How long will a regular WC T-5 last in my fox?

MegaTony · Sep 9, 2010

I'm currently planning out my AOD to T-5 swap.

Right now I am thinking I will just go with a freshly rebuilt world class T-5 and drive it until it breaks. Then, rebuild it with the Gforce kit which is rated 600hp/500tq.

As long as I could get a good 10-20k miles out of it before it craps out, that will be fine with me.

I have a 5.0 with trickflow tw heads, TF trackheat intake, f303, full exhaust, etc. Previous owner built it and said he said when he dynotuned it it made 340whp. I never saw any dyno sheets, so that is likely an exaggeration, but I wouldn't doubt it's somewhere nearby at least, this car feels very stout.

The car will be street driven and will never see the drag strip. No powershifting, and no hard launches. I do like to get on it occasionally, but usually only when I'm already moving along pretty good like when getting on the freeway.

I have a feeling that I will be fine, but lost confidence in the standard T5 when I blew one out in an almost-stock mustang. Granted, I was younger back then, had poor driving habits, and I don't know what kind of abuse the trans took from the previous owner.

f8tlfiveo · Sep 9, 2010

As long as you don't beat on it bad.. Even hard shifts into 3rd gear will kill that trans.. I blew my 3rd gear just driving it hard with 260 at the wheels.. Now I have the g force trans... It's great, I don't have to worry about breaking it.. I had halon motorsports in Pennsylvania rebuild mine.. He is only about an hour from me.. Real nice guy.. Took the trans apart while I was there and explained why what and how the trans broke.. He has been doing these transmissions for a long time.. I would give him a call when you are ready.. Bout 2000$ all said and done.

f8tlfiveo · Sep 9, 2010

Hanlon motorsports

NIKwoaC · Sep 9, 2010

Ha, I doubt it makes 340 at the wheels. Probably closer to 300, unless there is some porting work done.

Anyway, it will PROBABLY last if it is a good rebuild.

Personally, I'm on my 3rd T5, and my car still has stock heads. I killed the first one 8 years ago, I was 17 and I beat the dog **** out of the car. Power shifting, I killed 2nd.

Fast forward 5 years or so, and the fixed/rebuilt trans shifts OK, but not great, from 2nd to 3rd. I tear it apart, rebuild it, then proceed to speed shift without any sort of a wear-in period or even really letting the trans warm up, haha. Boom, T5 jambalaya not 2 blocks away from my house.

This time, I fork over some cash for an Astro Performance Warehouse "Cobra Upgrade" T5. I think all it is, is a WC T5 with all the "latest" materials, nothing too fancy. IIRC, it was rated for 350hp. I gave the thing a proper break in, exactly according to APW, and the thing is still doing great after 3-4 years. I still drive the car hard from time to time, but I imagine better maintenance and *cough* better shifting *cough* help out, too.

skunk21 · Sep 9, 2010

MegaTony said:
I'm currently planning out my AOD to T-5 swap.

Right now I am thinking I will just go with a freshly rebuilt world class T-5 and drive it until it breaks. Then, rebuild it with the Gforce kit which is rated 600hp/500tq.

As long as I could get a good 10-20k miles out of it before it craps out, that will be fine with me.

I have a 5.0 with trickflow tw heads, TF trackheat intake, f303, full exhaust, etc. Previous owner built it and said he said when he dynotuned it it made 340whp. I never saw any dyno sheets, so that is likely an exaggeration, but I wouldn't doubt it's somewhere nearby at least, this car feels very stout.

The car will be street driven and will never see the drag strip. No powershifting, and no hard launches. I do like to get on it occasionally, but usually only when I'm already moving along pretty good like when getting on the freeway.
I have a feeling that I will be fine, but lost confidence in the standard T5 when I blew one out in an almost-stock mustang. Granted, I was younger back then, had poor driving habits, and I don't know what kind of abuse the trans took from the previous owner.

with this statement then most likely you will be fine. there are plenty of people who beat the heck out a T5 w/o problems and then those that baby it and do. It's a toss up IMO but if the tranny is shifting fine and from the sounds of how you will driving it then I would think you would be trouble free and I know plenty of people who are with thier T5. There are plenty of low cost options out there when and if you have trouble from a rebuilding yours with a T5Z kit, to an astroperformance ( Tony is a great guy and well known ) swap and upwards from there but you will not need to go that crazy. Don't jump the gun or worry your self too much over it and just enjoy it.

MegaTony · Sep 9, 2010

skunk21 said:
with this statement then most likely you will be fine. there are plenty of people who beat the heck out a T5 w/o problems and then those that baby it and do. It's a toss up IMO but if the tranny is shifting fine and from the sounds of how you will driving it then I would think you would be trouble free and I know plenty of people who are with thier T5. There are plenty of low cost options out there when and if you have trouble from a rebuilding yours with a T5Z kit, to an astroperformance ( Tony is a great guy and well known ) swap and upwards from there but you will not need to go that crazy. Don't jump the gun or worry your self too much over it and just enjoy it.

