2000 Ford Ranger. 2.5L 4 banger. Had the 4R44E auto tranny in it but it failed and I needed to go to a manual due to how the truck is used and driven anyway. Managed to get the swap to manual done correctly BUT....last 2 manual trannys I have put in it vibrated like hell to the point theres clearly something wrong. First one was vibrating on the front end when letting the clutch out. Didnt matter which gear or neutral even....rev up the motor with the clutch engaged and vibrates like hell.Press in on the clutch and it stops. So now I have a tranny thats doing similar but this one is doing it associative to road speed. 40-45mph and the vibration is nuts plus its managing to pour oil out past a brand new rear tail-shaft tranny seal. So, the question....is there any such thing as a 5 speed manual that you can put in a Ranger that will 1) last more than an hour. And 2) will allow me to drive faster than 40mph? Or am I asking far too much? With all of this BS I have gotten good enough at this I can get the tranny out and on in the ground by myself in less than an hour. Thats great and all but I'd much rather not have a need to be good at this but be able to drive and go to work so I can earn a paycheck to pay bills. I considered giving up my US citizenship so I can get a good check and not have to work for a living but I dont speak spanish well enough. So, any thoughts or suggestions on this OTHER than loading up the old SCAR and dumping a couple of 20rd mags of 308 blacktip thru it? Or is that about the extent of my options here?

Ron, you seem to be a bit of a guru on this kinda stuff. If you dont mind, shoot me a private mssg here

Tranny info: 1996 Ford Ranger manual Transmission M50D
Options:MT, 4x2, 4-140 (2.3L)

 

1988 thru 2011 2WD Rangers all used the M5OD-R1 manual trans, aka M5R1
Good reliable transmission, uses ATF, yes automatic transmission fluid in a manual trans

1988-2000 2.3l and 2.5l can use the same M5R1, same block bolt pattern
But 1988-1997 are the only years with speedometer cable/VSS hook up

So your 2000 can used any year 2WD 1988-2000

Only issues I have read about in regards to the 4cyl M5R1s was input shaft bearings wearing out, and loss of all gears except 4th
But not common........Just read about a few with similar problem over the years

Manual trans input shafts are are only supported and the far ends, crank/pilot bearing at one end, and transmission input shaft bearing at the other end
So the alignment of engine crank and transmission must be very accurate, exact in fact

That is what the alignment Dowels or Sleeves are there for, transmission bolts are not specific enough, so dowels force the alignment, which is why they are such a tight fit hard to get trans off these and hard to put it back on, lol, which is good, if they were loose fit then wrong alignment

Can't think of why the vibrations unless alignment was off, when you press the clutch pedal down spinning force is removed from the clutch disc and input shaft

I guess check the play on input shaft, will be a little but very little, always use a new pilot bearing, to cheap a part not to

Never had an out of balance flywheel but I would think you would feel that clutch pedal up or down
Pressure plate on the other hand could be out of balance when pedal is up and then less out of balance pedal down
Same for clutch disc

I assume when you did the first conversion you got a new flywheel, clutch disc, slave, pilot bearing and pressure plate
And then after the quick failure of the 1st M5R1 you just transferred over the new clutch parts to the next one
If the 2nd trans had a problem then I would suspect one or more of those new parts

Getting 2 M5R1s in a row, even used, that are bad is a very big long shot, grab a Lotto ticket, lol
But it is odd, not impossible of course, just odd


You could use T5 Manual Transmission from a 87-93 Mustang 2.3L, it's a 5 Speed, problem is its shifter is about 8" farther back so comes up thru the floor at the front of the seats, but you can heat and bend the shifter arm

 

Yeah the first one crapped the bed in the front end. Rattled bad when off the clutch in every gear AND neutral. This one I now got....in the back end when doing 40+mph road speed. I did put the *** end of the truck up on some RR ties so its secure and cant fall. Had my ranch manager run the truck up to about 40-45mph while I laid under it looking. ((I dont mind saying this felt completely wrong and dangerous seeing those big *** mudder tires spinning at 40-50mph while I am laying under the truck)) and on the front half of the driveshaft I could see about 1/4" of vibration in the driveline. Meaning when it was spinning at speed and you set your gaze to sight along the edge of it, at speed, there were 2 edges you could see with it vibrating back and forth. Kinda thinking the bearings @ the output shaft side of the tranny may be shot. When he stopped and went back to neutral, I grabbed the driveshaft @ the front yoke and jerked side to side across the width of the truck and there is a little bit of play. Kinda like maybe that shaft and/or the bearings it spins on may be worn. Def shouldnt be any play like that there. Gonna drop the tranny out of it tomorrow and start pulling it down and rebuild it. At least now I have a direction to look. Also while I am at it I am gonna pop that top cap off of the tranny and drill and tap a hole and set a piece of pipe with a cap on it that will stick up thru the floor but hide under the cup holder in the cab. Will make putting fluid back in a lot easier for now and later as well if I ever need to. Maybe a little galvy 1" nipple 3-4-5" long with a cap on it. Hey while I am thinking about it, that mustang tranny you mentioned....same gear ratios or ?

 

You can pull out the shifter and add ATF thru that hole, just a pinch bolt and 3 screws, seen here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...g-replacement/

Loads of info and videos on rebuilding the M5OD-R1(M5R1) on line