2.9 transmission

[ty.forestcom]

I recently picked up a 1988 xlt long bed. 2.9 auto. Only one problem. It only moves in reverse. No problem because I want a standard. I’ve been looking into the M5R1 transmissions and what cars came with the them, hoping to source a parts/doner car and get everything I need; given I’ll need much more than a transmission haha. It’s been tough.

So what are my options here? I got the truck with 39k miles supposedly original, sat its whole life. It’s got an oil change sticker from when it was last driven in 2001, next due 42k, never got there. I hate seeing it an auto and wouldn’t mind a 302 swap as I have an engine available to me. The T5 would be my go to, kinda pricey.

I’m young this is my second vehicle and while it is a project car, I can’t afford to dump all kinds of money into it.

Thank you
Any help is much appreciated

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Best bet is to fix it and drive it and save up money and parts until you can do what you want. A 302 swap is not exactly cheap.

I’m always suspicious of “low mileage” vehicles that are old. That said, automatic transmissions don’t like to sit and they don’t like heat. I used to have a fairly low opinion of the A4LD autos, which is what you have. Then I put a shift kit (TransGo) and a bunch of valve body work into my 92 Ranger and it was a whole different animal. So, they can be not bad. Hard to say what you’re dealing with though, usually reverse is the first thing to start going on those so you may have more serious transmission issues.

For a replacement automatic, you can use one from a Bronco II, Ranger, or Explorer. I’m not sure off hand, but I think it was somewhere around 92 they changed the shift solenoids in them and around 95 they went to the 4R and 5R transmissions. You can use an auto from a 2.9 or a 4.0

For a manual swap with the 2.9, I’d get an M5OD out of a 4.0 Ranger, if it’s 2wd I believe that limits you to 90-94 and if it’s 4x4 I think the speedo is in the T-case on those so you could use any 4.0 M5OD

 

[ty.forestcom]

Thank you for the response Sir. The car supposedly ran like a top until one day the owner said it just stopped moving forward. The oil seems to be coming from the modulator side so possibly an easy fix, though I doubt it. One owner, seemed like a reasonable old man, story aligned with the vehicle.

I’ve been looking at the 4x4 transmissions, you can swap the guts into any 88-99 2wd M5R1, what do you think about that?
the 4x4 could work alone if I used the transfer case wouldn't it? Of course need to redo the rear but getting the truck moving is my #1.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Might be worth doing some investigating and troubleshooting of your current transmission. Could be a faulty vacuum modulator or something if you’re lucky. Unfortunately my transmission knowledge gets a little thin past the point where I do some valve body work on autos and replacing transmissions.

 

[ty.forestcom]

Thank you Sir.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’m also going to move this over to transmissions, might get a little more attention since the 4.0 crowd doesn’t always come in the 2.9 section and they have the better transmissions