Regearing the m5OD ?

[Ranger379]

hey guys, i had an interesting phone call today i thought i would share. well i am going full manual. local junk yard has the m5od and 1354M out of a 99 ranger (not sure if its the OHV or SOHC 4.0). they wanted 400 for both! 450 since i wont have a core exchange. well im going to pick them up with in the nexxt few days. i happened to call a tranny shop near pittsburgh to see about checking out both units and rebuilding/fixing anything that may be wrong since cheap price/ unknown mileage is unknown. i started talking to him about me running 35's by summer time and he interuppted me and said : "OK stop right there! dont say another word"........ i thought he was going to start saying that big tires kill transmissions blah blah blah.....but he didnt. he said that he can re-gear the tranny for me. he said he would put the gears out of a 3.0 man trans in it. the 3.0 and 2.3 gearing are the same, which have a lower 1-3 gear, 4th and OD are still the same. he said he does this to all of his explorers, it will drive all together different with the bigger tires. he advised against regearing the axles unless i was a serious rock crawler, but for DD/weekend warrior truck, a re-geared tranny with stock 3.73 axles is plenty enough. i didnt know one could regear the tranny. the guy said hes been doing manual trans for 15 years, as well as rebuilding axles. he has a few M5OD's instock he sells the rebuilt's for $550 bucks !! he said to regear and rebuild anything in my junkyard unit would be about 4-500.



any thoughts on re-gearing the m5OD with the 2.3 gearing?

 

[Foxracin]

2.3/2.9/3.0 m5od's all have the same gearing. !st gear is .32 lower then a 4.0 trans so it would be like going with a gear .32 lower in first but 5th will be the same gearing it is now.

I have a 2.9 trans in mine and lover the gearing. If you can find a 2.9 trans it will bolt right onto the 4.0 and then you want have to get it built with the other gearing.

 

[Ranger379]

i never knew that, havent read anything about it on here, just that the SOHC m5odHD has a lower first gear. well i guess ill have it re-geared with the lower gearing, that should be very nice with bigger tires, and much easier on the clutch too

 

[4x4junkie]

I can't say he's all there if he's telling you to regear the tranny in lieu of regearing the axles...
With 4th & 5th gears being the same either way, this still means you won't be able to use those gears much on the freeway with 35" tires if you don't regear the axles.

IMO, I think the 4.0L ratios are tuned pretty well to the 4.0L if it's going to be an all-around DD/weekend wheeler vehicle. With the lower ratio gearset, accelerating through 3rd tends to wind the 4.0L out a little bit.
If you're building something to crawl with, the lower gearset may be better, though you'll get a lot more out of it by regearing the axles, and even way more by adding a dual transfercase under your rig.

The SOHC 4.0L trans has the same ratios as the OHV 4.0L trans. Only the 2.3/2.9/3.0 trans has the lower (wide-ratio) gearset with 3.72:1 1st gear.


With 35" tires I would suggest either 4.88 or 5.13 gears for the axles. This way you'll have a usable OD gear.

Edit:
I see you have a '99... Unless you're also swapping axles (SAS), 4.88 would be your only option so that's what I'd suggest for it.

 

[Ranger379]

i intend on re-gearing the axles anyway, and maybe some ARB lockers. i was looking at 4.88's i never thought about having to wind the motor out more b/c the gearing is farther apart... with my last 5-speed explorer (3.55's and the same 32" tires) i shifted about 2grand or so. 3grand going up hills. would the 3.0 gearing make that alot different? i dont like beating on the motor. that explorer never seen anything more that 3200rpms lol. i do travel alot. so its going to see ALOT of highway miles. this being said should i have the tranny re-geared? ill be putting in atleast 4.88's. i would like to keep the RPM's as low as possbile at highway speeds. as far as crawling and offroad goes---i have been reading alot on the double t-case, which i would like to do also, so that should take care of the gearing problems off road i like the idea of lower 1st gear since its alot easier on the clutch trying to get the big tires to start rolling, i also pull a trailer too..... thanks for the input

 

[ranger-93]

i have a 3.0 5 speed reg cab ranger and had 3.73's with 35's an it SUCKED. recently had my 4.88s set up and wouldnt ever think twice about doing it again. now that i have 4.88's i actually wouldnt mind 5.13's but i think thats just a little to much rpms for me on freeway as the truck still does see some freeway time.

