In the on going quest to get overdrive into a 1983 F-150 4x4, the "holy grail" seems to be the small block ZF 5-sp.
I'm probably going to stick with rebuilding the NP 435 I have.

But with the ZF comes costly front and rear driveshaft re-building, along with Cab floor "modification" and shifter relocation.

No much has been said about the 4x4 style SROD (4speed OD mostly from broncos).
are these as good as ZF's? or are they in the class of the M5OD and not worth the hassle?

 

subscribed. I'm curious about this too.

 

Be interesting, Looks like the SROD has no "granny" first.
The NP 435's second gear is the SROD's 1st. and with that you get room for an OD.

 

The SROD is light-duty (the lightest of the three OD transmissions of it's era); it also has bad ratio spacings......worse than the NP435

 

Welllllll, there you go.........

 

There are several variations on the SROD. Most are aluminum cased. Shifter parts for the side shifted iron model are hard/impossible to find. No granny, big gap 2nd to 3rd.

IMO not worthy of a swap in.

What axle ratios and tire are you running?

 

3:50 31" tries

 

I had the iron 4 speed OD, 3.50s and 31s in an E150 van. Pretty doggy compared to the stock tires.

If you are mostly local and offroad, rebuild the NP435 IMO.

 

Reamer - I disagree on two points:

1. Driveshaft: I took an NP435/NP208 combo out, installed a ZF5/NP208, and bolted the same driveshafts back in.
2. Floor: I took the original tranny cover off and installed the tranny cover that was used with a ZF5. No problems whatsoever and it is a perfect bolt-in.

Edit: As I think I've said before, I paid $500 for my ZF5 and am facing a $650 rebuild. Were I to do it over again I'd buy a rebuilt unit with a warranty.

 

If you are going to use this truck as a daily driver, the M5OD is not that bad of a tranny. It's just not as heavy duty as the zf. Most all later f150's came with the M5OD if they were a manual truck.

 

Isn't the @ZF 2" longer than NP435?
I would shorten the rear and lengthen the front the 2" to put the splines back to proper depth... But that may be just me.

 

I have 5000 miles on mine with nary an issue. The mount for the ZF is ~1" further toward the rear, but I don't think the transfer case was moved at all. The drive shafts bolted up perfectly.

 

OK, you win

 

If you need me to I can measure the ZF and NP tomorrow.

 

Don't need you to, but I'll feel better knowing I made you crawl under and measure for the fun of it!