My friend has an 1989 Bronco, and wants to swap transmissions to gain an over drive gear, what would be his best bet?

Depending on what he has done to the truck, the cheapest might be just to sell it and buy one that has OD. Also it is a lot less work.

If he realy likes the truck, get the OD version of what he has. Being an 89 I thought everything had OD by this time.

I've heard rumors of '89s receiving OD, but IME they're all C6. Maybe some of the 302s got the AOD?

My '90 Bronco is stock with E4OD and 351. A '90 with 302 would have the AOD.

My '91 bronco came with 5.8L 351W, E4OD, BW-1356, 8.8 rear.
What engine he has would be helpful in determining what will
bolt in.

1985-1989 trucks w/ 302's usually had the AOD.

His best option is the AOD, which will bolt to either the 300 six, 302, or 351. The E4od is stronger, but requires an immense amount of wiring, as the AOD is a stand alone tranny.

But the upgrades necessary to get an AOD to live behind a 351W don't come for free.

There's something about flexplate to TC clearances with a 351W that I don't quite remember the details of at the moment.... something about them being too close, I believe. At any rate, most of the folks I know that have tried have made junk out of the AOD within a few hundred miles.

You can buy the JET or B&M tranny guts, or the whole tranny that will withstand 700= hp, so you can build it as strong as you want. The 5.0 mustang guys have been running these for years. I still think you would be cheaper building an AOD, than wiring an e4oD

Originally posted by sclemons
But the upgrades necessary to get an AOD to live behind a 351W don't come for free.

There's something about flexplate to TC clearances with a 351W that I don't quite remember the details of at the moment.... something about them being too close, I believe. At any rate, most of the folks I know that have tried have made junk out of the AOD within a few hundred miles.

I think you were thinking of the C6/AOD flexplate issues. IIRC, the AOD flexplate sits farther away from the block than the C6 flexplate and will cause the pump to fail. Or it could be the other way around. I forgot. Rade was the one that brought that fact up.

In addition to an insane amount of wiring, for the E4OD, there's the tone ring and sensor, in the rear diff, that are necessary, for it to shift right.
Also, we're assuming it's an auto. Is it? In '89 you could get either the SROD (POS), or the NP435.

I sure thought the M5OD was the standard in 89.:confused:

Originally posted by firegod33
In addition to an insane amount of wiring, for the E4OD, there's the tone ring and sensor, in the rear diff, that are necessary, for it to shift right.
Also, we're assuming it's an auto. Is it? In '89 you could get either the SROD (POS), or the NP435.

Mmmmm, not necessarily. You're thinking of this 'cause your Bronco is a '92. '90 and '91 used the tone ring for RABS purposes only. Take it from a '90 owner.

In the Broncos at least, Ford stopped w/the 4sp manuals in '87 ('87 may have received either the T18 or NP435 - there is some debate). '88 was the first year of the M5OD, I learned to drive in an '88 with M5OD and I6.

th400.. yea i know it's a chevy but it's cheaper and it's better =p
or a zf 5 speed manual
or the AOD

I believe you're right, sort of. The M5OD replaced the SROD. The NP435 was available until '90. Not common, but available.

Originally posted by sandkimo
th400.. yea i know it's a chevy but it's cheaper and it's better =p
or a zf 5 speed manual
or the AOD

No argument on the TH400 (475's sound even better, at least in theory), but I will say I've got one in my van and that thing shifts WAAYYY TOO EARLY, even if you've got the pedal to the floor.

What I don't understand is that you recommend the TH400, the ZF, and then the AOD????? That's like Beemer, Mercedes, and Hyundai.

I really like my Hyundai tranny:flipoff2:

The parts are out there to beef these things into oblivion, you just got to go sniffing after the 5.0 guys.

Just remember the aod is a couple of inches longer . You could have to do some drive shaft changes . Just put bigger tires on to get some ratio . But you can allways make anny ford work with just about any other ford parts . The parts dont even have to be the same color, like some folks would have you believe.