, on to the fun stuff. I pulled my first M5OD out of my the 1991 Explorer, this M5OD originally coming from a 1993 Explorer Sport. After that I sat it on the floor next to the new trans to compare differences.
Pictures in a little
A little less than a year ago I converted the 1991 Ex to Manual, ditching the old A4LD. The U join-t had spit a cap doing about 70 mph, and the jolt of the trunnion hitting the driveshaft cracked the back of the A4LD case/ 4x4 housing exstension. At this point I swapped in an M5OD with about 160k on it. Shifted pretty smooth in the donor it came out of.
Within the following months I could not get it to up shift perfectly into 3rd. I would get a grind if I wasn't careful, and I had to limp the damn thing most of the time between that 2-3 shift. I figured replacing the shifter bushings would mitigate the problem, and it did in fact help. It got to maybe 10-20% of the time clipping a gear as it went in, but this still wasn't satisfying me. To my dismay, driving home the other day it seemed fourth did not want to go in first try anymore, and at this point I began looking around for a real solution.
Doing a little research, I'd narrowed the problem down to most likely being either worn syncros, or a worn shift fork. Pricing out the parts, it seemed the syncro and bearing kit came to about $200, and the shift fork could be had for about $30. Not bad I guess, but curious to see what a replacement tranny would cost me, I ventured over to Car-part.com.
The deal I found there baffled me - $550 for a BRAND NEW M5OD from a 2003 Ranger, and after calling the Ford dealer to cross-reference the model number, I discovered this was an HD unit. The benefits of the HD over the normal R1 seem to be trivial, but from what I have came across in my reading, I have determined there to be two pros to installing the HD unit.
1) The HD M5OD has a bellhousing that will bolt to your good old OHV, yet it has 1 more hole that will be left bolt-less if you decide to mate it to the OHV. This hole is used when the HD is mated to the SOHC, meaning the trans is compatible with both motors. I have no immediate intentions of ditching the OHV, but should a great deal on a SOHC motor come up, you have the option.
2) The HD M5OD is said to have stouter syncros between the 1st and 2nd gears. My 1st and 2nd never troubled me, however you cant argue with added reliability. You have to figure, if this trans was meant to deliver the power of a motor pushing around 50 more hp then its predecessor, they must have beefed it up in some aspects.
Now that I have broken down some of the basics, on to the fun stuff. I pulled my first M5OD out of my the 1991 Explorer, this M5OD originally coming from a 1993 Explorer Sport. After that I sat it on the floor next to the new trans to compare differences.
Pictures in a little