The transmission in my truck needs to be rebuilt and I'm trying to figure out what kind of transmission I have. It's a 4 speed behind a 302. The Door tag says "B" for trans. I crawled under the truck and the tranny appears to have an aluminum case. I know at least 2 different 4 sp transmissions were made in my year. Any ideas?

 

Bryan;
I just went through the same problem with my '87 in the spring. I took the tranny numbers off the tag and went to the dealer and was told there were about 18 different tranny codes and my numbers didn't match any of them. I had them print out all the pictures and we narrowed it to the T18. I believe (and feel free to correct me on this) that more that likely your either gonna have the t18 or the new process435. However there were alot of variations so your tranny ,may not be exact. Is yours a 3 spped with overdrive or a 4 speed with granny first? If you've got the tranny numbers off yours let me know and i'll check them against my information.

 

Woodzracer,

Thanks for the reply! I too have gotten conflicting info on the trans from the dealer. The trans is really a 3sp + overdrive (4 forward gears) - it doesn't have a "granny low" gear. Does this narrow it any? I'll crawl under the truck and look for the numbers off the case.

 

Bryan;

3 speed with overdrive is the same setup I have. You didn't mention why it needs rebuilt but mine ate the headshaft bearing due to lack of lube ( my bad) it also broke a roll pin that locates the countershaft. The countershaft spun and egged out its bore in the front of the case. I had zero luck finding junkyard tranny's but I did find an '87 f150 hit in the front for $200.00. I swapped my tailshaft and housing into the donor trans pretty easily. (donor truck 2 wheel, mine 4x4) That might be a good way to go if you can find a parts truck. Also check the tech articles on FTE for the T18 rebuild. Mine didn't look exactly the same but it will give you a good Idea of what's going on inside. Good luck

 

Woodzracer,

Thanks for the info - my tranny's tailshaft bushing is shot: I can move it a 16th to an 1/8th of an inch when I grab the driveshaft. It ate the tailshaft seal on a trip I recently made and blew lots of gear oil out the back. I filled it back up and it runs, but has a substantial vibration at hyway speeds. The ujoint is solid so I'm sure it's coming from the bushing not properly aligning the driveshaft. Second gear syncro has been bad for at least 30,000 miles so it's time to replace the whole thing. I'm starting a search of wrecking yards today.

As for the tranny type: I figured out it's a TOD - a version of the SROD. This is based on some photos posted on this sute a few months back. The thing looks like a toploader. I didn't think they put that tranny in a truck in '87, but they did (Ibought it off the original owner at less than 100,000 miles so I cant imagine it was ever swaped out. The truck is bone stock)

Bryan

 

Yes, a TOD sounds correct. That's what I have in my truck, and that's the only thing I've been able to figure out that it could be.

Can you post a link for where you found the info?

 

The site that has some photos to help ID transmission:

http://www.motivegear.com/tech_info/...nny_guide.html

Bryan