SPF Trans Swap

[jhv48]

Originally Posted by blown871

Jim,
Share with us why the tranny update/upgrade....

(We are all looking for good reasons to blow your cash... and sell ourselves.. on it.) l

Thanks,
B
spf1413

I currently have the .64 fifth gear and the traffic has increased quite a bit on our freeways over the last few years so that my average cruise speed now is less than 70 MPH. It used to be about 80 MPH. That puts my engine speed at around 2000 RPM making fifth gear pretty lame. I got tired of constantly rowing back and forth between fourth and fifth when traffic slowed to 60 MPH. That 1000 RPM drop wasn't making freeway driving in the summer alot of fun.
I was going to swap the trans for a TKO 600 with the .82 fifth gear but decided on a custom built (able to tolerate at least 600 horsepower) Levy T-5 with a .80 fifth gear. I could pick the fifth gear ratio that I wanted and the first four gears are about the same as my TKO 600. This box is (supposed to be) lighter, smoother and stronger than my current box. I opted for the Steeda Tri Ax shifter too. With the .80 fifth gear, I will now have a usable fifth gear and my engine will be alot happier at 70 MPH turning 2550 RPM. And 60 MPH will still be spinning 2200 RPM so no more down shifting when traffic slows down.
The price for the custom T-5 was about the same as a blueprinted TKO-600, so I figured, why not? It's only money and it's still alot cheaper than a mistress!