88 2WD Ranger 2.9/mazda-5 - 302/AOD Swap

[Bird76Mojo]

I don't know where you found this to be true but Ford never changed the size of the speedometer hole in their transmissions. They used the same cables and gears from the 1950's all the way to the end on the Mechanical speedometers and even afterwards until the electronic speedos by using a sensor in the speedometer hole driven by a gear. When I did my swap in an 89 Ranger the speedometer cable fit perfectly in both a C4 and later a Toploader 4 speed. The AOD had the same hole every other Ford transmission had.

I found it on my 1987 302 swap truck. Using a 1992 AOD from a Thunderbird. The truck had a 2.0 5spd. The trans end of the speedo cable was far too large in diameter to fit in to the AOD. I'm not real sure on which model of trans the truck originally comes with, but trust me, it wasn't even close to fitting.


GB

 

[Bird76Mojo]

Maybe because that was an AODE he was lookin at. Only the hole for the hold down bolt was in the tailhousing if I recall was there.

and NO, it was NOT an AODE.



GB

 

[bobbywalter]

I found it on my 1987 302 swap truck. Using a 1992 AOD from a Thunderbird. The truck had a 2.0 5spd. The trans end of the speedo cable was far too large in diameter to fit in to the AOD. I'm not real sure on which model of trans the truck originally comes with, but trust me, it wasn't even close to fitting.


GB

there are two types in this era....that i know about. potentially three if you count dealer installed cruise control...


as to trans side cable ends..theres three styles for fords.

one type is fixed end.... which has the drive end which fits in the drive hole..
the drive end is fixed to it solidly...this was on diesel and non computer non cruise control trucks

just add o ring and speedo gear....the ranger can possibly have this.

one type is pushlok. the ranger can have this as well. oem electric cruise cotrol, efi, and 4x4 have this... most common style.

one type screws on. rangers dont have this from ford...but idiots like me may swap it in with a good ol top loader...

pushlok, uses a pushlok drive.


screw on, uses a screw on drive.

the drives are interchangeable so you can adapt one to the other as there is only one drive hole size...

i suspect you had some sort of dealer installed or aftermarket cruise control thing on there...making it a tumor...but still had to go in a ford hole..sooooooo


maybe it wasnt a ford hole

maybe some sort of a dodge style kogyo rear section or bell housing back whole d 50 transmission and someone just put the dodge/jeep end on the cable... do you remember the slip spline count? was it 23?







i can see that happening..kind of cool to run across some crazy shit like that....

i had dodge/jeep speedo drive for a bit....cause i had a jeep t case.

but i had cable length issues wheelin hard and stuck the ford stuff on the back of the jeep case and ran a ford van speed o cable.


hell my current setup is a 4l80 into a ford t case with the same setup...

 

[baddad457]

My 89 had the end with the sensor plug. I simply left the sensor unplugged when I did the swap, first to a C5, then a Toploader, then just before I sold it, a 68 Mustang C4.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

i suspect you had some sort of dealer installed or aftermarket cruise control thing on there...making it a tumor...but still had to go in a ford hole..sooooooo

Nope, no added cruise control or any monkeying around with parts. This was an all original 87 model. Never fooled with. The speedo cable was simply far too large to fit in to the AOD. If I'm around my parts trucks in the near future, I'll grab a couple pictures of the size difference in the cable ends vs the AOD cable end. It was quite a large difference in O.D. on the trans end of the cable. Not even close to fitting.

Mine looked like the one on your first picture. On the left side. In pictures it doesn't look that different from the other examples you've shown, but it's quite different. The VSS sensors that plug in to the AOD (and the speedo cable plugs into on some models) are a good bit smaller in diameter than your first photo. The VSS sensors, both with and without a provision for a speedo cable, are the same O.D. as well. The only difference being one can accept a speedo cable and one can't. I had to fool around with these various sensors until I found what I needed in my application, so I'm very familiar with the various models of VSS sensors.

GB

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

So which application did you have to go to to get the right cable/drive?

 

[Bird76Mojo]

What worked for my AOD, and now my T5Z, was:


Dorman 917-614 VSS Sensor - which fit the hole in the trans perfectly, and used factory Ford speedo gears. It gave the A9P Mustang ECM the signal it needs. I did have one unit where the electrical portion quit working right, but it was like 9 bucks on Ebay so I didn't expect it to last. It was bought as cheap as possible to see if all of my parts swapping would actually work together correctly. I later bought the same Dorman part from AdvanceAuto and it's still going strong for me, so I suspect the Ebay cheapy was a chinese clone.

and

"MD-506-1022-VSS Speedo Cable, 1969-73 Mustang, clip style, 63" long Ford
VSS" - from Modern Driveline. So any el-cheapo Mustang speedo cable should work.

I was able to give the ECM what it needed and the stock Ranger speedo (now switched to a 140mph speedo) the cable it needed. I had to do the tiniest amount if filing to some corners on the cable input (or maybe the length of the square drive pin) to the Ranger speedo if I recall, but it was very, very minor.

The speedo cable is WAY too long but it did allow me to go over the frame with a very large loop in it until I get one the correct length. I've logged around 10,000 miles so far and it's been a rock solid setup. *knock on wood*


GB