What would YOU do?

[Vexy]

My truck's automatic transmission (4R55E) is dead. I am stuck between buying a remanufactured transmission for $1300 or buying a 1997 Explorer w/ 5.0L v8 and 140k miles for $1000 OBO, and just swapping that drivetrain into my truck instead.

My 4.0 v6 that is currently in my truck has roughly 135k-140k miles on it and works perfectly. What would you do...transmission swap or v8 swap?

 

[kunar]

you should be able to swap in a manual for less than either of those options. if youve got the time and the place (and the ambition) the explorer drivetrain would be cool and you should even be able to sell off your old engine and the explorer axles and stuff to make back some money.

 

[Vexy]

I got the time and place so I may go the v8 swap route.
And to the manual transmission route...I'm not sure how comfortable I would be in the tight stuff with a manual transmission.

Thanks for your opinion, I'd love to hear from some more of you guys!

 

[upnsmoke]

I have never had much luck with rebuilt automatics. Too many times I have seen them die quick and not shift right when they do last. I have rebuilt two of my own, a C4 and a Th350, and feel like it was worth my time to know they were right. I have not driven the C4 yet, but the Th350 went in a friend's car and worked fine. Both of those transmissions are considered simple compared to a lot of others, so I can't say I would be able to rebuild any automatic, but I would think it was worth a try. I just can't bring myself to spend the money on another rebuilt trans when I don't know if I can trust it. Depending on exactly what you are doing with the truck, a manual swap may be worth doing. Worst case, replacing a clutch costs less than another rebuilt automatic, and you can definitely do that yourself.

 

[adrenalnjunky]

The whole reason I'm driving a Ranger right now is cause the trans in my Blazer has died for the 3rd time. 2 remans and I'm going to rebuild the 4L60 for myself this time I think. Last remain was supposed to have all the heavy duty stuff they could find. 3 dead transmissions in 130,000 miles. /sigh.

Sent from my cm_tenderloin using Tapatalk 2

 

[4.0B2]

rebuild the trans yourself is my answer.
get a good book on it.. buy an overhaul complete set... tear it down, find your issue, and put it back together. Just pay attention to the tolerances in everything when going back together, a good book will tell you the tolerances.

 

[Vexy]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Just found a 96 B4000 5 speed just like I have, on craigslist. 216k miles, new clutch assembly, throw out bearing, and slave cylinder. Only thing is that he said its a bit hard to get into some gears. The guy is asking $800 for it. I'm gonna see if I can talk him down a bit. It would be a great donor for the M5R1 swap and also a great parts truck. Then I can scrap the rest.

 

[trail B2]

The V8 sounds fun but it's going to cost some money to get it in there and running.Gas is around 4.30 a gallon here and it's not going down much if any before it goes up more.Auto's are nice four wheeling but if it's not reliable it's always a worry.Manuals are more reliable in the older rangers and that is more important to me.If you get the Mazda put bearings and synchros in it.That's well towards the end of the life cycle of the M5OD.The long lasting economical choice is the manual tranny and same old truck.

 

[Vexy]

Okay I think I'm going with an M5R1. I did a bit of searching but couldnt find a few answers. Will I need a different tranny crossmember? Different rear driveshaft? (I swapped in a 1 piece driveshaft)

 

[Destroyer000]

cross member no. drive shaft no.. ive swapped my 99 from auto to 5spd,, if you have any other ? hit me up.. you can use your steering colum, just have to cut the ear off for the shift cable, you can unbolt the shifter, your going to need, a clutch, flywheel, starter, manual tranny harness, pedal assembly, clutch line, clutch inerta switch, slave cylinder, tranny computer, that should about do it.. its a pretty stright forward swap. i was able to swap mine over in a day.

 

[Vexy]

cross member no. drive shaft no.. ive swapped my 99 from auto to 5spd,, if you have any other ? hit me up.. you can use your steering colum, just have to cut the ear off for the shift cable, you can unbolt the shifter, your going to need, a clutch, flywheel, starter, manual tranny harness, pedal assembly, clutch line, clutch inerta switch, slave cylinder, tranny computer, that should about do it.. its a pretty stright forward swap. i was able to swap mine over in a day.

I know how to drive em, but i'm relatively new on where some things go and whatnot. Like the master cylinder and clutch inertia switch. I could probably figure it out or look up pictures though.

 

[snake]

Me? I'd go on www.car-part.com and find a low mileage used one for cheap and swap it out...

 

[adsm08]

I'd set it on fire and push it into the zippy hole.

 

[Will]

I have never had much luck with rebuilt automatics. Too many times I have seen them die quick and not shift right when they do last. I have rebuilt two of my own, a C4 and a Th350, and feel like it was worth my time to know they were right. I have not driven the C4 yet, but the Th350 went in a friend's car and worked fine. Both of those transmissions are considered simple compared to a lot of others, so I can't say I would be able to rebuild any automatic, but I would think it was worth a try. I just can't bring myself to spend the money on another rebuilt trans when I don't know if I can trust it. Depending on exactly what you are doing with the truck, a manual swap may be worth doing. Worst case, replacing a clutch costs less than another rebuilt automatic, and you can definitely do that yourself.

The trannies you overhauled are easy. The A4LD has issues that cause it to fail soon after a soft rebuild. These are correctable with machine work. You can do a search and find the fix. That isn't a bad tranny, when it works, and if I had one now I might go to the bother so I could keep my overdrive and lock-up converter. But I'm ditching my manual and going back to an auto--a C5. This truck did have an A4LD in it which didn't fail. And it now has an M50d, which did fail once and was rebuilt.

 

[snake]

I'd set it on fire and push it into the zippy hole.

A zippy hole? Lol...