This morning I went to 3 salvage yards and so far I have not found a single Aerostar with a 5 speed standard tranny. I looked through a total of 20 or so. The man who was working the yard said that Ford only produced about 1000 with the 5 speed and that they were extremely rare. He also said that if I found one, it would be really expensive. I want to convert mine as I am tired of the A4ld and all of its associated probs. Does anyone know of a salvage yard in the North Alabama area that has one? Any and all leads or info will be greatly appreciated.

 

Would a Ranger shifter work? There are lots of them in the yards.

 

The tranny that I am looking for is actually a Mazda / Toyo Kogyo M5R1. Yes it is the same as the one from the ranger but I am concerned about the floor pedals and linkage not matching up. Do you happen to know if the Aerostar and the Ranger used the same floor pedal setup?

 

Jfox... you might try asking in the Ranger forum...Those guys seem to know all about their trucks and tranny conversions... Also try the 3.0 engine forum. The moderator(Rockledge) is very knowledgable about such things

-reever

 

thanks, will do

 

looked into doing this to my aerostar I found out that you will need:
the manual trans from a ranger, all the shift rails and gates, the shifter it's self, a new flywheel, the hydraulic clutch lines and cylinders the pedal for the clutch (figured I'd just fab my own mount) and a new drive shaft, not sure if the one for the manual is longer or shorter but they are different part #s All the parts I looked up for my 92 had the same part # on a 92 ranger. Easiest way to do it might be to find a parts ranger that has a manual and to buy the whole truck.

 

And to think that a couple months ago I was offered an Aerostar with a 3.0L and 5 speed for free and I turned it down
lol

 

The Mazda M5r1 5 speed manual was never installed behind a 4 liter v6 from the factory because it can not handle the torque of that engine. The A4LD is a stronger transimission, even with all its problems. If you have a 4 liter engine, I would not be making this swap unless I can find some way of strengthening the internals of the 5 speed. I don't know if there are any aftermarket heavier duty parts available for it, as there are for the Borg Warner T5.

 

The M5R1 was actually installed in 4.0s from the factory. Just not Aerostars. I believe that the reason for the lack in the aerostar was because most 5 speeds were sold in cargo vans and due to gas mileage and the fact that most cargo vans only carry light loads they didnt see the need to make a 4.0 cargo van with a 5 speed. Rangers,bronco IIs and explorers did come with the 4.0 and 5 speed M5R1. Check out this link and the application guide and the parts descriptions. http://www.drivetrain.com/mazdaM5R1.html The 4.0 trannys used heavier duty parts, which I will be putting in my 3.0s tranny.

 

That's interesting. One of my friends bought a 1991 Explorer, and at the time, he could not get the 5 speed with the 4 liter engine. The reason provided by the dealer, and seemed to be collaborated by the auto rags at the time was that the transmission was not strong enough for the greater torque of the 4 liter engine. Perhaps the same story was started by Ford.

If there was a a 5 speed behind a 4 liter engine in a 4wd vehicle, I would certainly like to find one to replace the slushbox in my van.

 

M5R1, or M5OD ?

Hmm, and i thinks the reason they didnt offer the stick with a 4.0 is because it would just make too much sense. Better in their opinion to have something underpowered and painful with a fun stick. Or have something appropriately powered with a boring auto, than something appropriately powered with a stick.
And most of them wouldnt sell anyways. Average people are lazy and wont buy it.

 

yes ford was trying not to sell cars.[vans]

 

Also, there was a friend of mine who owned a Bronco II that had a 4.0 and 5 speed, and his 5th gear was making a grinding noise. He said it first happened while under warranty, and the Ford dealer replaced something that fixed it for a few months. But whatever it was broke again, and the grinding noise returned. So whatever that Mazda transmission was, it could not handle the 4.0. Ford probably learned that lesson with the Bronco II, so did not offer that combination in Explorers or Aerostars.

 

Mazda offered the Navajo with the M5OD, and I believe Ford did as well in the Explorer Sport. I noticed that in later years they went to a M5OD-HD which I can only assume is a heavier duty version. The M5OD on my 3.0 feels pretty flimsy, but adequate, though I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't last behind a 4.0, especially if its seeing any heavy 4WD use.

So, look for a M5OD-HD... if my trans ever goes I may see about a swap myself.

 

That sounds intriguing, an HD version of the M5OD. I wonder if there are enough of them out there to get a reliability assessment. And further, if it will adapt easily to a AWD Aerostar drivetrain. Just thinking about it, I would have to replace the tail housing and output shaft so they will mate to the TC-28 transfer case.