I like 3.50 diffs myself. Both my 94 and 76 F150s have that and I can't complain. 94 would be better with a 4.10 maybe but for towing I've been pretty happy with the 2500 rpms it runs at 60 mph in 3rd with a trailer on. I considered lifting mine but I think it's silly to do so as it'll make towing a little more difficult imo. I see all these people with 6 inch lifted SuperDuties and what not towing stupid heavy loads with the truck squatting like no tomorrow and I have no idea how they can stand it. The 76 is definitely keeping the 3.50 diff as it tops out at 80 mph lol.

 

2500 gets you 60 in 3rd??? Mine gets like 40 or so in 3rd 2000 is about 30 mph, i don't do any towing right now, but I'm considering a short lift for some of these rough woods roads, a leveling kit may honestly do it as well, also good to know body lifts are a hard no-go

 

Which tranny? I have an E4OD currently. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure it's around 2500 in 3rd around 60 mph. I'll report back tomorrow on that for sure as the truck is sitting right now and will be towing a trailer tomorrow. I'm not very impressed with the E4OD myself just because of the amount of electronics on them and I've known a lot of people who had them fail with lower miles. Once I rebuild the truck someday I'm either going C6 or ZF5 so I don't have an electronically controlled tranny.

 

Just the stock M5OD in mine, my numbers may be a bit off, but I'm sure as hell not getting 60 at 2500 in 3rd, maybe 4th though


​​​​​​C6 is definitely a good one, our 84 f250 has one, clunky and slow, but still going.

 

Yeah if a M5OD made it to 60 mph in 3rd that engine is going to be saying f*** you and blow into pieces lol.

That's what I hear about the C6. I like the way manuals drive myself but I will admit going through the gears in traffic is a nightmare. I really like the T18 and T19 (76 has T18) but I think the 94 would be geared too low and the ZF5 seems to have a good reputation and these trucks had them factory so probably would be easier to install that over the T. I know some people probably wonder why I'm not fond of autos in general but I just like manuals because they're way easier to work on and much less to break.
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​​​​​​Hey now, don't be trashing the m5 too hard, for a daily driver, it's a fun, simple, cheap tranny. Sure I'd prefer a zf, but the Mazda is a tough, reliable tranny.

And don't get me started on changing tranny fluid, 3 gallons in the C6, going in and coming out, stupid fluid pans, Oh YoU pUt A 2wd FiLtEr In A 4x4? Tough, truck barely functions and you have to do it all again bye bye $100 in fluid.

There are 2 bolts on the Mazda lol, fluid out, fluid in. Haven't replaced it yet (haven't had the truck long enough) but it should be a breeze.

 

Ikr? Maintenance is a pain on an Auto if you mess up. I spent nearly 3 months trying to figure out what sensor was causing my transmission to randomly disengage and then slam back into gear and I hope I never go through that again. No mechanic in town would work on it and the computer was no help with no trouble codes of any kind. Asked on here and Mark Kovalsky replied to my thread and said MLPS and I was out of ideas so I tried it and sure enough he was right. From what I've learned there is a crap ton of sensors that could cause this issue and I'm just a back yard mechanic so there's a lot of trial and error to fix my vehicles making it difficult sometimes to diagnose. I know that stuff is easy but I gotta give it to the people who have patients with these things. I've nearly sold the truck 2 or 3 times because I was tired of fixing stuff on it but now that I've fixed all the problems I've been very happy with the truck. One of the better Fords I've had for sure.

Oh yeah no doubt the M5OD is a great tranny but the ZF5 is stronger. If I used my truck for just a run around with towing time to time I think the M5OD would be great but with the ZF5 being stronger and I have a tendency to treat half tons like 1 tons ...so the stronger the better. If people saw some of the things me and my family do with half tons they would be scratching their heads wondering how the hell we keep them in one piece lol.

 

Reporting back...it's roughly 2600 rpms at 60 mph in 3rd gear

 

I'm getting roughly 40-45 mph in 3rd 2500 rpm