TREMEC T56 Magnum S197 Transmission

[AutoXRacer]

What are you guys doing to retain the shifter boot on the 2005-2009s? Sorry if this has been asked, but I have read this whole thread and couldn't find it mentioned.

What do you mean, it works...?
On mine, I got a nice black chrome washer that fits perfectly between the top of the shifter boot and the nut of the shifter handle.

Is there an issue I'm not aware of?

 

[Saleen304]

That looks like a good solution. I don't have my car back yet, but the shop was telling me that shifter knob didn't have a retainer like the 3650 knob so there was air coming through the hole. Didn't know if there was an aftermarket shifter that had the right thread and cam with a retainer as well. You solution seems to work though.

 

[69Mach1-409]

Yeah. I need to find something for mine as well. The black threaded shaft exposed between the boot and knob looks like crap.

 

[BruceH]

Ooh, you had the 4.56s? I thought about those, but I was steered away from it.

How much different was it than the 4.10s?

What will the differences be between the 3.55 and 4.10s?
I have no idea what to expect...this will be my first gear swap. lol

For me 4.10 gears feel like 3.55 did with the 3650, 4.56 felt like 4.10 did with the 3650. I debated 4.88 instead of 4.56.

You will like the change to 4.10. Who is doing the install? Stay away from Randy's R&P. They did a gear swap for me once. Never again.

 

[AutoXRacer]

For me 4.10 gears feel like 3.55 did with the 3650, 4.56 felt like 4.10 did with the 3650. I debated 4.88 instead of 4.56.

You will like the change to 4.10. Who is doing the install? Stay away from Randy's R&P. They did a gear swap for me once. Never again.

Oh man, maybe I should have consulted with you first...
I took it to TMS. They still have it; dropped it off Saturday, should be done by the end of tomorrow.

 

[BruceH]

Oh man, maybe I should have consulted with you first...
I took it to TMS. They still have it; dropped it off Saturday, should be done by the end of tomorrow.

Your car is in good hands. They use the Ford tools to set up the gears. You went with 4.10, is that correct?

 

[AutoXRacer]

Your car is in good hands. They use the Ford tools to set up the gears. You went with 4.10, is that correct?

Yes, that's what Lito recommended.
He was surprised I was using 3.55s with a wide ratio T-56. lol

 

[69Mach1-409]

Went and picked her up on my lunch today so I could put some miles on the clutch.

Cruising @ 70mph in 6th was no problem on my commute back to work, but I still think I'm going to regear in the near future.

 

[Saleen304]

With the comments about the 2.66 first and .5 sixth you would think that the 2013 GT500 guys would really be complaining since it comes with a 3.31 gear.

 

[AutoXRacer]

With the comments about the 2.66 first and .5 sixth you would think that the 2013 GT500 guys would really be complaining since it comes with a 3.31 gear.

Thats why I chose the wide ratio T-56 with my 3.55s!! I wanted 2013 GT500 like gear ratios.

But as I was educated, the 2013 GT500 is a 5.8L with gobbs more torque than my stroked 4.6L. lol

When I was running 620rwtq, the 3.55s were good!! No need to go shorter ratio. Had traction issues in 3rd gear. Below that torque range, I would suggest swapping gears.

Also, if you want to use 6th gear on the highway, you'll have to swap gears too...depending on your " typical highway speed". lol

 

[Saleen304]

I am at 570 RWHP / 550 TQ, but I have a 3.73 gear. Hoping that will be good enough since I do not want to touch a gear that doesn't make noise. My calcs show my car should be 1425 rpms at 65 mph. GT500 would be at 1300 rpms.

 

[skwerl]

With the comments about the 2.66 first and .5 sixth you would think that the 2013 GT500 guys would really be complaining since it comes with a 3.31 gear.

I thought the new transmissions were geared much lower, accounting for the taller rear end gears?

 

[Saleen304]

I thought the new transmissions were geared much lower, accounting for the taller rear end gears?

Nope. They have the 2.66 first and 3.31 rear so it can get a 3.5 sec 0-60 time. No need to shift to second. Also allows for the 200mph top speed.

