I have a '95 F-150 4x4 with the 4R70W tranny and I was wanting to know if anybody has installed a shiftkit in that tranny? I've seen a Mustang and a Thunderbird with the same tranny have problems with the Transgo shiftkit. What brand would you recomend?

 

What kind of problem with trans-go shift kit??? Please enlighten me!

I've rebuild a lot of Trans. [ Ford and brand x ]. I've use any of these shift kit [ B&M, Trans-Go, FairBanks, and others ] and the results are remarkable. No issues at all!

If you got ailing trans or lack of skills then you'll do more damages than trying to improve it.

 

A Dealership once told us that these new electronic controlled tranny's don't like shiftkits. I don't understand, either. We also, found that the main springs above the valve body(I'm sorry, but I can't remember the exact name of the springs) couldn't hold up to the new shiftkit. That was the problem with my '96 GT Mustang and my brothers '94 T-Bird. Ford told us that the springs we replaced were know to cause problems, especially when a shiftkit is added.

 

really, I find that hard to believe.
if it is accumulator piston then Ford do have problem with accumulator piston and springs from day one. Ford re-design the piston and springs 2 times before they finally came out with "Molded rubber" piston and better material for springs.

As a matter of fact the shift kit manufactures did the research and developed newly design springs and accumulator pistons way before Ford acknowledge the problems.

anyway, I refuse to get into heated debate. I've done over hundreds of transmissions in my lifetime and none of the shift kit I've install on AOD, AODE, and 4R70W ever failed.

In my opinion I believe you got "hosed" by Ford.

search any Mustang Website, you'll find they use shift kits and non of them failed!
Most high power Mustang often destroy, input shaft, mechanical diode / sprag, burnt clutches, burnt band and planetary gear set.

One other thing, Trans go shift kit and Baumann Engineering shift kit are nearly 100 percent identical and they've been around for a long time. Over millions of user uses that type shift kit without any hitch!

 

Thanks for the info. I've been so confused by all of this and was very leary about putting a shiftkit in my truck. I never really believed what the Ford Dealership told me, because like you said, you see shiftkits being installed in everything.

 

My shop builds hundreds of transmissions every year and we haven't seen the "kits" fail.

What I would like to know is; why do you want to install a shift kit? The '95 4R70Ws were pretty good transmissions. Do you have a problem with yours or are you trying to beef it up?

Steve
'95 Clubwagon XLT

 

5.0 - have you ever heard of the J-mod or Jerry's mod? Go to www.tccoa.com and look under their tech articles for the transmission. MN12's use the 4R70W transmission just like you. On there it will have a large article detailing the "J-mod". This is a series of modifications that can be made to get every bit of a shift kit's advantages without spending the money on the shift kit. You buy the springs and all that, it tells you where to drill the valvebody, etc. The person, Jerry, was one of the people at Ford who DESIGNED the transmission, and has shared his expertise with the automotive community. If you want to ask users, I think that tccoa has a forum, and Cougarnuts.com also has SEVERAL people who have done the J-mod. It is very inexpensive for the parts, and a couple of people at Cougarnuts actually did the modification in the parking lot of their apartment. You can also control just how firm you want your shifts. Relatively firm to correct the computer's intentional sluggishness, to headsnapping firm. You'll be able to really bark the tires on the 1-2 shift. The only thing you can't get is manual control of the transmission, but that requires a completely different valvebody.

Give it a look, could save you money. Also, the J-mod is PERFECTLY safe. Shift Kits aren't always safe for your transmission.

 

Clubwagon, I'm just trying to beef it up. Nothings wrong with the tranny. I just heard that the shiftkit can extend the life of your tranny. My truck has 130K on the odometer.

 

I read that the typical auto tranny is designed to overlap gears to smooth the shift. This would generate heat. A shift kit would reduce or eliminate the overlap to firm up the shifts and reduce heat generation. (This is probably all too general and hopefully one of the experts above can set me straight.) Also there is something about the type F fluid being less slippery so that putting it in a Dextron or Mercon tranny would firm up the shifting (and supposedly B&M Trick Shift is more or less Type F).

On my wife's Aerostar A4LD I put a controlled leak in the vacuum line to the shift modulator. Fools it into thinking your foot is more heavily into the pedal and so firms up the shifting. Sure made it a lot more fun to drive. On my motorhome E4OD I put a Banks Transcommand electronic shift module and it works great--firms up when under load, but leaves softer under light acceleration.

My personal ride is a stick, but if it were an automatic I would want a valve body type shift kit and a custom shifter so I could shift it manually all I want. Would be tempting in that situation to get the full manual valve body so you have to shift every gear.

 

5.0powered,

My clubwagon is a 5.0 with a 4R70W and I recently turned 227,000 miles on the original transmission (with no shift kit). Further more, I really only use the van for towing my racecar. The car and trailer weigh about 4500 lbs and I put about 800 lbs of stuff in the van to go with it. I tow about 25 to 30 thousand miles a year with it. Other than that it sits in the driveway most of the time.

In normal use, a shift kit really won't make your transmission last any longer. We typically only use the shift kits in 4R70Ws for service trucks that run heavily loaded most of the time or are regularly used for towing (like mine). Mine shifts flawlessly, even when fully loaded without a shift kit and has lasted way longer than what would be considered "normal". Keep it serviced regularly and you should be just fine.

Oh, and never-ever use Type F fluid in an OD ford automatic. You will burn up the planetary gears.

Steve
'95 Clubwagon XLT

 

Thanks Steve,
That's what I like to hear, bone stock and being worked, and is still running strong. One other question, how does your 5.0 like pulling a car and trailer? I'm wanting to pull an estimated 5000 to 5500 lbs(car and trailer) and I'm trying to borrow a F350 w/ a V10. Not sure if it'll work. I just might have to use my truck instead.

 

When I bought the 5.0 I hadn't intended to keep it any longer than necessary until I found an E350 Clubwagon with a V10. I needed a new van to replace my Chevy (that lost yet another transmission) right away when I ran across a great deal on a very nice 5.0. I bought it intending to use it for only a single season. It did so well that I never got around to replacing it.

I bought it in '97 with 17K miles on it and have towed all over the US with it. After a little setup work it has proven to be an excellent tow vehicle despite the little V8. I did a low restriction single cat and exhaust system along with a K&N Filter, Helwig front swaybar, an add-a-leaf rear spring kit and a set of KYB shocks. It will tow rock steady at 80+ all day with no fuss.

The 5 liter does have to work pretty hard but it never puts up a fuss. I downshift for the longer climbs when the speed drops to about 75 mph. The really big mountains can be pretty tough. The 5 liter has to turn a lot more rpm than the bigger motors but it does it without fuss. East of the Rockies is pretty much no problem, even through the Smokies and West Virginia, but out west can be tough. The very long climbs at altitude make for slower going. Here the V10 would be nice but I don't regularly tow out west so it ain't that big a problem.

Steve
'95 Clubwagon XLT