Hiya'll!
Have the tag numbers (or as far as he could tell) off of a Ford toploading 4-speed w/ OD tranny from back a ways. The guy isn't sure whether it may have been pulled from a truck or a car, but he thought it came from behind a 302.
Here's what he said he saw:

top line: RUG - CLJK 28
-------------------------
lower line: D8UR F (or E) A0690

It's cast iron cased, but apparently there may be lighter-duty bearings/gears in the car version than the truck version? I'd like to bolt this behind a 300 6 cyl in a van/truck. Any ideas? And would splines/pilot bushing/lengths be the same for all?

Thanks in advance Fordies!

 

They say the gears are cut thinner. It appears the bearings are the same as the performance toploader. Ratios include a big gap 2nd to 3rd. Depending on your gears and tires, it will be ok or it will suck.

Toploader Imposters

Toploader 4 Speed Transmissions

I had one as OEM in my '85. Iron case, side mounted external shifter. Squeeling bearing somewhere, never fixed it.

I'd rather have the Mazda 5er ratio wise, or the ZF strength wise.

 

Thanks - I just KNEW one of you guys would know what this was. So looks like it's a Granada tranny, and likely not that hot for behind the 300 in a pickup or van setup - eh? Too light of bearings and thin gears from what I just read thanks to your link. Crap. but better to know now than when it halfway between here and Albuquerque and it's innards are lying all over the road... :-/

 

Might be ok for a 300 powered truck running down the highway with a somewhat lighter load. Even at their best, the 3 OD was never a great trans for heavy loads or trailer duty.

 

Yup.. But that's pretty much what it'll be doing once/twice a year. Angle-iron 4.5x8' trailer with no springs and a full load on each. Course it's a to/from deal most times..
Best to keep looking for an actual truck OD I suppose..

 

For heavy loads, I'd steer away from the OD unit completely. Like I said, at their best, they weren't very well suited for *actual* work.
The later M5OD is a much better design, and has an extra gear between low and direct, plus the OD. The ZF 5 speed is the holy grail of OD trans (manual) to fit a 300, but they are not real common.

 

Ahhhh.. gotcha..
- but would that bolt up to an older carbureted engine and fit into an older truck/van? I'm looking at likely either having to jerk an automatic or a granny-gear standard to replace with the OD manual for fuel mileage. 14/16 MPG's just ain't gonna cut it for my uses with a truck and I see no way to reach anything like 20+ without the OD?
And I see one of the big Pine trees just lost another huge branch while I'm typing this.. dang she's windy out there today!

 

You won't touch 20+ MPG towing a trailer, with or without OD. I doubt even a new truck could do that. At least not regularly.
A granny 4 speed and gearing in the 3.00-3.25 range would give the best overall power/MPG, especially for towing a trailer. 2.75 or 3.00 for best MPG, 3.25 or 3.50 for best towing. Depending on how heavy the truck/trailer will be loaded, the 3.25 would likely be the better overall choice.