1999 4.0 w/ 5r55e and BW1354 into an 88 ranger! Help Please!!

[AdirondackRanger]

Long time member.. not so many posts.. looking for saving grace in helping get my sons truck finished!! Starting basically from the chassis up. First the drive train and fuel delivery. Then working on the interior modifications.


Been in the process of building an 88 extended cab 2wd to 4wd conversion.

Swapped in the engine crossmember and front end from an 88 4wd. (fairly easy swap if the chassis is bare.) 2wd and 4wd frame rails are the same. The 2wd had factory rivet holes in it for the fitment of the 4wd engine cradle. Rolling chassis was blasted/primed/painted.


donor truck- 1999 ranger 4.0 with from what I can tell from the "D" code is a 5r55e(right?) and a BW1354 transfer case (still not sure on this).


Swapped the 2.9 motor mounts onto the 4.0 block.(engine and trans are now mounted on the chassis) Deleted the engine damper. Welded the upstream o2 sensor(x2) bungs on the y pipe. Cat/Exhaust piping/muffler/tailpipe is complete.

Working on driveshafts now.. this is the part that is where we slow down.

Flipped the factory carrier bearing crossmember over and bolted it back in. One piece driveshaft conversion for the rear. And onto the front..

The donor transfer case has the double cardan joint.. and the length from that to the yolk on the front differential is approx 34".. (how do I measure the length correctly??) Anyone know if there is a drive shaft that will work in this setup??

I'm looking for some direction here.. If there is anyone that has done this swap can you please chime in.. I'll post some pictures of this mess when I can.

 

[RonD]

Yes, 1999 4.0l OHV ranger would have the 5R55E trans

This article tells you how to measure driveshaft: http://www.therangerstation.com/how...ng-a-front-driveshaft-for-a-1998-ford-ranger/

Yes, 1991 and up Rangers used BW1354, 1990 could be either 1354 or 1350

If you will be using 1988 instrument cluster then it has a mechanical speedometer, so needs speedometer cable.
1999 BW1354 won't have that hook up, 1990 to 1997 transfer case will have it, 1998 may or may not.

If the build will have electric speedo, newer cluster, then no worries, except for GEM issues, if mechanical then you may want to do some horsetrading for an older transfer case, which will have a different front yoke setup

 

[AdirondackRanger]

Yes, 1999 4.0l OHV ranger would have the 5R55E trans

This article tells you how to measure driveshaft: http://www.therangerstation.com/how...ng-a-front-driveshaft-for-a-1998-ford-ranger/

Yes, 1991 and up Rangers used BW1354, 1990 could be either 1354 or 1350

If you will be using 1988 instrument cluster then it has a mechanical speedometer, so needs speedometer cable.
1999 BW1354 won't have that hook up, 1990 to 1997 transfer case will have it, 1998 may or may not.

If the build will have electric speedo, newer cluster, then no worries, except for GEM issues, if mechanical then you may want to do some horsetrading for an older transfer case, which will have a different front yoke setup

Thank you Ron D.

Am I better off getting a different transfer case? the plan is to use the complete electric setup from the 99. Including the dash. We're currently moding the air vents to mate to the 88 hvac box. Then using the cable controls for that.

If I do need a different transfer case.. what year will work with the 99 electronics?

 

[Spott]

Thank you Ron D.

Am I better off getting a different transfer case? the plan is to use the complete electric setup from the 99. Including the dash. We're currently moding the air vents to mate to the 88 hvac box. Then using the cable controls for that.

If I do need a different transfer case.. what year will work with the 99 electronics?

If you're using the electronics and dash from the '99, then the transfer case you have is great.

 

[adsm08]

The front drive shaft from your donor truck should be the correct length. I have run the later 1354, double cardan, shaft with and M5OD (same length as your 5R) with both a D28 and D35. It works, as long as the connection at the transfer case is correct.

 

[RonD]

1999 Ranger speed sensor was on the rear axle, Ford shared the ABS rear axle sensor to get electronic speed signal, 1998-2000.
So you will need to swap rear axle over.

The rear axle speed sensor runs close to 20,000PPM(pulse per mile), Ford speedometers(and 1999 computer) need 8,000PPM
So Ford used the GEM(generic electronic module) to correct the ABS sensor pulses to 8,000PPM, GEM was programmable for tire size.

4-Wheel ABS vehicles were different, the 4WABS module could also do this correction, so in 1998 to 2000 GEM did it unless it was 4WABS equipped, then 4WABS module did it

 

[AdirondackRanger]

The front drive shaft from your donor truck should be the correct length. I have run the later 1354, double cardan, shaft with and M5OD (same length as your 5R) with both a D28 and D35. It works, as long as the connection at the transfer case is correct.

I must have something wrong then.. the donor truck is a torsion bar truck with a mounted axle/diff.. the driveshaft doesn't extend and it's easily 4 inches too short..

As of last night the cab is back on the frame.

 

[AdirondackRanger]

So i found the correct transfer case and front drive shaft. It came off a 97 xlt. I also got the complete engine harness with the trans pigtail. I was just going to cut it up and use it to modify the ecu wires to fit through the firewall... but I'm wondering If I can use it to run the sensor on the transfer case? Will this make it so that I don't need the rear axle with the abs/speed sensor? The only thing I see wrong with the harness is the OSS sensor wires were cut off and butt connected together. Not sure if it makes a difference but the 5r55e I am using doesn't have that sensor any way.

Can anyone tell me if I can use this harness?