How do you like either the 4-speed Overdrives or 5-speeds that are available for our cars today? Comments on either transmission appreciated.

i Got the tremac 5 speed in my 500ci 'Cuda and I love it. It doesn't feel as strong as the 833, but nothing does. lol

Running a Tremec TKO 600 behind my 360, best bang for the buck IMO. Passon if you have the time and money.

had my 69 hemi 4-sp changed to overdrive by Passon. Hope to get it on road soon.

I ran a Keisler TKO behind my 472 crate Hemi for 70,000 plus miles with a .82 5th gear. I upgraded the engine and had the trans gone through and switched to a .64 5th gear. Initially I had the mechanical clutch linkage which would occasionally bind. After I switched to the hydraulic Keisler kit it was great to drive either setup.

Ernesto

I went for the T56 Magnum, no miles on it but it will be the last transmission I buy for this car.

I went with a Passion 4 speed od, and love it. It is a no brainer, and just bolts in cause it's a factory case.

I've just got an old lowly Dakota with a 5 speed. The shifter in the trans tail shaft gives an uneasy feeling trying to power shift. Otherwise, it works great. Gene

I have a T56 Magnum in my Dart and I love it. It shifts great and I can adjust the RPM's however I like.

I'm 60 and have been shifting an 833 since I was 16 years old. My Cuda that I've have for 40 years has the close ratio 70.5 up. It just needs one more gear in today's world. I installed a Tremec from Kesler in a buds 528 Hemi. It shifts like a truck, not like an 833. It has broken on him twice. He sent it off to some special place and it helped in shifting, but not much. It just won't handle his 650 horse Hemi. I'm putting in a Passom Hemi OD 4 speed today for a guy. I think it's the best compromise right now. It should handle the torque AND shift. I don't know if Jammie will ever get up to speed producing the new 5 speed or not. My bud may sell his Tremec if we like the way this 4 speed OD works.

I've done the most popular OD installs, Gear Vendors, 518's, T5's TKO's and T56, along with R700, and other AOD4's

If your considering an automatic OD, the Silver Sport Transmission AOD4 kit is truly a bolt in kit, no floor mods, but expensive for most, but worth every penny invested

5 spds in the TKO 500/600 range are available from several sources like Silver Sport and American Power Train, either will require floor mods of some sort to achieve proper drive line angles, you have to weigh each kit mfg's package/price to see which you favor...

IMHO, 5 spds are a nice upgrade, but rather "old school" nowadays, T56 6 spds are truly the way to go, Silver Sport is leading the market with kit applications should you decide to go this route

As for the low dollar 518, Gear Vendors, etc swaps, they are just that, low dollar swaps, functional yes, but not truly desirable if a deep OD ratio is your goal, as most only offer a .80-.70 OD at best, a TKO 5 spd can go as low as .64 OD, and a T56 can drop even further into the .50 range

I have owned and still have an 833 4spd vehicle, and quite frankly would never want to drive any 4 manual after having 5/6 spd equipped vehicles over the last decade+...even a 3 spd automatic feels antiquated and dogged in this day and age

Mike

A518 has a .69 OD

i have a friend that runs road courses with the keisler----his funny is that if you are at a race and you see 2 or more drivers standing around talking that one of them is asking if someone has a T56 core to sell......not funny if you have a viper or gm---but funny enough for him....

Would somebody in the know here please explain the differences in the TKO transmissions???

TY

I was generalizing the OD range mentioned above regarding some of the other OD offerings, Yes you are correct, the 500/518 are both .69 OD, and are good candidates for mild horsepower applications, but the OD feature is not of sound engineering and prone to operating issues and eventual failure, more so in high performance applications, I generally like to install a transmission once, with the exception of clutch/TOB changes being acceptable repair practice

The TKO 500 or 600 is a redesign of Tremecs TR-3550, the 3550 was a long running/widely used production piece used by Ford/GM and assorted other production mfg, the TKO is Tremecs "aftermarket" offering, having only been used once in factory production in a limited number of Cobra Mustangs

The TKO has a 10 spline input shaft, smaller input bearing retainer, the TKO 600 has a larger 26 input spline, larger input bearing retainer, both have a 31 spline output shaft

the 500 TKO has a 3.27:1 1st gear, the 600 has a 2.87:1 1st gear, the TKO's utilize high grade alloy gears and steel forged shift forks, where as the T5 and TR3550 used cast gears and aluminum shift forks, the biggest change to the TKO design is the upgrade from a 3pc to 1pc countershaft along with internal upgrades mentioned above

Downside is the bronze syncros, that limits the shift point to 6000 RPM, carbon fiber upgrades are available to increase that into the 7000 rpm range

If your considering a TKO opt for the 600, stronger unit, and more upgrade/service offerings from assorted aftermarket suppliers/rebuilders

True, but funny...that's generally the case with early T56 Tremec 6 spds where the vehicles horsepower has been increased substantially, the T56 Magnum is a different animal however, it was designed by Tremec to address it T56 shortcomings, the Magnum is designed to survive behind high HP, supercharged and boosted motors, and take a beating on drag strips and road courses in prolonged use, IMHO pretty much the way to go if considering an OD for a multi purpose vehicle

And a better OD ratio of .64

What's the general prices for the different options?
It cost me $2500 to put a 518 in, best thing I've ever done.
I agree it's no fun driving down the hwy without OD and any kind of rear gearing.

Thank you.... but where does the T56 Magnum fit in here??