Same reason the chevy 454ss trucks never did. It's a sport truck yes... but still stuck with a truck manual if you went that route as a factory option. Cheaper and more reliable than designing and building a one off manual for a limited production run vehicle.

 

So I wasn't wrong. I guess it depends on who is driving

 

I went on the quest to find actual ratings for the M5OD. Tougher than it sounds. First of all, rating a transmission for horsepower is kind of useless. Horsepower is a measure of work done and the formula is {force X distance X time}. The only component affected by the transmission is force, or torque. Distance and time equate to RPM and while it may be possible to overspeed a transmission, you rarely hear of this and I don't think you will get there with a Ford Windsor V8.

So, reliable figures are hard to find, but the ones I tracked down, (on another site, F150hub.com), indicate that the M5ODR1 will handle 331 ft lb of torque. That's the Ranger version of the transmission. The version installed in full size trucks is the R2 and according to Wikipedia is a medium duty transmission compared to the R1, which is a light duty transmission. For unknown reasons, the R2 torque rating is N/A, but it would be reasonable to assume it would be greater than the R1.

Mazda M5OD-R1 (M5R1) Transmission Specs & Ratios
Mazda M5OD-R2 (M5R2) Transmission Specs & Ratios

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_M5OD_transmission

I mentioned in an earlier post that the M5OD was used behind the supercharged V6 in the Tbird. This engine was rated at 325 ft lb torque, much like the 5.8. So Ford did not make the decision to not use the M5OD behind the 5.8 based on engine output ratings.

Not entirely wrong, but not right either.

Also not so much who is driving, but what you are driving. An aggressive driver can destroy just about any transmission even in an underpowered vehicle. Increasing torque and load reduces your safety margin as you approach the design limits of any component. Noting that Ford did not offer the transmission in the heavier trucks is the best indication of this reasoning.

 

If you look up "The Fox Shop" on YouTube, you'll find that the channel's owner, Jon, bought his '94 F150 new, it has a 5.8 and an M5R2 5-speed. He has over 200,000 trouble free miles on the original clutch. He's never swapped the trans, either, obviously. I'm sure it has everything to do with the overall rated weight of the vehicle.

 

That's pretty interesting. Never seen an factory M5OD behind a 5.8 before, but that does not mean they did not exist.

Quick search on the Rock Auto catalogue seems to show that the 5.8 did indeed have the M5OD offered in the F150, although I would not guarantee that to be right either. Anyways, a Sachs NFW 1129 flywheel will get you the proper balance.

 

His green/white truck? That's a 5.0 I'm pretty sure.

 

Yeah its a 302.....at least it was originally.

 

It's the same 302. He just bought a Bronco with a 5.8, an automatic.