Ok, i'm about to buy a low mileaged tko from a dude on here. What I need to know is what clutch would you recommend as i'm not sure if he's including the clutch with the deal or not. I do NOT want spec. Prefer something not too hard on my legs as im getting sick of that with my fms hd also. Next question, do I need to order a 28oz balanced clutch since I plan on a 347 in the future with a 28oz balance? I need a clutch capable of handling 450+hp. Where do i get a 31 spline driveshaft yoke from? What else is involved in this? He isnt including the bellhousing so i'll probably order a mcleod blow proof bell and index it.
TKO questions and tko clutch questions
- Thread starter Grn92LX
- Start date
bmo37
Founding Member
make sure you know wether the input shaft is a 10 spline or a 26 spline before ordering the clutch. I have a spec stage 3 and it owns but you siad u don't like them so get a dual friction centerforce. also upgrade to a aluminum clutch cable quadrant.
as far as i know clutch isn't balanced, rather the flywheel you are using must be resurfaced and balanced to the stroker components, same as the harmonic balancer.
31 spline output yoke i bought from 50resto.com when i bought my tko500, pickup a tranny blockplate up this goes between the bellhousing and engine block.
as far as i know clutch isn't balanced, rather the flywheel you are using must be resurfaced and balanced to the stroker components, same as the harmonic balancer.
31 spline output yoke i bought from 50resto.com when i bought my tko500, pickup a tranny blockplate up this goes between the bellhousing and engine block.
I just PMed you listed a source for the yoke. As for the balance, you can get your stroker balanced to 0, 28 or 50. I did 50 since you can just reuse or interchange with all the 5.0 stuff. Its just easier that way. Good thing too because the balancer just went out on my 95 and in a fix I grabbed the SFI unit off of my 342 in my 85 and voila it was fixed. Since I never drive my 85 I'll worry about getting one for it later. As for a balancer, you can pick those up for under $100 and they are SFI. The one I bought was $89 and it worked just fine and is still working great in my 95.
stangbear427
Active Member
OK, you want a 450HP clutch, you don't want it to be heavy, and you don't want it to be a SPEC? You don't ask much, do you? Good friggin luck. My SPEC I will hold 400HP, and it's lighter than my FMS King Cobra and my Centerforce DF were. Happy hunting. If you've got the bux, you may want to look into a McCloud.
You'll need to shorten the driveshaft as well as change the yolk. By the time you're done you may as well buy the right one all made up- I wen't FMS aluminum with no complaints. I could be wrong about this because I haven't tried it, but I've heard that an SN95 DS for a T5 will work, but the yolk still has to be changed. You'll also need a different cross member for the TKO, unless you're converting from an auto- sometimes those one's will work, but not the T5. Also, the speedo will be off as the speedometer drive gear (not the driven gear on the cable end- it's the hard one to get to inside) is different than the T5's. Depending on your speedo and rear gear, you may be able to correct it with a different driven gear. Have fun
You'll need to shorten the driveshaft as well as change the yolk. By the time you're done you may as well buy the right one all made up- I wen't FMS aluminum with no complaints. I could be wrong about this because I haven't tried it, but I've heard that an SN95 DS for a T5 will work, but the yolk still has to be changed. You'll also need a different cross member for the TKO, unless you're converting from an auto- sometimes those one's will work, but not the T5. Also, the speedo will be off as the speedometer drive gear (not the driven gear on the cable end- it's the hard one to get to inside) is different than the T5's. Depending on your speedo and rear gear, you may be able to correct it with a different driven gear. Have fun
give the guys at D&D a call.. www.ddperformance.com and ask them for/about a McLeod set up.. They hold 5-550 hp and when I had mine, I used a steeda quadrant and the pedal feel was just like stock.. McLeod makes some real nice stuff.
Wow, stangbear, way to try and rain on everyone's parade. The driveshaft does not need to be shortened and you dont need another crossmember. Though it is best to change the shaft anyways because the stock one is junk. You can still get a FMS shaft for $199 from some places and you can get it with the 31 spline yoke.AS for the crossmember, break the tack weld and slide the bushings around to where you want it. Sometimes it doesnt even need adjusted. As for clutch, the DF will hold 500 horses or more.
TIMMY2734
Founding Member
Put my motor and trannyin today. Ive got a Mcleod clutch and blowcan, so ill let you know how it feels. Crossmember was fine once i took the grinder to it. Driveshaft goes in tomorrow.
Is ERIC building your motor? If he is, id have the clutch and pressure plate and balancer as well shipped to his shop in Texas. Have your assembly balanced with your stuff.
Is ERIC building your motor? If he is, id have the clutch and pressure plate and balancer as well shipped to his shop in Texas. Have your assembly balanced with your stuff.
