Which manual transmission?

You would be surprized at how simplistic the trans is once you get it apart. I was hesitant to rebuild mine but luckily i had the chance to experiment on a destroyed trans and learned alot about how they are put together. If you do enough research about the transmission and follow the manual step by step you could do it yourself. But if your still not confident about doing it yourself you need to ask yourself some questions about what you plan on doing with your car.

1. How much horsepower are you running?
2. Regular track time or DD.
3. Budget

My 2 cents is that if your car is stock and arent planning any horsepower in the near future spend the money to have your trans rebuilt and call it a day.

If your plans are to have high horsepower then i would go with a tko or a t56.

and of course the almighty dollar, how much are you willing to spend.

Just get a used low milage trans... someone around here is selling a fox trans for $200... i got my 95 t-5 with 30k on it for $400 shipped

the tkos are both 5 speed. the tko500 is rated for 500hp, while the 600 is rated for 600hp. If i was going the 5 speed route, i'd just go with the tko600 right off the bat. the t56 is a 6 speed tranny. There is a lot more modifications needed to get this tranny in. do a search and you'll find quite a few guys on here that have done it.

Is it true that with T 56 you can have 3.73 gears and still cruise 70 mph below 2000 rpm's due to long overdrive?

Originally Posted by RAD
Is it true that with T 56 you can have 3.73 gears and still cruise 70 mph below 2000 rpm's due to long overdrive?

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It should be under 2000 rpms. I am not too sure what the actual number is, but on a T-5 5th gear has ratio of .68.
On the Viper Spec T-56 5th gear has a ratio of .74, and 6th gear has a ratio of .50.

I know on my car with the T-56 and 3.55 gears, at 60mph I am only turning 1500 rpms in 6th.

The T-56 is basically a 5 speed with an extra overdrive gear. The trans is much bigger than the T-5 and TKO and will require a custom bell housing, new H-pipe, new drive shaft and cross member. Too much work for what you get. Besides, in 6th gear, your car will have no power due to the lack of torque in the 5.0. You can get a beefed-up T-5 that will just drop in and will handle a bunch of power.

Go here: http://www.gforcetransmissions.com/default.htm

True 5.0 said:

The T-56 is basically a 5 speed with an extra overdrive gear. The trans is much bigger than the T-5 and TKO and will require a custom bell housing, new H-pipe, new drive shaft and cross member. Too much work for what you get. Besides, in 6th gear, your car will have no power due to the lack of torque in the 5.0. You can get a beefed-up T-5 that will just drop in and will handle a bunch of power.

Go here: http://www.gforcetransmissions.com/default.htm

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Ditto. And a LOT of people end up with vibration problems on the TKO. No way I was going that route because of potential problems. Getting that straight can be a MAJOR pain and less enjoyment driving a dam vibrating car. GForce slips right in, no need for all that modification bs. Go with a promotion g-force though. They have a reputation of being built much better than a regular g-force.

It is a lot more involved than just choosing a transmission. What is your budget? for a tko500/600 plan on spending 2500 if you do the install yourself. The TKO 500 is geared much closer to your T5. Seeing you have 3.73 if you don't like how 1st and 2nd are really short, I would suggest a TKO600. If you go the TKO route, you will need a bellhousing, either modify or buy a new crossmember, driveshaft yoke, and a new clutch disk for the tko600(27 spline)... tko500 uses the 10 spline(same as the T5). There are probably a couple other things I can't remember right now but thats the gist of it. The T56 is also gonna require a bellhousing, but reqires a special crossmember. If you don't get the viper spec I think you can use the 10 spline disk. You will also need a new driveshaft. www.ddperformance is really helpful and set you up.

As far as vibration issues with the TKO series I havn't experienced any. Granted I have the stock gears for now... which suck by the way with the 600. I still have the stock steel driveshaft which the AL one is suppose to help reduce vibration. I did index my AL bellhousing which is not suppose to be needed but I did hear about the vibration issue beforehand and wanted to make sure it was in spec. I think a lot of people skip that part which will lead to vibration problems among a lot of other things down the road.

As far as Gforce is conserned. After you start adding up all the parts and upgrades to compete with the power levels of the 500/600s, the price really adds up quick. Base kit is about 1,100 and a upgraded output shaft is 300, I suggest a steel bearing retainer and a cluster plate. You are already looking at 1500 dollars and you have to put it together.
Kevin

True 5.0 said:

The T-56 is basically a 5 speed with an extra overdrive gear. The trans is much bigger than the T-5 and TKO and will require a custom bell housing, new H-pipe, new drive shaft and cross member. Too much work for what you get. Besides, in 6th gear, your car will have no power due to the lack of torque in the 5.0. You can get a beefed-up T-5 that will just drop in and will handle a bunch of power.

Go here: http://www.gforcetransmissions.com/default.htm

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Yes but with t-5 and shorter gears such like 3.73 or 4.10 we will be cruising at 70 mph and rpm's over 2000 right?

RAD said:

Yes but with t-5 and shorter gears such like 3.73 or 4.10 we will be cruising at 70 mph and rpm's over 2000 right?

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I think you'll be below 2000 RPM. I'd say around 1850 to 1900. I do not have a T-56 so I can't be sure. I do remember hearing that 6th gear in the Camaro was pretty much useless below 80MPH.

Check this out:

http://www.secondstrike.com/Technical/GearCalc.asp

It comes up with about 80 MPH @ 2000 RPM with Viper T-56, stock tire diameter and 3.73 gears. The same setup using the SVT version of the T-56 yields 65 MPH @ 2000 RPM.

True 5.0 said:

Check this out:

http://www.secondstrike.com/Technical/GearCalc.asp

It comes up with about 80 MPH @ 2000 RPM with Viper T-56, stock tire diameter and 3.73 gears. The same setup using the SVT version of the T-56 yields 65 MPH @ 2000 RPM.

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thanks for the link

The end gear ratio between the T5, TKO500/600, and T56 are all pretty close. End being 5th with the exception of the 6th of the T56. This is all out the door if you the close ratio or viper spec. The perk of the T56 is it has 2 overdrives. One is 0.8 and the final is .62. The 5 speeds go from 1:1 strait to a .6x. The .8x is great for racing at freeway speeds.
Kevin

"I did index my AL bellhousing which is not suppose to be needed but I did hear about the vibration issue beforehand and wanted to make sure it was in spec. I think a lot of people skip that part which will lead to vibration problems among a lot of other things down the road."

Good post Kevin. That makes a lot of sense. Also, another benefit of the tko is the 3.27 1st gear vs the gforce 2.95. I just like the gforce because I am spending like..$2100 WITH a new clutch, shipping and re-enforced casing and all the good stuff. Promotioncan custom make the trans for you too.