i'm just curious of what kind of gear ratio you would have when u use a 4 banger tranny with stock gears? and if at all possible, when rebuilding a 4 banger tranny, can u put V8 gears into it making it a V8 t5?? i know that at 65 mph, my tack says 2 g's. and at 5 g's, i peg my speedometer at 85 mph. thanks for any info...
4 banger tranny to 302??
- Thread starter twindragons187
- Start date
z2o_what
Member
Some 4 speed T5s have a 3.97 first gear, vs 3.35 for a V8. 4cyl input shaft is a different diameter than a V8, requiring a special pilot bearing. Because of the different gear ratios in the 4cyl model, to change to V8 gearing requires changing the cluster shaft and out put shaft, not worth the cost. Output shafts are 400 new, high alloy gear sets are 400, plus a general rebuild kit for 160, you might as well just buy a brand new T5.
Stang8URMPRT
Active Member
I used 4 four cylinder T-5s in my 83, and broke every single one... 1 from a broken shift fork, 3 I broke the input shaft gear/4th gear. Fun stuff though.. Like having 4.10s in the rear when actually having 3.08s... 5th gears is like .87 or something.. Awesome for the road course I'd think.
z2o_what
Member
i just got this 88 gt. the guy told me that it has a 4 cyl. tranny. and its had a 4 cyl. tranny in it for years now...and not had a problem. but also, how do u tell if you have a 4 cyl. tranny or V8 tranny?? im goin on what i was told.. just like i have no idea if there's any mods done to it. i do know that the air silencer was removed and it has a k & n filter in it. but when i got it, the timing was way off i think. after 3 g's on the tack, it started to spark knock something fierce. now, it seems to bog down a little bit. but then it picks up.
well, the previous owner used to race it, and i just broke the clutch cable the other day...so, i'm not driving it like a granny. had to power shift it when the cable broke,(was on my way to work). the previous owner had no mercy with the car. he litterly drove it like he stole it. but it still runs strong. no ticks. tranny works great.
Ditto - they were never built to withstand the abuse of a V8. I think the max torque rating for them was around 240 ft-lbs - what was the 5.0 rated at again?dastang2 said:
If you want the stronget production T5 out there - they are a little hard to get but they are the 83' and 84' NWC T5. They had a 2.95 first gear ratio (which Ford went back to when they offered the aftermarket T5Z), and they did not have an issue with 3rd gear grenading - and they last.
No offense to anyone....but i think some of you talk about this subject but honestly have no idea what you're talking about....seriously, not trying to argue, but i have a friend with an '86 coupe who's running a 4 banger T5 right this second, and he's running 12.9s in it all day long, power shifting the whole time. We used a '78 Mazda pickup truck pilot bearing (if i remember currectly...we took the V8 bearing to Pepboys and went through their parts untill we found one that was the right size inside and out to match the smaller shaft). He's been using it for nearly 2 years now and his car is about 75% racecar/toy and 25% cruiser. I'm not at all disagreeing that they ARE weaker, but you guys are jumping the gun with them being as weak as some of you make it out. His motor is a stock bore 302 with GT40 heads, Victor Jr. intake, 650 Holley, headers/exhaust and 3.73s. With the 3.73s, he actually turns a few more RPMs at cruise speeds than i do with my 4.10s, so if your motor is fairly tame/stock, it's like getting free gears. If you have the money, of course get something more solid, but if you've got the power to blow up a 4 banger T5, then the V8 T5 won't last much longer anyways and you need something beefier anyhow.
85_SS_302_Coupe said:
They are weaker, plain and simple. Like I said, they were rated at about 240 ft/lbs max torque capacity. Just because one person acheives something very uncommon - does that make us all wrong? The V8 T5 was an underacheiver by itself anyway.
The T5 was built to be lightweight and power the wheels of your everyday mid-size or sport compact. It evolved over the years and how the hell it finally made it into a V8 backing the F-bodies and the stang is beyond me - but it should have never gone behind one. If in fact the 5.0 we all know best really put down 300 pounds of torque, and the 90' and up T5 was rated at 300 foot-pounds capacity (285 for ealrier years) - then does anyone else see that problem in the first place? Poor design, borg warner should have built the gearset stronger and fix the 3rd gear problem, and it should have had room to breathe and not just barely matched to it's limits with the engine it was mated to.
