Just wondering how much weight difference there is between the T-5 and a T-56? I know, from when I had my T-5 gear box out for the clutch job I did, the thing was probably only 75lbs - from just seeing T-56s in pics, it looks bigger so just wondering if the thing is considerably heavier or not.....

K

 

i donno the exact weight, but from lifting one yesterday, id say its pretty close to around 100lbs.. def heavier then the T5, but not too bad

 

The dry weight on a T56 is about 120 pounds. The T-5 weighs about 65-70. Put it this way, the T56 is too heavy to benchpress into the car.

 

no its not...

ok, technicly, i bench pressed it OUT of the car, but its not too bad. you can do it, you're just really tired afterward.

 

The key word there is "out" of the car. Once you unbolt the trans it almost falls out of the car. That isn't the hard part.

Trying to get it back into the car is a different story. You have to align the spline in the input shaft and then get the angle right. Trust me it's very dangerous and nearly impossible. It has nothing to do with how much it weighs, so much as the position that your arms are in, and the length of time required to get it secured. I've benched 300 pounds in the gym, with free wights on a bar, but that 120 pounds held with bent arms for a minute is a torture test. It's a lot safer and easier to use a floor jack and two people.

 

Actually the T-5 shipped empty is 85 lbs, which you will not feel a difference when you're lying on your back lugging that sucker in as TKO mentioned!!

I tried putting mine in 5 times in one day!!! I just couldn't get that last 1/2 inch w/o it binding up....and as you get weaker...well it doesn't get easier....

Turned out the throwout bearing was binding up on sleeve it rides on as I was pushing it in. When I tried for the 6th time, I needed help!! My arms hurt like crazy! Wiggled the fork this time as I was pushing it in, and it worked....

EDIT: If a T-56 is 120 lbs, I'd have to say that's a two person job.

 

the t-5 is a featherweight,i do not know exact weight but from install experience the t-5 is way easy,the t-56 is like bench pressind a 700 w/ converter with one hand,thank goodness for tranny jacks:hail: :hail: :hail: :hail:

 

the t56 is one heavy ****! my t5 I could grab with one arm and hold it. the t56 is both hands and a lot of small steps

 

I put mine back in my 94, had too much trouble trying to align it with my friends help, and had a bad exp with a T5 on a jack, never again, it can be done if you're determined.

 

I can't lift either tranny up into the car, but my brother can.
He did back to back clutch changes on 2 4th gen cars one evening in our driveway by himself, he's pretty strong. He was short and fat but now is tall and stocky.

Oh, he'd also swap rears on his car in about an hour by himself as well. I needed help with my rear swap since I couln't manuever the rear onto the jackstands under the car.

 

Hey thanks alot guys. I kinda figured it was heavier but probably manageable.

I 110% agree that it's all about getting things aligned when putting a gear box back in. I assembled the clutch with the clutch tool, tightnend the pressure plate down to hold the disc in place and then mounted up the bell housing before putting the gear box in place. I made sure the torque arm was well out of the way too. And basically I just man-handled it back in - I really tried to think through what I had to do to get it back in once it was in my hands.

I don't have a jack or tranny stand that would have worked either. I had the car up on blocks that were about 10-12" high so there was a lot of room underneath. I basically made a tranny stand out of a cinder block with some pieces of wood on top. My pop and I got the tranny up on these blocks and from there it was just a straight shot into the bellhousing and the pilot bushing. I was mainly worried about having the gear box hanging on the pilot bushing and the clutch disc once I got it in place!!! I left the rear cross member attached to the tranny through all this so that once it was in the clutch and crank shaft we could quickly slap a couple bolts in the cross member to hold it.

Oh, I also let the motor rock rearwards int he motor mounts, sort of angling in down in the rear a little bit - that made a huge difference.

Cool to learn about the weights though - a T-56 sounds like it would easily be a two-person job, once you had all the mounting brackets/cross members figured out that is

C-ya
K