5 speed or 6 speed manual options

[George C]

not really when dealing with boost. its better to have the wider ratios then the closer ones of the GTO trans

You'll break a lot of parts and burn up a lot of the clutches available. Before I forget if you do go T56, the GTO ratios are much more truck friendly.

[George C]

they just are, especially if you plan to race from a dig. the clutch that need to support the big power isnt the most fun to drive all the time. Not to mention to cost to set up the T56 and its parts to hold big power will easily cost you quite a few thousands

Why do you say manual and turbo are a pain?

orignal purchase of Viper spec T56: 3500 i also have another 400 into upgrades to make it even stronger
spec twin disk: 1200
mcleod bell housing: 550
Ls6 slave : 180
Hurst shifter: 180
Tilton master cylinder: 300


ive went thru another 900 dollar clutch a few yrs back in 6500 miles, stock master cylinder doesnt like any heavy performance clutch, ive broke a Liberty T56.....those parts there total another 3500

yea the t56 was worth it.............

[TurboMic]

I ran a tko-600 with over 700 rwhp and it was fun to drive. But not near as fast as it is with the auto. Just my .02

[Frenchy]

And for what it's worth, the stock 5speed in my truck (NV3500) is holding a heads/cam 5.3 just fine. Just in case your plans end up a little more on the tame side.

[Silverado889]

hmmm, thats all pretty good food for thought, thanks. I also have a nv3500 in a truck with a cammed lq4 lts etc, it does well. the only reason im leaning manual is because i enjoy driving them, as opposed to the best performer. I plan on building it as a daily driveable truck but not daily driven if that makes any sense. I dont want to build it twice, so at the moment i think im going to build it natural and speand the money to build a t56 the way it needs to be built, then next season go turbo. with that being said, i havnt bought any of this drivetrain yet so i am all ears to any fun but driveable combos you guys may have run. Or am i just beating a dead horse with a boosted manual setup? thanks again guys

[o2camaross]

Well, you are not beating a dead horse. Its just a fact that an auto is the best setup for a Turbo vehicle. Well best choice for a drag vehicle period. But there plenty fast 6 speed cars out there. If you want to go with a 6 speed then do it, its your truck. I think it would be a blast, just not the fastest it could be but if that doesn't bother you then whatever. I would take every bit advise that quik gave you BC he has been there.and he has done it. Its a lot harder on any part being in a 5000lb truck vs being in a 3500lb car, so a strong clutch is a must. And depending on how much power you want to make, a fully built t56 might be neccesary as well

[George C]

also if your going T56 and plan to make it leave hard you will need a rearend. when i first when t56 i stepped up to a 14bolt did this option as it was a direct swap, now if i was doing it again i would go 9"

right off the bat, the stock pedal and master setup isnt designed for any heavy clutch. youll brake the pedal every time with a stiff clutch. were the master cylinder connects to the pedal is plastic and nothing more then a square hole. when you have a heavy clutch it just flexs way to much and ends up being pushed thru the fire wall. the solution is to get a master cylinder that has a mounting plate. Cut apart the stock pedal and double plate the fire wall and mount the master to the firewall and not the pedal. also non manual trucks dont have the necessary bracket to hold the top of the pedal sturdy. youll need to remove the dash and weld the proper bracket. not doing this will cause the pedal to distort and often cause the pedal to shift to the side when trying to disengage.

i recommend using the Tick performance C5 master cylinder as it works very well uses a 7/8 bore and all -4 line with no restrictors in it. the stock line is only 3/16 but has series of 1/16 restrictors in it, the bore of the stock master just doesnt have enough volume to properly disengage heavy clutches

ive gone thru 3 pedals, 2 master cylinders in my trial and error trying to get this T56 to work properly....so dont cut corners and dont act liek this joe smoe has no clue. im speaking from actual experience

as for the trans a simple upgrade will work for modest power its when you go above 500 do i recommend the heavy upgrades to the trans. you can get away with a stock bell housing but ive seen to many incidents where the clutch exploded. the SFI bell housing is cheap insurance to save your legs and nice piece of mind.

i loved my ls7 clutch but knew it wasnt going to hold with slicks and my current power level
the RAM VDS puck clutch sucked, was a pure on and off clutch, chattered and was a beast to disengage
the spec twin disk, holds very well but does take some train of thought to get it to engage smoothly

The Nv3500 is a pure truck trans, doesnt shift no were near as well or fast as a t56, theres a reason they used that trans behind v6s and 4.8s orignally


also get a good shifter that has external adjustable stops and make sure to set them properly. the long extension that is needed to a shifter rod to work in the truck puts a lot of over throw on the internals. using a good shifter with stops prevents the over throw and wont break the sliders in the trans

ive been thru the internals of the T56 a few times and have built mine recently.

if you using a stock trans, upgraded the plastic pads on the shift forks, upgrade to a steel shift fork, even built trans come with the plastic pads, costly but is worth it is to upgrade to the bronze as they dont tend to break and then you wear the fork. when they break they will eat up syncros

[Silverado889]

wow, thanks so much for all the info! We have a short season for "play" vehicles up here and that all possibly saved me a lot of repair time, and money! im not afraid to speand a little money to build this rite, but im not looking to waste it which is why im here. my rearend has already been switched ou to a fabbed 9" with bullet proof internals. so thats no currently a weak link. the frame is boxed and im building new trailing arms out of DOM tube, converting to a coilover, junked the panhard for a watts link etc. Im trying to build an all around fun, fast, great handling, and pretty reliable truck. will a properly equipped t56 even be fun to drive? not to completely cotradict everything weve talked about, but are 6l80e outrageous money? and are controllers available for them? thanks so much again!