This is what we have.........'39 Ford Tudor,401 Nailhead, recent rebuild, mild cam, six 97'S. I have a T10 behind it now but I was given a good WC T5. I like the idea of OD but I'm not sure the T5 will handle the Nailhead. I run narrow tires and a 3.50 rear..........I also like to drive hard from time to time. Any ideas on this??
Those tons of torque from the nailhead may well be the end of a T5, since you write you like to "drive hard from time to time" If you baby it it will probably work. More spendy but a Doug Nash or a Tremec may be a better choice. All that being said... I love nailheads, potent, small and unique looking
This has been gone over time and time again. Your drivng habits will dictate the longevity of your transmission. You can make a 39 Ford box live if you dont hammer on it, or you can blow up a TH400 if you hammer on it too much. You idea of hammering on it may be quite a bit different than mine. Running up through the gears isn't hammering on it if you can shift it properly, but high rpm launches and 'no lift to shift' will definately do damage to the trans. I have managed to blow up my st/th400 twice in my 55 Buick with a 401, yet have been able to keep the 32 Ford box together in my dads roadster with a 6500rpm 265 in it. I have changed out stock pushrods on several occasions and had to weld up a worn rear axle keyway, but no damage to the trans. It's all how you drive them.
I think you can expect to see the contents of your T5 on the ground sooner or later. DualQuad55 pretty much summed it up.
I respect what you have to say...........I know this is difficult to answer because there are so many factors. I don't beat-up my cars but I do like to bang through the gears every so often. I know I can make a T5 live behind a Nailhead but I just don't want it to be a limiting factor. Maybe I'll just put a taller gear in it........ Thanks guys.
Naw, do the T-5. you won't believe the difference 5 well spaced gears will make! But, drive it and enjoy it and when it does end up a collection of misc gears and parts in the bottom of the case, take it out and slip a Tremac in and abuse at will. My Tremac is still the very best money I have ever spent on a car. PERIOD!
401 puts out 450 ft lbs of torque @ 2800 rpm according yo factory published info. WC T5 is designed to take 265 ft lbs . I'd bet the T5 looses that one.
I beat on my 401 powered truck with a super t-10...no problems.....T-5 i think would lay all over the ground someday...
You can rebuild a T5 to take in excess of 600 ft-lb very easy. Not particularly cheap, but easy. If you have traction, you will destroy a factory T5. If you have wheel spin, you will probably be ok.
Don't bother. They use an integral bell housing that is specific to the modular V8 engine. You can get an adapter, but it's big money. They also have a remote mounted shifter that's not gonna work for an older car. Here's a '05-'10 TR3650 with the remote shifter hanging off it. That end of the shifter hanging to the right bolts to the chassis.
Those are continuous duty, 100,000 mile ratings. Their usefulness in the real world is comparative to other transmissions rated in the same manner. These have integrated bellhousings and aren't easily adapatable. The Fox 5.0 Mustang crowd typically stay with the T5 until the 10-11 second mark and then install a TKO or something similar when their T5 dies. The T5 is not comparable to a toploader or muncie as far as strength, but it isn't made of glass either. A rebuilt T5 out of a later model Mustang will handle a fair bit of power through it. As tjm73 mentions, they can be upgraded and strengthened to be just fine for a good bit of power. At that point, however, you're close to a TKO in terms of cost...but parts are easier to find. It's a trade-off.
I'd put my T-5's up against a T-10 for strength any day. One is behind a 3x2 406 in a 62 Galaxie the other is beat on regularly in a 65 Comet A/FX clone, wheel standing 427 stroker with slicks.
Try it you will like the overdrive.They say a non world class would not hold up in my model a with a 350 but it has been in there since 2009 and doing fine.You can beat on it some and it will live if you use some common sense.
Guy's I say it can/will live and hear is why. Torque by simple definition is the tendency or force required to rotate a object around a axis, center point or fulcrum. Now without getting into lever arms, magnitudes and vectors, let me give you a simple example that is relevant to us here. You use said excessive torque to move a very heavy car with very sticky tires and a extreme grip, the weakest link will show and rear it's ugly head. In this case it's the transmission in question. We are just ASSUMING, that the wheel studs, drive shaft, U-joints, differential are up to the task as well and are not the weaker link than the trans. Take said torque and now place this in a very light car and put the car on a ice skating rink, safe to assume the trans will last indefinitely. My point is the torque rating is all relative to the surroundings. I believe properly maintained and driven normally with the occasional burnout and power-shift, in a vehicle with moderate traction capability's that the T-5 will handle the load. Example also, in our shop I have had several over the years O/T stout Mustangs that the previous owners sleezingly had installed the 4 cylinder T-5 after destroying the V8 T-5 at the track, and then sold said car to unsuspecting new owner. The damage is usually the same. These tiny little pieces called clutch keys that have broken. They are no larger than a small key like used on a crankshaft and harmonic damper. Now the primary reason for these clutch key breakage, is NOT the torque of the V-8 , but the fact that the PILOT BUSHING is different in the 4 cylinder and the V8 to match the different input shafts. The input shaft of the 4 cylinder T5 flops around like a rabid dog inside the V8 pilot bushing. And yes if you upgrade to the G-Force internals the T5 WILL handle over 600 Hp and 500 pounds feet of torque in a sticky tire car. This I can say from years of experience. The price of the upgrade- around the same price of a new Super T-10, all the best- TR
How'd they do that? The input shaft is smaller in diameter and much longer on the 4-cyl Mustang T5. The V6 T5 will bolt in behind a V8, but not the 4-cyl...without some modification. My experience with early Mustang T5 is that 3rd gear synchro & gear usually go first...if you don't break everything.
Ernie, sadly the 4 cylinder WILL go in, and it does for many unsuspecting 5.0 buyers, the tip of the input shaft gets clipped with a cut off wheel and yes I tried to desribe how much smaller it is as well. Yes the input flopps around like a gator tail inside the bushing, but it does survive- for a while. This is the major problem here, but there is a cure. I have to look for the part number but there is a bushing available at most auto parts houses that fit the OD to the late model crank flange and the ID to the smaller T5 input shaft. 1st gear ratio is also lower on the 4 cylinder T5, I can tell the instant I drive or move on forward a few feet. Believe me it get's done and it's a shame because you really see the look of disgust on peoples faces when you show them how they were dooped by the previous owner, TR
They'd have to change the clutch disk too - the splines are smaller and different. That input shaft is a LOT longer...I don't see how they do it just bolting it in. I don't have my files with me on this computer, but I know the ratios are lower...I also have the input shaft specs somewhere. Currently out of the country, but will be back in a few days...you got me curious now.
If most of what you do is normal driving, you shouldnt worry about the Strength of the T5. I am sure it will do fine. If you drive like an animal, I would give long consideration. You could pull a little gear out but then you lose the acceleration you are familiar with and you would have to take out quite a bit to get close to the same overall gearing as using the overdrive. You would need to be right around 3.00:1. Personally I loved the 3.90 Gears I had in my Buick, but the need for more acceleration caused me to go a little deeper. Then the lack of traction brought it back some. Now I flip/flop between 4.10 and 4.56 with a 28.5 or 29.25 tire (they change too). I say do the T5 and drive happy. If it starts to fail regularly, stick the t10 back in it.
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