 

[Ranger379]

i have a 3.0 5 speed reg cab ranger and had 3.73's with 35's an it SUCKED. recently had my 4.88s set up and wouldnt ever think twice about doing it again. now that i have 4.88's i actually wouldnt mind 5.13's but i think thats just a little to much rpms for me on freeway as the truck still does see some freeway time.

what kind of rpms does your motor turn at 65 with the 4.88's?

 

[4x4junkie]

I have 5.13s in my BII with 35" tires. With the smaller engines (2.9L, 3.0L) it's dead-perfect (about 2900RPM at 65 in 5th). With a 4.0L it's more of a decision between 4.88 & 5.13 based on intended use. If it will be on the freeway a lot, 4.88 is what you would want since the 4.0L is happier cruising around 2600-2700 RPM.

If you're considering a dual t-case setup, I wouldn't bother regearing the trans.

 

[Ranger379]

I have 5.13s in my BII with 35" tires. With the smaller engines (2.9L, 3.0L) it's dead-perfect (about 2900RPM at 65 in 5th). With a 4.0L it's more of a decision between 4.88 & 5.13 based on intended use. If it will be on the freeway a lot, 4.88 is what you would want since the 4.0L is happier cruising around 2600-2700 RPM.

If you're considering a dual t-case setup, I wouldn't bother regearing the trans.

ok, dual t-case dont look too hard, i actually just did alot of reading on them. with the 3.0 gears, you woul have to run the motor out more between shifts right? like up to 3 grand, rather than 2 ?

 

[ranger-93]

getting about 3200-3300 rpm's in 4th gear at 65 mph and 2600-2700 rpm's at 65 mph in 5th i lose a little speed going up hills sometimes its enough to shift down and other times its not

just to kinda add to what junkie said, ill eventually swap to at least a 4.0 but thats after my 3.0 dies which will be a while since its only got 111000 original miles

 

[Ranger379]

so i guess its better to leave the tranny alone and just re-gear the axles. and daul t-case sounds cool too.

 

[4x4junkie]

ok, dual t-case dont look too hard, i actually just did alot of reading on them. with the 3.0 gears, you woul have to run the motor out more between shifts right? like up to 3 grand, rather than 2 ?

Probably would be more like shifting it at around 3000 vs 2500 in routine driving (of course if you're accelerating real hard, you'd be winding it out past 4000 no matter what gears you have).

 

[ranger-93]

Probably would be more like shifting it at around 3000 vs 2500 in routine driving (of course if you're accelerating real hard, you'd be winding it out past 4000 no matter what gears you have).

yep i tend to shift between 2500-3000. 2500 if im driving slow and just chilling lol, around 3 maybe little bit before normal and ya past 4000 if im trying to get the heck outta the way lol.

 

[Ranger379]

yep i tend to shift between 2500-3000. 2500 if im driving slow and just chilling lol, around 3 maybe little bit before normal and ya past 4000 if im trying to get the heck outta the way lol.

i probably wouldnt like the 3.0 gears then.....hmmm not sure what to do. i guess the the lower gears would only be used in town tho, 4th and 5od would still be the same

 

[ranger-93]

i probably wouldnt like the 3.0 gears then.....hmmm not sure what to do. i guess the the lower gears would only be used in town tho, 4th and 5od would still be the same

only thing i dont really know about is, could you get away with shifting sooner with a 4.0 since it has a lil more engine whereas im trying not to bog down the 3.0. idk if that would make a difference or not

 

[Ranger379]

only thing i dont really know about is, could you get away with shifting sooner with a 4.0 since it has a lil more engine whereas im trying not to bog down the 3.0. idk if that would make a difference or not

good point, well 4th and 5th are the same, so the gearing wouldnt effect highway driving... what gear set would be better for towing? 3.0 gearing or 4.0 gearing?

 

[ranger-93]

good point, well 4th and 5th are the same, so the gearing wouldnt effect highway driving... what gear set would be better for towing? 3.0 gearing or 4.0 gearing?

depends on what kind of towing you'll be doing really. if its gonna be real heavy and you dont mind winding out a little bit than id go for the lower intial first gear...being the 3.0 gears. if its not gonna be that heavy and you dont wanna wind it out 4.0 gears should be ok.

if it were my truck and depending on how much they want to put in the 3.0 gears id do it since highway wont be affected and id get a lower first gear to tow with or go off road. but than again im one of those guys that does something cuz its there and cuz i can lol. but overall 3.0 gearing trans and 3.73 diffs will be horrible and you'll hate it.