rebuild/upgrade parts for T-56?
04-02-2004, 10:39 PM
#1
rebuild/upgrade parts for T-56? Ok, I pulled my engine and tranny for my engine rebuild and I'm thinking "while the tranny is out, why don't I spend the extra $ and beef this thing up so I don't have to do it later".
The question is WHAT should I do? The tranny is a standard 01 model (D&D website says "GM switched to the steel/Viper shift fork in the 2001-2002 time frame. Your best bet is to check for it when you tear down your T56.") so I'm wondering if I have the steel or aluminum one? (have not opened the case yet)
The tranny has 49K miles on it and while it IS shifting really nice, I'm kind of thinking "when will those Syncros go bad on me?" I heard somewhere that it was possible to use the Viper syncros in our tranny and that they were stronger. Is this true?
Finally, if I open the case up, are there any seals/gaskets that I need to/should replace? This would be the first tranny rebuild for me, but its not that hard (watch...I'll
something up 
) is it?
The question is WHAT should I do? The tranny is a standard 01 model (D&D website says "GM switched to the steel/Viper shift fork in the 2001-2002 time frame. Your best bet is to check for it when you tear down your T56.") so I'm wondering if I have the steel or aluminum one? (have not opened the case yet)
The tranny has 49K miles on it and while it IS shifting really nice, I'm kind of thinking "when will those Syncros go bad on me?" I heard somewhere that it was possible to use the Viper syncros in our tranny and that they were stronger. Is this true?
Finally, if I open the case up, are there any seals/gaskets that I need to/should replace? This would be the first tranny rebuild for me, but its not that hard (watch...I'll
something up ) is it? 
04-05-2004, 06:25 PM
#5
rebuilding the tranny isn't that hard as long as you have a decent amount of mechanical experience. If you have done a head/cam install you will have to struggle through it but you will be ok for the most part. D&D have a T56 manual on their website, I recommend you download it and print it out to read it over a few times to get a general familarization of how the unit is put together. As far as I know in 01 the syncros are the carbon backed units which as far and I know are the same in the viper. The shift fork I think is still aluminum though. I know GM is putting the steel one in as part of the service bulletin but I don't think it ever came in a stock unit but I might be wrong. If you have installed a ring and pinion then you should be ok. It isn't hard but you do need a press. You also need some special tools. Get friendly with Harbor Freight. The 5/6 driven gear can be a PITA to get off and most pullers don't get on it. I recommend if you are gonna do this get a 12 ton press from Harbor freight. A really large set of snap ring pliers also get a good set of the smaller ones for the 5/6 and reverse forks being they are setup different than the other forks. You also want to get a gear puller from Harbor Freight, it is the one that costs about $30 or so. It has a larger bearing separator and the gear puller jaws and such with it also. You then need some Allthread the same size as the supplied coupling nuts in the kit because the gear puller won't go down on there far enough and the extensions supplied with the kit make it too long for the puller to work. Allthread did the trick for me. I can't think of anything else right now. A black and decker Workmate bench is what I used and it seemed about the best way to do it for me but you can try it anyway you wish. I hope this info is of some help. Let me know if you need anymore help and I will do what I can.
Jason
Jason
