F150 manual to hydraulic clutch

[jlayne]

ok i have a 81 F150 with a 3 on the tree and it has manual clutch... i have been REALLY wanting to put a OD 5 speed in the truck, the fords in the late 80's and 90's up to the new body used a mazda 5spd with a hyd. clutch and even though it isn't a very stout tranny i want to put one in my old garbage hauler...

has anyone swapped a manual to hyd. clutch before.. doesn't look very hard at all but i'm just curious as to what i'm gonna get into before i have parts scattered everywhere

best i can tell it (and hope) it would be as simple as getting the newer clutch pedal assembly with the correct rods (bolt in) and drilling some holes in the firewall in the correct places for the master to mount to... not sure if they had more reinforcements around the mounting area but that wouldn't be hard either and running a line down to the the slave on the tranny... i did the same thing when i converted my jeep xj over to a 5 speed about 100K ago and she runs like a top and you couln't tell unless you ran the VIN that it wasn't stock... it was pretty easy on the jeep... anybody crossed this bridge with a ford truck?

last question does anyone know what type of speedo connection these mazda 5's have on them? be nice if that would hook back up without much fuss. Thanks fellas!

 

[adrianspeeder]

The M5OD may not be as tough as it's big brother the ZF, but it is plenty strong for a halfton truck. Our 97 has pulled trailers that would overload my diesel and it still is a lot of fun to shift. Throw the M5OD into a bronco, and you have one badazz ford fun machine. I love em, great tranny.

Adrianspeeder

 

[jlayne]

well that makes me feel a little better... i had a fellow tell me the other day the tranny was junk, i know they aren't the stoutest but like you say with a halfton that has a mild 351 and doesn't pull anything heavier than a 4wheeler in the bed i think i will hold up just fine as well....

just curious, are they still using the M5OD i was under the impression that wasn't used in the new style trucks with the modular engines?

 

[adrianspeeder]

The M5OD is still trucking along. From 97-03, and 04 heritage you could get a five speed with a 4.2V6 or a 4.6V8, but not the 5.4V8. Most of these trucks (very few total actually) were the XL stockers, and a loaded XLT V8 is very unusual. For 05 now you can get a very limited v6 F150 with the M5OD as the only tranny with the V8s is auto. Tis a shame.

Adrianspeeder