Cdeez

If you search around on the internet, you will find a lot of people that claim that the T56 can-NOT tow....
Why they say this is beyond me, but I do have some theories....

1. A bunch of computer chair mechanics and self professed experts are simply regurgitating what they have read some other jackass post on the web.
2. Dodge stuffed the T56 in the SRT10 pickups but didn't give it a towing rating...... AFAIK this SRT10 is the only production pickup-truck to use the T56.

Regardless, this is an internet myth that needs to be debunked like the BS that it is......

So I took my 1990 Silverado with my T56 from Guthrie, Oklahoma to Arkansas City, Kansas to pickup and bring back a longbed F150 for a friend. I have not towed anything this heavy this far since the T56 swap
I did several years back. My little 1/2 ton with a T56 towed the other truck and trailer with pure ease. Torque multiplication is the key if you're going to tow with a T56 (or anything for that matter). My
torque multiplication comes in the form of 4.88 gears in my 14-bolt semi floater.

Now I prefer to be very scientific and quantative, but unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to run the whole rig over a scale.
I'm estimating the two trucks, plus the trailer, ramps, tools, etc. to easily be 10,000 LBS in total.....

With the 4.88 gears I was even able to keep the trans in 6th gear MOST of the time. I had to downshift into 5th to climb a few hills with all that weight, but all in all the truck performed like a beast.

I drove up to Arkansas City with just my truck. In Arkansas City, we hooked up the trailer, loaded the F150 on the back, and headed back to Guthrie, OK... Round trip burned up 1/2 a tank of gas... Not bad at all...

jmd

iTrader: (4)

Right; an auto can do a lot of weight if it's not shifting (slipping) under load.

Similarly, a stick trans., can handle a lot if you're not shock-loading (launching on slicks) and taking off reasonably.

The T56 wasn't intended to be a high GVWR trans., and can handle a fair amount of power at the headset gears if a pump keeps them wet.

Did you end up with the F-body / GTO tailhousing and F shifter position?

Cdeez

I have read before on Keisler's website (somewhere) that the T56 was originally designed to be a truck transmission (rather than for the Viper) but for some reason was never used as a truck trans. Don't know if that is true but I wouldn't hesitate to tow with it again after having done it.

Stock Fbody shifter location here.

Atilla the Fun

Whether it's big power or big weight, load is load.
Nice to see a SWB 2WD sportside still on the road. Most of them get converted to 4WD by less-intelligent people with no idea of resale value or return on investment.

Cdeez

My truck was originally a short wide, but I procured a stepside bed and threw it on a few years back to mix it up. I have really no concern with maintaining resale value or return on investment. No reason to really, since my plans are to beat on it indefinitely rather than sell it. Restorin' is borin'. It takes a real man to cut somethin' up. lol

wesilva

iTrader: (35)

Reviving this thread....
I converted my 1998 4.2 V6 F150 to a 5.3 GM with a T56. The 4.2 expired even though it had less than 100,000 miles. 4.2s have intake manifold problems where water leaks into the motor causing hydrolock. I'm using an F car T56 now but asked a couple of reputable trans dealers about the T56 Magnum. I told them I might tow with it from time to time. Nothing huge....about 4000 maximum. They couldn't say whether they would warranty the unit if it was damaged towing. 750ft/lbs of torque capacity seemed like a great feature but apparently towing is a different kind of stress.

Cdeez

You got any pics of that thing? Sounds like a pretty cool build.

I haul stuff all the time with my T56 truck. It is still a truck after all!

The key to towing with the T56 is having adequate rear gearing to do so. Simple. Me? I have 4.88s to get motorvatin.

Gumby

same stuff can and is said about the T5, yet go to the chevy truck boards and they love T5s, most common trans put behind a older straight 6 truck. Towing and hauling with ease.

Yet folks on here can't keep one behind a 200K mile 305 2bb and make it last............

cosmick

I get grief for having a hitch on my 'maro, and these cars were never given a tow rating higher than 2000 pounds. But the T5's weakness is mostly about "powershifting", which truck guys can't do with those long shift levers. In the mid '80s, the 300ZX turbo guys were breaking their T5s so much that Nissan took the 5 speed from the V6 Hardbody, gave it better ratios, and dropped the T5. The '95 Cobra R got the Tremec 3550 that should have been in all 5-liters since the 3550 was available in '87, as Ford was using other Tremecs in other regular-production F150s. So there's no debating that the T5 was a mistake. Better to put an OD in the tail of a Super T-10, but that never happened. The 'vette 4+3 was nearly as good, but costlier, heavier, weaker, and too complicated. No good reason to use it in second or third as the 'vette did. But that was the Hone-O-Drive, which GM offered in the '66 Chevelle with the 283 and a 3.70:1. It would have done well with a 3.36:1.
But towing is generally presumed, and usually correctly, to have no chance of breaking the tires loose on dry pavement, perhaps because of the tongue weight. 600-800 HP with 700 TQ in a car, most drag radials will spin before the trans breaks. But if the tires can't spin, something else will fail.
Our cars can't tow enough to break a T56 Magnum, even on drag radials, no matter how much power you have, because the car itself will fail, one way or another.
A T5 can take alot if you baby it, but then where's the fun? These cars are for driving, not babying.
Likewise, why should Dodge put a tow rating on the SRT/10 pickup when they'd seen what people did with Chevy's 454SS sport truck? Most never towed anything at all, and the few who did treated them like duallies, without incident. I once saw a 454SS towing a ginormous camper trailer, and it didn't seem out of control. Could SRT/10 buyers do much worse?
It seems to me that many in the manual transmission industry like to reference how many millimeters between the input shaft center and the countershaft center. If we look at that, then the T56 and all variants since '93 are 85 mm. The New Venture 3500 and 3550HD are also 85 mm. So by that reasoning, the T56 can tow as much as a NV3550HD.
If we reference the traditional fact that taller ratios in first gear are stronger, the 3550HD is 3.49:1, the most common T56 is 2.66:1. So the T56 should tow more, once the axle ratio is corrected to make up the difference.
Because I'm putting an '01 4.8L into my 'maro, I have all the info extant on '01 Silverados. The '01 4.8L / NV3500 combo, with the theoretically weaker 4.02:1 first, is rated to tow 8300 pounds, in a 2wd rcsb truck weighing around 4500 pounds.
Most transmisions have a GCWR, but not those specific to sports cars only, like the T5, the ZF6-420 from the '90s 'vettes, etc.
I always figured it reasonable to multiply the rated max input torque times the rated max GCWR, then divide by the actual weight for theoretical max power, or maybe divide by actual input torque for theoretical max GCWR?
The difficulty with that is knowing your real torque. Weight is easy, it'll scale the same at any truck stop. Torque is affected by temperature, elevation, fuel quality, even humidity.
And those ratings allow for some abuse. Except the T5, its ratings are optimistic even if you do baby it.

Cdeez

A hitch on a camaro? I love it....

cosmick

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...ks-camaro.html

for pics

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

Agreed on all counts. Those trucks are way too cool.