Ive been running mine for about 8 months no worries yet. I have a good clutch and shifter which ive heard helps it stay together better. I dont know how much truth there is to that tho.
I'm dropping a 351w into a 4cyl 93' coupe as well - it was an automatic - switching it over to a stick (God help me) ....the guy that's building my motor is a seasoned ford wrench/ machinist w/40 yrs exp - builds the 'factory' 5 cobra motors here in AZ - knows the FE engines etc etc ...and I asked him if I could run a T-5 instead of what everyone else was saying - to get a TKO - and he stated that it would be fine - I guess it's what you have motor wise and how you plan to drive it
...I'm on a tight budget ...and can get a T-5 rebuilt new ....cheap around here for like $500 no core ....and I think it will be ok - my motor is .30 over - flat tops w/reliefs - w/a 270 H comp cam - alum heads - roller rockers balanced and blue printed ....a little 'torque monster' is what I wanted ....and I plan on just street driving it / cruz n ....I would assume if your going 'balls' out for the drag strip - high end HP - smashing gears - then the TKO would be your best bet - spend the extra $$ ....but I will see ...I haven't really researched the cost on a TKO - but I did look around a bit - they seemed pretty expensive - ....I'm going to go T-5 and see happens ....
foureyedpride.com had a thread goin and there were a lot of people going 11's on stock t5's and there were some that broke em stock soooooooooo who knows lol
I have heard pretty much the same thing, if you take it easy and do not beat to hard on a T5 they will hold up. Side stepping, big clutch dumps and super hard launches will more then likely destroy it... I too am in the same boat, thinking about building a 408 stroker this winter... So I do not know if I will stick with the T5 or find something stronger...
I run a t-5 with my 351w. I did go through a few of them but I was buying beaten High mileage ones out of wrecked 5.0L. The current t-5 I am running was a fresh rebuild and it has lasted 4 years now. I wouldn't say I am nice to it either. I have a 150 shot of juice i use at the track I side step the clutch at 3500-4000rpm using the nitrous on the launch. That is also with slicks. This t-5 has been great. I did go through a few before this one like i said.
Rick has a point
When I consider the money I spent on the t-5's I could have put a TKO-600 in my car and never had an issue. I was running out of money at the end of my build and 300 dollars a pop for a tranny was much nicer then forking out 2500 bucks. That being said now I have spent close to the 2500 on my junker t-5s so in the long run I would have been further ahead to save for the proper tranny in the first place.