Hello everyone,
Been a long while since I've been on here. I can tell you it's been a long sad process. First off the 76 F150 Explorer got sold for practically nothing after me and Dad put out work into her. Dad past away in 2017, just five days after his Birthday, RIP Dad! Friend of mine here in El Paso was kind enough to give me his 82 F100, 300 6 4 speed manual, with A/C, but it doesn't start yet. Got a few things at the Pick-A-Part to start. one was a complete Gauge Cluster with Tachometer intact. Mine was without. can I just mount it up and run with it or do I need to go back for something I left behind. Oh yeah, I got the cluster from a e250 Econoline. I Forgot the year but I believe it is still sitting there in the yard. So can anyone tell me which way I'm going with this one?

 

If your truck has gauges then it is a easy swap.
If yours did not have gauges then not sure you can swap?
Also not sure on the van gauges to pickup truck swap?
Dave ----

 

If his truck had lights originally in the dash with no gauges, if he swaps the cluster the truck will not charge the battery.

 

Yes FuzzFace2 it did have Gauges but no tach. What is an advance adapter over drive?

 

As said if the truck has gauges then a gauge cluster that has gauges and tach is a bolt in I just have not seen it posted if a van cluster would work or not?
BTW my truck also did not have a tach and I installed a cluster with tach and it works great.

It was called Advance Adapter Range Splitter over drive.
It gives a manual transmission a over dtrve gear.
So my NP435 being a 4 speed where 1st is a granny gear good for pulling heavy loads from a stop and 4th being a 1:1 ratio (no over drive).
Depending on the axle gear ratio you may be limited on how fast you can go because the motor RPM is so high.

This was not a problem back in the day as anything with over drive was rare and people were use to the sound of the high RPM but now days if in 1:1 and doing 40 MPH everyone things the motor will blow up because of the "high" RPM when it really is not.
In 1:1 at 70 MPH in got 2500 RPM and in over drive at 70 MPH the RPM is 1800.
Back in the 80's the max speed limit was 55 MPH, that is why 55 is big on the speedo, and sure enough at 55 MPH the RPM is 1800 in my truck.

The other thing with lower RPM you should use less fuel but in my case I get the same MPG, avg 15. with over drive or 1:1 but with lower RPM I do have less wear on the motor.

Also as the name says "Range Splitter" I can split each gear turning my 4 speed into a 8 speed transmission.
I have 2 shifters, 1 for the NP435 (4sp) and the over drive (1;1 / OD) it can be fun shifting with "twin sticks" look up on Youtube.
When empty it is not worth splitting every gear as some of the ratios are to close together but the transmission ratio between 3rd & 4th is pretty big, big drop in RPM, so splitting 3rd is nice at times.
Empty you start in 2nd> 3rd (1:1)> split 3rd over drive> 4th (1:1)> 4th over drive so you are driving it as a 5 speed most of the time.

I have pulled a 20 ft enclosed trailer for my car club a few times so I do start in granny 1st and depending on the speed thru town may split all the gears up to 2nd OD as the speed is 20 MPH.
With more gear ratios to use you can keep the motor in the "sweet spot" RPM loaded or not.


For me it was the best thing I have done to the truck right up there with the rear dual tank I added to the flare side, never an option on a flare side.
Dave ----

Was as AA no longer makes the unit. I was one of the last to get one just as Covid hit, had to wait a extra month for them to make it.