hello people i have a question i have a 94 E-150 with a 5.0L and i was wondering if it is able to switch out the 4 speed auto transimission for a 5 or 6 speed auto???

is it possible??

thankx

 

Well, anything's possible if you have enough time and money.

Practical, its not.

I have a '95 5 liter with a 4R70W automatic. Its a good transmission and should be fine in that van. If you are unhappy with the ratios, you may want to put a shorter ratio in the rear end. You may also need to service the motor to get the torque back up.

Steve
'95 Clubwagon XLT

 

Sure, it's possible. You could buy a fleet of new vans for less money than doing this swap, but it's possible.

First you'll need someone to make a custom adaptor. Figure at least $5000 for this and modifying the trans mount, driveshaft, and shift linkage. This is the cheap and easy part.

Next, you'll need to make a wiring harness. This will cost more than the adaptor. Using the one from a vehicle with a five or six speed would be a good starting point, but it's going to take A LOT of modifications to work.

Now comes the expen$ive part. You'll need to invent the computer and programming to run a 5.0L with the new transmission. This takes a company like Ford 2-3 years to do, and uses about half a dozen or more people working at least full time. If you want the trans to work as well as the original trans, and last for a long time, you better have an EXCELLENT knowledge of how the trans works, what energy the clutches can absorb, shift timing, etc. Ford spends a couple million to do this right. I'm sure you can get it done for less, but plan on at least half of what Ford spends.

I hope you don't think I'm picking on you. This question gets asked just about every week. I hope by spelling this out many others will read this and realize this is not a reasonable project.

 

yeah but i have a conversion one and it has Sun visor on the top of the roof with the lights, diamond plate mudflaps, ladder on the rear door and the roof rack and its just too slow i have two uncles that have a similar converison E-150 and it is not as heavy and this uses up more gas than my uncles vans adn thanks for the help Steve but wouldnt then i be in fourth gear like in 55 mph??


$5000?? thats a lot and then my van will be in the shop for a while and i was planning to have this before December or January well thanks for the help

 

What gear does the van have now? Most of those had 3.31s in them. That's too tall. I put a 3.55 in mine and its much more comfortable.

Steve
'95 Clubwagon XLT

 

yeah its the 3.31s

 

$5000 is only to make the adaptors to bolt it in place. That won't make it shift. That's going to cost more, a lot more. $5000 probably wouldn't even be enough for the down payment for the mortgage to finance this swap. To get it done before December or January you will need to be talking about December, 2009 or January, 2010, if you can get everyone to work a lot of overtime.

 

That's what I thought. The 3.31 is too tall for a 5 liter. I put a 3.55 in mine and it works great. You will add about 200 rpm at 70 mph.

I use my van almost exclusively for towing and it helps keep the 5 liter up on the torque curve. The only drawback is it hits the rev limiter sooner, about 85 mph instead of 95 mph.

Steve
'95 Clubwagon XLT

 

thats way to long for more than $5000 its not even worth it the new transmisson will cost more than the value of the van but thanks anyways

oh i see oh ok i'll see what to do and thanks for all the help guys

 

The 3.31 is too tall for a 5 liter. I put a 3.55 in mine and it works great. You will add about 200 rpm at 70 mph.

I have a 95 and would like to upgrade the rear end. I would prefer to swap out the axle rather than tear the thing apart. are there any good doners you can recomend that would have the 3.55 axle in them.

 

Well, the 3.55 was the optional gear for most of the 5 liter and 5.8 liter E150s from '92 on. Check the salvage yards and you are likely to find one.

Replacing the gear isn't that big a deal. You can buy the gear for about $150 and a good driveline shop can install it For about $350.