T56 billet keys and sticking in 4th
 

So,

The last T56 I was running in my turbo LQ4 T56 OBS (GMT400) truck finally got COMPLETELY stuck in 4th gear.... Broken stock stamped keys as usual.

Well, what I did was build up a 32 spline T56 hybrid, mainly because IMO the T56 Magnum and TR6060 are NOT an improvement over the old T56 due to the smaller clutching teeth of the synchronizer asemblies in the new boxes.

I built the box myself and used all the typical things to address what needs to be done, steel 3/4 fork, bronze pads etc. etc.... The "billet" keys that I was able to find ANYWHERE are likely not actually billet but powdered metal.... In fact, I got a lot of my rebuild parts from the thegearbox.org...... They sold me "billet" keys.... I shit you not, LITERALLY one of these supposed billet keys broke in my fingers as I was pulling it out of the packaging...... Long story short I called them and made them aware of this and the guy (can't remember name?) acted surprised, actually was almost in disbelief??? I mailed him some of them back and he mailed me replacements...

Well, I had to get on with it so, I used the keys that I purchased from them, including the replacements for the broken ones he later sent me.....

I should first mention that I've put maybe 10,000 miles or more on this trans since building it and 99% of the time it is absolutely flawless. Well as much as any T56 variant can be. If you've ever spent enough time around one you know how they can have a "personality"!!! Every one I've driven is notchy when cold. AND, there is a technique even then... If I slowly shift and short-shift this one it is STILL notchy... BUT, if I get the revs up real good and drive it "agressively" it is like a hot knife through butter.... Every single time.

So here is where it's at as of now:

Recently, this T56 (with the supposed "billet" keys and all the other hardcore goodies) is starting to hang up in 4th gear a bit... I can very lightly press forward on the shfiter (MGW) and it pops right out of 4th and continues to act normal otherwise...

What is going on here? My theories at this point are it is either starting to break, or has already broken the keys for 3/4 --OR-- It's slightly pushing the 3/4 keys out of the slider on the 3/4 shift sometimes and then they pop back in...

I remember someone talking about making some true, actual billet shift keys for these gearboxes but to my knowledge it never materialized. I would certainly like to see it come to be because at some point I'm going to need to drop the T56 to put a REAL clutch in to handle the power this boosted 6.0 makes in this fullsize truck. I would like to pop in some keys that are actually billet steel machined from one piece, instead of the powdered metal bullshit that everyone is passing off as "billet keys".

There is no question at all, the 6060/Magnum IS an improvement, especially in the synchro department.

I had billet keys in my old T56, and they were definitely not powdered metal. Although they were installed many years ago. I'd think the big names like Tick, Liberty, DD, RSG etc etc would all sell what they claim ?

I've only ever bought stock parts from thegearbox.org, and they seemed to be fine. Which is only to be expected really.

If the the synchros are having to work very hard, either due to abuse, clutch, poor blocker action etc etc, then the keys too will get a very hard time. All the reasons why Magnums make sense because their setup is superior.

Only way to find out what's up with yours is pull it apart, because even if they are broken and no longer in place, the parts will likely be stuck on the big magnets now.

OP, as mentioned^^^^...you/we are only guessing until you open tranny up. Based on your comments about the fragile supposed billet keys you installed (read they likely were not billet) than the keys are a very likely cause

FWIW back in 05 I got a new T56 from D&D and they installed "real" billet keys along with the steel 3-4 fork. The guy from D&D said there were some "bogus" keys being sold as being billet but were not...as you found out

FWIW I have a heavy B-body LT1 I put a T56 in and a 383. Single disc clutches did not last. McLeod Twin and I never had any issues with it now years later and it has seen 100's of 1/4 mi passes running a tire

The majority of inexpensive shift keys are not billet at all. They are powdered metal and some have been heat treated (has purplish to bronze coloring). With shift keys and bronze shift pads, you do really get what you pay for. A lot of bronze pads are "casted" from molten bronze and not billet at all. In most cases, the cheaper bronze pads are actually worse off than using the factory plastic pads as they get hot and begin to melt when coming in contact with the stronger steel sleeve.

