Hello,

Finally have my truck the way I want it (for now). What started out as a 1990 Supercab 4X4 shortbed w/ E4OD and 5.8 is now 4.9 with 5-speed. I have been wanting to do this for years. Finally found the donor vehicle: 1991 Bronco with 5.0 and 5-speed for $700. Body was clean, showed some evidence of abuse.

The swap was pretty straightforward. All the hole were already there (for crossmembers, pedals, clutch hydraulics etc.) Biggest headaches were finding a rear driveshaft and the starter.

Having a donor vehicle with most of the needed parts was key to the swap. All I needed to buy were the flywheel, 11" clutch kit, new slave cylinder, driveshaft (rear), conversion u-joints, and to weld the cracked clutch housing.

Changing out the pedals was kind of a pain (little access), only had to cut a hole in the carpet for the shifter, the hump cover from the Bronco was a bolt-in affair.

A couple of things to keep in mind:

A Dodge Dakota rear driveshaft (56.5") worked for my one piece rear, but it had different sized u-joints. A local drive line guy here in Idaho had the conversion u-joints on the shelf ($20 ea). I got the driveshaft from a Spokane pull yourself boneyard for $12, a Ford specialist junkyard wanted $100...shop around.

Put in an 11" clutch for about $25 bucks more. The flywheel will accept a 10" or 11". I got the flywheel for $30, had it resurfaced for $15.

Starter- You MUST use a starter for a manual flywheel!! I used an automatic starter the first time I put it together and it made the most godawful noise as the Bendix gear freewheeled for 2 miles. I took the whole thing apart thinking it was the flywheel rubbing on the backing plate. The ring gear on a manual flywheel is about .75" closer to the starter. A manual starter from a 302 will work, as will the backing plate. The backing plate from a 4.9 auto will NOT work.

The M5OD has a nice access hole on the left side of the clutch housing that lets you view the input shaft as you line up the splines to put it together. With a good transmission jack, it took about 10 minutes to mate the transmission to the block...very nice.

I just left the automatic shifter on the column...will make a good conversation piece. I hate working under the dash. The check engine light does not come on (I left the interlock switch hooked up to the harness until I figure out what wires to splice to be able to start it, and the cruise control works.

I put about 30 mile on it and love it so far.

Will look for the ZF transmission for kicks.

Good Luck,

Tom E

 

I am no where near an expert on trannies, but from reading this website, the M5OD is not a heavy duty tranny while the E4OD is supposed to be.

Hopefully the M5OD is in a F150 type truck and is used for around town stuff right? No heavy towing etc. I have read the M5OD does poorly in heavy towing due to the weak power transmission path used in 5th. So if you tow(doubtful with 4.9), you will probably need to stay in 4th.

Like I said only info from What I have read here. Only M5OD I had was in a Taurus so can't speak about truck like durability, certainly not in my Taurus.

Sounds like at least you did a good job and should get better mileage.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

The truck is an F150, and will not see any heavy duty towing. Mostly for collecting firewood and general hauling. My problem with the E4OD was that I was on the second one, and it was showing the morning slipping and hard shifting that tells me that it was going to fail, and a $2000 rebuild was not in my future.

I pulled some pretty heavy loads with the 4.9 and auto, like a 4x4 Chevy on a 3000 lb. trailer for 100 miles, but don't plan on pulling anything really heavy with the 5-speed.

Now the truck is set up for a manual, and if I did find a heavy duty 5-speed, I could put it in if I wanted to.

It runs really nice now, and like you said, I should get better fuel economy what with this $3.00 plus gasoline.

Did they put this transmission in a FWD Taurus?

Tom E

 

M5OD was adapted to a lot of Ford Vehicles. It is a Mazda design if I recall so it was also used in Mazdas.

From what I have read here and there, it was used in the late 80s Taurus M5 model(A sporty model just before the SHO came out). Then the SHO used it(What a disaster, class action lawsuit etc) I had one of those clutch/bellhousing munchers. The Supercoupe, then various light Ford trucks including F150s if I recall. Probably others like the Probe etc

The Ford trucks webiste has had many discussions in the past of the M5OD in the trucks and their durability. They appear to be OK for light duty work but are not recommended for extended heavy towing, but then an F150 was not designed for that anyway.

That is what I recall from reading and my 1 experience(SHO) with the M5OD.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

I just did an auto to manual swap too(C6 to ZF), having the donor vehicle is definitely the way to go. I also left the auto shifter on the column. I was always pulling 6-10k with an M5OD behind a 302, and never had any problems. I even made the mistake of running gear oil in it and never had a problem. I was only 19 when I got that truck and I was not very nice to it. I know it's not a ZF, but you would think it was built from eggshells the way some people describe it. As long as you keep your eye on the fluid level it will be fine.