tranny ideas?

tmidz87 · Sep 13, 2009

as you can tell by my car details i have a pretty penny invested in this car but my only problem is i keep going through T5 trannys' like 2 or 3 a year im pushin 503hp to the wheels anybody know of a good tranny i can put in it to hold that kind of power? ne questions feel free to message me im getting really sick of doing tranny swaps first thing that happens is 2nd gear syncs go then first goes. i dno what the problem is n i know its not a abuse problem cuz i only drive it hard at the track n this past tranny never seen the track at all

revhead347 · Sep 13, 2009

How much money do you want to invest. The nicest tranny would be one of those high end T-56s. If you can't shed the cash for that, I would say a Tremec TR-600.

Kurt

tmidz87 · Sep 14, 2009

What is the price range of the tranny's?
I found that if i replace the dog ears in the tranny's I can get another 10,000 miles out of it.

revhead347 · Sep 14, 2009

tmidz87 said:
What is the price range of the tranny's?
I found that if i replace the dog ears in the tranny's I can get another 10,000 miles out of it.

Putting dog ears in it actually reduces the life of a tranny. The most common upgrade for a factory transmission is to have the synchros removed, and have faceplates welded directly to the gears. This makes the transmission shift a lot faster at higher rpm, and it lasts a lot longer than a dog tooth setup. Liberty gear in Michigan performs the modification if you mail your transmission or the output shaft out of the transmission off to them. However, this will not improve the strength of your factory T5. The reality is that 503rwhp is far too much power for that transmission. A T-56 fully prepped with better gears runs about $5K. You can get a Tremec TR-600 which is a 5 speed for about $2300 with everything. If you can't get that kind of cash look around on ebay for an old Tremec 3550 or TKO. The 3550 and TKO are basically the same transmission except for the input and output shaft. The 3550 is a 10 spline input with a 28 spline output, same as stock. The TKO is a 26 spline input with a 31 spline output, which requires you to change the clutch disk and the driveshaft yolk. The TR-500 has the same shafts as the 3550, and the TR-600 is the same as the old TKO. In fact a few differences a side, the TR-500 is simply the new designation for the 3550, and the TR-600 is the new designation for the TKO. A 3550 can be converted to a TKO later on if you find that it is not holding up to the power you have now. A good source for manual transmission stuff is D&D Transmission. They sell parts and upgrades for all these transmission. You can also get a factory T-5 regeared with stronger gears. I think that runs about $2K all said and done.

Kurt

nmcgrawj · Sep 14, 2009

Kurt, i thought that the 3550/tko versus tko500/600 were different designs?

Got a little confused there when u went into comparing them, i know the differences, i just thought the new "family" had a few changes to it. Because a tko600 is a good bit stronger than the old tko's right?

revhead347 · Sep 14, 2009

nmcgrawj said:
Kurt, i thought that the 3550/tko versus tko500/600 were different designs?

Got a little confused there when u went into comparing them, i know the differences, i just thought the new "family" had a few changes to it. Because a tko600 is a good bit stronger than the old tko's right?

Yeah, when I went back and read my paragraph, I got confused myself. A TKO-500 is the new version of a 3550, and a TKO-600 is the new version of the old Tremec TKO. They revised a few things inside the transmission, but a lot of the parts are interchangeable. The new models are rated substantially higher than the old models, but I believe that is mainly because the old transmissions were so underated. The old 3550 is rated to 325 ft.lbs of torque, and the old TKO was rated to 375 ft.lbs of torque. As we all know, the old 3550 series transmission can handle a great deal more than that. So, I think the new TKO-500/600 is a little stronger, but not as much stronger as TTC would like you to think. I've had both a TKO-500 and several 3550s apart, and aside from a few parts of the shifting mechanism, they are virtually identical. Whether or not the gears and shafts are any stronger is debatable, but they look the same to me.

Kurt

nmcgrawj · Sep 17, 2009

revhead347 said:
Yeah, when I went back and read my paragraph, I got confused myself. A TKO-500 is the new version of a 3550, and a TKO-600 is the new version of the old Tremec TKO. They revised a few things inside the transmission, but a lot of the parts are interchangeable. The new models are rated substantially higher than the old models, but I believe that is mainly because the old transmissions were so underated. The old 3550 is rated to 325 ft.lbs of torque, and the old TKO was rated to 375 ft.lbs of torque. As we all know, the old 3550 series transmission can handle a great deal more than that. So, I think the new TKO-500/600 is a little stronger, but not as much stronger as TTC would like you to think. I've had both a TKO-500 and several 3550s apart, and aside from a few parts of the shifting mechanism, they are virtually identical. Whether or not the gears and shafts are any stronger is debatable, but they look the same to me.

Kurt

LOL good stuff. I had a TKO600 so i was informed on the 4 trannies...so i went into your post feeling confident. Then by the end i was just like...wait....huh ?

I'd like to drive a gforce t5 and a t56....i really didnt care for how my tko600 shifted.

ProKiller · Sep 18, 2009

the upgraded tail shaft on the t-3550 is a good idea. mine ended up bending and becoming egg shaped. had vibration problems that i could never seem to trace back until i did a input shaft swap from 10 to 26-spline. they found the bad tail shaft and upgraded it right away to a 31-spline TKO shaft.

so from what i'm understanding Kurt, your saying that i now have a TKO for all intents and purposes?

nmcgrawj · Sep 18, 2009

My vib issues with my tko600 swap came from the yoke i put on the driveshaft....it through the balance wayyyyyyyyyyyyy off. Once it got re-balanced....it was smooth as silk.

revhead347 · Sep 18, 2009

ProKiller said:
so from what i'm understanding Kurt, your saying that i now have a TKO for all intents and purposes?

Yes, you have a TKO now. There are only 3 parts that seperate a 3550 and a TKO; the input shaft, the output shaft, and the tail housing. The TKO has a bigger tailshaft housing to accomodate the 31 spline output shaft, however you can bore a standard 3550 housing to make it fit. The tailshaft actually runs the entire length of the transmission up to the input shaft. When you look at the input shaft, it is hollow inside the gear. The tailshaft sits inside that cavity with a bunch of little roller bearings. All of the synchronizers and free spinning gears are mounted to the tailshaft inside the transmission.

Kurt

revhead347 · Sep 18, 2009

Since it has become a point of interest, I'm going to put some pictures up from the last time I fixed my transmission. I broke the factory 10 spline input shaft, and broke 2 teeth off of 3rd gear.

This is what the tailshaft looks like

Inside the transmission casing

This is the tailshaft housing that can be bored to accept a 31 spline input shaft

Replaced the retainer and upgraded to a 26 spline input shaft

The critical gear splitting tool for disassembling shafts

A clutch in my parts washer.

Kurt

302GTS · Sep 18, 2009

Parts washer...

tranny ideas?

tmidz87

New Member

revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

tmidz87

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revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

nmcgrawj

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revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

nmcgrawj

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ProKiller

nmcgrawj

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revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

302GTS

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