I'm doing a stock L98 TPI with a T5 mod in my 91 GTA. 91 formula with a T5 is my donor car. Some people have stated on this forum that the T5 won't hold up behind a 350. For now I'm leaving the L98 stock but possibly in the future build a 350 or 383 with about 325-350HP. I don't see a stock L98 being to much for a T5. Anyone want to comment on this issue? Thx.

since its a 91 i would think you have one of the world class t-5's which is at least better.

In all honesty i know of some 12 second cars that still have the stock t-5 behind them and have no problems, and i know of cars with mild 350's that have gone through 3 of them in a month and a half.

if you like to be rough with the equipment you have then it wont last long, traction is the enemy the gears arent even the weak point in this trans, put too much power through it and you can crack the housing no problem.

Well the L98 350 is rated around 330 - 340 ft/lbs. The T5 is only rated for 300 ft/lbs. So your already pushing your luck. That's why GM didn't offer the 350/T5 combo. I'm not saying it won't hold but if you put on sticky tire or power shift it won't last. People can tear them up with the stock 305. It just depends how hard you are on it.

Thx. for the replies!! It is a world class T5. Are the torque ratings different from a T5 and a WC T5 out of 82-92 f-bodies?

ya its the W/C t-5 thats rated to 300, the non wc is considerably less

the non world class is rated at 265 lb-ft, i have a camaro wit ha 350 and a t5 i;ve owned it for 8 months and had no problems. its just a stock engine with exaust though.

I have a non W/C behind my L-98 and it has held up just fine .... My L-98 doesn't have tpi though but even so the 5 speed is doing just fine. Although I don't race my car or abuse it but every now and then I will light up the tires.

You'll be fine as long as you're not drag racing it. I ran a T5 behind a TPI 350 with headers for 2 years and now it's behind a worked over AL-headed 305. It's the shock load of a launch (or bad wheel hop under braking) that destroys them.

my quz jay had a ta with a t5 cam heads blew 3 before he got rid of it it blows 2 then first then third there junk all stock t5 any way

The "ratings" are TOTALLY MEANINGLESS. They are laughable and useless. They certainly don't apply to the "real world"; like, it'll live forever at 299 ft-lbs, but put 301 to it, and WHAM! no more trans. Doesn't work like that. Ignore them.

You can tear a T-5 up with a 6-cyl (as more than a few have done), and CERTAINLY with a 305 (I tore mine up its first 5 or 6 times with a 305); or you can make it live a LONG LONG time behind a much more powerful motor (which I have also done).

Like Jproz says, if you drive it easy, it'll be fine. That means, NO clutch dumps, and NO speed shifting. That last was my problem; I'd been driving 4-speeds for decades before I bought my 83 20-however-many years ago, got into quite a habit, and it took me quite a while to come to the bitter realization that I just couldn't drive it like all the 4-speeds I'd had for all those prior years.

yeah,t5's will handle some abuse.i had mine behind a 383 and it did ok til i started speed shifting it...........then i blew 3rd gear out..........i have never ripped the input shaft out,but i don't run slicks and do 5 grand clutch dumps either.............i always blew the tires off easing off the clutch.

how are the countless hundreds/thousands of mustang 5.0 cars running VERY quick times with their stock T5's on drag tires and such...pulling 1.7 or better 60 foots?

what makes our T5 so different?

Better traction, heavier car, more power

Nothing inside the T-5 is any different, as far as strength. It's all in the application and usage.

You'll also note, for every 1 of those "hundreds and thousands" that seem to survive, there's about 10 complaining about short transmission life, and buying TKOs and whatnot.

350ci/330hp with an OE (non WC) T-5. No problems, however, I drive like the little old man I am.

JamesC

i dont think we are making more power than bolt on 5.0's...if anything the power is about the same. stangs are lighter but they still are driving the hell out of those cars. my track is full of stangs of all years but mostly 5.0 foxes. seem to be beating on those T5's alot and everytime i'm out there, those cars are back at it again...no problems so far it seems

The reason why those stock T-5's are holding up in the 5.0's is alot of luck and Lucas Oil treatment(lol). Trust me I know and it does'nt really matter which car it's in(5.0 or F-Body) eventually your gonna blow out 2nd or 3rd gear if you're hard on it. The T-5 in my 5.0 has been gone through twice.

my car makes 300 to the wheels, and now i added a 100 shot of nitrous, and my wc t-5 is still holding up. oh yeah, i wooped up on a c-6 vette the other day.

Thx. for all the replies. Can anything be done to beef up a WC T-5 to handle more torque?

Sure...

Replace it with something else made out of more metal. Like a T-56.

they sell expensive rebuild kits that are said to beable to hold 500-600hp. but then again, it may not and you coudl still have 3rd gear problems if you have a high hp car

To put the "expense" in perspective, the full gear set costs more than a T-56.

In other words, if you were in a situation where you HAVE TO run a T-5 (like, class rules or something) and you CANNOT swap, then that could be the way to go.

On the other hand, if you have the choice and you're looking to get the best deal for the $$$, then that's not a good option. You'll end up spending T-56 money but you'll still only have a T-5.

How do I know If I have a World Class T-5?
61DKH_U WG-13-52-183 13-51-097-90 Sorry I couldn't attach Pics.

off the top of my head...'88 and newer got the WC T5, but nowadays these things being more than 20 years old god knows if someone did the research before they replaced the one in your car if they had to...there are many websites devoded to this and you can type in the information above and it will tell you i believe.

My question to this topic being we got into everything breaking and what not, is it unheard of or unreasonable to assume my '88 305 TBI still has the same WC T5 it started out with in the factory?! Could crawl underneath but i figured someone on here that has had thiers since new or relatively since new could put thier two cents in!

See the sticky thread at the top of the trans forum. According to the info you provided (1352-183), your T5 is an non-wc 87 model.

Just get up under there and look. It's easy to see which is which.

Look at the round piece, down low on the pass side, that you can see about a third of below the bell housing.



The one on top is the 1st design, the bottom is 2nd design. Note how the top one is shiny and flat, with a rounded edge, sort of like an upside-down freeze plug; where the bottom one has a dull finish and a sharp edge, with the center recessed such that it looks like it has a ridge about ¼" wide around it.

running a t5-wc on my 3fiddy. no probs here......but the tranny is approx 16yrs old with new parts...so something will give one day. can't get high revs with a very limited TBI setup but overall the t5 is holding up.

I am wondering if some of the differences in transmission life between the GM and FORD applications could have anything to do with the torque arm mounting to the trans?

It just seems like a horrible idea to mount the rear end to the aluminum tailshaft of the transmission.

??

I have a 1989 305 TPI T-5 setup (only mod is flowmaster cats-back system), last owner "street raced it", sounds like it has glass shards inside of it and the 2nd gear synchro is gone. And let's not talk about 5th gear, it's NOT happy.

-Dave

[quote=PV9685;3550813]I am wondering if some of the differences in transmission life between the GM and FORD applications could have anything to do with the torque arm mounting to the trans?

It just seems like a horrible idea to mount the rear end to the aluminum tailshaft of the transmission.[/code]

Nope, the biggest factors are torque and weight (if you eliminate driving like an idiot). TPI motors make more torque and F-bodies weigh more then Mustangs.

We're even lucky, all GM V8 T5s got the good 2.95 1st gear sets. Most Mustang transmissions are 3.35 1st gear (weaker).