TIMMY2734 said:
You must have seen my posts on hardcore
Yes, when I finally do a 347, erik will be doing the building. He answered all my ?'s and then some, great helpful guy! I'm even going to have the cam shipped to him as he said installing it and degreeing it would be part of his labor included 
I'm not in a rush to install it, I was actually planning on putting it on the new motor and installing it in one shot. If I see a good deal on something I need, I jump on it. Was it a pita to pull and install the motor? I've never done that before. I see your in queens, maybe you could help me when I finally do it and make a few extra bucks?What all did you need and do for your tko swap, timmy?
stangbanger, reason I did NOT want a spec is because they hit too hard from what I read by tranny sellers. Most seem to actually recommend mcleod. I dont think I can afford that twin disk though. Is there cheaper mcleod's?
Mike
TIMMY2734
Founding Member
Ive got the Mcleod dual friction or whatever the hell its called. Wasnt expensive at all. I started thursday and had the motor, tranny and k member out by myself.. had the tubular k member and a-arms bolted up as well. Friday and sat, me and my friend went kinda slow, but its ll pretty much wrapped up. Should start up tomorrow.
I got the basics, clutch, scattershield,tranny and new pro 50. Crossmember was ground down. Got the extended fork as well because mine was a littel scored. I was ratehr impressed with the cheap BBKs i threw on. They cleared the bell liek nobodies business. Just needed the BFH on the #4 primary to clear the firewall a bit.
Id help ya out, just time is the issue. And i was the same boat as you. I didnt want a cowl hood. I fit my intake with a spacer without a problem. Careful on your valve covers though. Im running the TFS short ones.
Hardcore is hands down the best site for tech.......
I got the basics, clutch, scattershield,tranny and new pro 50. Crossmember was ground down. Got the extended fork as well because mine was a littel scored. I was ratehr impressed with the cheap BBKs i threw on. They cleared the bell liek nobodies business. Just needed the BFH on the #4 primary to clear the firewall a bit.
Id help ya out, just time is the issue. And i was the same boat as you. I didnt want a cowl hood. I fit my intake with a spacer without a problem. Careful on your valve covers though. Im running the TFS short ones.
Hardcore is hands down the best site for tech.......
Where did you get that clutch from? What combo did you just do? Did you index the bell? I'll most likely be using 1 3/4" bbk ceramic LT's. When i'm ready to install the motor/tranny, i'll let ya know and maybe you could swing by. I'm very close to the queens border and 10min from the cross island.
Did you use a tko tranny? I need to get a bellhousing, 31 spline D-shaft yoke, clutch set up and move the cross member. What about the speedo gear and the sensors from the t5?
Did you use a tko tranny? I need to get a bellhousing, 31 spline D-shaft yoke, clutch set up and move the cross member. What about the speedo gear and the sensors from the t5?
TIMMY2734
Founding Member
i got it from one of the online vendors. From all of the info ive read, the Mcleod didnt need to be indexed. Guess ill find out the hard way.........
Its a TKO, the regular one. I dremeled my crossmemeber and its fine. Gonna get it welded later on. Steeda's website has a list of what to use with which tranny. Electronics shouls be the same. Pretty sure they are. D&D will have the yoke and clutch. Look at the corrals drivetrain classified section. Theres a bunch of wholesale guys,(middlemen) who you can get the stuff from.
Its a TKO, the regular one. I dremeled my crossmemeber and its fine. Gonna get it welded later on. Steeda's website has a list of what to use with which tranny. Electronics shouls be the same. Pretty sure they are. D&D will have the yoke and clutch. Look at the corrals drivetrain classified section. Theres a bunch of wholesale guys,(middlemen) who you can get the stuff from.
I'm gonna have to do a little more searching tomorrow. Did your mcleod bell come with that block off plate and bolts??? Also, did your tko come with sensors and crap or did you swap everything from the t5? I'm looking at either a mcleod or a centerforce DF clutch.
stangbear427
Active Member
Dude, the driveshaft should be shortened. I'm not trying to rain on any parade, or saying that these things can't be mickeymoused to work, only what's involved if you want to do it right. There is a specific amount of play required where the driveshaft enters the transmission, and while you can cram the stock length in there sometimes, that doesn't make it a good idea. The FMS one is the one I recommended; and if you order it from someone along with a TKO, they won't sell you the stock length if they know what they're doing. Furthurmore, the stock crossmember isn't a great peice to begin with, and once it has been "modified" the integrity has been compromised even more. I have seen too many parts fail to trust it, and that tranny is too expensive and requires too much work to change to risk an accident. This is all IMO, and you can do whatever you want- I spent years turning wrenches myself in my yard like a hick, and then several other years with an ASE master tech in the shop- and decided the latter is better, and so I split hairs sometimes like he did. Sorry if it steps on some toes, not my intention.SmockDoiley said:
Two reasons I question the length issue. One) A long time ago I mixed and matched 2 different shafts in 2 different mustangs with a T-5 and a Tremec 3550 and then also saw my friend swap from a T-5 to a Tremec in a third different car using the stock shaft. In all those changeovers, swaps and such I very saw an issue and all the cars ran just fine. 2) FMS lists 2 shafts which are identical but come with different spline yokes. They say the 31 is for T-45s(later mustangs) and TKOs, and the 26 spline is for AODs, T5s and 3550s. How can that be that FMS is offering the same exact shaft with just different spline yokes on like 5 different trannys. All he needs to do is either swap the yoke on his stock or get the FMS shaft with the yoke. You also got all huffy about the speedo gear. Check many sellers and they list application charts. His combo needs the 21 tooth red gear for Tremecs with 3.73 gears for $9. That doesnt seem hard to me.
