M5OD swap for something stronger!!!

Hello all,
I have a 93 Ranger 4.0 4X4 !! I love this truck but I hate the transmission. I know I was told the M5OD-R1 is pretty weak but that is what came in it and now after doing some engine modifications, well a lot of engine modifications, I have had nothing but problems keeping the trans in one piece !!! My question here is is there any other trans, something a bit stronger, that can be easily swapped out in my truck. I looked thru the tech articles but did not see anything in there, if I missed something let me know. I really like this truck and have invested a lot into the engine and suspension along with having the trans rebuilt but over the course of a year I have had nothing but issues with that trans and I am looking for some kind of alternative that will be a bit stronger. Any suggestions would be appreciated !!

Thanks

I am editing to ask another question also. I have heard and also read a tech article here that the M5OD-R1HD is a much stronger trans. It seems one of those could probably be found fairly easily. So the question here is would that be a good upgrade to my original R1 and is it a stronger unit as they said in the tech article ??? Thanks again

supercharged?


the initial r1 and later hd are both pretty good units to 250 or so hp.


best route with normal setups is to hunt up a hd

No not supercharged, well yet LOL. Just a major rebuild with a new forged steel crank, custom made with a bit of stroke added, the block has been punched and re-sleeved at .060 over. A friend of mine works at Comp Cams and did a new cam for it and they overhauled the hydraulic rollers there for me. I had a shop here do the injectors for it then we ported and polished the heads Last was we added a set of Hedman headers to it !! All this while still keeping the California Compliant Smog bullshit in tact. It pushes out a bit over 4.5 litres and next week it is going down and going to be put on my buddies dyno and see just how much HP it is making. I can tell you one thing though and that is from the original 4.0 to the new one it revs a lot higher without any problem and you can really feel the increase in power between 2500 and 4000 rpm. It runs great and I originally had TransCrafters rebuild the trans but about a month in forth gear blew, they pulled it and did it over then third gear did the exact same thing two months later and now I am tired of messing with it and want something a bit stronger. Thats why I mentioned the HD model as it comes on the newer rangers with the 4.0 SOHC and the motor is a lot more powerful that my original 4.0 !! Im just hoping a HD can take my new rebuilt motor or I may be up the proverbial creek without a paddle !!

The only difference between the R1 and the HD is an extra bell bolt hole. The guts are the same.

Sounds to me like your trans was rebuilt with sub-standard parts, since the M5OD is the good trans for the 4.0

×2, something is wrong other than you're putting too much power to it (for one thing, 4th gear cannot "blow" since it's just a straight-through 1:1 coupling of the input shaft to the output shaft, so it probably is a shifter issue shared between 3rd & 4th unrelated to the torque going thru it).

Like has been said, The M5OD is a rather stout trans (whoever told you otherwise is wrong, and probably should not be the one rebuilding your trans if that is what is going on). A very similar version of it was used behind 5.0L V8s in F-150s. It should handle most anything a 4.0L can throw at it, even a built one (short of doing side-steps with the clutch at 4K RPM anyway).

×2 also on what was said about the R1HD trans. They added the extra bolt hole to facilitate bolting it up to the later SOHC 4.0L engines

The one significant problem area on the M5OD is the three rubber shift rail plugs at the top-rear of the trans (behind the shifter). Over time they tend to shrink and start leaking (and only during operation, not while parked, making the leakage more difficult to spot). Any competent tranny mechanic will replace these plugs with new (or even better, with core plugs) when servicing a M5OD, as no transmission in the world will survive long after it loses most of it's lubricating oil.

As everyone else said, the M5OD is the cats meow unless you can build an adapter plate to run a full size truck transmission. Search for Rulebreaker, he did it and most of the information is still out there.

Otherwise you could always swap in an automatic! I like manuals a lot but an auto will definitely cushion the rest of the drivetrain. I know a couple guys with A4LDs in their rock crawlers that have had good success, just keep them cool.

