T56- How bad are they?

[FormulaFiend]

I'm going to be getting a new ls1 soon and I've heard some bad things about T56's being very weak transmissions. That is from a local car dealer who did a write up on it... I was wondering, from a drivers perspective, are T56's really that bad? And what are some ways to tell if they are bad? Going to be test driving some this week, was just wondering what are some signs of the tranny going out or even clutches. I've been driving Automatics as my personal car my whole life, I learned on a manual.

~Jeff

[secondgearscratch]

I'm going to be getting a new ls1 soon and I've heard some bad things about T56's being very weak transmissions. That is from a local car dealer who did a write up on it... I was wondering, from a drivers perspective, are T56's really that bad? And what are some ways to tell if they are bad? Going to be test driving some this week, was just wondering what are some signs of the tranny going out or even clutches. I've been driving Automatics as my personal car my whole life, I learned on a manual.

~Jeff

whoever told you this should be kicked in the ass. the t56 is one of the absolute strongest transmissions built! are you kidding me man? this is blasphemy!! they will easily handle huge horsepower. when i first got this z i missed some crucial shifts when racing and it affected nothing. the t56 is a fucking monster and its no joke. you can also opt to get it rebuilt to the viper specs (t56s are in f bodies, corvettes, cobras, vipers...) which replaces the steel shift forks with titanium and replaces the input and output shafts i believe.

they are bullet-proof, end of story...
the clutch, the driveshaft and the rear end will all break before the t56 will.
and those wont break either. anything with a 6 speed and american is probably running a tremec t56......

as far as your clutch slipping, you just have to feel how quickly it engages the flywheel and how far the pedal is backed out when it does so.

[Frankthetank]

T56's are some strong ass trannies.....They blew out one on GM High Tech with an ls7 but it was stock and they had a dana60 launching at 6000 rpms....

Whoever said their week trannies dont know much about em or are just stuck in the old days, being hard headed and all about newer technology

[FormulaFiend]

Sweet I figured as much... He said something about really weak syncros or some gay shit like that LoL Note to self: Don't trust a dude with David Hasselhoff's hairstyle. lmao

[secondgearscratch]

Sweet I figured as much... He said something about really weak syncros or some gay shit like that LoL Note to self: Don't trust a dude with David Hasselhoff's hairstyle. lmao

exactly. and frank the tank is right.
just to note, the car he's referring to had an ls7 that put out a considerable amount more than a stock one in the z06. they had to modify a few things to get it in a 99 z28, so they went ahead and upgraded the rear, axles, long tube headers and a few other things i cant recall.
the only reason the tranny broke was because they left it stock, plus revving and dropping the clutch at 6000 on full slicks and 4.56s....

they are bullet proof...

[Frankthetank]

Now synchros are a little weak........but thats not too major of a thing....WHATEVER U DO DONT GET A DEALERSHIP TO CHANGE UR SYNCHROS!!!!!!

I paid 3200 dollars for a dealership to put in new stock ones when i first got my first z28......Lol i didnt know better.....I thought "More money for better quality" lol......I still wish i could get that money back

[Spitfire]

The T-56 is actually based on the old Borg Warner transmissions. If you aren't familiar, Borg Warner is one of the most famous Transmission manufacturers. They've done everything from old Jaguar XK120s to our F-bodies. The T-56 is a very very stout transmission. I doubt you'll be breaking one soon. That being said, anything mechanical can fail....I lost my reverse gear because it ate itself alive, but I haven't had a problem since the fix. It's this s00pid powershifting and and improper shifting technique so many people use that break them, if at all. If you mistreat your car, you can expect problems.....but the T-56 will tend to oultast anything but the motor....

[Dillard99]

T56 is the way to go that guy is an idiot

[LS2Tuner]

The T-56 is a good stock trans. I can tell you first hand that it will hold up to 175 shot and power shifting for a year plus. The shift forks inside have broke on some of my customers........ This is due to stock shifter and or improper shifter install.
The shifter stops NEED to be adjusted properly to stop internal damage. When your banging gears you are trying to force the shift forks or rings past there travel point.

Have you ever drove a diesal truck? You can shift them without the clutch.... You put a load on the tranny with the throttle and as you start to let off the throttle you are unloading the tranny now you pull it out of gear and ahift in the next and so on. This is a test you can do to see if there is major wear.REMEMBER IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THIS TRY IT ON SOMEONE LITTLE SH_TBOX FIRST. Most will not go into 5 or 6 like this.
It sould fall right in NOT any yanking or grinding needed.

[9t8z28]

The T-56 is a good stock trans. I can tell you first hand that it will hold up to 175 shot and power shifting for a year plus. The shift forks inside have broke on some of my customers........ This is due to stock shifter and or improper shifter install.
The shifter stops NEED to be adjusted properly to stop internal damage. When your banging gears you are trying to force the shift forks or rings past there travel point.

