I have been searching the posts (including tranny forum) but can't find anything about rebuilding my T170F, 3 speed w/overdrive. I am still looking at the 'kit' sites but cannot find instructions, manual, etc.

Anyone rebuild one?

 

I am looking for the same kind of information for a new acquistion with noisy bearings.

 

A fellow FTE'er recommended that I look into it for my 70 Bump build. It's more commonly known as the SROD (single rail overdrive)... Google it and you'll find info.... kind of a redheaded step child of a tranny based on what I've read thus far... came in about 80-83 F-series, Mustangs, and, according to one website - Granadas!... don't ask me about the latter... didn't know Granadas even came with a manual.

 

I seem to recall that these were supposed to be based on the top loader car four speed with internal shift linkage.

I had one in a 1980 F100 with a 300 in 1986 when I came home from the Phillippines. When it went out shortly before I had to report to a ship in San Diego, I put a car three speed in its place and never really noticed the difference in mileage. I don't know what the rearend ratio was, but I do remember going 55 at about 11-1200 rpms.

A friend said he had one in a 79 Supercab????

Robert

 

There has to be a manual or something out there to give some pointers on rebuilding the SMOD variant. Thanks, guys, for the insights on their relatives.

 

the srod was a weird geared turd tho

 

Zombie thread plea for info, please.
My begging has reached a new level, ha, and I need to find someone or a how-to to have a clue what to do when I bust this old beast open. SMOD, T170 RUG, all the shifting linkage is on the drivers side. D8TRMA.
Someone has to know how to do this, they made quite a few of them, but admittedly quite a while back.
Thanks for any and all guidance.

 

 

RUG SR-OD Single Rail 4 speed overdrive: 1977/82 Granada / 1978/83 F100/150 2WD 300/302 & E100/250 300/302/351W / 1979/83 Mustang/Capri/Fairmont/Zephyr / 1983 LTD/Marquis (Fox body mid-size).

After the first Arab Oil Embargo ended (1973/74), FoMoCo, in order to increase MPG...installed this trans (originally designed for Granada's) and in some 1977/79 F100/150's, the Dana 44 rear axle.

Another Arab Oil Embargo occurred in 1979. Sales of full sized cars, gas guzzling trucks sank like a stone during both of these embargo's.

 

Isn't the SROD that you are referencing quite a bit different than the SMOD that I have? If I could reference the internals of the SROD I would be in good shape, but I thought, maybe wrongly that the SMOD variant was quite different.
Am I mistaken?

 

Post 5: You referenced D8TR-MA = Decodes to RUG-CD (SR-OD 4 Speed Overdrive).

Parts catalog pic: Scroll down to see D8TR-7003-MA

 

Yes sir, that matches up for a fact, and thank you for that.
Now I would like to know if the SR-OD and the SM-OD are the same-same inside, more or less, and the stuff you read on the innertubes about the side rail vs side mount, and just for fun there is the TOD, purportedly the top mounted shifter are just noise.
In other words are these transmissions the same inside basically.
I have also read that the ones in truck applications had bigger bearings and a cast iron case. I do not know what size bearings mine has because I haven't been in it, but it is an iron case.
Hoping someone that has some knowledge of working on these checks in and thanks for the input.
BTW, stabbing reverse in mine is an adventure, sometimes goes in quite easy, sometimes it is a 2 minute wrassling match. That can't be right, ha.

 

I've never heard of, or seen any such thing as an SMOD, it doesn't exist.

 

ND, I don't know what to tell you. I have been reading about them for a few years. They do and did exist, the question is, the designations SROD and SMOD may not have been strictly Ford lingo. I just have no idea. Just in a quick search though, here is an old post from a well known jalopy board.
Just a little side search of your own should satisfy you that a SMOD is a real and tangible thing and not the same as a SROD.
Let us not get side tracked by Ford nomenclature here, if that is the problem because I do appreciate any help I can get to fix this old thing.

the following is an example of many, many posts going back over the years addressing this transmission and its variants.



I have a SMOD, or 3+1 overdrive trans going into my '49 F-1. If you have this trans, hold on to it! They are said to be as bullet proof as the old toploaders. (Havent driven on mine yet)...I got mine on an ebay auction for a little over 2 hundred bucks after it was rebuilt. The main problem is shifter availability. Hurst quit making them. My shifter is sloppy and the shift pattern is HUGE! Not that I mind, but reverse, 1st, and 3rd are about 4" away from the firewall. The shifter I need actually bolts up to the gear box where the tail shaft bolts on. Hurst made that exact shifter for a little while, but decided not to now that I need one! Mine I believe came out of a '78 E-150, but can be found in most 78 and 79 Ford trucks and vans with a manual trans (good luck). They are mostly all iron cases...while some lightweight trucks got the aluminum cases. These were also used in Jeeps with a different shifter. The Jeep shifter was a top mounted shifter that housed the shifter fork rail and the forks. Acording to all the info I can physically find, they only ran from the late 70's into the very early 80's and were dropped for weight reasons for the:

SROD transmissions are completely different than SMOD. SROD tranies are still 3-Speed+overdrive...but the overdrive is actuated by a rod that is on the top drivers side of the transmission. These are also aluminum cased for the most part and tend to be weak. I was told to stay away from the SROD trans if I was building for more than 250HP by many people. The SMOD is a full externally shifted toploader style trans whereas the SROD is fully internal. The SROD was also a very short lived trans because the T-5 was on the way.

The SMOD and SROD trannies get confused often, but if you take the time to look at them they are worlds apart both in construction and durability. SROD trannies were barely able to handle the cars they were put in from the factory. They are, for the most part, a restorers trans to keep things OE. The SMOD is, acording to David Kee, a toploader impostor because it looks almost identical to a 60's toploader. It is stronger, heavier, and longer lasting than the SROD, and parts (other than aftermarket shifters) are readily available for them. Any transmission shop can locate rebuild kits.

Sorry for the rant...I am just miffed that I cant get my shifter anymore!

 

If the code you posted (D8TRMA) is the one off of your transmission, then, like Numberdummy said, you have an SR-OD trans.
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