This Four, Or That Four,...

Some help in the transmission dept...from another old guy who probably has 10-12 years on top of yours...

A Tremec 3550/TKO/TKO 500/TKO 600 is a completely different transmission from a T5. Strong and almost bulletproof unless you run them without proper lubricant or full throttle shift without the clutch.

A Tremec T5 is still the same T5 that is prone to self destruction when used in a street/strip or racing environment

photo_t5.jpg

T5, all versions used in 5.0 Mustangs

photo_tko.jpg

Tremec 3550/TKO /TKO500/TKO600 AFTERMARKET replacement for T5 - handles racing environments with ease

See http://www.ttcautomotive.com/English/products/tremec.asp for more information - check out the "Light Duty" group, since TTC makes monster transmissions for big trucks as well as passenger cars.


T5 identifier information.

On the tail shaft of the transmission, there will be a stamped aluminum tag. The tag will have a number on it that you can cross reference to the chart below. There is no other way to find out what type of T5 it is without disassembling it. All the rest of the numbers on the outside of the T5 case are part numbers which are not unique to any particular T5 model.

Remember that 94 - 97 T5's have a longer input shaft (about 11/16” longer) and can only be used with a 94-95 bell housing unless you modify or replace the input shaft.

T5's used with a 4 cylinder have a 3.93 first gear, reduced torque ratings and an input shaft pilot diameter that is smaller that the T5 used for V6 & V8 engines. The Pilot diameter is .59" compared to the .668" used on V6 & V8 T5's. It requires a different pilot bearing to be used with a V6 or V8. The pilot bearing you need is for a Ford Ranger diesel from AutoZone part #14672


t5-identifier-gif.68815


I don't know how you feel about the DYI thing when it comes to gears, some people don't like the idea of working on transmissions. If the DYI transmission fix idea isn't something that you would rather leave to someone else, here are some resources:

See http://www.ttcautomotive.com/English/onlineorder/product.asp to download a FREE service manual for T5 or Tremec 3550/TKO
You will need the Adobe Acrobat viewer which is also a free download – http://get.adobe.com/reader/

See http://www.hanlonmotorsports.com/ or http://www.ddperformance.com for parts

A T5 rebuild kit with syncros, bearings and other small parts costs about $160. It does not include any gears or shafts.

http://www.hanlonmotorsports.com/ also has a video on how to rebuild your T5 or Tremec. It costs about $20, and is worth every penny of it.

I did a Tremec 3550 rebuild, and it wasn't that difficult. The video was an immense help, and I would recommend viewing it. At $20, it will give you an opportunity to look and decide for yourself if you think that it is something you want to try to do.


T5 Shim kits – best product I have seen in a while… http://www.5speeds.com/t5/shims.html
“The Peel ‘n Place T5 World Class shim kit makes shimming T5 counter gear and main drive gears very easy.”
 
  • Sponsors (?)


Older,...wiser,...vastly more interesting.:cool:

I wanted an auto to keep it 'in boost" w/o having to worry about bending a shift lever, hurting a synchro, or blowing some gear off of the main shaft.
Speaking of age,...let's do some math then shall we?......

Husky,..I don't know your exact age, but from what I read I'm thinkin early 40's

Thats a 15 year differential between you and me.

I can honestly say that I left my right foot on the floor while pulling the shifter from first to second when I was 17.

That means that while I was "power shifting" the first 68 mustang I ever drove that had a toploader..you were still filling your baby shaped kimbies with yellow fungue.


Dang, you're not that much older than me, but you sure are crankier. :D

I'm about a month shy of 48, but my momma used cloth diapers. My 68 had a C4. I started powershifting at 14 in my mom's 68...

Bug.
 
Dang, you're not that much older than me, but you sure are crankier. :D

I'm about a month shy of 48, but my momma used cloth diapers. My 68 had a C4. I started powershifting at 14 in my mom's 68...

Bug.
Ha!!!!

** This concludes the segment from which the party of the first part ( Husky 44) makes any comments to the party of the second part ( Madmike 1157 ) with reference to age.**

Ha!

The "cranky thing" works great for keeping my kids teenage dumb assed friends from wanting to talk to me,....so it works for me.

I'm just sayin'.
 
Dang, you're not that much older than me, but you sure are crankier. :D

I'm about a month shy of 48, but my momma used cloth diapers. My 68 had a C4. I started powershifting at 14 in my mom's 68...

Bug.
Ha!!!!

** This concludes the segment from which the party of the first part ( Husky 44) makes any comments to the party of the second part ( Madmike 1157 ) with reference to age.**

Ha!

The "cranky thing" works great for keeping my kids teenage dumb assed friends from wanting to talk to me,....so it works for me.

I'm just sayin'.


Secondhand-Lions-michael-caine-2629115-740-455[1].jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks for that,....I'm figuring I'll have to find one of those now.
It's looking like a manual trans is gonna have to be in my build plans (unless I wanna spend alot of time on my back,....under the car,......removing blown up automatic junk)

Cheap, easy or cool, It is one of those "You might get two, but you are not getting all three today." That would make me cranky too, at 17 or 147.:p

It used to be the manual tranny would be better to control the rpm for turbo boost. (Turbo Corvairs stunk with automatics and were fun with a manual. The boost just did not get there in time. Now who is old?) I do not know how another lever and pedal would be for driving fast around a parking lot. It sounds easier to break the back end away if you need to with a pop of the clutch. Fishtails around orange cones with just a 4 cyl seems wrong.
 
