My leafs are pretty much flat right now so I will be replacing them at the very least. I appreciate the opinions on here as I figure out which direction I will be going.

 

VAG is the one for Volkswagen Audi Porsche
The new one is a laptop VAG-COM

 

I forgot I want a Chrysler one too
They were DRBs up to DRB III now I think

 

I've wanted a way to connect a laptop, never bought one, but seen the Ford adapter, forgot the name, nothing works with my OBD1, either shops have no way of connecting to it, or just don't want to bother with it, Snapon tool that worked with OBD1 costs $2500 when you find it, has cassettes for other vehicles along with the connectors.

 

Well - I don't need a VAG. A DRB III would be nice, but only one Dodge in the family fleet - and it's in CO.
Thx for the info!

 

I'm on my second 4.6 powered E250 cargo van with 4.10 gears, I think this is the correct ratio for these smaller engines. The truck will climb many hwy grades without losing much speed or dropping out of OD, it cruises at about 2200rpm at 70mph and gets decent fuel milage. It also handles some light towing fairly well but I wouldn't suggest doing any hwy towing especially with a trailer that has significant air drag as the 4.6 is just too smothered

The OBD1 PCMs are very limited in terms of external access, there is a J2 port on the rear edge of the circuit board where a module can be attached which interrupts the computer data bus and allows one to see live data and a whole bunch more, this port is where an old school chip was attached and was later used by tuner packages such as the Moates Quarterhorse or Tweecer. Some of the later EEC4 computers apparently also produced some live data via the EEC TEST port but I have no info on what models that included. Service shops used a breakout box that connected in between the PCM and main wiring harness to read sensor values in real time, like everything it's hard to believe how far things have come and how difficult things were in the early days.

 

Wanted to come back to this (not mine) thread that I had minimally participated in and share some results of my 3.55 to 4.10 gear swap on a 2006 E150 4.6.
I wasn't able to change speedo calibration using the NGS 2. Tried thru both the PCM/ECM (I forget which term is proper Ford vs GM) settings and ABS. Still extremely happy to have the NGS tho.
Local tuner changed speedo for me. He knew he could do it just wasn't sure if it would be the "easy" or "hard" way. He "flipped a bit" and was able to use the transmission signal for speedo rather than the ABS system, which according to him was the "easy" way, then made correction.
Had a shop do the 4.10 gear install. That went fine, other than a driveline rumble/vibration that showed up at about 80 mph. Shop was also a driveline shop, they went above and beyond trying to help me solve the issue, which i firmly believe was driveshaft related, due to it now spinning faster at whatever speed. They went as far as ordering a new driveshaft from Ford, installed that and still had issue. They were able to eliminate 80+% by using a different u-joint (I think un-officially called a 1355? with rubber isolators in the caps). I changed trans tailshaft bushing and trans mount (just because - probably not needed) which didn't do much.
On a whim I bought another driveshaft yesterday from a local salvage. This thing is single piece 4" aluminum and 73" center-to-center u-joints plus trans yoke and flanges. So hard to find used not beat up.
Anyway - installed today and walla -problem gone 100%. I think it comes down to tolerances and the increased speed this long shaft is now spinning. Close to 4000 rpm at 80 mph based on calculations with tire size and gear ratio.
Makes me think the Ford engineers had a reason a 4.10 ratio was never offered in an E150/8.8 rear end combo. I know it was in E250's/350's, but those always got a larger axle (which put the pinion yoke inch(es) closer, shortening the driveshaft length. Most probably got a larger tranny also which would shorten also.
Problem solved now.