I've been searching around for some kind of overdrive trans for my truck, other then Gear Vendors. I don't have deep enough pockets for that. Something along the line of a tranny swap or something. The truck is a '78 F150 2WD Supercab SWB 460/C6. I was hoping to find something simple like an AOD swap (not necessairly an AOD) or something and try to avoid electronic overdrive if at all possible. The C6 is slowly dying a long death so I'd like to see if I can grab something with an overdrive rather than rebuild the C6.

Did Ford ever offer a mechanical overdrive (like an AOD) behind the 460?

Any and all info/input appreciated!

 

Ford put one behind the 6/cy and 302,i'm not sure of what it takes to go behind the 460. There's been threads on it here ,some for and some against it. maybe somebody that has done it will post for you. I have one of the tranys and am having it rebuilt now. It goes behind my 302. It is called a lot of names like,rug,4/speed top loader imposter,clark, p.o s.,junk ect. I was thinking about doing the same thing ,for the same reason,so i could put my 460 back in .

 

price an adapter for a 700r4. i've heard they can be put behind about anything with the right adapter, theyre not computer controlled, and have o.d. i know its a chevy trans, but seriously, who gives a crap if it works.

 

I hear that, i'm up for anything that might work. I love my 460 but turning 2500+ on the freeway, at around 60mph, is killing the hwy mpg. BADLY. I've got 3.25 gears and 31-10.50-15s. Around town I'm guessing it's about 15mpg. I'll be more exact here shortly as I'm doing an actual milage figure as we speak. Just need to run out the tank yet, refill, and do the math.

Jim- Sounds like the ones you speak of are manual trannys. I'm trying to stay with the ol' auto slushbox. One of our 2-ton Ford dumptrucks has a 460/automatic overdrive combo but I think it's the AOD-E or E4OD variety. Its a '96. I'd like to stay away from the computer mess, if at all possible.

 

not recommending, but they have an adapter for AOD to 460, seems pricey
also have what they say are "bulletproof" AOD's

looks like the total is around $3K

Ford-AOD.com the ultimate AOD Transmission Perfromance Website

 

Yes i was talking about the manual one,must have not been awake L.O.L. My 87 f-350 has the computer one. The 700r would not be a hard one to do, i'm for what ever works too. After getting the adapter you would need to do like i did when i put the G.M. 200/4r in my 35 chevy street rod. The computer controls the lock up torque converter,so you use a manual lock up control. There are a number of different ones you can choose from and they will work. I control the one on my 35 with a switch on the dash that looks like an old light switch,just to keep the old look in the car. JIM

 

a friend of mine told me awhile ago that the early 700r didnt have any computer controls at all, like from the early 80s model vehicles. dont know how true this is, but i remember there were no computers whatsoever in my dads 86 k1500 and it had an od trans.

 

My trany is a 88 ,but it's the 2004r and has a lockup converter. That was all the computer controlled,easy change to manual. The way to find out about the 700 r is to go to ,Bowtie Overdrives , they have all of the information. For the adapter go to , Bendtsen's ,at Transmission Adapters .

 

Another possibility is a Hone-O-Drive (sometimes called a Hone Overdrive). They were made back in the late Sixties and early Seventies and there was one model that was a universal deal. Used alot in muscle cars and RVs.

I've been looking for one for awhile now and haven't found one, but if you can find one, it might be worth looking into. Or at least keeping an eye out for. The downside is the price these days - one or two I've seen were almost as much as a GearVendors unit...

 

Another is the Mitchell Gear Splitter, it stopped production in the '90s but they were pretty robust. I picked one up but won't get it installed until next winter.

 

Yeah the early 700R4s were all mechanical. A buddy of mine hade one in his '84 Firechicken. We installed a shift kit in that thing and after that it squawkd tires everywere he went. Pretty impressive for a V6 car.

Never put much thought into 'splitting' gears. I suppose with a splitter, one could dump 2.50:1 gears in the rear and that would work just the same. Have to keep my eyes peeled for something like that.

Thanks for the AOD link- lotsa good stuff on there. They sure seem proud of their adapter kits. I'll have to look up Advanced Adapters and see what they offer too. I know the AOD, with certain upgrades, will handle the abuse but it just doesn't look like there is any cheap way around this. Seems to be a minium of 2 grand in any direction I look at, figuring that any tranny i get may need rebuilding. I'll have to look into the electronically controlled units. If it is as simple as a switch to just lock up the converter, that's not such a big deal. If the AOD-E or E4OD is like that, that would be almost a total bolt in situation and no adapter kit necessary. Hmmmm... more to ponder on...

 

the 460 was avalible with an EAOD behind the fuelly 460s.. you will however need a stand alone controller to make it shift and the converter to lockup...it was availibe in both 2 and 4 wheel drive trucks...

 

I think you have the gear splitter a little confused. It allows you to run a lower (numerically higher) gear and still be able to keep rpms down by splitting that gear. Take the Gearvendors for example: the last gear of a non OD trans is 1.00:1. With the split that becomes .78:1. Which makes 4.10 gears cruise like 3.20s. So you get the benefit of the low gear but still can cruise without turning super high rpms on the highway. Besides that when you split every gear you keep a more constant rpm which saves gas.

 

Oh yeah... duh. That's what I get for posting late in the evenings... Thanks, makes sense now... and of all things i should KNOW this as I drive a 18 speed Peterbuilt from time to time. Same concept...


Yeah I definately want to research the Electronic AOD and see if this is doable. Like i said earlier, we've got a 2wd 2-ton dump body truck with an overdrive and 460 and i know for a fact it's been overloaded many times over and still performed like a champ. IIRC there's either 60K or 80K on that rig, and it wasn't for gettin groceries either. My truck is only in the 280 hp range but my torque output is my concern. I'm rated at about 460ft lbs with an easy 500ft lbs if I bolt on a set of headers. All this grunt is in the 2000-2500 range and I'm sure would be hard on a tranny, especially when pullin my car trailer.

 

HAHAHA that's great! Sounds like it's time for bed.