transmission replacements for an 84 with 2.3 & 4 speed W/OD

[pedal2themetal45]

I think the general naming convention on car-part.com being total gears including OD is the clincher here. Car-part (and participating yards) call the TK4 a "4-speed" and the TK5 a "5-speed". Done deal.

HI,
Ok so what do you call this and is why I say 4 speed with OD.. So how do I know if a 5th gear (marked 1 - 5) and OD (1-4 w/OD) are the same ratio.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

The circle with the D means Overdrive. So it's a higher ratio than 1 to 1. If the handle is marked 1 to 4 with OD then 4th is 1 to 1. If the handle is marked 1 to 5 then 5th is 1 to 1.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yes, it is technically a 4 speed with overdrive but everyone calls them 5 speeds... it really is semantics but this is the internet so you'll get that

 

[pedal2themetal45]

Google search difference in Ratio's between a 4 W/OD and a 5 speed.. they show a difference . Would the .76 be a higher gear than the .86?
The 1984 Ford Ranger equipped with a 4-speed manual transmission featuring an overdrive (often marketed simply as the 5-speed Toyo Kogyo/Mazda TK5) has the following internal gear ratios: [1, 2, 3]

• 1st Gear: 3.96:1
• 2nd Gear: 2.07:1
• 3rd Gear: 1.39:1
• 4th Gear: 1.00:1 (Direct drive)
• 5th Gear (Overdrive) 0.086:1

The 5-speed manual transmission found in a 1984 Ford Ranger is the Toyo Kogyo TK5. The internal gear ratios for this transmission are: [1]

• 1st: 3.84:1
• 2nd: 2.04:1
• 3rd: 1.28:1
• 4th: 1.00:1 (Direct Drive)
• 5th: 0.76:1 (Overdrive)

 

[franklin2]

HI,
Ok so what do you call this and is why I say 4 speed with OD.. So how do I know if a 5th gear (marked 1 - 5) and OD (1-4 w/OD) are the same ratio.

I see what you are talking about, and you are not wrong. We are just trying to help you find parts for your truck. I think if you do any type of search for your truck, and call it a "5 speed" I think you will get better search results calling it that.

 

[RobbieD]

"Overdrive" was kind of a marketing buzz word back then. It was also a big marketing deal when the A4LD came out in '85.

80's Rangers even had the cute little "Overdrive" emblems.


For all practical purposes, especially this late after the party, I think that searching for a "5 speed" for your '84 will work just fine.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

.76 is a higher drive gear than a .86. So it will give a higher top speed ( Theoretically ).

I'm not sure why the difference between the 2 transmissions you posted. The first link was the only one that gave gear ratios that I could find. The second wanted me to sign up, which I won't do. The 3rd and 4th were the same Ford catalogue, which I could not find a transmission ratio breakdown.

I do know that the m5od came with 2 different ratio spreads depending on which engine it was behind. The 4 cylinder started out with a deeper gear in first, not sure about the OD.

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

I dunno what's up with your google search results or your citations. Rangerstation says the TK5 OD is 0.84. I might've missed them, but I don't see any gear ratios in the '84 Ranger brochure you posted. I do see it call the two manual transmission options "4-speed" and "5-speed overdrive".

Again, I don't think anyone's judging or correcting. Just pointing out that at this point in time, most folks are gonna call transmissions like the TK5 and M5OD 5-speeds, and "4-speed with overdrive" has always been ambiguous and potentially confusing.

 

[JoshT]

I don't think Ford made a shift knob with a 5th gear marked that had less than 6 gears, they're all that OD marking. Although I haven't seen a knob for a ZF6 since it has two overdrives... there's 5 gears so people call them 5 speeds... way simpler, with that shifter knob you get things like one of those "customer states" videos I saw a while ago of a mechanic whos customer complained that their Ranger engine stalled when put in drive, they were referring to the OD but since manual transmissions aren't common anymore someone somehow thought that was just the auto option or something?

All of the ZF6 transmissions I'm familiar with are still single OD units.

For the trucks it's one low pulling gear, 4 regular gears, and one OD gear. No "5" marking on those either. R,L,1,2,3,4,OD

It was also used in some foreign built cars with different gear ratios. Those didn't have a a pulling gear like the trucks, but still a pretty low first gear. Still no double OD, the 5th gear was 1:1 and 6th was OD. Not sure how all of those were marked, but a quick persual of pictures from the respective cars, shows the pattern marked R and 1-6. Also a different shift pattern than the truck transmissions.

