Transmission options?

[ISX_15]

Not sure if this has been talked about is there any transmission upgrades i can make? 85 ranger rwd 5spd.
Is there custom bell housings adapters that can be used maybe to run a 6spd? Or should i not worry too much about it? The 5spd i have now i noticed first gear is really short id prefer something else if possible.

 

[JoshT]

As a 2wd, your stock transmission should the Toyo Kogyo (Mazda) TK5. As long as it is working fine, I probably wouldn't mess with it. It might wear out, but you are hardly going to break it with a 2.8L. My 84 had that it it worked fine. I kind of wished for a short throw shifter (STS) the way I drove it, but the transmission worked great.

If you need to change transmissions, it is probably time for an upgrade, but forget the 6 speed. You aren't going to find much in the way of bellhousing adapters for the Colgone (2.8L, 2.9L, 4.0L) engines and it isn't worth trying to adapt to the engine. You can get a better 5 speed than what was available when these trucks were new and it is practically bolt-in. That would be the M5OD available behind the later 2.9L and all 4.0Ls in the Ranger. If I had needed to change transmission in my 84, this is what I was going to use along with a STS.

To do the swap you'd need the M5OD-R1 transmission, as mentioned above it can come from a 2.9 or 4.0L truck. M5OD-R1HD from a 4.0L SOHC should work as well and stronger internals, but that's not needed on the 2.8L. The 2.9L transmission is probably going to have better gearing for the 2.8L. You will also want the driveshaft from a truck with the 2wd M5OD that matches your body configuration (cab & bed).

You may also need to get the matching flywheel, clutch, and throwout bearing for the transmission. Throwout bearing I'm almost certain of. I'm not sure about the flywheel and clutch, but they'll need some attention anyway by this point.


There may be one other option. The idea interests me, but I haven't looked at it very closely. This would not be a nearly bolt in option like the M5OD above. In 2005 they threw the 4.0L SOHC in the V6 Mustang. As you can guess, they did offer it with a manual transmission. As you can also likely guess, they didn't use a truck transmission. They developed a special Borg Werner T5 for use behind the 4.0L, and that is a very good manual transmission for a street driven 2wd. The front half of the transmission should be a bolt in affair for a Colgone V6 Ranger. Unfortunately the back half and shifter was special for the Mustang. I imagine one could swap out the tail housing and shifter for normal T5 parts, but (again) I haven't investigated it that closely.

If you need to swap M5OD would be the easiest option, and would still be a fun transmission in a truck.

 

[JoshT]

...and thanks to @superj's thread, I just learned that Core makes a STS for the TK5 transmission. That would have solved my only complaints with the one I had. That would be the plastic ball on the bottom of the shifter wearing out, and wanting a shorter throw. If my 84 were still alive, that would probably be the only change I made.