Well I'm going to present a counterpoint to all those that say the AOD is junk. The one in my '90 ext-cab 4x4 F150 sucessfully survived 8 years behind a cammed up 5.8 with me throwing all the abuse it had at it. The trans was a fresh rebuild with all the factory updates and it has a shift kit, and it's still going and working perfectly. The AOD has know weaknesses which can all be addresses to support just about any power level, so like anything else you have to pay to play. Early versions of this trans are notoriously weak and cannot be upgraded to later spec, the latest versions will take parts from the 4R70W which is still in use today, so an early '90's model is the best platform to start with.

If you think the AOD is expensive to rebuild then you won't like the E4OD.. it is THE most expensive Ford tranny to service. And since it is computer controlled the only way to use it is with the stock ford EFI computer or with a $1000 aftermarket controller.

For the intended use a properly prepared AOD will do the trick, if this was going to be an abused mud truck or a tow rig then a C6 or ZF manual would be a better choice.