As y'all have been trying to explain to OP it's called a 6 speed due to 6 forward gears, regardless of the fact that one of those is overdrive and another isn't meant for normal driving. Been that way for decades. The NP435 in my '68 is called a 4 speed, even though first is a granny gear not meant for normal driving. Really wish it was a 5 speed for an OD ratio, and that swap may happen eventually.

Google search difference in Ratio's between a 4 W/OD and a 5 speed.. they show a difference . Would the .76 be a higher gear than the .86?
The 1984 Ford Ranger equipped with a 4-speed manual transmission featuring an overdrive (often marketed simply as the 5-speed Toyo Kogyo/Mazda TK5) has the following internal gear ratios: [1, 2, 3]

• 1st Gear: 3.96:1
• 2nd Gear: 2.07:1
• 3rd Gear: 1.39:1
• 4th Gear: 1.00:1 (Direct drive)
• 5th Gear (Overdrive) 0.086:1

The 5-speed manual transmission found in a 1984 Ford Ranger is the Toyo Kogyo TK5. The internal gear ratios for this transmission are: [1]

• 1st: 3.84:1
• 2nd: 2.04:1
• 3rd: 1.28:1
• 4th: 1.00:1 (Direct Drive)
• 5th: 0.76:1 (Overdrive)

Don't trust Google AI, it will pull data from anywhere and often times isn't correct. I just ran a google search for TK5 gear ratios and the results it gave reference pages for completely different transmissions. Every transmission manufacturer uses different ratios for different gears. Often similar, but still different. Pulling reference data from a different transmission does not work.

There were two different Toyo Koygo transmissions used in the early Rangers. One commonly called a TK4 used 4 forward gears (4 speed) and had no OD. The other is commongly called the TK5, it had 5 forward gears and the 5th was an OD ratio. The number of forward gears is the number of speeds you have, regardless of whether it is with OD or not.

FWIW, I tried a few different google searches based on TK4 and TK5 gear ratios. No two AI results gave the same answers, and none of them matched the results you posted above or what is listed in TRS's own tech library.

If you can't find a suitable TK replacement transmission, consider a swap to a newer M5OD. With the approrpiate driveshaft it will be a bolt in swap for a newer and better transmission.

 

[JoshT]

I dunno what's up with your google search results or your citations. Rangerstation says the TK5 OD is 0.84. I might've missed them, but I don't see any gear ratios in the '84 Ranger brochure you posted. I do see it call the two manual transmission options "4-speed" and "5-speed overdrive".

Again, I don't think anyone's judging or correcting. Just pointing out that at this point in time, most folks are gonna call transmissions like the TK5 and M5OD 5-speeds, and "4-speed with overdrive" has always been ambiguous and potentially confusing.

And I'd like to point out that those brochures also call it a "4 speed manual" and a "5 speed manual overdrive". No "4 speed with overdrive" in there, regardless of what any decals or emblems on the truck may say, or what you assume from looking at te shift knob.

Staight from the brochure:

 

[franklin2]

You would think it would have been more efficient to keep the top gear in the transmission 1 to 1, and just add a gear to the bottom lower gearing in the trans. For example. instead of have a overdrive with a .84 5th gear, just make 5th 1 to 1, drop the 3.73 final diff ratio to 3.73x.84=3.13 or a 3.00 to 1 ratio in the rearend and have the same outcome. Put the extra gear down low to keep your take-off power there.

If you have a 4.10 ratio, common for the 4 cylinder engines, .84x4.10=3.44. Make a ratio close to the 3.44 and make 5th gear 1 to 1 and have the same affect. Just at a extra gear at the bottom to help the 4 cylinder get going I guess you would not have the "overdrive" marketing though.

 

[JoshT]

You would think it would have been more efficient to keep the top gear in the transmission 1 to 1, and just add a gear to the bottom lower gearing in the trans. For example. instead of have a overdrive with a .84 5th gear, just make 5th 1 to 1, drop the 3.73 final diff ratio to 3.73x.84=3.13 or a 3.00 to 1 ratio in the rearend and have the same outcome. Put the extra gear down low to keep your take-off power there.

If you have a 4.10 ratio, common for the 4 cylinder engines, .84x4.10=3.44. Make a ratio close to the 3.44 and make 5th gear 1 to 1 and have the same affect. Just at a extra gear at the bottom to help the 4 cylinder get going I guess you would not have the "overdrive" marketing though.

