im building a traditional model a coupe and would love to put a t5 in it. But will it last? The car will have ~3.90 gears 750x16 Deluxe Champions, 350 hp 409. The t5 im lookin at will have v8 gears in in.
I'll answer your questions with more questions...... You gonna drive it nice, or do ya like stepping off the clutch in 2nd gear with the hammer down? Do you demand the utmost bulletproof-ness, or will ya be fine with throwing a $400 tranny at it every couple years?
Before I answer the question, I bought a tremec 3550 to put in my car. That said, the t5 guru's told me one thing, if you speed shift it, you'll tear it up. There are about 4 major rebuilders of t5's that stay real busy with them. My 3550 is larger, heavier and not as slick shifting as the newest t5. It does have the same size and capacity gears as the Ford toploader which it's based on. I knew that I would rod it every now and then and I only wanted to do this once. If you are conservative, you'll probably be fine. With 350 horse, are you conservative?
they seem to be stronger than alot of guys think, friend has one in a 56 chevy sedan delivery, 327 probably 350-375 horse power at the flywheel, he beats on the car hard, radir slicks in back so it doesn't hook up as good as it would with a modern slick but still decent. he went broke 3 or 4 stock rear axles then swapped the rear for a 31 spline olds and has destroyed a center section and an axle in that with 4.88 gears and the trans is still fine. i keep telling him it's the next thing to go but it's been in there a couple years and still works fine. his is out of a s10. i had one behind a built flathead in a 46 sedan a couple years ago and where it didn't have a ton of power it was a heavy car and it worked great the whole time i had the car. with bias plys and a 2200-2500 pound car i think it would be fine
I've had a couple of the "World Class" T-5's in Ford stuff and beat the hell out of them. The only one I ever broke was in a Ford Ranger Baja Truck (Class 7S for those that understand) with a Danny Esslinger 2.8 litre with well over 300 horse, I snapped the main shaft in half. But i really think it was as much the loading and unloading of Desert and Short Course racing that broke it. Thanks to Harrison here I'm about to put another one in my 63 1/2 Falcon Vert.
Seems like traction and the nut behind the wheel are what break them. A guy at work put one in his '78 Firebird with a built 383 and drag slicks. It lasted about 5 runs at the strip. We told him not to use it but he did anyway. Heavy car + Torque + Traction + Throttle monkey = broke T5. In a light car with a driver that isn't a knob it should hold up fine. Shawn
My T5, came from a 88 Camero with a 350 in it.... It's one of the WC units (World Class) and the shifter is on the rear. Some of the S10 units are not world class (NWC) and the shifter is about 12" forward.
Been using the world class Camero T-5 with a S-10 tail housing on several customer 32 Fords with good results. A couple of these customers have beat the cars hard with no breakage.
You can build a WC T5 to hold well over 500hp in a fairly heavy car with serious traction, just rebuild it with parts from Astro Performance or Gforce and add a billet stabilizer, so the case won't distort as easily, then the limit is whatever it takes to shatter the case. If I've learned 2 things from being into early mustangs, its how to kill a T5 and how to make them live. Incidentially, WC T5s have a shitty reputation with 5.0L Mustang guys, some of them have been through 4 transmissions in a stock 225hp Mustang, not to mention all the guys with modified 5.0s killing them like pigs at a slaughterhouse.
I don't think you'll have a problem if you don't power shift it. I've broken my stock t-5 internal sift linkage twice power shifting at the trackl. My 94 6cyl t-5 held up to 351w powered 2800 lb car with 10 Hoosier QTPro slicks pulling 1' wheelies on 5000 rpm launch without breaking anything.
It really is like anything else we all do. Know it's limits and either improve those from the start or after it chucks a few parts. They will break. We all know it but alot of the bad rep comes from high mileage units that get thrown behind a higher horsepower car. Stock 5.0 guys typically blow them from doing john force burnouts and banging gears like they're using a rowing machine. I've had them behind many different combos with good results but if you don't know it's history have a reputably place go through it. If serious power handling is needed send it to Liberty. They are one of the kings.
You may want to research going with a Richmond 5 speed. I've noticed, though, that the cost can be significantly different (read higher). The 5th is 1:1 in the Richmond so the T5 will be a little friendlier in 5th.
Go to the bathroom scale . Weigh your right fout , then your left . If your right one weighs 5 times more than your left you could be in trouble .
This bothers me enough that I had to comment. Just because a person wants to go fast and quickly, that doesnt mean they are a knob. Isnt that what real hotrods are for?
I've had a S-10 T-5 in my 28 roadster since I built it 5 years ago. It's got about 11,ooo miles on it behind a 327 with about 325HP and a 9" 350 gear'd rear. I've had an extra sitting on the shelf since I put it together and have never had to use it. I don't beat the snot out of it, but not afraid to dump the clutch at 3500 rpm either. The one thing this car does not do is hook-up. Which is probably what has saved the tranny and everything else. It does great burn-outs and as long as those tires are spining nothing is getting to twisted out of shape. Gary
I have one behind my sbc and have not had any problems although with your A whoever is riding in the passenger seat might find 5th gear uncomfortable.
Did you actually read the rest of the post? I'm pretty sure that anyone can break anything given the right application of stupid. Some of us who had experience told the guy not to use it, he used it anyway (non WC model btw), heavy car, lots of torque and dropping the clutch for a big burnout caused him to not have a transmission in short order. Going fast quickly doesn't make you a knob Abusing something 'till it breaks then wondering why makes you a knob Yeah, he's knob. Sorry my comment about someone you don't know from a hole in the ground upset you. Back to the topic at hand... Shawn
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