power shifting

SMOKEDYA

SMOKEDYA

Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
Jul 13, 2003
3,637
8
79
Tucson AZ
#1
So whats "power shifting"? Keeping it floored and shifting at the same time? If so whats the proper way to adjust the clutch? I have a 3550 and it dont seem to shift worth a ****,i had it rebuilt but it's way harder to shift over my T5 was.I can never seem to shift it quick.Maybe my clutch is adjusted wrong?Or maybe i just caint yank the stick hard enough?Here is a video of me shifting. peace
YouTube - fox body mustang race






john:p
 

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#2
Power shifting or speed shifting - never lift your foot off the accelerator when shifting. It will destroy a T5, but the Tremec 3550 will take the hammering and never complain.

The Tremec 3550 I had in my first Mustang shifted like a hot knife going through butter. Smooth and fast, I really liked it.

You will need a firewall adjuster or adjustable clutch cable to do any real adjustment of the clutch free play.

I like to have the clutch completely disengaged and still have about 1.5” travel left before the pedal hits the floor. If I shift only when the pedal hits the floor, there are several milliseconds that the clutch disk is not being driven by the engine. In theory, this lets the disk speed equalize and makes less work for the synchronizers – keep in mind that this is a theory, but it seems reasonable. This means that I have only about 1” of free play at the top before the pedal starts to disengage the clutch. Keep in mind that these figures are all approximate. When properly adjusted, there will not be any slack in the clutch cable. You will have 4-15 lbs preload on the clutch cable.
 
#3
I have an adjustable firewall adjuster and cable. So to adjust the cable like you say do i want the cable sticking out more past the nuts on the clutch fork or hardly anything sticking out past the nuts? How much (roughly) of a gap do you have between the firewall and the adjuster?I will take some pics in few minutes and post them of mine and you tell me what you think of how my set up is. peace











john:p
 
#7
I powershift 3 and 4 HARD with my T5 and stock clutch, and it doesn't seem to bother it much. It shifts as smooth as anything, even when ice cold. I think it's because I'm only making 311 ft/lbs torque, which isn't much more than a stock mustang. Granted, I have a brand new clutch, cable, and TOB. I've heard so many stories of T5s being made of glass, but mine takes a licking and keeps on ticking for some odd reason. :rlaugh:
 
#8
another thing no one mentioned, is you need to find out a good shift point. take it outside of town,, and run it through the gears, up 2 3rd. then give it moderate gas, and figure out were it quits pulling. then lower your shift point about 250-500 so by the time you get to the rpm when it quits pulling your in the next gear


AND MOST OF ALL HAVE FUN RACING, TAKE IT SERIOUS, BUT HAVE FUN MAN

IVE GOT A T5 LIKE THAT, HAPPENS TO BE A BANGER ONE ALSO ?????????? WHO KNOW HOW LONG ITLL LAST
 
#9
1991notchbackLX said:
I powershift 3 and 4 HARD with my T5 and stock clutch, and it doesn't seem to bother it much. It shifts as smooth as anything, even when ice cold. I think it's because I'm only making 311 ft/lbs torque, which isn't much more than a stock mustang. Granted, I have a brand new clutch, cable, and TOB. I've heard so many stories of T5s being made of glass, but mine takes a licking and keeps on ticking for some odd reason. :rlaugh:
Click to expand...

:rlaugh: me to lol. I powershift mine quite a bit and it keeps on chugging. Lets hope it stays that way for a while
 
#10
My t-5 held up to 400+ hp and power shifting, the clutch slipped from 3-4th shift after my 80th pass at PIR lol.... When do you go out to PIR? it would be cool to meet another guy on these forums and i go there about every other weekend.

if you are scared of power shifts up high try to practice them at lower RPM's, so instead of a 5-6k shift try going from 3k and just get it down. Thats how i did it. Just kick that clutch down and rip that shifter like you are trying to pull it off so you dont miss a gear ;p
 
#11
I had a T-5 hold up for about 2 years doing that...

