USMCTransAm

Anyone know if anyone makes a rebuild kit or even some parts for a T5 to increase it's torque handling ability (or lack thereof)?

I need to rebuild my tranny and unfortunately don't have the money to buy a new transmission, and will end up fragging the tranny again if I don't make it stronger somehow...

Thanks to all!

cort351w

Mustang guys build their T5's to World Class specs and they stand up to decent amounts of power. (I'm not talking about the "WC" T5's that went into the F-bodies.) See if the same thing is available for the F-body T5.

RB83L69

You can't build a 1st design T-5 "to World Class specs". The parts won't fit. The 2nd design aka "World Class" (I hate that designation, I've been on too many PIT teams and in too many kaizen events I guess) uses tapered roller on the countergear while the 1st design uses straight rollers; in fact the rear countergear bearing in the 1st design is the same part # as the 10-bolt axle bearing. The cases are different to accommodate the different bearings. You can't turn one into the other. I can't imagine where anyone who has actually seen the inside of one would claim that you could do that.

I also don't know where anybody gets the idea that the 2nd design trans is significantly stronger than the 1st design. They have the same size shafts; the same size gears; the same number of splines on everything; the same diameter gears, with the same number of teeth, made out of the same material; the same thickness of material in the case; etc. The only differences are the one I mentioned, and the rollers on the intermediate gears to allow them to spin more freely when not engaged (for gas mileage - they have nothing to do with application of power), and the compostion clutches on 1st (now that's important!!) and 2nd gears.

There's not alot you can do to strengthen one. The weak thing in the T-5 is the case: it stretches under heavy load, which allows the gears to misalign, which causes their immediate demise. The 1st design front CG bearing presses into the case, and has no secondary oil seal; so when the case stretches, eventually the hole it goes into gets enlarged, and it's impossible to seal, and all the fluid runs out, and the trans runs dry, and it wipes out to metal dust and shrapnel in a matter of hundreds of miles. At least the 2nd design has an O-ring around the bearing to keep that particular failure from happening. The 2nd design can be strengthened somewhat by better retaining the rear CG bearing, but the 1st design doesn't need that, and I don't know of any way to strengthen any part of it.

There's also no significant difference in strength between the T-5s F*rd ordered from Borg-Warner and the ones GM ordered, or that anybody else (Honda, Toyota, etc. etc.) ordered. They all have the same size shafts, the same diameter gears, etc. There is no difference between the 2nd design T-5s in Mustangs and the ones in GM F cars, except for the external bolt patterns and such (chassis fit things) and the gear ratios (the Mustang transmissions have the terrible 6-cylinder GM gear ratios).

A kit is a kit is a kit. The parts that come in a kit are the bearings, snap rings, and so on; you don't get any gears, or shafts, or cases, which are the parts that fail. You can't "strengthen" it with a rebuild.

The reasons a Mustang trans will stand up to more power is that (a) the car is lighter and (b) the cars don't usually hook up worth a flip. All that reduces the amount of stress the trans has to deal with.

Where do these rumors get started? How can we make them stop? Don't people ever take stuff apart and look at it before they repeat a bunch of 3rd-hand misinformation?

BigRuss

RB83L69 in the *****-f***ing house!!! :rockon:

cort351w

My mistake. He's right. I wasn't trying to say that you can "build a 1st design T5 to be a WC T5 (T5Z)." People throw the term around and I was under the impression that you could build up a 2nd design T5 to be stronger than the stock unit: "world class specs." Also, according to MANY posts over at the corral, the reason that T5's last behind some Mustangs is street tires--just as RB83L69 said.

USMCTransAm

So the conclusion is that it is impossible to rebuild a T5 to any kind of decent transmission. Got it.

What other options are there for transmissions?
Tremec?
Richmond?

RB83L69

The usual thing people are doing these days is putting used T-56s from 4th gen F cars in their 3rd gen cars. They're fairly easy to find and a whole lot cheaper than new aftermarket units. But apart from that, if you drive the T-5 with a little restraint and don't try to pretend it's a 4-speed like I used to do, they'll last a good long while behind alot of power. The worst thing you can do to them is shock loading, like 5 grand clutch dumps on slicks and speed shifting. They'll literally break in half from abuse like that. On the other hand, I had one behind my 400, near 400 ft-lbs RW torque, and it has survived so far.

jdmidwest

Yes u can make a t5 beefed up theres an case upgrade sold by jegs
http://www.jegs.com/i/G-Force-Transm...ductId=1343712
also gears for the job rated at 600 torque wise.
http://www.jegs.com/p/G-Force-Transm...43713/10002/-1

t56 swaps are to involed in my opinion. unless your putting them on ls motors or even the lt1s