Stevie, I always appreciate your input man, you're obviously a smart and capable dude with a cool AND fast car. However, (here's my disclaimer first) I mean no disrespect by ANY means... I'm just not sold on the idea that the 6060/Magnum is an improvement...

Post #14:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/manual-tr...vs-tr6060.html

This is the T56 "hybrid" that I am currently running, I built it myself based off of the article this gentleman was nice enough to share:
https://www.eecis.udel.edu/~davis/z2..._Fbody_T56.pdf

This T56 I'm running, like in the hybrid build link I posted above, uses the 32 spline mainshaft and the triple cone synchros in 1-2 and double cone synchros in all other gears. So, if I'm not mistaken, the synchros are very similar in that regard between the T56 and the TR6060/magnum. Other than the clutching teeth being smaller in the 6060/magnum.

Yeah you're probably right about thegearbox.org selling stock stuff. But to me, if they market something as a billet shift key, it ought to be that. From what I can tell the "billet" shift keys they sell are only powdered metal. Now someone with a better understanding of metallurgy than I can probably correct me if necessary, but, I would think that even the powdered metal keys would be an improvement over the stamped steel keys a lot of T56s used.

I'm going to run this one either until I have to drop it for some reason, OR I drop it for a clutch install...



Yup. Like I said, gonna run it till I can't and/or it's clutch upgrade time then open it back up and see if those keys broke. Even if they didn't, I'll likely upgrade them anyways. Yes, I put a stell 3/4 fork in mine, can't remember actually, maybe the donor trans I built up actually came with a steel fork, but either way.

I never run this thing down the 1/4 and don't really care to. It's just a fullsize truck with all the creature comforts that you can load up a stack of plywood and go stomp ass on 90% of what you encounter on the streets if so desired. That's enough for me.

Interesting. Thanks for the input.

Just because one box may say double synchros, doesnt mean they are the same. Much like a T5 has synchros and gears...doesnt make it as strong or as good as a T56. Because they're totally different.

The Magnum has wider gears. The synchros are larger diameter meaning the blockers have an easier time, more teeth to engage for the synchros at the larger diameter...all of these things are positives.

So no a T56 is only similar in that is has gears and synchros...much as a T5 is similar, etc etc. Similar is not the same though

The Magnum is better in every regard.

Yeah the magnum has wider gears. but the case dimensions stayed the same so something had to give which were the clutching teeth like in the post I shared above. No matter how good any of us are at rowing gears, and how good of shape the trans is, the hydraulics, etc, sometimes the synchronizers just don't cooperate and a missed shift is always a possibility. LS123, the same guy in that same post also states that in his opinion the sintered bronze blocker rings in the magnum are not an improvement over the carbon fiber ones from the T56.

What does all this mean? I don't know. I'm not a professional trans builder by any means. Just a shadetree guy. I will say this though, I've been in a few T56s before, rebuilt a couple of them, and built up this 32 spline triple cone hybrid I'm currently running... The gears in a T56 are already pretty massive. In my non-expert-non-professional-trans-builder opinion the gears weren't really the weak point of the T56 anyways. It was the 27 spline mainshaft breaking on hard launches and/or in heavy vehicles the T56 was swapped into. Also, the input shaft was a failure point from the fluid rushing away from it on a very hard launch and starving it of lube. I TIG welded an AN fitting on the case of this T56 to spray lube directly at the headset gears.

Funny you mention the T5. I have fiddled around with a T5 once and if there is one thing I can definitely appreciate about the T56 or the Magnum is the fact that you assemble those on the front plate then pull the case down over it like a shirt. A T5 is like building a ship in a bottle by comparison lol. I once rebuilt a Ford sideloader 3 speed with a Borg R10 overdrive behind it. That thing was also like building a ship in a bottle and in my opinion way more involved even though it has half the gears of either 6 speed haha.