Yeah, I was actually leaning towards the T5Z rebuild. I figured I could snag up a broken T5 locally for real cheap and rebuild it with the FMR master rebuild kit and the T5Z gear upgrade. If I did the rebuild myself the whole thing shouldn't be much if any more than buying a regular rebuilt T5. I've never done a trans rebuild, but from what I've read on various forums it sounds pretty easy if you have a good manual and/or the badshoeproductions instructional DVD.

jrichker · Sep 9, 2010

Conservatively driven, a T5 will last 150K-180K miles. That means no speed shifting, no dumping the clutch at anything above idle, no fun for some of us...

See TTC: Product Literature to download a FREE service manual for T5 or Tremec 3550/TKO
You will need the Adobe Acrobat viewer which is also a free download – Adobe - Adobe Reader download - All versions

See Hanlon Motorsports - T5 and Tremec parts, sales and service or Welcome to D&D Performance - The 5 & 6 Speed Experts! for parts

A T5 rebuild kit with syncros, bearings and other small parts costs about $160-$200. It does not include any gears or shafts.

Hanlon Motorsports - T5 and Tremec parts, sales and service also has a video on how to rebuild your T5 or Tremec. It costs about $20, and is worth every penny of it.

I did a Tremec 3550 rebuild, and it wasn't that difficult. The video was an immense help, and I would recommend viewing it. At $20, it will give you an opportunity to look and decide for yourself if you think that it is something you want to try to do.

MegaTony · Sep 9, 2010

Anyone compare the Hanlon DVD to the BadShoeProductions DVD? Haven't heard anything about the Hanlon, but read a number of posts on forums with people praising the BSP DVD.

Are there any special tools required for the rebuild? Like I said, I've never done this before, but for some reason I am confident I can pull it off. I guess I figure I will have the trans in the house (fiancee is really going to love that) so I can comfortably take my time with it with my car still being driveable until the rebuild is complete and all the parts for the swap are gathered up. Doing it this way will allow me to snag up good deals on parts as they pop up locally.

The rebuild kits I was planning to use are these:

T5 Transmissions

Ford Racing M-7000-A - Ford Racing T-5 Transmission Rebuild Kits - Overview - SummitRacing.com

NIKwoaC · Sep 9, 2010

It's been a while since I did the rebuild, but I think the only "specialty" tool you need is a hydraulic press. Oh, you'll also need precision measuring tools, like dial/digital calipers and a magnetic/clamp base dial indicator.

Mustang5L5 · Sep 9, 2010

All WC refers to is the bearing design and blocker ring design. WC is nothing special. Even 4-bangers are WC t-5's

MegaTony · Sep 9, 2010

I know you heard this a million times but the chick in your avatar is bangin'.

Yeah, someone at www.thegearbox.org told me in an email that if I'm doing the T5z rebuild, the only difference with the 4 cyl trans would be that I would need to get a new front bearing retainer because it's different on the 4 cyl mustangs vs the 6 and 8 cyl.

Mustang5L5 · Sep 9, 2010

correct

the t-5 in my mustang began life as a 4-banger t-5. I got a V8 gearset, a steel v8 bearing retainer and used all the 4-banger internal parts like shift forks, mainshaft, etc.

NIKwoaC · Sep 10, 2010

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the newer V8 T5s used a better (stronger) gear alloy.

skunk21 · Sep 10, 2010

NikwoaC said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the newer V8 T5s used a better (stronger) gear alloy.

The late '89 V8 T5's changed to a stronger steel alloy 2nd & 3rd gear and they changed the pitch of the teeth. I believe sometime in late 92-93 they started coating the gears in a phospahte coating.

90limited · Sep 10, 2010

My 1990 had 74k miles on it when I bought and the previous owner had it SC @ 8 pounds. I have personally put 30K fairly hard miles on it with no problems. If you speed shift and beat on it, like anything, it will break. If you respect it, add an after market shifter to protect 3rd gear, it should last a long time.

f8tlfiveo · Sep 10, 2010

Even with a shifter you can still blow3rd gear.. 3rd gear is the farthest gear away from the bearings so if the shaft flexes when you hit third it can flex the shaft and the gears will spread apart and slip, which will result in 3rd gear getting sheared off.. That's what happened to me. The shifter should help keeping the forks from being damaged.

90limited · Sep 10, 2010

Hmmm... I notice a little more gear whine in 3rd. almost sounds like a blower, sort of - kind of. Am I getting ready to spend some money?

f8tlfiveo · Sep 10, 2010

Drive it till it blows

MegaTony · Sep 10, 2010

Anyone think it would be worth it to send some of the rebuild components to Cryogenic Processing & Tempering Services from 300 Below, Inc. before installing them? Maybe the gearset and synchronizers? Not sure how much it would cost, I was thinking about contacting them for a quote.

Mustang5L5 · Sep 10, 2010

Cryo freezing is great. It releives the stresses in the metal allowing for a bit more strenght? Is it worth it? Not sure. You are prob better off looking into an aftermarket gearset instead, like g-force or astro performance. The gears are cut differently. Helical gears are silent (usually) but offer less strenght than straight cut gears which have more whine. These aftermarket gearsets use straighter, fatter gear teeth to increase strenght.

If your trans whines, make sure fluid level is topped off

How long will a regular WC T-5 last in my fox?

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