Can you go into your use of notching and shims more elaborately? If I'm going to try to get the driveline angle down I need to address it soon.
Your car's sick btw. Niiice.
I put a t5 in my old Ranger several years ago and I filled it before I put the shifter in. I think that tranny holds 40 or 42 oz of fluid. If you know it is dry, it should take that amount of fluid. DON'T take out the torx head bolt! That is the pivot for the reverse fork. If you take it out you will also be taking out the trans, taking off the tail housing and removing the top in order to put the fork back on the pivot.
Driveline angle
I agree with Blkfrd on the lack of attention given to the drive line angle change created by the T5 swap. After the swap I have had a pronounced vibration from 70mph up. the shaft was balanced when it was shortened. I tried spinning it 180 and remounting. The trans sits lower changing the drive shaft angle so it is now angled downward less than the trans. It should be angled down more than trans from what I have read online. I have tried shimming the pinion angle and have reduced it some but it is still there . Guess the next step will be to cut the support so I can raise the trans and get the angle right. anyone else have a problem with this?
I agree with Blkfrd on the lack of attention given to the drive line angle change created by the T5 swap. After the swap I have had a pronounced vibration from 70mph up. the shaft was balanced when it was shortened. I tried spinning it 180 and remounting. The trans sits lower changing the drive shaft angle so it is now angled downward less than the trans. It should be angled down more than trans from what I have read online. I have tried shimming the pinion angle and have reduced it some but it is still there . Guess the next step will be to cut the support so I can raise the trans and get the angle right. anyone else have a problem with this?
Blkfrd,
So I don't misunderstand, let me restate what I think you wrote before I ask a question.
Using the commercially sold t-5 conversion crossmembers, the trans is too low in the rear giving it 4 degrees thrust angle. Your solution is to notch the crossmember that mounts to the floorpan so you can raise the rear of the trans using a 1/4" spacer between the trans and the trans mount giving it 3 degrees thrust angle.
Question:
Why don't you just change the pinion angle of the rear end? If you go from standard eye springs to mid or reverse eye springs it changes that angle, or you can add wedges or angle lowering blocks to get the pinion angle correct. 4wd guys do this all the time.
Did I miss something?
So I don't misunderstand, let me restate what I think you wrote before I ask a question.
Using the commercially sold t-5 conversion crossmembers, the trans is too low in the rear giving it 4 degrees thrust angle. Your solution is to notch the crossmember that mounts to the floorpan so you can raise the rear of the trans using a 1/4" spacer between the trans and the trans mount giving it 3 degrees thrust angle.
Question:
Why don't you just change the pinion angle of the rear end? If you go from standard eye springs to mid or reverse eye springs it changes that angle, or you can add wedges or angle lowering blocks to get the pinion angle correct. 4wd guys do this all the time.
Did I miss something?
I don't think it's an option in a coupe either. I'm not real hip on reworking supports like the trans mount on my unipretzel.
I think the RMP mounts let you move the engine side to side and front to back. Up and down isn't an adjustment option. I think.
The T5 is in, drove it to work today and it seemed fine. Will post pics soon.
Remaining concerns:
We didn't do anything yet about the driveline angle issue. It did not pop up in our test drives (including driving it 50 miles to work this morning). No strange vibrations that I can detect. I don't have a fan shroud at the moment, so tahts not an issue. Will update.
Also haven't had the driveshaft shortened. The fact that we are cutting it so close does make me concerned, so when I have time I'm going to take it to a driveshaft shop to see what they think. Will update on that as well.
Clutch cable seems to be working great, I'm going to show pictures of how its mounted later. This, like the above things, is also somethign I'll have to evaluate over time.
Theres some noise but I think its just an exhaust leak (i think/hope we just forgot to tighten those bolts). The noise starts when you apply about maybe a quarter throttle and increases with rpm/throttle. Not speed dependent. Trying to find a word to describe the sound, I'll get back to you gusy about it.
But I will say it felt awesome this morning... car's much easier to drive than I thought (borderline easier to drive than my mom's 5 speed saturn) and the noise/rpm reduction in 5th is incredible. 2 grand later...
Remaining concerns:
We didn't do anything yet about the driveline angle issue. It did not pop up in our test drives (including driving it 50 miles to work this morning). No strange vibrations that I can detect. I don't have a fan shroud at the moment, so tahts not an issue. Will update.
Also haven't had the driveshaft shortened. The fact that we are cutting it so close does make me concerned, so when I have time I'm going to take it to a driveshaft shop to see what they think. Will update on that as well.
Clutch cable seems to be working great, I'm going to show pictures of how its mounted later. This, like the above things, is also somethign I'll have to evaluate over time.
Theres some noise but I think its just an exhaust leak (i think/hope we just forgot to tighten those bolts). The noise starts when you apply about maybe a quarter throttle and increases with rpm/throttle. Not speed dependent. Trying to find a word to describe the sound, I'll get back to you gusy about it.
But I will say it felt awesome this morning... car's much easier to drive than I thought (borderline easier to drive than my mom's 5 speed saturn) and the noise/rpm reduction in 5th is incredible. 2 grand later...