Fox Need Advice On T5

[1987GT]

Hello,

I am doing an AOD to T5 swap. I don't plan on doing any crazy mods to my car, exhaust, intake maybe. I can't decide what to choose for the T5. Should I go for a new one from Jegs ($1750), reman from ebay (~$1000) or take my chances with a used one from CL (~$600)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Dan02gt]

How about one of these:

www.astroperformance.com/product/reman-300hp-t-5-5-speed-transmission/

I heard good things about the company.

 

[1987GT]

Dan02gt, thank you for the website. Does anyone think that it is not worth the extra money to buy a new trans? Is it worth the risk to save a few hundred dollar and go for a reman unit?

 

[Mustang5L5]

What's the power level of the engine?

 

[Fordfreak93]

Do you have any junkyards near you? If you want to be really thrifty, you can pull a T5 from a 94-98 V6 mustang and run it with the 94-95 V8 bellhousing(you can also swap input shafts if you want to keep the Fox bellhousing). That T5 is the same as they used in the 90-93 mustangs, except for the longer input shaft. It's rated to 300 ft/lbs and they are very plentiful in the yards. They are usually not beat up too bad either, since the V6 isn't a torque monster. The 99-04 V6 T5 tranny will fit as well, but it has an electronic speedometer. You can even pull one out and have it rebuilt for way cheaper than $1k. I paid $250 in labor plus parts to have mine rebuilt a few years ago.

 

[NIKwoaC]

I've done business a handful of times with Astro, the owner Tony is a good guy- straight shooter, gives solid tech advice without trying to sell you on a gimmick.

I've run a reman T5 from Astro for a number of years without issue. If you buy from them you can get it with some add-on goodies like a steel bearing retainer and solid cluster support plate. If you buy a reman unit from Astro, the hard parts are obviously going to have a little wear, but Astro isn't going to sell you junk. They aren't Auto Zone. It will have new bearings, syncros, seals, things like that, and should shift like butter.

I don't mean to make this sound like an Astro ad, I'm sure some of the other transmission supply shops do great work too. I just had a good experience with Astro and have stuck with them ever since.

I would never buy a junkyard transmission unless you planned on having it rebuilt by someone you trust, or by yourself. There's just too much that can go wrong internally, even if it appears to row through all the gears on a workbench.

 

[90sickfox]

Astro Performance or Hanlon Motorsports... I've seen great stuff from both of them.

 

[A5literMan]

I bought my rebuild kit from Astro. I think I had just south of 400$ in parts. Trans shifts great.

 

[cleanLX]

Another vote for the Astro... Tony is a pleasure to deal with.
You know it was put together correctly with all the tolerances dialed in, and as noted above you can specify a few reliability upgrades if you desire.
I run their full zoot A5 and it is butter.

 

[1987GT]

Thank you everyone for the input. The car is stock right now. I am not doing anything crazy with it. I plan on the T5 swap and full exhaust for now. Later MAF swap, springs, intake and heads and cam if I get really crazy. That is it.

Maybe I am looking at this all wrong, but if I spend 1400 on a reman, wouldn't it be better to just get a new z spec from Jegs for 350 more and call it a day?

 

[1987GT]

What I can't wrap my head around is why not spend $350 more for a brand new transmission? Is there anything better in an Astro unit or some other rebuild that does not come in a brand new trans? An ebay seller advertises billet cluster support and high alloy gears. These are not used in a new trans?

 

[Dan02gt]

Zero reason to not get the new one if you don't mind spending the extra money on it. I'm probably going to buy a new Z spec in the next year. The Z spec is nice because it has a 2.95 1st and a .62 5th which works really well with 3.55 gears or higher. A friend of mine has one in his 3.73 geared car and it was awesome. His car actually had a first gear.

 

[NIKwoaC]

Nothing wrong with buying a new transmission, just depends on where your financial priorities lie. Personally I'm a cheapskate and I enjoy rebuilding transmissions, so I'll probably never buy a brand new transmission... Heck I may never buy a reman trans again, I'll just stick with junkyard or craigslist.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Nothing wrong with buying a new transmission, just depends on where your financial priorities lie. Personally I'm a cheapskate and I enjoy rebuilding transmissions, so I'll probably never buy a brand new transmission... Heck I may never buy a reman trans again, I'll just stick with junkyard or craigslist.

Once you do one, it's kinda fun and pretty easy.

The t5 in my car is a rebuilt 4cyl t5 that I put 90-93 v8 gearset in.

 

[CrustangLX]

Hello,

I am doing an AOD to T5 swap. I don't plan on doing any crazy mods to my car, exhaust, intake maybe. I can't decide what to choose for the T5. Should I go for a new one from Jegs ($1750), reman from ebay (~$1000) or take my chances with a used one from CL (~$600)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

If you plan on beating on that T5 at all you could always get a used core and have it rebuilt with stronger internals. If it will be light use, I would not recommend a used one just to avoid a very possible headache of grinding gears, hard to shift issues, previous over heating. You never know what you're gonna get with used stuff. Good luck brother!

 

[1987GT]

I have noticed that cores are getting tough to find! Everyone wants 450 and up for a used trans of questionable history. That is crazy. I guess that I will just go for a new one, though there is a reman one on ebay from what seems to be reputable rebuilder for 1k. It is a WC and the new trans would be a z spec. The 2.95 first gear sounds nice. Just don't know what to do!

 

[General karthief]

I've sold a couple used t5s, pulled from running cars that I drove before pulled, both shifted fine and within a month or 6 weeks got a rash from the buyers about grinding gears and noise. One idiot used gear lube then blamed me, I hate people.
Buy a new or rebuilt trans from a place that has a good rep and backs it up.

 

[falconater]

I've seen a few used tko's on Racingjunk.com and craigslist for less then then what a new t5 would run. May be worth a look if you're hard on stuff like myself.

 

[NIKwoaC]

I've seen a few used tko's on Racingjunk.com and craigslist for less then then what a new t5 would run. May be worth a look if you're hard on stuff like myself.

I picked up a lightly used TKO500 with the correct bellhousing, shifter and yoke for $1500 a couple years ago. Deals are out there

 

[NIKwoaC]

BTW, when did the Z get down rated? Didn't it used to be 330 ft-lbs, not 300?