Overdrive unit....

[SportCustom]

My 70 model has a factory installed overdrive unit that has not worked for some time. I was told that one of the gears is bad in the unit by my grandad. My grandad had the cable pulled out and a hose clamp installed to keep the cable pulled. When you push the cable in the OD unit makes a nasty noise. Does anybody know what this OD unit is called and who works on these?

Thanks,
Todd

[1970F250]

it might be a gear vender od.
http://www.gearvendors.com/

[FORDification]

I'm assuming you have a manual three-speed, correct? That was the only transmission that Ford put an overdrive behind in the light-duty trucks. I believe you'll have a heavy-duty Warner T-85, like this one:



I'd imagine you're going to have to find a transmission shop who can take a look at it for you and see what's going on.

[steveheer]

That looks like the one I have. Mine actually came out of a donor truck that I was pulling FE parts off of for the Mustang.

Anyway, they are great for running lower gears on the freeway! But finding parts was a chore. The first gears tend to get damaged as well as the matting gear on the cluster because it's a non-sincro. If your first gear seems to be working well you may not have to worry here.

If it's grinding when you unlock the unit, more than likely the 1 way clutch and/or the planetary gearset is messed up. Without tearing it appart you won't know. If you do it yourself, there is a snap ring under the expansion plug in the top! It took me awhile to figure this out. After that everything came right appart.

It should be a t-85N with an r11 overdrive.

Good luck!

Steve
69 F100 300I6
67 Mustang fb FE 431ci
72 Gran Torino Sport 351W
91 Bronco 351

[SportCustom]

The three normal gears work just fine. It only grinds when you try to let the cable back in to engage OD. What would something like that cost to repair?

Thanks,
Todd

[steveheer]

I don't know. I rebuilt mine myself. Bearings and such are easy to find and fairly inexpensive. The hard parts can be hard to find. If you have the opportunity I'd take the thing appart and see what you have.

[bluef250]

Check out this site for parts http://www.drivetrain.com/vartransp26.html. You can search for information on the T85 overdrive and finds lots of information on this unit. They have been around for years. Check out this site
http://www.classictruckshop.com/clubs/e ... /drive.htm