I have a 97 Ranger 2WD and automatic trans. A friend of my is giving me a 90 F-150 with a working motor and auto trans. The truck is ugly and pretty beat up. Anyway, i wanna do the sway and wanted all the pointers I can get. I've been a mechanic for 5 years now and have all the tools I need, just don't wanna miss anything and I know you guys have all the info I need. Thanks for all your input in advance.

Ben

 

What PCM/ECU should I use? Does everything pretty much bolt up? Do I need a diffent fuel pump or is mine flow enough? Any custom cutting and welding? What do I need to do as far as suspension to handle the extra weight? Is this actually worth it since I do have the 4.0L motor right now? Goal is to be able to tow a heavier load without too much strain. I do have 8.8 posi-trac I will be putting in with 33 spline axles. Thanks again.

 

you mean 31 spline axle? is it out of an explorer?

 

First off I wish you luck, you have a long ways to go in order to swap in a 302.

You can use almost everything off of the F-150, short block, heads, intake, fuel rail, radiator, wiring harness and ECU. Some of the things you are going to need is a dual sump oil pan, headers, oil filter relocation, motor mounts, and a big hammer. You will need a new fuel pump to feed the 302. You can replace yours with a high flow in tank unit for under 100 bucks. Would be worth finding out what trans the F-150 has now. Hopefully not an AOD. Depending what your budget is you may want to upgrade a few things while your in there like the cooling system, timing chain, and gaskets. You will have to have some sort of exhaust system made for the truck, as well as a driveshaft, although you may be able to have one modified. If you have an extended cab you can run one long single piece driveshaft, but they can cause vibration issues. Make sure you deal with a good high performance drive shaft shop. You will need to modify the transmission crossmember to accomodate the new location of the trans mounts. That will require some welding and fabrication. As for the additional weight on the truck, with a 97 2wd you should have a I-beam suspension in the front of your truck so you can replace the front coils with coils meant for a higher lift or leveling. Skyjacker sells lift coils is 2", 4" and 6", I suggest getting the coils one size larger than you have now. For the wiring harness, you can swap the entire harness and PCM but you will need to do some re-pinning in order to get the gauges to work properly, but if you have a tach that will not work no matter what, completely different for a v6 than a v8.

If you need some more specific info feel free to PM me.

 

Yeah I meant 31 and yes they're from an explorer. My91Ranger, I take it you've done this before? I do not have a tach so I guess that won't be an isssue. I'm doing this cause I'm getting the F-150 for free. Oh and yes I do have TIB and its an extended cab. Is this gonna be worth the labor?

 

Lots of info and parts sources for 97 and earlier 302 swaps:

http://www.jamesduff.com/broncoII/v8conversion.html
http://www.harwoodperformance.bizland.com/
http://72.20.96.178/commerce/ccc1010...-bronco-ii.htm
http://www.rangerpowersports.com/for...play.php?f=159
http://www.v8-ranger.com/

 

Its fun, i'm not sure on the power differences of your particular motor compared to the 97 4.0 though. One down side to the swap is you lose OBD II, not sure if that matters to you or not. There will still be a good bit of costs besides the labor though, and its always nice to freshen up the motor while you have it out. And to you first question yes, I have a 302 in my truck that I have done alot of work on to get everything right so i've dealt with a good amount of these problems.

 

what if I used the PCM off of a explore with a 5.0 in it? OBII is important to me because diagnosising problems is so much easier...lol

 

That would take some more research. It is possible, one of the biggest concerns with that is the firing order, i'm not sure if you have an HO block or not, which has a different firing order.

 

90 F150 302: 15426378 (non-HO)
Explorer 302: 13726548 (HO)

The Explorer PCM also requires several Explorer-specific parts that are not present on the F-series 302:

High data rate harmonic balancer/pulley/reluctor ring
High data rate Crank Position Sensor
Camshaft position sensor and Synchronizer
Coilpacks and matching secondary wires
Returnless fuel rails and injectors (99+ PCM only)
MAF sensor
Engine harness
probably more

 

the 90 f-150 should have the AOD if it has the 302. Not the best auto trany in the world but im not sure if the 4R70W will fit on that 302. but i'm sure Bob would know for sure. But a 4R70W is alot better than the AOD, and can be made perty strong.

 

Yea I agree the AOD is rather junky, i've blown more than my fair share of them. As for the 4R70W I thought part of that trans was computer controlled? I'm sure Bob knows. Also he could run a C4 or C6 trans if he wanted to.

 

How can I get a hold of the infamous "BOB". I'm trying not to dump too much money into this project. I just think since the F-150 will be given to me, I could have a project for the winter time when business is slow. Thanks again

 

Bob is Rwenzing, he posted above.

 

The 4R70W (previously named AODE-W) is fully computer controlled and is a much better transmission than an AOD. The 99+ 4R70W's got several important upgrades making them the best years available. Just add a shift kit. A 4R70W from a 99~2001 Ex will operate perfectly using a 99+ 5.0 Explorer PCM.

C4's and C6's are good transmissions but they will kill fuel economy (no overdrive).

 

Duh !!!! Sorry. Don't I have the 4R70W in my Ranger? What do I need to change mechanically if I use the 4R70W?

 

No, your Ranger has either a 5R55E or 4R44E. Any Explorer 4R70W will bolt up to your F-series 302 but you would need to switch to the Explorer torque converter as well. A 2WD Ex trans would be what you'd need for your 2WD Ranger and you would probably also need a modded driveshaft to finish it up.

The 4R70W transmission will not work without computer control. A compatible Ex PCM can do the job but it would force the changes to the engine that I listed above. Baumann makes a standalone Transmission Control Unit and harness for the 4R70W but it costs about $500.

 

hhmmm...so I guess I'll roll the dice with the AOD. I know after I do my swap, I'll have enough torque to pull things but do you think the Ranger is too light to pull, maybe a 20ft. or so boat? i know with the 4.0L I can pull wave runners or maybe pop-up camper.

 

if you dont want to spend alot of money your looking into the wrong option...

 

Well I figure I'd save a lot on labor cause I can do all the work at my shop. I don't think parts will cost too much as long as I keep it simple and not try to be too fancy.

 

yeah if you go the 4R70W route, i have a Baumann shift kit in it and i love it. holding up great

 

For cost, do a worst case estimate ... then double it. Same for time.