Hey everyone. Just wanted to give an update on the Ranger: After 6 months of playing around and conducting countless hours of research, I have concluded that the combination Bellhousing, Flexplate and Torque Converter for my application for some reason will not work. After talking with TCI back in March, they suggested "spacing" out the bell housing to engine on top of the block plate spacing. That worked and solved the thrust bearing issue however, it recently aloud the torque converter to misalign with the input shaft of the transmission and cause a noise closely relating to a belt squeal. I immediately parked the truck and checked things out under the hood and everything seemed fine. I then decided to drain some of the transmission fluid after looking at some forums and learned that it could be transmission related. The fluid had metallic particles in it, almost like metal flake paint in a paint gun prior to spraying a car. Contacted TCI again and they advised that its an alignment issue and to change out the bellhousing to a stock style bellhousing. They also said to inspect the transmission and converter for any abnormal wear and/or damage, put it back together and see how it works. I'll keep you guys informed as I plan on knocking this out over this upcoming weekend.
Here's a list of part numbers:
New Bellhousing: TCI-513320
Old Bellhousing: TCI-513300
Lads and Gents, the bell housing swap went very well. The thrust bearing issues are solved along with the misalignment and spacing issue. The truck acts and preforms completely different now and all of my other problems such as idle, throttle response and driveability are solved. Its amazing how the right parts make everything come together. Thank you everyone for your input and time.