walrus108

For those of you with a t56 in a 3rd gen, how is it working out for you? Any driveshaft angle probs? I've heard that the conversion crossmember is lower than a t5 crossmember. Is this true? Any ground clearance advantage between the two? How much? Also, is there a big diference between the weight of a t5 vs the t56? How about between the t56 and the 700r4? Does this data exist? If not it would be great if someone planning on going from a t5 to a t56 could weigh all the parts together and see the dif between the two.

colonboy14

iTrader: (7)

Well, my car is lowered 2", and I seriously cannot go over speed bumps any more. The crossmember is very low to the ground, but I guess it's necessary for strength.

walrus108

Which crossmember are you using colon? Anyone using a different brand? Is it nessicary to have a low crossmember with the t56 so it will fit? How do you mean it has to be low for strength? And colon, do yu have any wierd drivetrain vibrations at any speed? Thanks for your help.

7plagues

iTrader: (1)

i have a spohn and its low. like those big speed humps, yea...need to get an angle on those, also my exhaust is about the same height so i need to watch that too.

colonboy14

iTrader: (7)

I use the Spohn, and it's so low because the metal is placed vertically, not horizontally, to give it more strength. That's probably not a good description, but just look at a picture and you'll understand. And no, I don't have any vibrations.

walrus108

I thought more people drove 3rd gens with the T-56 than this. I'm about to get a T-5 just because from all I've heard so far the T-56 sits much lower than a T-5 will. Anyone care to correct this or is it true? Got to decide soon.

Tony89GTA

iTrader: (7)

I beleave the weight defference was about 50-60 Ibs between the T-5 and T-56. The 700r4 and T-56 are about the same to, and this is taking about the whole setup from the crank back. I have and used all 3 trannys and weighed each at one point just can't remember where I put my numbers

Zedsled

I just picked up my T-56 this weekend...What other options for crossmembers do i have? And are the others even compairable to the Spohn peice?

thanks in advance.
Kyle

7plagues

iTrader: (1)

yes but they cost more. jsut do a search

CrazyHawaiian

I already had the Spohn swap kit crossmember/torque arm but I opted to go with Andris Skulte's crossmember from SPD because it offers more ground clearance. When I asked him about it he said his T56 crossmember is trimmed to have as much clearance as possible, so the lowest part doesn't hang down any more than the transmission mount area. Another plus is that Andris's crossmember does not connect to the torque arm, you retain the stock torque arm setup which does not put as much stress on the mounting points of the crossmember. There is a thread around here with a horror story of the Spohn setup and the frame breaking at the mounting points. I have a Spohn crossmember on my IROC-Z and even at stock height I had issues with certain speed bumps, there were too many clearance issues. Its definately a strong well built quality piece, but not ideal for lowered cars in my opinion.

Zedsled

After looking into it and seeing how little there is involved in this cross member i'm deffinatly going to have to start building my own.

I'm a Welder/fabricator by trade so this cant be more than a few hours work.And the price thats crazy,there cant be more that $20 in steel there.Abit of time for labour,and abit of money for powdercoar.Still shouldnt be up at $175 for these things.

RegaPlanet

A stock LT1 crossmember will work with very little modification...

Zedsled

how much did you cut and add to the cross member to make it work and did you arc weld one side and MIG the other?