87'GTstang said:
Ok first things first...like i said, no reason to debate this, but YES, it does make you all wrong. You think this guy has some kind of freak occurance trany or something? Think about this....what is the stock V8 T5 rated at? How many guys are running 10s in them RIGHT NOW and not breaking them? 99% of the broken trany problems are DRIVER RELATED and have nothing to do with the quality of the parts or the power that's driven through them. You miss a gear with 300+hp, and it doesnt matter what trany you've got, you run the risk of breaking something. Like i said clearly in my first post, i agree, they ARE weaker, but they're not made of balsa wood either.
Like anything in life, if you take care of it, then it will last. Everyday spirited or aggressive driving should not be that harmful to the tranny. What breaks them is anything but a stock engine with some power, drag racing, dumping the clutch, or flooring it from a standstill. Stay away from this and they will last.
I would not say that we are all wrong. If this one person can make it last, then what about all the others out there that have had them fail or break on them? Breaking a T5 is as regular as saturday morning cartoons - it just happens.
I would not say that we are all wrong. If this one person can make it last, then what about all the others out there that have had them fail or break on them? Breaking a T5 is as regular as saturday morning cartoons - it just happens.
rd
Founding Member
They are a good trans, and relatively durable. The problems are only noticeable because there are so many of them out there.
Mine lasted 3 years in a 110 hp six cylinder Jeep, before the 3-4 synchro wore out. Other than that, it was fine. And very easy to fix.
I am currently looking to find a 4 cyl set up for my new 2.3 toy.
Mine lasted 3 years in a 110 hp six cylinder Jeep, before the 3-4 synchro wore out. Other than that, it was fine. And very easy to fix.
I am currently looking to find a 4 cyl set up for my new 2.3 toy.
Yea, a lot of his making it work has to do with his driving ability...and he actually runs that 12.9 with ET streets. Like i said, i'm not at all saying they're diamonds in the rough or anything, and i'm not advising that anyone run out and buy one to drag race with, but if the car in question is mostly stock and you're not racing it, i wouldnt worry too much about it. I just find this whole subject kinda funny because he's not the only guy i know who's doing it...there are guys on here who run the same thing, i'm actually surprised nobody else has posted about it. My car has a 1200 dollar tranny and over 2k worth of drivetrain parts, and his car runs faster than mine with junkyard parts and has yet to break anything 
By all means, yes they were a good transmission. The majority of vehicles that they came with it lasted for quite awhile and many for the life of the vehicle. The original blueprint of it had no plans for the torque of a v8 behind one though - this in my opinion was the problem with choosing it to go behind one.rd said:
With care, they do last every bit of 100k miles, but being a mustang you know that more power added by the owner was a common occurance and sometimes not very well received.
well thanks for the debate...lol.....i also have a 92 emerald green lx that i'm converting to 5.0 with mass air...but it also has a 4 cyl. tranny. i'm just hoping that it holds up as well as the one i'm running now. i'm kinda curious what my car would be for hp wise... it came stock with no ac. and have no idea if there's any mods done... i think i got a deal b/c i only paid 1200 for the car. (needed a windshield) so for a mostley stock engine, the 4 cyl tranny is ok, but to mod it, should go to a real tranny... i was also reading that there is a F.A.S.T system for the SD cars. does anyone know how much it is and how good the SD cars take to it? i'm relativeley new to the mustangs. i had a 35th anniversary thunderbird supercoupe, and an SHO. so i know what speeds all about. but i'm likeing this debate...i guess it depends on the driver and how the car takes the tranny. some cars like it, others don't. i've notice that cars can be as moody as women and some men... lol...thanks for all your help...
Well, there isnt much of a debate really....they ARE weak, i just think it comes down to the driver more than the trany itself. As for a FAST system, i'm a carb man...can't help ya there.
84blkstang
Member
I actually use a 4cyl tranny everyday, i rod the piss out of it and it just takes it. The only thing you have to change as said before is the pilot bearing. Everytrhing else bolts up just fine. I know it has a less torque rating but it works fine for me. The gearing is a lot different then the old t-5. That is my .02
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