Magnum has triple cones with either paper or carbon friction surfaces on 1-2 and doubles elsewhere....there is no bronze to metal as per very old transmissions. And again the larger diameter all means they will be far more efficient at doing their job.
They also have a much better version of those keys you're breaking lol.

And certainly compared to very old boxes, the 5/6 cluster setup is much stronger. That was always something I thought would break in mine, although I ended up just wrecking 5th gear instead on one box, and the 5/6 slider hum on another. Many others have stripped teeth off the input gear, although I never did that myself. So yes the standard 27 spline output is considered a weak area, but the gears themselves do also have limitations.

The Magnum is definitely just better all round. Doesnt matter what you spend on an old T56...it still wont be as good as even a standard Magnum. Would be nice if it had the internal pump like the 6060 though

What was the sintered bronze blocker rings he was talking about, perhaps that's just the 6060 and not the Magnum? Larger diameter gears will of course be stronger, but what do you mean by more efficient?

What about those clutching teeth being smaller? I think you're right about the Magnum being an improvement over the T56 in every regard. But those clutching teeth for me make it a wash or a tradeoff perhaps?

I see what you're saying though. The Magnum is probably the best thing in your case since you make those high speed pulls in overdrive. You're a madman lol. I can't even hold mine out all the way in 4th most of the time, that's way too fast for me lol. But again, I never track the thing, just tons of street mischief. I usually keep a bunch of miscellaneous trash, a couple sleeping bags, toolboxes etc in the bed just to add to the "sleeper" effect. I only ever use 5th and 6th for cruising to keep the revs down and help the mileage a bit so I should be good there.

I don't think the current keys in there are broken. I'm still driving it and still beating the shit out of it and it's doing fine.... It FEELS like that one time it got "sticky" in 4th that the keys started to come slightly out but popped back into the slider.

When the stock stamped keys broke in the previous 27 spline T56 it was flat out STUCK in 4th. And when I tore it down the keys were broken, no surprise. Interestingly, I had the tailshaft housing off of that last T56 in the past, BEFORE it got stuck in 4th, and there were bits of those keys stuck to the magnet. I slapped it back together and hammered on it that way for another several years before the keys finally broke enough to make it stick in 4th.

I think the thing that annoys me about the whole deal is the fact that Tremec bought the rights to the T56 from Borg and then shortly thereafter ended the production run. To my knowledge they haven't made any parts for them in quite a while either. So it seems to me that Tremec is trying to FORCE ya to buy into their magnum. But my T56 works fine and I will keep running it just because it works fine for me. AMP-D pointed me in the direction of some legitimate billet shift keys. When I ditch the LS7 clutch and put in a better clutch I will slap in some of those actual billet keys and stab the T56 back in and let it rip.

I'm glad to see alternative options popping up like the CD009 and the AR5 trans. Anything to give us more options is good for that fact alone. And, maybe things will become more affordable as the result of more competition/options? We no longer are stuck with either choosing a T56 or a Magnum because these other options exist and that is awesome I think.

A magnum costs $3,314 shipped to my door. A 4 speed Lenco or Jeffco would be just a little bit more than that, around $4,000 I think. I know it's comparing apples to oranges a little bit since one is a constant mesh cluster shaft type manual vs a planetary style lol but nonetheless. I've got 2 or 3 other T56s in my parts stash stuffed back underneath a bunch of other goodies. I was contemplating building up another 32 spline triple cone synchro hybrid for a future project but the more I think about it, I'm just going to sell them and keep throwing money into a sock drawer until something like a planetary manual would be affordable.... Add a Gear Vendors overdrive at some point or gear the rear axle in a sane fashion and you'd have the best of it all. The ability to modulate torque with a clutch, and the brute strength of a compound planetary gearset.

Not sure why you're fixated on the synchro teeth ? It is a non issue.

