Hi Folks,
I usually hang out on the 48-60 forum but I have some specific Aerostar questions I thought I might possibly find some answers to here.

I came across a '97 with electronic all wheel drive and a 4.0L engine. My main interest in it is parts for a possible project. I did a lot of measuring and took notes but try as I did, I still forgot a few major things. I was going to check and see if had rear disc brakes and forgot to do it. I laso was going to check out the rear suspension. If I remember correctly, the '87 I had was leaf springs in the rear.

The owner is selling it cheap because it has transmission problems. I was wondering if the tranny is used in anything else and also what is the reputation of this particular tranny. I would also like to knw the ring gear size in the rear differential.

I am looking for and have a possible line on a '55 Ford F-100 panel truck. One of the popular mods is to use the front suspension and sub frame grafted into the old truck frame. Usually this is done with the 2WD versions but I thought it might be interesting to try with an all whell drive.

Does anyone know if trhere is any way to adapt manual front hubs to this setup?

In addition to the drive line and suspension there are other parts I could use from this van.

I am interested in heraing from anybody that is really familiar with this model.

Later Folks...

 

Ok, on the transmission, the best approach is to rebuild the old one, it is both a better value, and so long as you use upgrade parts, you can make it much stronger and longer lasting than the original.

There is no way to adapt manual locking hubs with an Aerostar system. AWD is not like 4WD. with AWD, the front wheels are engaged all the time. The only thing that changes is whether or not the front wheels are engaged on a 1:1 ratio, or if they are allowed to spin at a slightly different speed.

 

Thank's Bear,
That was pretty much my thinking on the tranny, Where in your opinion is the best source for upgraded parts for the tranny???

What about the rear brakes??? Disc or drum???

Later man...

 

Drum brakes.. torque is biased from 70-50 to 50-50 if slipping in the rear is detected..Its one of the best 4wd systems ever built..

Dick

 

That's encouraging... Did they use the same rear end as the Explorers??? Another thing I forgot to sheck is if they used coils or torsion bars in the front.

Later Man...

 

You are not the first who wants manual hubs. My friend did it and was surprised why his van does not move... then electronics automaticly locked central diff and van jumped forwrd.... so he had to look for othet t-case (i do not know what part time awd t-case fit a4ld, but he got it).... he had to change AWD controll unit too and to solve to many electronically related issues... May be it is a way to swap tranny with M5OD with manual t-case, but people say not so easy to find used good M5OD with manual t-case for 4.0

 

Yeah, I know about the manual hubs not working with the electronin automatis system. I probably should have clarified my reasoning a bit. I was thinking about the posibility of using aregular transfer case with the front end. Hubs would be a real plus in that case. If I were to use the complete automatic system, I wouldn't mess with it.

later Man...

 

I called my frien today and asked him how he did it.... He really got manual tranny like me, and got GM t-case installed not on tranny, but in the center of truck connected to tranny via CV-join. It is manually cabel controlled. he got hubs for ranger... But he clames hat he got some vibrations and noise at hightway speeds becouse he cant insolate t-case well becouse fuel tank is close and he weld mounting bar for t-case in body so floor ov van works like a piano deck making t-case noise louder.

But there is one man here on forum. He is called Rilebreaker. he made 4wd aero with bronco axes, look for his threads here.

 

Hi Pablo,
In my case I'm not interested in keeping the Aerostar. I'm going to use it as a donor vehicle to harvest parts from. It just happens to be that the Aerostar front subframe and suspension are sometimes used to graft a decent IFS to the old straight axel F-100 truck frames. I noticed you are in the Urkraine. Do you have many old ford products over there?

Later Man...

 

usually made in Germany ford cars... most popular ford van here is diesel powered transit (good powertraine donor for aero and ranger), there are Taurus cars, Explorers, and Rangers.... F150 are rare, aerostars were popular about 10 years ago, now they dissapeare and I see them not too often, Windstar is not popular like aerostar was, becouse it is not so tought van..... E-vans are rare too,

 

The Aerostar is coil sprung all around, with double A-arm in front and a 3 link in rear. The E4WD uses a 7.5" ring gear in the rear axle, and I think a specific Dana front axle, and I think the only available ratio was 3.73. The suspension parts are specific to the Aerostar; no other vehicles in the world use the same parts. They may not be strong enough for use in a heavy truck.

The front brakes are really tiny (I think 10") discs, and the rears are drums. In general, the brakes are barely adequate for the van, so they may be too underpowered for a heavier truck. There is no easy way to upgrade the front brakes, as the caliper mount is part of the spindle. You will have to carve up the front spindle to make custom mounts for after market spindles.

The transmission is called Automatic 4 speed Light Duty, which again suggests that it's too weak for HD use. However, at least one company makes some HD parts for it:

A4LD Performance Transmission and Parts from PATC, A4LD

What parts to most people who do this normally graft onto the old trucks?

 

I think if you check your research you will find that the '97 was the only year to have a five speed automatic. It was a 55 something or other. If I remeber it I will post it.

As for the weight, the Aerostar body is probably heavier than the 55 F-100 panel body which is probably even smaller also.

As far as brakes and stuff atre concerned, I have my own machine and welding shop. I can pretty much make or adapt anything I want.

 

5R55E
used in Ranger and Explorer also with V6. not strong enough for the SB Ford V8s

 

So I've heard the same for the A4OD...

 

Let us know what you come up with for a larger brake system.

I have thought about going to the scrap yard to find spindles from another 4wd Aerostar to experiment with, but I don't have a mill to cut it down.

I have seen companies that do something similar with other vehicles; they carve off the caliper slide on the spindle to provide a flat mounting surface for after market calipers, like from Wilwood. Then it's a matter of making some blocks of aluminum to position the calipers to work with their rotors. It might also be necessary to make some rotor hats if Wilwood doesn't have a model that fits the Aero's spindle. (That would be a big hunk of billet aluminum to carve up.)