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FM145 to M5OD


SamFisher

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I have an 87 Ranger STX. I cant really find much info on this swap. What would be involved to do the swap?? From what I can find, the M5OD should bolt right on with a new floor plate. But I have a feeling that something else would be need. Any help would be nice. Thanks.
 


adsm08

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Trans length is off. This means drive shafts need replaced and the cross member relocated. Also the connection for the slave line is very different, meaning you at least need a line.
 

kodogtwh

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Dang. Wish this thread were more populated. I've done it on mine and the floor pan is different, unless I'm overseeing something. Trans hits the cab floor, and I had to cut the floor up in order to fit the shifter. Might have to do a cab lift or at least stack some HD washers on some new cab mounts in order to get it to stop squeaking on the heat shields.
 

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Dang. Wish this thread were more populated. I've done it on mine and the floor pan is different, unless I'm overseeing something. Trans hits the cab floor, and I had to cut the floor up in order to fit the shifter. Might have to do a cab lift or at least stack some HD washers on some new cab mounts in order to get it to stop squeaking on the heat shields.
You had to cut up the floor itself or the removable floor plate......?

The shifter on an M5OD is in a different spot than the FM-145, if you plan to reuse the floor plate then you will have to modify it. Or, on '88 up (maybe '87 as well) you can just swap floor plates from a newer truck...easy
 

kodogtwh

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You had to cut up the floor itself or the removable floor plate......?

The shifter on an M5OD is in a different spot than the FM-145, if you plan to reuse the floor plate then you will have to modify it. Or, on '88 up (maybe '87 as well) you can just swap floor plates from a newer truck...easy
I had to cut up the FLOOR. the plate is almost completely irrelevant. I have one from a column shift truck with a half moon cut out of the front edge to create half the shifter hole.
 

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I had to cut up the FLOOR. the plate is almost completely irrelevant. I have one from a column shift truck with a half moon cut out of the front edge to create half the shifter hole.
Can you post a picture of what exactly you did?

I have swapped old stuff into new trucks and vise versa a million times, not once have I run into a situation where Ranger parts swapped into a Ranger don't fit for some crazy reason like this. The only time I've had to modify the floor itself was during my V8 swap where the shifter housing came up under the dash.
 

kodogtwh

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Can you post a picture of what exactly you did?

I have swapped old stuff into new trucks and vise versa a million times, not once have I run into a situation where Ranger parts swapped into a Ranger don't fit for some crazy reason like this. The only time I've had to modify the floor itself was during my V8 swap where the shifter housing came up under the dash.
I'll post pics tomorrow, I'm pulling the carpet out to clean up the interior anyway
 

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From 88 to 89 (i think) the floor changed a little. The opening for the bolt-in plate got bigger, toward the front. The back of the opening is the same though, if i remember right. The basic shape of the floor and trans tunnel didn't change though. You should be able to use a newer floor plate to mark your opening, trim the floor, then bolt in the newer plate.
 

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