Tremec isnt forcing anything. The T56 is now a very old box, there are better alternatives. Why keep making parts for something that is obsolete ? That doesnt make any business sense. Same way manufacturers of everything stop older stuff when they produce new better gear.

Part of the reason the keys break or endure so much force...is also synchros and design of the slider/hub...again, all areas improved with the Magnum.

And you're right, it is comparing apples to oranges, or even bananas. There is no comparison whatsoever to a 4 speed other brand box vs a 6 speed, nevermind some sort of race type option. Obviously if you have a few T56's and lots of parts, then yes it probably does make sense to make use of them.

But when even used T56's seemed to ask silly money, it just makes a Magnum or 6060 look even better.

The biggest issue with the TR6060/T56 Magnum is the engagement teeth are very prone to damage beyond repair with a few mis-shifts compared to the older T56 units. Other than that, the new 6 speeds are superior to the older T56 in every way.

Yup. That's exactly what I've been trying to say.

Not fixated. I just mentioned it or asked you several times because I wanted your input on it. You just gave it to me, and I appreciate that.

I am by no means trying to attack you, or your Magnum, or anyone else who may choose to run one. Obviously the Magnum is a wonderful trans, it is based off of the T56 which is also, a great trans. In a way I suppose I'm kind of playing devils advocate here just for the discussion, no more no less. I certainly don't intend to make anyone feel bad, or regret a decision or have to justify anything. Just a conversation, that's all.

IMO, the T56 is far from obsolete... There are currently 13 posts on the first page of the manual trans subsection of this forum with T56/T-56 in the title... Only one thread mentions TR6060, and none of them mention Magnum. A SBC is technically obsolete. A flathead Ford is especially obsolete, but neither of those, or their parts support are going away anytime soon, if ever.

I think you're right, the slider/hub itself of the Magnum seems to be a definite improvement.

Or maybe like comparing zebras to helicopters even lol? All I was getting at there was while the Magnum is a wonderful trans, it is not cheap... And for not much more money one could have a trans that is tougher than either a T56 or a Magnum...

For less than what 1 Magnum costs, I have bought 4 T56s.... I didn't need them, I didn't keep destroying them, I just found them cheap and scooped them up. I bought two at once for $1000 for the pair, the guy was going to a Magnum lol so I bought em up.

I think either due to the area I am located in, or maybe dumb luck I've been able to snag T56s for a decent or even good price.... Of course I'll occasionally see one pop up on my local craigslist and it's like because it was behind an LS2 somehow that makes it super valuable?! Not to me me at least!! Always worth a good chuckle if nothing else. LS2s around here typically go for around $1500 complete if not closer to $2000.... Which is exactly why I snap up the lowly, junk, boat anchor, iron truck motors like the LQ4 for a fraction of the price, $350..... I've actually dredged up 3 LQ4s over time, all for around the price of 300 bucks.

GM/Tremec no longer make parts for them or sell them...it is obsolete in that sense. GM no longer make new SBC parts ? They are obsolete. Ford no longer make parts for the flathead ? They are obsolete.

Aftermarket support is a different matter...and will also have different levels of quality. Some will be poor, some possibly better than OEM.

And generally you see threads here where people are having problems or similar issues/queries....so maybe no threads on the Magnum is an excellent sign ?

When I bought the Magnum, I seen it as a bargain. It didnt matter what I spent on a T56 ( been there, done that )...it would never be as strong or function as well as a base Magnum. To be able to buy a brand new unit, that bolts straight in and works....is hard to beat.
Any T56 variant would be built largely with either used parts, or now aftermarket parts. That could be good or bad. But starting with a well used base...maybe not such a great idea as gears will be worn, and no real easy way to determine their true condition.

I see posts on here where people are paying $1500-2000 for a used T56...which seems mental when a new Magnum is a bit over $3k. Yes some guys may find bargains out there and get T56's cheaper, but they'll always be well used, and need rebuilt which bumps the price up.

There just comes a time when an upgrade makes perfect sense, despite the extra cost.