Last edited:
Cheap, easy or cool, It is one of those "You might get two, but you are not getting all three today." That would make me cranky too, at 17 or 147.:p

It used to be the manual tranny would be better to control the rpm for turbo boost. (Turbo Corvairs stunk with automatics and were fun with a manual. The boost just did not get there in time. Now who is old?) I do not know how another lever and pedal would be for driving fast around a parking lot. It sounds easier to break the back end away if you need to with a pop of the clutch. Fishtails around orange cones with just a 4 cyl seems wrong.

** Me, really scratching my head**
But,......I never intended to drive it fast around a parking lot.

Ohhhh you think because it's gonna have all that chassis junk I want to auto cross it.

Umm,...... no.

I was putting all that junk on it for the same reason any body modifies a street driven car beyond what is necessary to go to the grocery store. ( that includes everybody here)

Because I can for one,...because I have certain handling expectations if I ever want to go through a windy, twisty, curvy stretch of road, faster than the posted speed limit. Because one day,..I'll take it to an open track event at Barber Motorsports park,..and I may get hooked.

Fish tails around orange cones w just a turbo'd 4 cylinder seems wrong to me as well.

Coming out of a sweeping, uphill, right turn and accelerating to 100 mph while doing it, all in boost, doesn't.
 
Last edited:
One of us, sometime, needs to start working on something. This past month of bench racing is making me cranky, and getting my hopes up for this car isn't helping
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Go ahead,...laugh it up fuzzball.

I let you "modify" my avatar w/o even as much as a WTF.
Primarily because I'm trying to keep up w/ your preconceived notions,..but mostly because you think it's funny.

And who am I to mess w/ the man.


LOL... You're looking at it all wrong Mike! Soon as I saw the video with that guy in it, I thought of you. :)

So that avatar was extracted from video... Just for you. :D

I still have your other one if you want it back.
 
[quotedmike1157, post: 8753371, member: 162211"]** Me, really scratching my head**
But,......I never intended to drive it fast around a parking lot.

Ohhhh you think because it's gonna have all that chassis junk I want to auto cross it.

Umm,...... no.

I was putting all that junk on it for the same reason any body modifies a street driven car beyond what is necessary to go to the grocery store. ( that includes everybody here)

Because I can for one,...because I have certain handling expectations if I ever want to go through a windy, twisty, curvy stretch of road, faster than the posted speed limit. Because one day,..I'll take it to an open track event at Barber Motorsports park,..and I may get hooked.

Fish tails around orange cones w just a turbo'd 4 cylinder seems wrong to me as well.

Coming out of a sweeping, uphill, right turn and accelerating to 100 mph while doing it, all in boost, doesn't.[/quot

I figured you were at least autocrossing. We are both caught up now.
 
Hoopty, I can post pics of my new tires when I have them put on if that makes you feel better. As for Mike, all the plans in the world dont mean crap until you have the car to do them with. I once bought a sportbike over the web and paid the shipping. 3 months later my local police had his local police show up at his house and get my money back. They said the bike was sitting in his garage, in perfect running condition, he just never got around to shipping it before he started ignoring my calls and emails...
 
One of us, sometime, needs to start working on something. This past month of bench racing is making me cranky, and getting my hopes up for this car isn't helping

Look,....I gotta tell ya 5 weeks ago, I never thought I'd still be talking about a car I don't have yet. I own it (at least on paper),...I just don't have posession. ( I don't need the fraction anology here either )

I do have stuff to take pics of, New Cobra brakes in boxes,...new 5 lug black Bullitt wheels w/tires mounted (also in boxes).
But the you guys know what Cobra brakes look like,..and you know what Black Bullitts w/ 315 rubber looks like too, so I'm saving bandwidth.

A related note: I just b itched out the broker (again) the only way I could, via email. I asked for a refund on my 150 broker fee,....and told them to cancel my ship request. At the same time,..I checked flights into Tuscon.

It's 1535 miles from Elfrida AZ to Hoover, AL. I'd have to cross part of the southern most tip of AZ,...and part of New Mexico before turning south on I-10 at the western most tip of Texas. Then across that giant state, all of Lousiana, all of Mississippi in an original 88k, 78 Fairmont that sat in a little old ladies carport for 4 years straight.

If that isn't desperate enough for you guys,...I don't know what to tell ya.

They'll probably find my sun bleached skeleton several years later, 13 miles off the main drag where I haphazardly took a wrong turn, high grounded the oil pan, and ended up broken down on some desolate stretch of washed out rut, with the letters S.O.S. made out of stone, laid out in an attempt to be seen from the air, during that time while laying them out, I got bit by some poisonous Jeela monster, or some other side windin' varmint.
dead_smiley.jpg
 
[quotedmike1157, post: 8753371, member: 162211"]** Me, really scratching my head**
But,......I never intended to drive it fast around a parking lot.

Ohhhh you think because it's gonna have all that chassis junk I want to auto cross it.

Umm,...... no.

I was putting all that junk on it for the same reason any body modifies a street driven car beyond what is necessary to go to the grocery store. ( that includes everybody here)

Because I can for one,...because I have certain handling expectations if I ever want to go through a windy, twisty, curvy stretch of road, faster than the posted speed limit. Because one day,..I'll take it to an open track event at Barber Motorsports park,..and I may get hooked.

Fish tails around orange cones w just a turbo'd 4 cylinder seems wrong to me as well.

Coming out of a sweeping, uphill, right turn and accelerating to 100 mph while doing it, all in boost, doesn't.[/quot

I figured you were at least autocrossing. We are both caught up now.

In all honesty,..I've never done that either. Probably another thing I might take a liking to if I only had a DAMN CAR!!!
 
I just picture you getting inadvertently caught in a Walter White look alike contest somewhere in NM and accidentally winning first place. All the while you are bewildered and frustrated because you just wanna get back on the main drag.

I hope someone else gets the reference...
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user