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98 E250 SMB 4x4 conversion
Hello everyone,
Long time lurker, long time 4WD rig builder/enthusiast, first time doing a Van 4x4 conversion.
I have a pristine '98 5.4l E250 short body style SMB w/ manual penthouse and I'm currently in the process of collecting the parts to do a 4x4 conversion. At this point I'm leaning towards going with the Timberline kit because I'm about to pick up a 2005 5.4l F250 parts donor which will give me the axles I need and I was hoping to use the 4WD 4R100 transmission and NP271 tcase out of it as well, but it's looking like I may not be able to use them like I had hoped.
I assumed my 5.4l E250 would have a 4R100 in it and that the transmission from the F250 would swap right in, but turns out I have an E4OD. After doing considerable searching around it looks like it's not a huge problem to make the 4R100 work, but I don't want to change the PCM or rewire connectors and I haven't been able to find any conclusive evidence on the exact modifications that need to be done to the 4R100 to make it be a bolt in swap. Any information on that would be greatly appreciated.
If I can use the 4R100 that'd be awesome, but until I can be sure I can use it, my backup plan is to rebuild the E40D with the 4R100 4WD output shaft and tcase adapter.
My current 2WD E4OD uses an electro/mechanical VSS with the spinning gear for speedometer and transmission control. So regardless of the transmission I use, it looks like I'm limited to using a pre-92 1356 tcase since those also use the electro/mechanical VSS. None of the NP271/NP273's allow for this style VSS so I can't use them without a bunch of other mods I'm not really looking to do.
I currently have a 1356 tcase with the proper VSS port that will work, but it's the long slip shaft style. I understand the the 89-91 Bronco 1356's have the same VSS port and also offer the short fixed yoke instead of the long slip shaft. Those are apparently getting harder and harder to find though. It's a bummer that I threw a couple of them out a few years ago due to some unrelated divorce issues....
Anyways, is the long slip shaft style tcase going to be a problem in a van that will be lifted maybe 4 to 5 inches, or should I just keep searching for a Bronco tcase to reduce potential driveline angle issues due to it's output shaft being shorter? This will not be an offroad beast. I just want to have 4WD available for occasional snow and beach sand and highway manners are important for this particular project.
Any advice on which tranny and tcase I should use would be greatly appreciated!
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