Wanted to do A4LD to M5OD swap on BII but I got the wrong transmission... need input on few things

[Dr.Gonzo]

I have 1988 BII 2WD - 2.9L with A4LD. I bought this BII over 10 years ago and it is my DD since. Interior is great, practically no rust and we love it. From day one I wanted to do a manual swap and possibly 4.0L swap later on. Bolt on stuff I could probably do myself. I'm perfectly fine with 2wd. It is a city truck and we don't have much snow here so I don't need 4x4. I decided to go with manual conversion when my A4LD starts to go and now is that time. It is slipping worse and worse and I don't want to invest in rebuilding it.

I bought 2WD 93 Explorer with M5OD thinking this would be a great donor for the 2WD BII but... I didn't know about the 2WD, 4WD M5OD difference and having a dummy transfer case in my BII this 2WD M5OD won't work... Frustrating... I usually do my research but I failed this time... I just figured every M5OD-R1 would bolt on...
My question is would it be possible to put 2wd M5OD in and remove the transfer case? I assume truck will need a new (custom?) drive shaft but I'm not sure how complicated and costly that might be...
I know I can take the tranny to the shop and get it converted to 4WD to bolt on the transfer case but that is practically rebuild and well ya... I know I'd get a reliable long lasting tranny after that but I can't invest in something like that right now. This one is working just fine.

What are my options? Any help would be much appreciated.
Many Thanks!

 

[BlackBII]

The 2WD M5OD will work in your BII, you just need a different driveshaft like you mentioned. Since you already have the M5OD, I would install that and use a custom drivehsaft. You can use the drivehsaft from the 2WD Explorer, likely just needs to be shortened and have a smaller flange put on the axle end. A driveshaft shop will have no problem shortening it and putting on the correct flange, since it's likely too large for the 7.5 rear in your BII

 

[Dr.Gonzo]

BlackBll thank you! I feel better now. So it is totally doable and it is not complicated as I thought it would be.
I'll check with driveshaft shop and see what they can do. Hopefully it won't cost much.
I was looking at shafts and explorer shaft is understandably beefier. Would that be too much for the 7.5 differential on BII or that doesn't matter? I'm curious cause it is probably way heavier than the BII stock shaft.

 

[BlackBII]

The shaft will work fine, although with it being heavier it will rob a couple horsepower

 

[Bird76Mojo]

You might take some measurements of the needed shaft after test fitting the Explorer shaft, then hit up a local junk yard and measure a few Ford driveshafts. I pulled an Explorer limited aluminum driveshaft and it nearly fit my V8 87 Ranger perfectly. I had to pay a shop to shorten it 1/4" lol

I think that cost me $150 for them to shorten it, re-weld it, and balance it.

 

[Dr.Gonzo]

The shaft will work fine, although with it being heavier it will rob a couple horsepower

I probably wouldn't even notice if it's couple of hp. I didn't notice any increase in power when I installed the electric fan. I probably won't see any difference here hah.
Thank you for your help

You might take some measurements of the needed shaft after test fitting the Explorer shaft, then hit up a local junk yard and measure a few Ford driveshafts. I pulled an Explorer limited aluminum driveshaft and it nearly fit my V8 87 Ranger perfectly. I had to pay a shop to shorten it 1/4" lol

I think that cost me $150 for them to shorten it, re-weld it, and balance it.

Yeah I figured it has to be installed and then I'll have to go from there... it is good to know that it is doable. 150$ is not bad but yeah 1/4" is wow... lol. Explorer shaft is fat compared to stock bii. It might be tight... it will be super close to muffler. I've contacted driveline shop today. I'm waiting for reply. Hopefully they can do it for me.