Before the flaming I did search and found questions like this where people just tell the asker to search. I also posted in tow rig and didnt get what info I was looking for.

Has anyone swapped out an AODE for an E4OD? I have a 94 E150 van that I bought to tow a sammurai with and camp in the van while out wheeling. I assumed (yes I made an ass out of myself with this one) that it would have an E4OD being that new and heavy. Not so. It definately has the AODE and a gvw of only 750 pounds more than the actuall vehicle wieght.

I wont get rid of the van at this point. I got a pretty good deal on it an eclipse package opted out van in better than beautifull condition. It runs great gets decent mileage and is the most comfortable vehicle I have ever owned. It has plenty of towing power with the 351W and I have towed my jeep on my trailer at 5k pounds down the interstate. Because of that now the tranny is slipping and I feel its very on the way out. Is ther anything that can be done about the week aode?

So do any of you have any suggestions for me please? Any info, flaming, or advise is greatly apreciated.

You can convert from an AODE to an E4OD you just need to get the E4OD comp and wiring harness and swap it all over or get an aftermarket trans controller from http://www.baumannengineering.com/tcs.htm

The AODE is not a bad transmission and there are buildup parts out there for it. Try searching for Greg Evans/ Factory Tech or monster 4R70W. He is a Ford trans tech guy that makes one hell of a rebuild kit for them along with a few other parts.

You can convert from an AODE to an E4OD you just need to get the E4OD comp and wiring harness and swap it all over or get an aftermarket trans controller from.

So is it as easy unplugging a tranny harness from a donor vehicle? Or is it a cut and splice type of deal? I can probably find a donor but if it takes an electrical degree I am screwed.

The AODE is not a bad transmission and there are buildup parts out there for it. Try searching for Greg Evans/ Factory Tech or monster 4R70W. He is a Ford trans tech guy that makes one hell of a rebuild kit for them along with a few other parts.

I have had REALLY good luck with aode's in the past. This is my first one to go out and its not completely out. Is there really any way to make one stand up to towing? Thanks for the info!

From what I have seen and been told it is not as simple as unplugging one harness and plugging in another. The harnesses are part of the vehicle harness so you would have to separate the two.

The guys drag racing Ford Lightnings are using the kits made by Greg Evans and having excellent results. The way I look at it is if a Lightning being ran hard every day pushing 500hp isn't killing these trans you shouldn't be having problems. Then again that depends on how much weight you are pulling.

For heavy loads and long hauls I would go with the E4OD and use the Bauman controller then you do not have to worry about a new wiring harness and you have transmission that was designed to tow with. Granted you are out the money for a new transmission, torque convertor, controller, new engine computer, and possibly a new or shortened rear driveshaft.

I am not too worried about the costs of all those things. I just want it to run like it does now with no check engine lights or other issues. Thanks for the pointer on the controller. I wanted something like that for a truck I used to have that needed a manual over ride for the tranny. Thats the info I was needing though. To know that it requires separating wiring harnesses and new ecm's. Thats too much crap to deal with. I think I will give the AODE a good rebuild and see how it does. Mainly I only want to tow bar a suzuki sammurail with it. But sometimes I want to hual my jeep on the trailer wich wieghs around 5000 pounds. I can for-go that though and just always take the truck when I take the jeep. Thanks for your time.