Much the same as many SBC users upgraded to the LS platform. And no doubt in coming years, many will upgrade to the more expensive LT platform, because in effect the LS too from GM will become obsolete...even if it will undoubtedly retain huge aftermarket support.

The older parts will still have their place and can work extremely well...but sometimes moving forwards makes more sense.

Although expensive..that damn LT5. 750+ from the factory and no doubt with a warranty ? How much potential must that have ! lol

You can get a brand new SBC straight from GM. Ford has not made parts for the flathead in quite a while.. I think it interesting that the French military used flathead Fords until the 1990s!! The whole rest of the world had long since moved on, but it worked for them. And really it makes sense, the flathead was not an engine that delivered earth splitting horsepower like our turbocharged LS's do.... But, those flatheads were always pretty stupid reliable and massively torquey.... They can also chug down the shittiest of fuel and laugh about it. It's the simplicity in the design. It's basically a tractor engine which makes it fun to make fun of, but also, that's where the simplicity of design comes in to make it stupid reliable.

As a tangent, somewhere in this discussion, the topic of planned obsolescence comes in to mind.

I think the reason we see more threads on T56s than Magnums is the fact that most guys are doing some degree, or some sort of a hot rod or project car. And most of them probably cannot justify spending $3,300+ on a transmission.

This T56 I'm running has no issues whatsoever. The "billet" keys that the gearbox sold me where obviously powdered metal and not truly billet, but that's the bullshit marketing they pulled, not the fault of the trans itself.

In your area the Magnum probably was a bargain. Let me ask you this, what would a T56 cost in your area by comparison? For me, in my area, and largely because I do all of my own stunts (building engines, transmissions, differentials, turbo system fab etc etc) the T56 route was the bargain choice in my subjective case. I was able to recoup nearly ALL of the cost of the C5 donor T56 I bought to build up this hybrid by selling off the un-needed Corvette parts on Fleabay. I'll admit, the Magnum would have been a more "logical" choice for me in terms of just buy it and slap it in and be done with it. But what can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment I guess haha. I really enjoy mixing parts, figuring out what works better than something else, how something can be improved, modified etc. I like the challenge of figuring out what to do in order to make whatever I have work!

I have only seen 1 T56 that had problems with the gears. And that was because it was flat out abused. Guy trashed it and kept driving it for weeks, probably taking out even more gears in the process.

Yes I agree, to pay that much money for a used T56 is absolutely ridiculous. The cheap T56s are still bargains for me because like I said I do all my own stunts lol.

Man that LT platform sure is enticing. It is confusing how many times GM has recycled the LT name lol... Think it first showed up in the 70s? Then again in the 90s? And again now?!?

Now here I go playing devils advocate again lol... The entire LS platform was obsolete from the get go if you think about it!! Everyone and their dog made the switch to multiple overhead cams, multiple vales per cylinder etc. etc. And what does GM do?!?!? They come out with YET ANOTHER antiquated and obsolete pushrod design?!?! But hey, it can't be too terrible of an idea, or too obsolete because look at all the weirdos like ourselves who have seen the simplicity and brute strength of the LS platform and absolutely embraced it! There are obvious benefits to having overhead cams, and multiple valves per cylinder.... But all that extra complexity becomes a tradeoff at some point. You got guys slapping ching-chong turbos on junkyard 5.3s and 4.8s and making stupid power for stupid cheap, all in their backyard.... Meanwhile, some poor bastard is spending 10K, 20K OR MORE?!? on a Ford or a Dodge engine..... Just saw that Dodge has released the "Hellephant" for $30,000...... I build 2 or even 3 ENTIRE cars for that much money!

It will likely be a while before I break into the Gen V stuff, if I ever do.... I don't even have any Gen IV stuff yet!! All my junk is Gen III !!!

Stevie, why do you have to reside across the big pond? Think of all the good times we could have knockin' back pints and giving each other shit about T56 vs Magnum LOL! Oh the camaraderie!