Then one day I got to the end of the 1/8 mile and realized I couldn't get the shifter out of third. When we got the car apart the next weekend we realized I had CRACKED THE CASING of the t-5 in the center on the bottom.

just an fyi
 
#12
Dizzy_ax said:
My t-5 held up to 400+ hp and power shifting, the clutch slipped from 3-4th shift after my 80th pass at PIR lol.... When do you go out to PIR? it would be cool to meet another guy on these forums and i go there about every other weekend.

if you are scared of power shifts up high try to practice them at lower RPM's, so instead of a 5-6k shift try going from 3k and just get it down. Thats how i did it. Just kick that clutch down and rip that shifter like you are trying to pull it off so you dont miss a gear ;p
Click to expand...

I have gone every weekend this year so far. we usually go on staurday nights tho.I'm not going this saturday night going to the starlight parade with the woman.Can you post some pics of your car? I think you tried to run me one day on 205? peace











john:p
 
#18
Well I can tell you how I used to power shift my 65 & 68 mustangs They had top loader 4 speeds but it should work the same for most sticks, while your accelerating (have to be under power) try to pull it out of gear toward the next gear you are shifting to, it should not come out of gear untill you tap the clutch pedal, its like preloading the shifter and when you tap the clutch pedal it slams to the next gear.
I have my doubts if your trans will hold up to this though, you know those old top loaders were very tough.
Try it at lower rpms first and see if you can get it to come out of gear while accelerating, if it don`t, tap the clutch and see if its lighting fast.
 
#19
Oh yeah ;p, now i remember! I didnt get to go because im low on cash and decided i should probably do something to the car before going out and beating on it. Doing some well needed mods but should be out there in a week or two. depending on how long it takes me to get the stuff on.
 
#20
white 89 GT said:
Well I can tell you how I used to power shift my 65 & 68 mustangs They had top loader 4 speeds but it should work the same for most sticks, while your accelerating (have to be under power) try to pull it out of gear toward the next gear you are shifting to, it should not come out of gear untill you tap the clutch pedal, its like preloading the shifter and when you tap the clutch pedal it slams to the next gear.
I have my doubts if your trans will hold up to this though, you know those old top loaders were very tough.
Try it at lower rpms first and see if you can get it to come out of gear while accelerating, if it don`t, tap the clutch and see if its lighting fast.
Click to expand...

That's how I do it. As you're approaching your shift point pull or push on the shifter hard aiming towards the next gear. Then keep your foot through the boards, stab the clutch and attempt to pull the tranny through the floor. My 40k mile t5 didn't last long at all behind the stock motor after I bought the car. I went for 3rd and thought it broke my arm when it pushed back twice as hard haha. I rebuilt it with an APW gearset and it LOVES to be powershifted. It gets 1st-3rd almost every day and never complains. Shifts like butter.

A 3550 will be a little harder to powershift. They are notorious for being hard to shift. My buddy had one in his car making 500rwhp for a while. He had no problem powershifting it, it just took a little more effort. It never really broke either. Now it's a turbo car and it eventually just stopped wanting to go into gear at the track.

As far as the clutch, I like mine adjusted as high as possible without putting pressure on the cable making it slip. Think about it like this. The tighter it's adjusted, the sooner it's going to disengage when you go to slam it, leaving the clutch disengaged for a longer period of time giving you a larger window to complete the shift. I would just adjust it with your firewall adjuster until it's as high as possible while still keeping a little play in the pedal if you pull up and down on it.

I believe the key to powershifting is to drive it like you hate it. You basically have to TRY to break it. If you are scared or unsure, you WILL **** up and miss gears. Oh, and please only do this with a rev limiter haha.

You will be amazed how much faster it makes the car. It's also kinda neat if you display it when leaving your local hangout or something and everyone says how the **** do you do that. Sounds like a damn automatic.

Oh btw. Thanks. All this talk makes me want to go beat my car.
 
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