And what 'mods' are you talking about with the crossmember. You only need to break the tack welds where the bushings are and slide things around some to where it lines up. Then retack it. How is that weakening anything? Hell my stock crossmember was supporting 516 to the wheels and I never sam any problems. I had no vibrations, no visible torquing on the shifter like the tranny was yanking from the crossmember and it shifted just fine.
stangbear427
Active Member
When I did my TKO, I already had an FMS DS. It was longer than the one that came with the new tranny, and the new one clearanced to Ford specs, so obviously the other one wouldn't. The SN95/T5 DS is also shorter than the Fox, as the input shaft on the T5 is longer, and therefore the bellhousing is as well. This is the shaft I was told I needed, and ordered, which was longer than my original. Don't know what else to tell you.
I didn't realise I was huffy about the speedo gear, looking back at my post I must be missing something. Grn92LX specifically asked what else was involved, and nobody had mentioned it. It's a valid issue to some people, so I did.
I'm glad to hear you haven't had any trouble with your crossmember. Hundreds of thousands of people don't follow the correct stagger sequence when torquing down their lugnuts, don't resurface flywheels when installing a new clutch, don't rotate tires properly, etc, etc, etc, and they never have a problem either. Lucky them. When something isn't recommended by the experts, I tend to listen up whether I think I'll be one of the few unlucky ones or not. That's where I'm coming from, not looking for a pissing contest. I don't need to prove anything, I've put in my time and seen it all already. What you think of my motives for being here is quite simply not my problem- all I did was make points. I say again: didn't mean to step on any toes, I'm anal particular, and you can take it or leave it. It'll look fine from my house either way.
BTW- off topic, but I saw your page. Nice 4 Eye, I like it. Lot of great features. I gave it a 5.
I didn't realise I was huffy about the speedo gear, looking back at my post I must be missing something. Grn92LX specifically asked what else was involved, and nobody had mentioned it. It's a valid issue to some people, so I did.
I'm glad to hear you haven't had any trouble with your crossmember. Hundreds of thousands of people don't follow the correct stagger sequence when torquing down their lugnuts, don't resurface flywheels when installing a new clutch, don't rotate tires properly, etc, etc, etc, and they never have a problem either. Lucky them. When something isn't recommended by the experts, I tend to listen up whether I think I'll be one of the few unlucky ones or not. That's where I'm coming from, not looking for a pissing contest. I don't need to prove anything, I've put in my time and seen it all already. What you think of my motives for being here is quite simply not my problem- all I did was make points. I say again: didn't mean to step on any toes, I'm anal particular, and you can take it or leave it. It'll look fine from my house either way.
BTW- off topic, but I saw your page. Nice 4 Eye, I like it. Lot of great features. I gave it a 5.
TIMMY2734
Founding Member
Id rather have it known that what im looking to do MAY NOT work . If everyone says that a certain something will work and it turns out it doesnt, how pissed off would you be. Be honest now......
My driveshaft was fine. Just swapped the yoke. My only qusetion or gripe is that because tremec includes the yoke and says to swap it, they should at least mention that it may need to be swapped.
My Mcleod clutch is smooth as butter. Softest clutch ive ever pushed. Its almost GTI like. Zero pedal effort whatsoever. Im sure that the extended fork has some slight factor in it, but its veyr soft. Hopefully it'll take some abuse at the track.......
Currently, im running the black gear for my 3.55s. Going to use the white gear for the 4.10s. Im not sure if my reverse lights work, idont think i hooked them up, but the sensor is there on the tranny.
My driveshaft was fine. Just swapped the yoke. My only qusetion or gripe is that because tremec includes the yoke and says to swap it, they should at least mention that it may need to be swapped.
My Mcleod clutch is smooth as butter. Softest clutch ive ever pushed. Its almost GTI like. Zero pedal effort whatsoever. Im sure that the extended fork has some slight factor in it, but its veyr soft. Hopefully it'll take some abuse at the track.......
Currently, im running the black gear for my 3.55s. Going to use the white gear for the 4.10s. Im not sure if my reverse lights work, idont think i hooked them up, but the sensor is there on the tranny.
