2.5L ('98-'01) Discontinued Driver side engine mount

[Ed K]

Hi all,
Anyone who has a 98-2000 (and early 2001) Ranger 2wd with the 2.5L and bad engine mounts has probably figured out that the driver side mount part #- YL5Z6038BA has been discontinued by Ford.
Everybody sells 2 passenger side mounts part #- YL5Z6038BB as a set but the passenger side doesn't fit properly on the driver's side. It will raise that side of the engine putting a twist on the drive train. How much does it twist?
I don't know since I haven't bothered to put one in because it wasn't built for that side.
Unfortunately my mounts have deteriorated even more over the past 5 years so before I go to all the trouble of removing the OEM just to put the wrong part in, I was hoping someone here might have already figured out this issue.
Has anyone successfully used another mounting bracket from a different engine? Or what about the 2.3L mounts? Will they work on the 2.5L?
Can the OEM mounting bracket be safely modified to account for the different mount shape?
Here's some info I found on a forum somewhere.

Unfortunately I can't give the OP credit since I don't remember where I copied it from.

 

[fastpakr]

Try the Duralast A5328. They have it marked as left/driver specific, and the A2853 for the right/passenger.

 

[Ed K]

Try the Duralast A5328. They have it marked as left/driver specific, and the A2853 for the right/passenger.

Thank you, but it's another copy of the passenger side mount.
I already looked at those on Autozone.com.
I'm baffled why nobody makes the driver side mount anymore and instead, passes off the passenger side as the right one for both.
If my mounts get any worse I might have to go all Hillbilly on it and cinch it down with a small chain lol. Or maybe a good HF ratchet strap.
I'd really like to hear from someone who has replaced their 2.5L OEM mounts with one of the aftermarket twins to find out how bad it twisted the drive train, or if it worked without issue.
Thanks again though for the input.

 

[scotts90ranger]

That's completely different from the '87-97 2.3L mounts so I unfortunately don't know...

For what it is worth though I would NOT worry about it putting the drivetrain in a bind, it's sitting on 3 points so other than sitting at an odd angle that doesn't matter for anything unless you plan on driving on a 10 plus degree sidehill constantly (oil frothing issues...) it won't do anything...

 

[Ed K]

That's completely different from the '87-97 2.3L mounts so I unfortunately don't know...

For what it is worth though I would NOT worry about it putting the drivetrain in a bind, it's sitting on 3 points so other than sitting at an odd angle that doesn't matter for anything unless you plan on driving on a 10 plus degree sidehill constantly (oil frothing issues...) it won't do anything...

I'm pretty sure a drive train is designed for a certain angle, and putting the drive train over the factory center line tolerance will cause issues. Or at least that's what I was taught way back when. I could certainly be wrong.
Maybe it's not enough of an angle to do any damage, I don't know. It just seems logical to me that they were designed differently for a reason, and putting the wrong one on the driver's side just doesn't sit right with me, no pun intended.
You might be right though, I just don't have any data from other 2.5L owners who used the aftermarket twin kit on their trucks to know if it works or not.
I might have to eventually go with the aftermarket set, I just don't like it.
Everything's on hold right now anyway since the truck failed Pa inspection for some rusted out spots under the cab, and the driver side rad support mounting arm.
I just figured while It's sitting again I would try again to find the right mounts.

Now that I think about it; almost all the major headaches I've had with this truck have been on the driver's side. Rusted out front brake line? yep. Busted out rear leaf spring eye? yep. Broken rear upper shock mount? yep. Hole in the frame right between the shock mount rivets? ( opened up as I was pounding out the first rivet after grinding down the heads) Yep again. Frozen parking brake cable? yep, driver side. The most trouble I had on the drinker side was the leaf spring front eye bolt ( I changed the springs, shocks and mounts as a set, as well as the brakes all around) Now the body's a different story. The entire drinker side is banged up from a side swipe accident before I bought it. Other than that only the driver side has been a major pain in the ass, at least so far. So why shouldn't the engine mount be any different? And guess where most of the rust damage is that failed inspection? Damn driver's side.
Thanks for the input.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I get it but I'm also not making up what I said, at work I've read through engine application manuals from General Motors for notes on installing them in boats and industrial applications so I've seen what the limits are and why. That and I also ran my V8 Explorer for 50k miles with a broken passenger side engine mount so it sat pretty crooked (I tried to fix it, it was a worn out casting on the block side and instantly broke the bolts off in the block if you used low range reverse)

That said, I wish you luck, I just don't have anywhere to look, maybe I'll look tonight...