I assume your intended purpose is offroad use, right? And not a pavement/race application?

wow. well depending on what pcm and tuner your using I would think your gonna continue to fawk these up.

there are some options for sure....huge power guys in the sand are running th 400's so theres chevy adapters out there to get ya on a chevy nv 3500 or 4500.

the t5 is doable thanks to 4.0 stangs....

you can construct a wc t5 in 4wd fashion, but I don't see it as much better for what it will take to create it. the 4.0 stang allows this easier then in the past but they were killing the t5's as well. so converting the t5 4.0 stang will still be risky.

while the gearing of the m5od is not really much better, the m5od gets better considering truck gears for wheelin the t5 when you go to the 4.xx first gear you really weaken it. so its a bad way to go, but it is an option.

with these easy options not being so easy for most....... I suggest to get all new gear components and maybe cryo the gears in the m5od. likely the cheapest and easiest way to go....because you don't have to find a new trans, t case, and fawk around with driveshafts and shit....


but, like I said... the big power 4.0 stang guys were killing the t5 fairly easily, so they have an adapter to put the v8 trans in them....of course its the mod motor pattern...but that still gets you an r2 or zf trans....and a zf will be hard to kill with no supercharger. but you have the giant t case...or at least a 4400 series to deal with. the 205,208 become options as well.


sooo...your better off with a 4.0 to chevy adapter and run a 4500 with a 241 hd....which is still a shit ton of work.



I have to disagree with the others about the m5od hd version though....
as to the hd, the way I have under stood it, 2001 and up got a different setup for the syncros somewhere..but all of the gears and shafts/bearings remained the same. so there are some differences. but it was an improvement due to power issues.


the 3550 nv would be a good way to go with a jeep rock trac t case. I don't remember anybody selling a direct bell for those, but I would just have an adapter plate built if you think the m5 will not work.

lot of companies do plate adapters.

If you can run a ZF, then an Atlas becomes by far the best (but not cheapest) option. A 205 would be my second choice because it fits between the Ranger frame rails with no modifications.

208 would be a very close third since it is chain driven and will be quieter and more refined but you want the Bronco version rather than the pickup version since it has fixed yokes on both ends.

Then again you could find a C5, build it, and run your 1354 behind it. You lose overdrive but I think it is your best option outside of using a full size manual transmission.

bobbywalter said:

well depending on what pcm and tuner your using I would think your gonna continue to fawk these up.

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I really don't think the OP's issue has a thing to do with the gears... It sounds MUCH more like an issue with the shifter. 3rd & 4th are shifted on the same rail & shift fork (and as I said, 4th isn't even a 'gear' at all), so that's likely where his issue is.

bobbywalter said:

I have to disagree with the others about the m5od hd version though....
as to the hd, the way I have under stood it, 2001 and up got a different setup for the syncros somewhere..but all of the gears and shafts/bearings remained the same. so there are some differences. but it was an improvement due to power issues.

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They changed the shifter too, the stub shaft is different and is not interchangeable between the two transmissions.

4x4junkie said:

I really don't think the OP's issue has a thing to do with the gears... It sounds MUCH more like an issue with the shifter. 3rd & 4th are shifted on the same rail & shift fork (and as I said, 4th isn't even a 'gear' at all), so that's likely where his issue is.

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understood. and with this, if it is overpowering the case/bearing loads you blow it to hell from deflection. if it is power, he needs to go to a different unit. a stroked 4.0 can exceed 330 pounds n/a easily on stock injectors from what I have seen...(talking 12-14 k engine too that I would never spend).

supercharged guys wanting to run manuals almost always give up and go to the c4. then the later trans for the v8 stang adapter came along and you would see more manuals at which time I faded from this activity.... the last several times I have been able to visit at the tracks though, I seen few rangers at all and and no v6.

85_Ranger4x4 said:

They changed the shifter too, the stub shaft is different and is not interchangeable between the two transmissions.

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yeah, i knew most of the specifics at one point when looking to do upgrades previously. theres several differences. the years I have seen were always different...some sources say 96 and others 99...but 2001 is my parts suppliers claim and they are usually right, and ford shows upgrades for 01...so thats how I got to that detail. I figured the others were confused with the autos endless upgrades which.... ya know....

bobbywalter said:

yeah, i knew most of the specifics at one point when looking to do upgrades previously. theres several differences. the years I have seen were always different...some sources say 96 and others 99...but 2001 is my parts suppliers claim and they are usually right, and ford shows upgrades for 01...so thats how I got to that detail. I figured the others were confused with the autos endless upgrades which.... ya know....

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Only reason I know that is when I was looking into how to get an R1 shifter to work on an R2 I ran across that in a tech article on here.