Hey guys I swapped out my 700r4 for a t5 last year and am loving it! It's mounted to a modified 355 tpi.

I have read a lot of threads on this site about t5s blowing up from too much power.

I was hoping some of you could share your setups and experiences with the t5. As my engine gets more powerful with more mods I'm wondering when or if the t5 will have issues.
Thanks!'

 

The T-5 will blow up at a certain point if it isn't stock, that's for sure. I've never personally had a T-5 grenade on me, but I've never been past stock with one. But I've had friends who have had their T-5's grenade at stock, 250whp and one friend had the stock T-5 still hangin in there at 300whp. It solely depends on how you drive. If you have 400whp and drive like a grandma, it will hold up for a while. But if you have a slightly modded car, say 225whp and you beat the **** out of it, it will grenade sooner or later.

Hope that helps.

 

I tore up my first several with my original 305. I treated it like it was an old 4-speed. They just grenade.

Drive it like a little old lady on her way to church, it'll last. Of course, that's why you're wanting more motor in there, right; so you can baby the rest of the car?

Still, TPI will protect it from making any serious power, so that will work in its favor. Prolly not for forever, but it'll help.

 

Thanks for the replys! I would think a major issue in the the transmissions longevity would be traction.
After upgrading to aluminum heads with 2.02 valves, 1.6 rockers,fully ported tpi, new comp cam, afpr, and a tune I'm burning up tires through most of first gear. I'm guessing if I were to get better traction then I might be asking for trouble with my t5.

 

You are, save your pennies for a T56, you'll have another gear and a trans that can take the abuse you are going to give it.

 

Thanks, I will keep a look out for a good t56.

I was thinking when I posted this that some of you would share your high hp t5 setups, and hear about your luck with that setup. But I appreciate all of your inputs!!

 

iv'e had a t5 behind a 400 small block for years with a best of 13.98 @ 108 mph on nitto drag radials. no traction till 3rd gear. I don't need to dump the clutch cause it will break loose just mashing the pedal. years ago a tranny guy told me t5 s usually hold up fine till u get traction ie slicks. I'm gathering parts now for a t56 swap.

 

Nice, sounds like a fun car. Its good to hear about a T5 behind something besides a 305 that is holding together! Im in the same boat, when I find a T56 Ill save up for the swap!

 

Balancing "torque vs clutch" will help your T5 live longer.

Remember- your crankshaft/flywheel assy is an energy storage device. Any change in rotating speed represents a change in the amount of energy stored within. As an engine gains rpm, some of it’s output is diverted/stored as inertia added to it’s rotating assy. Inversely anytime that engine’s rpm drops, the inertia energy removed from the rotating assy must go somewhere to make that happen.

Here's an example of how knowing this can help your T5 live- say a car is launched at 4500rpm and rpm is pulled down to 2500 as the clutch locks up. That 2000rpm drop directly represents inertia energy removed from the rotating assy that was discharged directly into your transmission’s input shaft. This discharge of energy is added alongside the engine's WOT output, creating a momentary "torque spike".

The speed with which the rpm drop occurs has a direct effect on the intensity of this spike. If it's duration is doubled, it's intensity is cut in half. This is where the balance of "torque vs clutch" comes into play. If the torque capacity of the clutch is closely matched to the engine's torque, any extra "torque spike" will be dissipated as additional clutch slip and not passed along to the transmission's input shaft. This added clutch slip is actually helping in a few ways, extending the duration of the energy exchange (less intensity), and reducing the amount of rpm change (less overall energy to discharge).

Instead of changing clutches everytime i want to experiment with something different, i found it much easier to get some of the same advantages by installing more clutch capacity than required, then adjusting the duration of clutch slip using a small adjustable hydraulic cylinder attached to the clutch pedal. It's proven very effective. My Shop Mule is running 5.70's with 1.30 60's (700+ to the tire) using a 1-1/16" input / 28 spl output Toploader and 28 spline axles using a 2900# diaphragm PP for several years. I've since started producing a more compact version of the cylinder used by the Shop Mule, here's a link.

An interesting note- if rpm remains constant from launch until clutch lockup (controlling clutch slip can make this happen), no energy is recovered or spent changing the speed of the spinning assembly. Because having a "torque spike" requires leaving enough reserve strength in the drivetrain to deal with that surge of energy, removing that temporary energy surge allows one to actually add more engine power while still staying below the ultimate strength limit of the drive train. This is the area i'm exploiting with the Shop Mule above, but minimizing torque spikes also helps make the stick/radials more compatible for the same reasons.

 

A lot of guys here have had T5s live long lives behind 350s and larger. Sofa has often admitted to not using the clutch fairly often. They are weaker than the T56 but seem to last just fine in street applications.

 

Friend of mine blew 2 T5 trannys behind a completely stock 2.8 V 6 with 120k+ miles on it. First time he bent the input shaft, second one I don't remember what broke. He also liked to abuse it with clutch dumps and powershifts though. We were 18 at the time, so you know how that goes

I have a V6 T5 mounted behind my 350, making an estimated 300hp, and haven't had any problems so far in the 8k or so miles I've driven it with this setup. I rebuilt the trans myself when I swapped in the V8 using stock parts. I have dumped the clutch less than a handful of times in those 8k miles, but have power shifted it quite a few times. I'm running a smaller clutch disc than the stock body V8 disc, so that may be helping it to survive.

 

I have a t5 behind my 383 pushing close to 400rwhp and so far so good. Its been in there for 4 years been to track a few times and still going strong.

 

All of this is good to hear... I am in the middle of dropping in a 5.3 into my '87 IROC and want to leave the T5 in until I can afford to get something better like a tko500.

 

If you are already going LS then just grab a LS T56 they are plentiful

 

Not really, the auto was standard, and what dealers stocked to help move the cars, unless you ordered the T56. Plus now everyone wants these T56s for their swaps into every other car on earth, so the LS1 version is in even higher demand than the LT1 version. You can still get either one new, if you have the coin, but even guys who have the coin are buying used instead.

 

Another good option for the T5 is Astro gears...
Basically thicker gears (ie. stronger) and less angle on them that stock gears... which reduces the amount the case wants to flex... I was just at the shop yesterday... 450 tq with just that... you can upgrade main shaft, case, etc... and 550 tq...

Other benefits, light, 3lbs over stock, TKO is about 26 and T56 is even more...
It simple bolts up... only change to make if you get upgrade shaft is 27 spline output yoke and u joint... Both TKO and T56 require other parts to work IIRC. Many mustang guys go this route... he has a guy he sponsors that consistently runs 11.10 with his trans in a mustang... I'm happy with mine... and I get to keep my Pro 5.0 shifter

Again... just an option...

 

That's what I said years ago. And its still in there

 

You are absolutely correct. I have been looking for a T56 for some time now and am just not willing to spend $2500-$3000 for a used trans, and yes that is what they are going for in my neck of the woods. Plus why would I buy a used trans when I can get a brand new TKO-500 with everything I'll need to install it for $3700 shipped from American Power train?

 

Damn things are expensive around your parts
I see them on craigslist often for 1100 for everything

 

my car originally came with a 305 carb / t5 now i have a tpi 305 with an estimated 450+ hp/tq and i removed a perfectly good running world class t5 in favor of a tko600 i didn't want to wait for the transmission to blow up.

 

I run a 300 hp crate motor with my t5, is still going strong after 3 years. I'm not super hard on it, but I'm not exactly gentle with it either. Until I found this forum about a month ago I didn't even know about the bad rep of the t5!