In my area...by time shipping and duties are paid, it was close to UK £5k. Expensive...but IMO still a bargain compared to possible alternatives. That was D&D's " race prep" F body Magnum...although that just means they change the paper blockers to carbon on 1-2.
And I only did that really as the box has to come apart for the F conversion...may as well change those parts whilst in there. If I recall, postage alone for the box was around $650...and we have to pay fucking 20% taxes on the postage cost too !!
The only other box I seriously considered was a Samsonas sequential. It was a bit more expensive, but it simply boiled down to the fact I hated my faceplated T56 so much...no bloody way could I tolerate a sequential for regular driving, even if it would have been great for racing.

A "good" used T56 in the UK would still be around £1500, and really that's taking someones word for it that it is good, and it would be a stock good.... You just never know, but there isnt a ready supply of them regardless.
Hell, even guys importing iron 4.8's and 5.3's are selling them for £1500-2000 for bare engines ( or if you're very lucky you might find a cutout for that with wiring/ecu, but most are just bare engines )

There is a decent market for it, but for a viable business they are just the sort of prices they need to be really.

One huge bonus with the archaic design of these engines....ie that single cam/pushrod, is size. And there is no question is is archaic...but it works ! But simple architecture like that means the overall package is compact. ( DI has enlarged things a bit though )
Compared to say the Ford Modular 32v...another great performer, but the cylinder heads are fucking massive. For swaps at least, that makes things very difficult. The LS by comparison is tiny and very compact.

Likewise I'm still on LS2/cathedrals...hell they work, so there's no real need to change. But the new LT platform might be one to consider at some point in the future if I ever destroyed everything.
That said...recently been seeing a lot of the Aussie Ford Barra. Seems it's another bargain basement engine over there, that people buy and boost the shit out of, and they make a ton of power. Just a pity it's half way around the world too lol.

FFS for most part we get shitty diesels and other 4cyls here ! There are many things that I'd love to live over there for, but I like home sweet home. Even if there are no fucking drag strips and it rains all the time, and all the car stuff I want has to come from half way around the world lol.

I wouldn't say the T56 is obsolete from a parts perspective from GM or Tremec but its quickly getting there. As for aftermarket parts, you get what you pay for. We spend a lot of time and money developing and testing our parts before the retail customer ever sees them. Other companies couldn't tell anything about their stuff other than it fits this or it replaces this part number. They have no clue what material is used, how well it actually works or how close to OE specifications it is.

Wow man, yeah that is spendy. If the google currency converter isn't lying to me that is $6,457 USD. But like you said, it was surely the best choice in your case. Yeah I know how that goes, well I'm already in here so I may as well replace the lifters, and you know while I'm at it how bout a bigger cam.... lol the snowball effect. It's a sickness! I don't know what normal people do?! Actually I do, around here, they go to sporting events or watch them on TV, or go piss their money away at the casino.... No thanks! I'd rather castrate myself with a rusty grapefruit spoon than any of that!




Why did you hate the faceplated T56? Was it because of the clunkiness? I wouldn't mind that at all!! One of the things I love most about my Harleys is the positive sound and feel of the dogbox engagement of those gearboxes... CLUNK! I love it! Sometimes I think I ought to drag out one of those T56s floating around my junk pile and have the gears faceplated.. My biggest problem?! I can't ever make up my mind and I always want to try something else whatever it is haha.




Definitely right about trusting someone's word only to have them either not know, or worse, be a liar. The first T56 I ever got my hands on was the one I mentioned above that had the gears totally destroyed. Thankfully it was a buddy that I got it from so he made it right and he gave me my money back. He told me when I first got it, "Oh it just needs synchros".... It was beyond fucked lol... I'll have to see if I can find a picture of it somewhere. EVERY other time I came into a T56, I was buying them off of people that I didn't know.. So you bet your ass I was there with a 15mm socket and a punch to drive out the roll pin for the shifter offset lever to take both the front plate and the tailhousing off to see what was inside lol.