Have you ever drove a diesal truck? You can shift them without the clutch.... You put a load on the tranny with the throttle and as you start to let off the throttle you are unloading the tranny now you pull it out of gear and ahift in the next and so on. This is a test you can do to see if there is major wear.REMEMBER IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THIS TRY IT ON SOMEONE LITTLE SH_TBOX FIRST. Most will not go into 5 or 6 like this.
It sould fall right in NOT any yanking or grinding needed.

Shifter STOPS?? WTF are you talkin about? Thats rediculus!











j/k I just had to say it w/ the war thats been goin on

[Wesman]

whoever told you this should be kicked in the ass. the t56 is one of the absolute strongest transmissions built! are you kidding me man? this is blasphemy!! they will easily handle huge horsepower. when i first got this z i missed some crucial shifts when racing and it affected nothing. the t56 is a fucking monster and its no joke. you can also opt to get it rebuilt to the viper specs (t56s are in f bodies, corvettes, cobras, vipers...) which replaces the steel shift forks with titanium and replaces the input and output shafts i believe.

they are bullet-proof, end of story...
the clutch, the driveshaft and the rear end will all break before the t56 will.
and those wont break either. anything with a 6 speed and american is probably running a tremec t56......

as far as your clutch slipping, you just have to feel how quickly it engages the flywheel and how far the pedal is backed out when it does so.

Good explaination.

Thats pretty much what I was going to say, anyone who says the T56 is weak is a total idiot lol.

[LS2Tuner]

Shifter STOPS?? WTF are you talkin about? Thats rediculus!










j/k I just had to say it w/ the war thats been goin on

Here is a link to a real shfter........http://www.americanmuscle.com/sttrfort56ss.html
The shifter stops are the bolts that are in the upper housing in the picture that NEED TO BE PROPERLY ADJUSTED TO PREVENT DAMAGE!!!

Glad to enlighten you on that 9t8z28..

ANY REAL AFTERMARKET SHIFTER WILL HAVE THEM. IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO STOP OVER TRAVEL AND INTERNAL FORK DAMAGE.

[shady milkman]

yea its funny that people call the t-56 weak..hello its used in the dodge viper...450+ rwtq and hp ...douches...the T56 is teh shit..i like the A4 alot tho..man i cant remember the name for the a4..4L60e or something like that.

[9t8z28]

Here is a link to a real shfter........http://www.americanmuscle.com/sttrfort56ss.html
The shifter stops are the bolts that are in the upper housing in the picture that NEED TO BE PROPERLY ADJUSTED TO PREVENT DAMAGE!!!

Glad to enlighten you on that 9t8z28..

ANY REAL AFTERMARKET SHIFTER WILL HAVE THEM. IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO STOP OVER TRAVEL AND INTERNAL FORK DAMAGE.

Ha! American Muscle, formerly know as Mustang Tuning! Ford is preventing anyone from using any name having to do with FORD! We sell alot of stuff to them!

[9t8z28]

LS2Tuner, what is the benefit of that compared to other brands w/ adjustable stops?

[LS2Tuner]

LS2Tuner, what is the benefit of that compared to other brands w/ adjustable stops?

And the adj stops are stoping what the shifter. O'h I guess that would mean they are shifter stops.
Thanks now I know.

[BCool]

Now synchros are a little weak........but thats not too major of a thing....WHATEVER U DO DONT GET A DEALERSHIP TO CHANGE UR SYNCHROS!!!!!!

I paid 3200 dollars for a dealership to put in new stock ones when i first got my first z28......Lol i didnt know better.....I thought "More money for better quality" lol......I still wish i could get that money back

2nd day I had my "ordered brand new car from the factory" it was back to the dealership for new sychros in 1st and 2nd gear. NO, I didn't bang on the gears either. The shifter kept popping out into neutral with just moderate accelerating. It was extremely annoying. Thankfully the dealership had a tech there that was well versed and seen the problem many times. I've never had a problem since. That was the only time I thought about giving it back and getting that new 99 Cobra vert I test drove. Glad I didn't do that too.

[samuelsamuel]

I agree with most of these guys. These trannyd are bulletproof if driven correctly, no neccessarily easily, but correctly. I took my 02 SS into the dealer for an oil change back in 2002 (thought I needed to to keep warranty moving) and when I got it back, it was popping out of reverse and grinded going into fifth. The IDIOTS at the dealer obviously didn't know how to handle these cars, and the synchros needed to be changed, but the gears themselves were fine. Just go throgh all gears and see if they hold.

[408WS6]

Man I've never heard that one. t56 not a good tranny?

I've known alot t56's going well into the 10's in stock form. I had about 50+ low 11 second passes on my stock t56 at full weight. It held up like a champ. The clutch is a different story though.

[Mr. Luos]

yea its funny that people call the t-56 weak..hello its used in the dodge viper...450+ rwtq and hp ...

The Viper gets a stronger T56 than the F-Body got.

Although that isn't meant to say the F-Body version is weak.
I am still 100% stock when it comes to my tranny. Shifts great, holds great.
Soon to see what kind of abuse it will take though.