Which 4.0 & trans will serve me best?

[wahlstrom1]

haha do you have a manual ranger? if not dont pass out the advice about the manual trannys they are not built for towing. im lucky i havent killed mine yet. but the ranger auto tranny is much better for towing. get new gear you already have the tranny cool. with new gears your tranny will stay cooler on the long up hills.

The manuals are more reliable then the auto's, maybe you shouldn't be passing out the advice...... The 3.0L even with 4.56 gear's won't have the pulling power of the 4.0L with 4.10's, and he's already overheated the tranny again with the extra cooler installed.

 

[HareRazor]

I used to have an auto trans in my 91 Ranger with a 3.0 and 3.27 gears, and I have swapped to a standard. I pulled with both and I would definitely recommend the standard over the a4ld any day as when I am pulling something now I don't have to worry about my transmission getting cooked, start slipping and leaving me stranded. The only thing that is killing me now is the 3.27 gears on take offs, but my truck is only 2wd and I have the stock 215/70/14 tires.

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

haha do you have a manual ranger?

Yes. 2 actually. One happens to be the 4.0 OHV 5-spd combination I was recommending. Yes, I've actually towed with it. Pretty extensively too. Maybe you should at least read someone's signature before making personal attacks

Some of the larger loads I've towed with it include a 6x12 enclosed trailer full of junk and a 7'x16' twin axle car hauler with 4000 lbs on it.

All this with a 4.0 and M5OD that has 185,000 miles on it and still works flawlessly!

My other ranger has 265,000 miles on its M5OD that still works perfectly fine, even though the last 15,000 miles have been with the abusive 270 HP turbo engine in front of it.

I have about 200,000 miles of experience (not to be confused with 200,000 miles on one truck starting at new) with M5OD's across 3 different trucks. I've replaced clutches on them. I've modified the engines in front of them. I've towed some pretty large trailers with them. I've said it before and I'll say it again: There are only two ways to break an M5OD: one is dump the clutch at 5000 RPMs, the other is run it out of oil.

On the other hand, I've seen the A4LD's overheat and puke just trying to drive into town. I'm not saying you can't tow with a auto, just get a huge trans cooler and temp gauge and be very careful. But in the end, the manual will be statistically more reliable when towing large loads. Few here will try to dispute that. As already stated, Ford underrates the manual tranny towing capacity to protect themselves from excessive clutch replacement under warranty due to people who can't work a clutch right trying to tow too much.

And take it from someone who's tried it: a mere 10% increase in rear end gear is not going to make a worthwile difference in the 3.0's ability to lug a camper up a mountain.