t-5 transmissions

I believe a T-45 can handle 300hp... actually doesn't JS's 97 Cobra *have* a T-45?? He's got 305hp from the factory... not rwhp.. but still.

-Mike

trannsmissons are rated in torque not hp. Also not all world class t5s are the same. The early ones from around 1986 were only rated for 260 ft/lbs while the SVO Z spec box with a 2.95 first gear are rated for 320 ft/lbs. The last of the 3.35 first gear boxes were rated at 300 ft/lbs.

Also its hard to truely rate a transmission because rear tire size and gear ratio play a big part in how much torque the tranny will see. I was talking to a G-force rep a while back and he was telling me that the more rear end gear you have the less load the tranny will see. He also recomended a rear end gear higher in number than your first gear in the tranny. So if you ar running a 3.35 gear box then you should have no less than a 3.55 in the rear end. A larger diameter tire will put more load on a tranny than a smaller tire will as well.

MadDAWG

T-45?? He's got 305hp from the factory... not rwhp.. but still.

It's not so much the horsepower but the torque that'll really kill a manual tranny quickly. (Or so I've read...)

This explains the FOX Mustangs with 2.73 gears in the back:)

Al

Just cause Ford put it there doesn't mean it was a good idea.

Much to its defense, it's held up pretty well. The second gear synchro is pretty much destroyed, but that wasn't all its fault. The other problem I have is the one time I was crazy enough to see if it would hit the rated top speed, something started vibrating like hell, and the noise coming from the Tri-Ax wasn't too good, so I'm assuming that it doesn't like getting up around 6k in 4th.....

It's lived a hard 45k miles... (and I bought the car at 24k used and it was already a little sketchy).... and when it's time to go, I'll replace it with a T-56. Thinking about finding an '03-04 Cobra drivetrain and just going all out... I dunno yet. I have lots of dreams... just wonder which one will actually happen.

JS

explains what? why they break so much :)

MadDAWG

I was trying to make a point. Ford built lots of Mustangs with T-5's and

2.73 gears. I've had two myself. They seem to hold up just fine until you do something stupid, or add horsepower. Or, drain the ATF and refill with gear lube.

Al

Doesn't draining the ATF and filling with gear lube fall under column A? ;-)

JS