That's what a lot of people do for the older pre OD trucks. Not so much adding a lower gear to the transmission, but installing taller tires to get a better final drive ratio. If I can manage, I'm going for all of it with my older pre OD truck. Lower first gear for pulling /crawling, the regular gears (plus one for ZF6), add an OD for highway driving, and taller tires.

Keeping (and building) the FE, the plan is to adapt a NV4500 or ZF5/6 in place of the NP435. That'll leep the low first gear, give me good ratios for driving, and add an overdrive for highway efficiency. That will also allow me to install a better/stronger two speed transfer case. While the 435 is a strong transmission, the version I have is 2wd mated to a single speed Dana 21 transfercase (that way from factory), and won't accept other two speed transfer cases.

As for why they did it, if I had to guess it's cheaper and easier for the factory to have one engine and transmission combo, then adapt it to different applications by changing the final drive ratio. Bean counters win out over efficiency.

 

[Shran]

Ford made a 4 speed overdrive, it had 4 forward gears and 1 reverse gear. It was found in the larger f100 and f150 trucks. It was called the RUG, the SROD, and various other names. It was a lousy transmission and did not hold up very well.

They took the old 4 speed toploader type transmission, and flipped the arm for 3-4 gears around. So what used to be 4th was now 3rd, and was 1 to 1. Then they put gears in the old 3rd gear position to get overdrive. The gear spread was horrible. I doubt a little 4cyl could even handle it and would probably stall they had so much rpm drop between 2nd and 3rd gear.

This is also why you are probably having trouble finding one. You need to keep that 4 cyl wound up, and it will still get decent fuel mileage. Too much overdrive is going to kill it.

I had one of those in a '80 F100. People bitched about them a lot but it had 200k or more on it when we sold the truck and my dad used it for hauling water from the late 80's up until I started driving it in high school in 2004. I actually liked it, it shifted nice and I think it'd be a good pair with lower end axle gears (3.73 or 4.10...) I remember not needing to shift into 4th/OD until I was well into highway speeds... that truck had really tall highway gears. Those transmission were way more highway friendly than the NP435/T18/T19 and I have nothing bad to say about them.

 

[kishy]

Hi,
Semantics aside, the shift lever pictured in this thread is that of a TK5 which is a 5-speed transmission. So what you're looking for is the transmission described as a 5-speed. Sometimes they also get described by the shape and bolt pattern of their pan, which helps avoid mixing them up with the FM transmissions.

That aside, if your shifter is super sloppy, the transmission is in all likelihood actually fine and the slop is in the shifter. This has been a much-discussed problem in the past, well before I got into Rangers. There is, or was a company that sells a replacement TK5 shifter because of how common this issue is. I am not immediately aware of its availability today.

What I did with my TK5, which behaved extremely badly when I got the truck, was put on the shifter from a TK4. The pivot ball assembly is all metal on those, vs all plastic on the 5, and it is way, way tighter. People have described needing to modify it to get proper engagement on certain gears but I did not modify mine, just bolted it on and immediately felt like I had a brand new transmission underneath me.

I would strongly recommend you pursue the same option before trying to swap the trans itself. Be warned that the shifter may be unique to RWD vs 4x4, I never got clarity on this.

 

[JoshT]

Hi,
Semantics aside, the shift lever pictured in this thread is that of a TK5 which is a 5-speed transmission. So what you're looking for is the transmission described as a 5-speed. Sometimes they also get described by the shape and bolt pattern of their pan, which helps avoid mixing them up with the FM transmissions.

That aside, if your shifter is super sloppy, the transmission is in all likelihood actually fine and the slop is in the shifter. This has been a much-discussed problem in the past, well before I got into Rangers. There is, or was a company that sells a replacement TK5 shifter because of how common this issue is. I am not immediately aware of its availability today.

What I did with my TK5, which behaved extremely badly when I got the truck, was put on the shifter from a TK4. The pivot ball assembly is all metal on those, vs all plastic on the 5, and it is way, way tighter. People have described needing to modify it to get proper engagement on certain gears but I did not modify mine, just bolted it on and immediately felt like I had a brand new transmission underneath me.

I would strongly recommend you pursue the same option before trying to swap the trans itself. Be warned that the shifter may be unique to RWD vs 4x4, I never got clarity on this.

Sounded like OP had already ruled out the shifter itself being an issue. If that isn't the case, Allstate transmission offers a complete replacement shifter assembly. Core shifters also offers a "short throw" shifter for them, but currently showing out of stock. Some places used to carry bushing for the ball end of the shifter, but I can't recall who.