I have a 1978 Ford F150 Custom w/ a 4 speed overdrive tranny. You lift up, shift over and up to shift into reverse. I crawled under it and there is linkage on the outside of the tranny, driver's side if I remember correctly.

What transmission is this? Designation number I mean. If it is what I think it is, from searching on here, its the weaky sister tranny. Please tell me it isn't!

Also, is there a drain and fill on this Tranny so I can change the gear oil?

Thanks alot folks! Really enjoying the site and all the great information on here!

 

The external linkage "SMOD" variant of the 4 speed OD would be a bit stronger than the aluminum cased units. OD is weak, tiny little gear.

Ratios suck, 2nd to 3rd is the Grand Canyon.

There was a drain and fill on mine.

Pics info at these two sites.

Domestic Truck Tranny Guide

Toploader 4 Speed Transmissions

Toploader Imposters

 

Thanks alot 85e! You have confirmed my prior research of the trans. I guess I'll just habe to get it up and going in 2nd really good before shifting to 3rd. Haven't gotten to drive it much yet so, will have to do some cruising to get used to it. Thanks again!

 

Welcome to FTE

Ford 'RUG' TS-OD Single Rail 4 Speed Overdrive. A "weak sister" of a transmission originally designed for and installed in Passenger Cars (Granada/Fairmont/Zephyr).

Ford installed this transmission in F100/150's & Econolines beginning in 1978 to improve fuel economy.

One speed shift, you can kiss the little darlin' good bye.

 

I can personally attest to the fact that the iron cased 4 speed OD will handle dumped clutches and speed shifts at full throttle (well, as fast a speed shift as the "long travel" linkage will allow) behind a 300 in a 4000lb van. And the squeeling bearing noise got no worse....

The aluminum case...not so much I guess....

 

How well it works depends on axle ratio and tire size. With 3.50s and 31x10.50s, it was a dog. I put the stockers back on it to drive it to C4C and realized I had forgotten how "peppy" it could be.

Uphill with curves and a load on board with a 40 mph speed limit will drive you nuts though...

ymmv.

 

The end of shift lever nestles into a plastic bushing.

This bushing could take no abuse...at all. Basically it could fall apart when you looked at it. I sold soooo many, I memorized the part number decades ago.

D9BZ7K453A / It's as obsolete as the dodo bird. One FTE member looked for one for over a year...until I got involved.

As of right now...there are exactly two available, one at a dealer, one at an obsolete parts vendor.

So...go right on ahead, speed shift this puppy...it won't be very long before you need one a these little charmers.

 

I think I will just take it easy on this tranny. For future reference, are there any good manual OD's out there that can replace this tranny? It's behind a 300 I6. Thanks for the info!

 

Mazda built "M5OD" or ZF 5 speed. Both OD 5 speeds. ZF is stronger & has much lower first gear.

Both are integral bell transmissions and both use a hydraulic clutch, which adds a bit of excitement to a swap. Info on both in the previous link.