Transmission swap

[74_Bruce]

I'm new to this forum but my 74 Bronco has been in the family since it was new. The factory C4 finally gave up the ghost and I want to swap it out for an AOD of some sort for daily driving. I've been surfing through the forums and have come to the conclusion that everyone is doing diffent things. My question is...What would be the best solution for daily driving to bring down the rpm's and what do I need for the conversion? Any and all ideas are appreciated. Thanks.

 

[monza]

Go have a look here:

http://classicbroncos.com/tranny-toploader.shtml

that should get you a good start

then talk to the fellows at Wildhorses (wildhorse4x4.com)

My off the cuff recommend would be a New Process NV3500 it has a good spread of gear range for on and off road. the 4500 is more expensive and ratio'd more for heavy duty and off road.

the rest is up to you.

Monza.

 

[Broncobill78]

I'm new to this forum but my 74 Bronco has been in the family since it was new. The factory C4 finally gave up the ghost and I want to swap it out for an AOD of some sort for daily driving. I've been surfing through the forums and have come to the conclusion that everyone is doing diffent things. My question is...What would be the best solution for daily driving to bring down the rpm's and what do I need for the conversion? Any and all ideas are appreciated. Thanks.

Well, since you've been driving it with an automatic and the replacement you mentioned was an automatic I'll assume that the transmission you want will be an automatic. If not you have plenty of 5 & 6 speed standards to choose from but after I smoked my first couple of clutches rocking an F350 w/40's out of mudholes I've stuck with auto's in my 4x4's. The six speed was great in the Mustang, not so cool in the truck.

I'd say that yeah, the AOD is going to be your box of choice for what you're talking about. It's a fairly decent overdrive auto and when rebuilt they're pretty stout. The next newer tranny up the list would be an AOD-E but for that one you'll need electronics. The AOD-E piggybacks off the engine processor so it won't want to work without the proper engine in front of it which of course means finding a stand-alone aftermarket processor for it (certainly not impossible just an added expense) and it'll be the same deal for any transmissions more modern the that. You can always install an overdrive unit behind the C4 but they're expensive all on their own & you're still left with needing to rebuild the current transmission (AND buy a set of new custom length driveshafts, although that's probably a hit you're gonna take with any swap you make). All things being considered the AOD swap isn't a bad idea. If you're installing one from a salvage yard or parts truck you'll want something 88' or newer because those are upgraded units but if you purchase a ready-built unit it should incorperate the newer valve body & other upgrades anyways. It's worth doing though, in the years to come you'll really appreciate that 4th gear and the AOD have a pretty nice ratio 4th that you should enjoy at highway speeds (but it's not like you can't swap in whatever ratio you want if/when you have it built)

 

[monza]

oops - sorry

for some reason i was thinking manual trans !

prolly cuz i am looking at a manual swap.

what a ****.

sorry dude,

:blush:

Monza.

 

[Broncobill78]

oops - sorryfor some reason i was thinking manual trans !

prolly cuz i am looking at a manual swap.

what a ****.

sorry dude,

:blush:

Monza.

Oh man, now you're making ME feel bad. My post wasn't a response to yours & I hope you didn't take it as such. I was just figuring that he wanted to stay with what he had (more or less). Bottomline is that the tranny you want should really be tailored to the sort of driving & goofing off that you do. I prefer playing it the mud which means that I get stuck from time to time & after smoking a few clutches trying to rock out of mudpits I swore off the things. On the other hand if rock crawling is your gig then a 5 or 6 speed will be a VERY reasonable choice and at the end of the day you still have more gears to choose from than an auto. Personally, I feel like I can do pretty much whatever I want to with a properly built auto. An upgraded valvebody & shift kit will allow me to shift it manually and keep it in whatever gear I choose for as long as I want (or until a piston comes thru the hood, whichever comes first) and it also means that the Wife & my Oldest can drive it without making me cringe every time they shift. To be honest there really isn't enough info in the original post to know how he uses it other than to infer that it's a daily driver and he wants an overdrive gear and he can get that with either a stick OR an auto.

I think that anyone who first off takes the time to respond and give suggestions is helping out & even more so when you extend yourself further & include a link to make it easier for the guys you're trying to reach. Props to you man & it was my bad if the post didn't come off the way I meant it to.

 

[monza]

heh heh,

its all part of a conspiracy to get other drivers to test the mods we are considering

/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

at least 74_Bruce has options now.

Monza.