 

[AutoXRacer]

I know!!! Thats the other reason I liked the 3.55 with 2.66 1st gear... 0-60 in 1st gear!!! No shifting required... lol

With the 4.10s I'll have to shift at 58 MPH... sigh LOL

 

[69Mach1-409]

Looks like maybe 3.90's might be the better choice?

 

[Saleen304]

Looks like maybe 3.90's might be the better choice?

Problem with that is Ford Racing does not make a 3.90. Lots of issues with this gear making noise. Some it doesn't bother though.

 

[skwerl]

I personally don't see the need for going with a 3.90 gear. Just go 4.10 and you can fine tune with the tire diameter. Gerald has plenty of power to run a bigger/taller tire.

 

[AutoXRacer]

So, picked up the car yesterday afternoon!!! First let me say that TMS - The Mustang Shop is awesome!!! The people there really care about their customers and cars!!!

As they were working on the rear axle, they notice my Watts Link was not perfectly setup. Since they had to disconnect it to get the cover off, they went ahead and installed it correctly and tuned it!!!
According to Matt, the guy that worked on my car, he spent 2 hours messing with it to get it just right....and guess what, they did not even charge me for it. Not that I would have had a problem paying for the work. I'm just glad they corrected my install. But if it would have been another shop, they would have probably not even noticed it or done anything about it.

The guys at TMS are awesome and I highly recommend them!!! First shop in WA that I am not disappointed with.

Now, about the new gears....

Hmm... Highway driving was AWESOME!!! 6th gear is now in the sweet spot; 1,500-2,000 RPM for 60-70 MPH!! Prior to that 70 MPH was roughly 1,300-1,400 RPM. lol
I was able to stay in 6th the whole time I drove on the highway.

Now for the questionable part... I think 4.10s are a little too much for me.
5th gear used to be another over-drive gear with the 3.55s. 5th was over-drive and 6th used to be super-over-drive. lol
5th gear is now 4th gear.
4th is 3rd and 3rd is 2nd!!!!!

The car is stupid crazy!!!! I need to find new tires!! I think I will need to run full slicks for street driving!!! LOL
I have no idea how I am going to race this car!! Look at the throttle too hard and the tires want to rip themselves off the rim. LOL

I am thinking that maybe 3.90s or 3.73s would have been a better choice for my setup. I just didn't think 3.73s would have been that much difference than 3.55s. And Ford does not make 3.90s; I would have had to go with Richmond Gears.
So that left me with 3.73s or 4.10s.

I haven't really driven the car aggressively all that much except for this morning going to work and merging on the HWY.... CRAZY!!!! :ack2: :drop_jaw: :err: ut:
Only got to 30% throttle and had no traction in 2nd and 3rd!!!

I will have to update my post with a longer term review.
But I frankly think 3.73s would have been a better choice.

I mean literally, the way the car accelerated this morning, as soon as I squeezed the throttle, the view became a blur!!! Like a scene from Buck Rogers shooting through that tunnel with all the lights.
Or for you youngsters, Star Trek warp speed!!!!

BTW, since shorter gears affect dyno results, I had the car baselined with the new gears. I lost a little bit of torque (25ft/lbs) on the dyno which obviously is not a representation of real world results.

 

[danzcool]

I didn't read through the whole thread, but has anyone figured out how to get 5th to work with cruise control, 4th and 6th work just fine, but 5th is that extra gear in the middle.
Is there a fix for that?

 

[lito]

Gerald, give me a good reason you'll need two OD gears, lol.

The idea behind a 6 speed (and even better a 7 one) is to usually have a 1st that helps the car move, and a tall 6th to work as an OD and keep the inner gears closer. With closer ratio trans as yours, it has been designed to do exactly that, 5th is actually closer to 4th as usual and a tall 6th to be the sole OD. As these transmissions derive from older designs, they keep a 1:1 fourth and a close 5th. Newer design usually makes the 5th closer to 1:1 (MT-82s are actually 1:1) and then an OD.

With a 3.55 to 3.73 you would barely felt the difference. As I told you, 3.90 might be the sweet spot depending on your tire height, use your car as it is and you'll enjoy it. Wait until you can get on it, gear after gear and how these close ratio makes the car shift like a motorcycle.