I know this has been hashed around before but I would like some current information please...
How do I make the speedo work on this conversion? Do I have to remove the tailshaft housing and install a gear on the tailshaft and drill out the blank on the tailshaft housing? Looks that way to me but I have not removed the tailshaft housing to see if the shaft will accept a gear or not. Thanks.....

 

Is your truck 2wd or 4wd, if 4wd the speedo gear goes to the transfer case, if 2wd there should be a hole on the tailhousing that it goes into.

 

2wd. there is a boss where it would go if the truck had cable drive speedo but the 96's did not. I need to know if I can install a speedo drive gear on the tailshaft of the trans that did not come with one from the factory...

 

OK, tried to figure it out from prior posts...

What truck, engine, transmission?

I doubt it's as simple as you describe. If a previous model of this trans, whatever it is, used a conventional speedo drive, you might be able to put the old parts on there.

 

The 5spd has the boss on the tailshaft housing where the cable would connect if the truck had a cable drive system, which the 96 did not have. I need to know if I can install a speedo drive gear on the tailshaft of a trans that did not come with one...

 

I did'nt realize that there would'nt be a spot for the speedo, surprising nobody has run into this problem before?

 

Problem comes up from time to time, you just have to avoid the trans w/o the speedo drive.

One more time: WHAT trans are you talking about? A ZF, A T5, What?

 

You might see if you can just find an older tailshaft housing to swap onto your 5spd. I'd pull the tail and make sure there is even a gear on the output shaft to turn a speedo gear. It would suck to replace or drill out your housing and find no provision to run the cable.

 

Starting around 87ish, Ford went to a electronic speedo, with a speed sensor in the rearend housing. You will also run into people putting older rearends into the newer trucks, and then a lot of stuff won't work like the speedo, the abs, the cruise control, tranny errors, etc.

 

The trans is a M5R from a 96 f 150 2wd, I am replacing a 1984 3spd OD.
The transmissions are the same length from bell housing to end of tail shaft,
The 5sp's trans mount is 6 inches further back than the 4sp, not a problem as I will move the factory crossmember rearward 6 inches, their is about 1/4 inch drop in the height from the floor, so I will add 1/4 inch to the crossmembers
height when I move it by adding a spacer between the mount and the trans.
Pretty straight forward.
I located an older version of the 5sp today that had a broken case and picked up the tail shaft and the speedo gear, ball bearing and snap ring for $25, so I wont have to drill out the blocked off boss in the other housing.
The only problem I have left to solve is finding the hyd line that goes from the master cylinder to the slave cylinder as they wont interchange and I have been told it is only available as a kit with the new slave cylinder $60. all the clowns in the bone yard cut them off instead of taking a screw driver and pushing in the tab on the slave cyl and simply pulling the line out.
Has anyone tried to repair this line with a brass coupling??

 

I would personnally just get a new one.

 

I think LMC has the lines. I think they were $90 though. Nice score with the new tailhousing.

 

OK guys I installed a 1996 M5R 5spd transmission into my 1984 F150 which came with a 3sp OD. The installation was pretty straight forward as I had expected.
Parts list is as follows;
5Spd from donor F150, tail shaft housing from pre 92 F150 with speedo drive gear, new master cylinder for 96 F 150,use your old rod from the old truck, new slave cylinder for 96 F150, new clutch kit for 96 F150, new hyd hose for 96 F150. (all of these parts can also be obtained from the donor truck, but I did not want any surprises).
Remove all of the old stuff from your truck, all the way to the fly wheel.
Install all of the above listed parts and reinstall the drive shaft(yes it fits).
Notice that I did not reinstall the crossmember, as it will have to be relocated rearward 5.5 to 7 inches to match up with the trans mount on the 5spd. Mark and drill the six new mounting holes in the frame. I attached the crossmember to the mount and used it as a template to mark the new holes.
Install the crossmember and bleed the clutch. Done. Runs out just bitchen!!

 

Transmission--$350.00 used
Tailshaft and speedo gear $25.00
Master cyl $43.00
Slave cyl $47.99
Hyd Hose $39.00
Clutch kit $109.00
3 quarts atf $6.00
For a total of 618.00
Use of a friends shop and lift priceless. Thanks a Bunch Ralph---Macs

 

Happy to hear that everything went well for you, when I did my trans swap I went to my friends house, his garage has a pit in the floor so no laying on the floor.