Why skip the adapter? If there is an adapter made that allows the use of the existing Ranger t-case, why not use it instead of cobbling together parts from other vehicles to make a manual shifter work? Is the Ranger t-case not strong enough? Are there other issues? I'm just trying to learn, because I've been seriously considering the V8 swap on my '01.
Because we are cheap, lazy or both.
The BW1354 shaft installs from the front of the 4R70W. So you will need to pull everything out of transmission - pump, gears, clutches, etc to remove the existing output shaft and replace with the one for Ranger transfer case. It's OK, if you were planning on rebuilding the transmission anyways, but it is a lot of work if you have a good transmission. And a lot of people are intimidated/don't have tools to rebuild an automatic.
Note: Swapping the transmission to transfer case housing is child's play, so I am discounting the requirement to do that.
The Advance Adapters sells the shaft for ~$600 US with availability occasionally being sketchy. $1k Cdn after purchase, shipping, duty made me look into other solutions.
And ya, the 31 spline input shaft/34 (BW1356) or 39 (BW4406) tooth gears of F-150 case are substantially stronger than the 25 splines/24 tooth gears of the Ranger case. And the BW4406 can be found in electric shift models that basically bolt/wire in (look for Expeditions of same vintage as your Ranger), if you don't want to cut the floor up. The BW4406 is also only 14.5mm (~9/16") wider center to center than BW1350/4, so fits between frame rails a lot nicer than BW1356.