Oh I love simplicity and old junk if you haven't already noticed lol. Archaic as the pushrod-cam-in-block design is, look how well it works and yet also how affordable it is compared to other options!! And definitely the packaging is a big plus also... Slight tangent here: IMO hot-rodding started with the flathead Ford V8. Especially a 32... For pretty much the first time ever, an average working guy could afford a light car that already had a V8 in it!!! It wasn't long before that, automobiles were just toys for rich people. The flathead Ford was king of the hill for quite a while, and even when the first SBC showed up it wasn't able to unseat the flathead right away... Of course, it didn't take long for it to happen and boom, people were jamming SBCs off in every thing they could. And with the LS, history repeats itself all over again like with the SBC... Both were compact, powerful, light, plentiful, affordable, durable etc. etc.




Yup me too. To my knowledge the 317 heads like I run are very similar to the LS2 heads. That Ford Barra is interesting. Never heard of it till ya mentioned it.




I've got a fair bit of Irish, Scottish, and Welsh background in my family... Somehow, and at some point, they trekked across the big pond to the new world. Don't think I could deal with it always bucketing down over there like it tends to!! Course, here in Oklahoma it's so humid in the summer it might as well be raining!



And then we have the TR6070.... Maybe in a few years they'll start using Eaton 13 speeds?! lol

I would imagine the 7 speed does compromise strength somewhere. And in a big V8....just hard to imagine where 7 manual gears are necessary ( That said, more than a few times even with the 0.5 6th...I've looked for a 7th when cruising lol )

Certainly for drag use....we'd still only want those 4 gears for a run as using 5 would be a pointless extra shift. So the extra gears would be more daily use type of thing.

Automatics or DCT are the future though. There are a few control options now for the likes of the BMW DCT boxes although not sure ultimately on how strong they can make them. Although I think 7-800hp is not a problem to them. As for 1000+...not so sure on that, but no doubt they will be once more people start using them hard.
But their multiplate wet clutches seem to be able to handle a lot of power...but also be engaged smoothly so they can launch very well, and then there is the bonus of super slick shifts everywhere. So using more than 1-4 over the 1/4 would become a non issue and the box would still be great for all other uses too
I know there's a company Autobionics that modify I think is a Porsche DCT trans for their mid engined race cars that use high power LS engines. They're bound to be super fast.

TR6070 is a pointless unit in my opinion. You do not need 7 manually shifted speeds to accomplish the desired results for most gas powered engine combinations.

In a dual clutch application where you move direct gear to 5th and then use a double overdrive, it might make a little more sense.

Yeah haha, I think one could achieve the same or similar desired effect playing with tire diameters and ring and pinion gears. I run 4.88s and 29" tires on mine. 70 MPH in 6th is 1978 RPM.

The future?!?! Now come on stevie, you know I'm pretty stuck in the past :) Cool technology for sure though. I can see the advantage of the super slick shifts as you put it. But, one of the things I love about a good strong car with a conventional manual is the shock load and just how everything jerks around between shifts. I got rid of my 10 bolt axle years ago for that reason haha, went straight to the "small" 14 bolt. 9.5" ring gear.

Yes I couldn't agree more lol. I think they must have came up with that gearbox for CAFE and emissions reasons? Also, it makes the vehicle "more feature rich!" LOL Ya'll know how I feel about that.

We built a 32 Ford a few years back, drive the thing all over the state of Oklahoma. It's got a 49 8BA flathead and is backed by a T5.... The T5 is amazing in that car, gives it so much more flexibility. And you can easily keep up with modern traffic going 75+ MPH on the Interstate... I have always wondered, as much of an improvement as it was dumping the original trans and backing it with a T5, what would a T56 be like? There is one guy who has done it to my knowledge, I believe his name is Casey. He posted over on the HAMB. I think it would maybe be a worthwhile endeavor because I've always liked the two overdrive gears. 5th for a mileage cruising gear when going about 55-65 MPH and then the same for 6th but used in ~65+ MPH.