Ford Ranger Transmission debating.

[ArcReactorKC]

My 16 year old son has a 1996 Ford Ranger we got for a song. Biggest issues with the truck, high miles 400K+ no reverse, and the brake lines are rotten.

I've crawled all around under the truck and the rust is manageable and in better condition than my 1999 F350!

He is ordering all new brake lines and a new flaring tool for the brake portion of the truck, so the next project to tackle will be the transmission.
I know these 4r55e transmissions often have the issue with the tab breaking off of the reverse band. To be able to replace that band we have to disassemble the entire transmission I believe. Other than no reverse the transmission seems to run very well, it runs through all the gears smoothly and makes no noticeable noise.

The question we are now debating is, do we attempt the rebuild ourselves? I've never rebuilt one of these myself, plenty of 4l60's and the like but I've never tackled one of these. Or do we have the transmission shop do it ($$$$$) or do we just buy a salvage transmission for less than 500 bucks and hope the gamble pays off?

Has anyone attacked a rebuild on these? I've watched a few youtube videos, I think it's definitely within our skills we just don't have a great enclosed area for the rebuild at this property. I thought for sure I could find a rebuilt or low miles ****** for under $1k but to my surprise you can't find these things for under 1500ish. I've obviously been out of the game too long.

 

[Garcky]

My 16 year old son has a 1996 Ford Ranger we got for a song. Biggest issues with the truck, high miles 400K+ no reverse, and the brake lines are rotten.

I've crawled all around under the truck and the rust is manageable and in better condition than my 1999 F350!

He is ordering all new brake lines and a new flaring tool for the brake portion of the truck, so the next project to tackle will be the transmission.
I know these 4r55e transmissions often have the issue with the tab breaking off of the reverse band. To be able to replace that band we have to disassemble the entire transmission I believe. Other than no reverse the transmission seems to run very well, it runs through all the gears smoothly and makes no noticeable noise.

The question we are now debating is, do we attempt the rebuild ourselves? I've never rebuilt one of these myself, plenty of 4l60's and the like but I've never tackled one of these. Or do we have the transmission shop do it ($$$$$) or do we just buy a salvage transmission for less than 500 bucks and hope the gamble pays off?

Has anyone attacked a rebuild on these? I've watched a few youtube videos, I think it's definitely within our skills we just don't have a great enclosed area for the rebuild at this property. I thought for sure I could find a rebuilt or low miles ****** for under $1k but to my surprise you can't find these things for under 1500ish. I've obviously been out of the game too long.

Hmm....probably the most economical solution would be to find another 96 Ranger with the same transmission in working order, but with some other problems, and buy the second one as a parts truck.

Rebuild the transmission yourself? Maybe, but it's a **** shoot. But any vehicle that old is a **** shoot, it seems to me. I recently sold my 96 Ranger for $900. Its transmission was fine, but it had a long list of other stuff that needed fixing.

 

[ArcReactorKC]

Hmm....probably the most economical solution would be to find another 96 Ranger with the same transmission in working order, but with some other problems, and buy the second one as a parts truck.

Rebuild the transmission yourself? Maybe, but it's a **** shoot. But any vehicle that old is a **** shoot, it seems to me. I recently sold my 96 Ranger for $900. Its transmission was fine, but it had a long list of other stuff that needed fixing.

We are less than 600 into this truck including the new battery I put in it.

I have been keeping an eye out for another cheap one but around here they seem to be made of gold.

 

[Garcky]

We are less than 600 into this truck including the new battery I put in it.

I have been keeping an eye out for another cheap one but around here they seem to be made of gold.

Well, I hope everything works out for you on that one. BTW, do some research on the ABS system on those mid 90's Rangers. If you're replacing all of the steel brake lines, you'll need to follow the right procedures, for sure. I can't remember what they are, but it's important. I think you can mess up and have huge difficulties with bleeding the brakes if you don't follow them.

 

[Buckgnarly]

First trans I rebuilt was that one. Not too difficult, and not a bad first choice if you want to spend some quality time with him. Get a good manual, I forget the name of the one I used but it was a huge help!
Even better project would be a manual swap!

 

[39Tudor]

Find a copy of the ATSG service manual for the transmission. It will provide all the step by step instructions for your rebuild. Based on what you see and read, you should be able to make the decision on whether to rebuild it yourself.

I knew nothing about rebuilding a transmission but managed to find my way though a full rebuild on a CD4E, then a C4, and an AOD. It’s not too bad if you can follow the manual.

Good luck on your decision.

 

[ArcReactorKC]

First trans I rebuilt was that one. Not too difficult, and not a bad first choice if you want to spend some quality time with him. Get a good manual, I forget the name of the one I used but it was a huge help!
Even better project would be a manual swap!

The old 7.3 F350 is a Zf6, I don't think any of us in the house are too keen on another manual transmission vehicle. KC traffic is annoying enough add a clutch into the mix and it makes a bad day worse. I know there have been days where I was really starting to lose my mind pulling a lot of weight down i35 in bumper to bumper stop and go traffic. Praying to the heavens for an automatic on those days.

 

[Greeny]

Rebuilt one of those transmissions a couple years ago. There were a couple of good YouTube videos on it, and we did it all following along the videos. It was pretty simple with the videos to follow. I think the rebuild kit was about $110. Ours had noisy bearings and leaking seals.

 

[Black300zx]

Is this his daily driver? If you try a rebuild yourself and get *******, will he be S.O.L, or is there another vehicle he can drive for a while?

 

[mike93lx]

I think I would swap in a junkyard ****** unless downtime from the rebuild taking longer than expected isn't an issue

 

[firebirdparts]

If you’ve rebuilt a lot of transmissions why not try? I did an AOD and that’s the last Ford I’ve done.

 

[gearhead1]

I’d go for the rebuild yourself route for several reasons:
—Cost less to DIY
-one in a junkyard is likely to have the same issue unless you can find one with low miles
-spending time with him
-you’ve been into a trans before
-you’ll learn something, and so will he

 

[unslow1]

How hard/expensive is it to get another transmission to rebuild? I like to have them rebuilt and swap them in. It also gives more hard parts on hand if the rebuild goes wrong and there are hard parts that need replaced.. They are like gold around here also.

 

[ArcReactorKC]

This will eventually be his daily driver but at the moment he drives the 2006 Kia Sorento, I think he is keen to get into his ranger after being saddled with the Kia

I think I may have found us a junkyard transmission for a shade under $400. I think we will buy it on our next trip to Iowa and then we can rebuild it before putting it in the truck.