Shifters for Tremec's ?

[eschaider]

Originally Posted by vector1

Mine has the upgrades you mention, you make it sound like the be all to end all, it is not, it still shifts like a truck tranny. Just the nature and design of the 600.

Actually you are pretty close to the mark Vector. The TKO boxes were Tremec's first cut effort to get higher torque capacity boxes into the aftermarket for the increasingly ever more powerful performance engines that were emerging at the time.

Tremec did what they knew best how to do for higher torque applications, they increased gear tooth width and increased the center to center distance on the main and countershafts. What they did not do was upgrade the 1st generation synchronizer blocking rings in the transmission. They also carried over what was essentially a truck transmission interlock timing from the first second synchro pack to the third fourth synchro pack.

The new center to center distances for the TKO main and countershafts was either 82 or 83 mm I can't recall which anymore. Between the truck transmission interlock timing and the bigger heavier internal gearing the transmission was not even remotely like the elegant shifting T5 units that preceeded it. Even worse the OEM's were putting pressure on Tremec for their new six speed offering that eventually became what we now know in the aftermarket today as the T56.

Interestingly, at 85mm, the T56 had slightly larger center to center dimensions than even the TKO family transmissions had, if I remember correctly. The two big differences were that they produced a performance style interlock timing for the T56 shift rails and equally important they went to high friction double and then later triple cone synchronizers.

The new technology synchronizers brought massive improvements in the friction surfaces between the blocking rings and the wider, larger diameter main and countershaft gears. Both of these improvements allowed the new T56 transmission to shift both up and down seemingly effortlessly especially when compared to a TKO.

Normally you would expect a manufacturer to use a trickle down effect with some their newer technologies like the double and triple cone synchronizers and apply them to their earlier products that they are still promoting and selling into the performance market. For reasons only known to Tremec they chose not to.

I am sorry you read into my earlier post that the Liberty fixes were the be all to end all. That was not my intention to communicate that to the reader. It was my intention to communicate to the reader that at the time I had my TKO modified the only firm that recognized the problem and the only firm to offer a commercial fix was Liberty. Although I have not searched for the fix in recent years I suspect Liberty may still be the only provider.

The modifications will not make your TKO shift like a T56 and certainly not like a T56 Magnum. The fix will provide you with likely the best easily accessible solution to an unpleasant shifting experience that many TKO users have come to know. Not surprisingly the more aggressively you attempt to shift a TKO the more apparent the problem.

Knowing what I know about TKO's today, if I had to do it all over again, I would use a T56 Magnum in the blink of an eye. That is essentially the old woulda, shoulda game replayed on transmissions — not much help for anyone who is stuck in the same quagmire as you (meaning me) are.

The Liberty fix is the best advice I know of at this time for TKO's and the only advice I have confidence will produce an improvement in the shifting experience for similarly afflicted TKO users. By far the best fix is to replace the transmission with a T56 Magnum. I have driven a T56 equipped car and amazing as it sounds, the T56 seems to have a nearly perfect gear for most every driving situation.

The vast majority of us do not have T56's we have TKO's and it is not likely we would go through the cost and effort to convert to a T56 so Liberty looks like the best compromise situation available, at this time, to most of us.

In the FWIW bucket if anyone has found a better solution I am not about to rain on that parade — in fact I would support it, particularly as a competitive alternative. Competition is always good and produces better alternatives for all of us.


Ed