Originally Posted by frakchered

First off SUBSCRIBED! Please post lots of pics of your straight axle job PLZ!

First question, that '79 frame, is the track bar attached to the lower part of the driver's side shock mount? Can you please snap a closer pic of that and post? I got the front sub section of a '78 bronco and it looks like they had a James Duff after market type track bar mount.

Second question, how was the camper towing with your 4.9 and the 3.73 gears? I am looking at doing my rear in the smae and I have a 6450lb camper i will be towing. I also have a manual versus your auto trans.

Thanks!

Looking forward to see how this rig turns out.

Originally Posted by Bruners4

This is my favorite gear ratio calculator.
Gear Ratio Calculator
I use this a lot as it has the transmission and transfercase ratios built in.

Originally Posted by Ron94150 (Post 16061879)

Yes, the trac bar mounts to the bottom of shock mount. I will try to remember to take some pics tomorrow.

It towed the camper pretty well at @55mph. No way I would try it down the interstate. My campgrounds are all within 15-30 miles(and lots of them). The straight shift is a huge handy cap for you. The m5od has a very high first gear and reverse ratio. If your truck is 4wd, you could use low range to maneuver the camper around. If it's 2wd, I would not even think about it, especially with any grade. I've smoked a clutch on an 06(same tranny) with 3:55 gears with a much smaller camper. I was trying to back it in to a spot that was at the top of a steep grade. That same truck also slipped the clutch pulling out from a red light with small grade with a 7k pound load of scrap metal(scrap and trailer). With that said, I pulled a 3500lbs boat a lot with it and never had an issue. I've had several m5od's and they have all been good to me, even though I wasn't good to them. The m5od's overdrive isn't as high as the e4od either, and I'm turning @ 2100 at 70, so if you do any interstate driving, you will not like the 3:73 gear. You can watch the gas gauge move. Around town at 60 and under, you will love it, and gas mileage will actually be better.

Originally Posted by Ron94150 (Post 16063459)

Yes the zf5 is a far better towing transmission. It's made for heavy duty applications and has a granny first gear. Will not be as fun to drive daily as an m5od, but a much "tougher" transmission. I put that in parentheses because I've seen a lot more grinding and wornout zf's than m5od's. The m5od's problem usually comes from leaking plugs and running them dry or worn out shifting forks, which are a relatively easy fix. But without a doubt the zf5 can handle a lot more. You can put the 11" clutch in the m5od. Doesn't fix the sky high gearing though. I think the zf5 would be a good Combo behind a 4.9 because you could run a taller rear end, keeping the rpms where the 300 likes it, down low. Around here, the small block zf5 is getting hard to find, and they are very proud of them. That's why I ended up keeping the e4od, to much work converting to a manual to only put a m5od in.

Now, let me go get those pics for you.

Originally Posted by Ron94150 (Post 16063486)

My set up has dual shocks. If you had a 2wd zf5, you have the option of a divorced np205.Attachment 137976Attachment 137974Attachment 137973Attachment 137977Attachment 137972Attachment 137975

Originally Posted by Ron94150 (Post 16065738)

Btw, you don't want to run your trac bar to the outside of the frame like these trucks. Our gear box is mounted inside the frame, and your track bar will be a lot longer than your drag link.