I'm at a dilemma. My right shoulder was injured 9 years ago, and it's starting to hurt a lot when rowing through the gears. I know I want to put overdrive into my 81, but I'm limited by the big block bell housing. What are my options for a good, heavy duty automatic overdrive transmission from this era?

A few details about the truck: 1981 F250 Std Duty, 400 with Weiand intake and Street Demon 4bbl carb, Lunati HE camshaft with an RV profile, and straight up timing. My main purpose in the truck is towing vehicles.

 

A C6 with a shift Kit in it backed by a Gear vendors Over /Under.. But it all depends on how much you want to spend.

 

Not totally sure not too well versed in transmissions and how they work just useage.

I have had some issues in the past with the AOD/EAOD having some weaknesses in heavy hauling. I Have used the C6 and from my experience they are bullet proof.

The Over/under would give the overdrive and the a lower gear below 1st for real heavy pulling.

Again just not too well versed in Transmissions.

 

Looked up some prices:
Estimated total: 3,100 plus install labor on the kits. Kinda iffy, but I already have a C6, so it would be easier.

 

From what I was reading and i may be wrong there was no E40d for the big block. But again I could be wrong.

 

Biggest issue I see is the controller. I might be able to find a decent one for about a grand, but the lifetime of that is a gamble. I looked into new or professionally built versions. Those priced out higher than the GV overdrive.

I could still add the GV overdrive to the E4OD, but I'll need a stand alone controller. All total, I could get the paint and body work done for the same cost as the overdrive transmission (new) and GV overdrive. Or I could add the OD to the C6 and do a full brake job ( including bearings) and probably have left over funds.

I appreciate all the input. Since my plan is to use this truck for a long haul within the next year, I think I'm going to try the GV overdrive system. I'll shoot them an email this week. And, of course, I shall provide a write up when I do the install.

 

Please update, Critter! I'm looking at the same project for my 86 250 4x4 460. I believe most automatics are not recommended for towing in overdrive, so there goes the fuel saving of the OD. The GV was recommended for towing, years ago when I looked into them. Old 86

 

I missed this somehow. sorry
My 94 F 350 4x4 Centarian has an E4OD
I think that 97 is the last year for the E4OD in a big block or diesel

 

The E4OD was continued until mid 1998 on the 5.4L then it switched to the 4R100. As far as towing, if you have the torque available and a 408 "M" block should have plenty of low end grunt. Even my probably 8:1 460 has more than enough torque to tow in OD with a 3.55 gear.

On controllers, the Baumann Optishift is much lower priced then their older units. Old 86, I changed my truck over from carbureted to MAF/SEFI and added an E4OD to replace the C6. For all of you asking, I hauled a probably 5 - 6 ton load through the Chesapeake Bay bridge-tunnel. On the upslopes, I got a throttle downshift and the RPM jumped back up to 2700 which is where I used to run with the C6 towing. After a very short time, maybe 2 - 3 sec. the converter relocked and RPM settled down to 2200 RPM.

The biggest enemy of the E4OD and most automatics is heat, the secret is to program the torque converter to stay in lockup as much as possible so it lets the engine do the work. Mine is set to 80% throttle to unlock.

 

Been out for a while. Dealing with personal stuff. Lots of build updates to do, but I'm opting out of the overdrive for now. Getting it painted.

I have an idea for an electric hand clutch I want to pursue, and I'll use the Beast to test it.

 

Critter, one of the engineers I worked with at NNS, was partially paralyzed. He built an automatic clutch system for a military 5 ton wrecker he purchased so he would be able to drive it himself. If you go digging around in a number of the pre-WWII and early postwar stuff, there were a number of systems like that, most using a vacuum electric control system.