i have a 1993 sonoma: 355, nos, 4l60e. it has gone 12.9's on dr's. i am seriously considering a swap to a 5 speed. thetrans i plan on using is the s-10 version of the nvg 3500/getrag, it has the 3.49 first gear.

i am wondering about the strength of the trans. how much has everyone else abused theirs? i also plan to add a t70 turbo later. what are the limits of this m5 tranny?

thanks
kevin

 

I'm thinking with what you have already you will tear that manual trans apart.

 

I have it in my 4.8. Ive got 115,000 miles on it and no probs, but im internally stock, just bolt ons and ive driven the hell out of it. I love it, still got the stock clutch. However, youll be putting a lot more PIRE to it.lol

Derek

 

I would be looking at a T-56 at the very minimum, and a Viper spec 1 if you can afford it.

That 5 speed will grenade, plus that 1st gear will make it a tire fryer. You would load that turbo better with a t56 with its 2.66:1 1st gear.

If you currently have a 4l60e in th truck, the t-56 is the same length and you will not need to shorten the drive shaft, it even uses the same yoke.

Avoid 1993 Camaro/F-bird t-56's, they are 50 lb/ft weaker than the 94-97 t-56, the 98-02 F-body T-56's will not fit.
The ZF 6-speed from a 1996 and earlier Vette will also work, but I am not sure about its dimensions, they are strong though.

If you have the cash, this is the way to go, http://www.ddperformance.com/GM%20T56.htm

650 lb-ft Torque Capacity
1.125 x 26T GM Input Spline
30T Viper Output Spline
Close Ratio w/ Deep Overdrives(2.66/1.78/1.30/1.00/.74/.50)
Carbon Fibre Blocker Rings
Steel 3-4 Shift Fork
Precision built and blueprinted by D$D technicians
Direct bolt-up to GM Saginaw/Muncie/T10 bell housings
Direct bolt-up to McLeod 8630 series steel bell housings
Accepts stock GM clutches,linkage,T.O.B.,pilot bearing,trans. mount
7T GM Mechanical Speedo Drive or Electronic Speedo Drive
Transmissions come with a offset shifter (towards driverside)
$2899 w/ Mechanical Speedo (Model BA11)
$2899 w/Electronic Speedo (Model BA12)

355 plus a turbo will make a lot of torque, everything from the flywheel to the rearend will have to be very strong.

Goodluck

Hog

 

From what I understand the 4 cyl 5 speeds are weeker than the v6/v8's. I know for a fact the t5's they put in the earlier s-10's are week. You could install it initally for now just to do the swap and plan to upgrade later, but I wouldn't expect much. Like Hog said, the low first gear will drive you ape **** if nothing else.

 

current set up:

9.9:1 355
ported "K" motor heads w/ 2.02/1.60 valves
edelbrock 4 barrel manifold with tbi adapter plate, and sniper nos kit, 14x3 k&n drop base
custom comp roller cam 221/230 @ .050" 114 lsa installed @ 112 ic
lt1 caprice manifolds, home made 2.1-3.5 ypipe, 3.5 single exhaust, no cat, hooker muffler
4l60e tci rebuild kit and mild trans go shift kit 2500 stall gm converter
2.73 rear gear with a zexel-torsen diff.

with a 3.73 gear and 26 inch tire on a stock program it put down 270 hp and 320 tq at the wheels n/a. i write my own chips and have not dynoed it again. at that time it ran a 14.2xx @ 95-97 with my tuning it dropped to 13.70 @ 101. with 100hp shot after 60 feet it went 12.96 @ 106. with 175shot i found out the oe fuel pump is toast but managed an 8.2 @ 85 1/8 mile (it would not go the full 1/4).

the 4 l60e is a stout trans if built right. i did all of this on the original 4.3 trans i rebuilt approx. 8 years ago and put @ 100k (HARD) miles on it and the only thing that failed was the foward clutch pack after i installed the 2.73 gears (gas mpg). at one time the truck had 4.10's and 26 inch tires, it really was not that bad to drive. it just took a little finese.


mj -- i would not even consider the t5 they are junk andi could break one with a stock v6. the trans i am referring to came in early 90's to present s-10's, 1500's and dodge dakota, 1500 and 2500ld. there are 2 diff gear sets. from what i can tell the s-10 had a 3.49 1st gear and the 1500 had a 4.06 1st gear. nd it should (in theory) be stronger than the 1500 trans. the trans i am loooking at is basically the same as yours with closer ratio gear set.if you are running mid 12's on a stock trans and clucth in your heavy truck i should have no problem in my 3600 pound s-10.


to all -- i would prefer the t56, i happen to have one in my other car, but i dont want to spend the cash on my beater truck.

 

You were saying you were planning on going with turbos so that is why I was straying you away from the 5 speed. I have a 95 1500 with a 383 TBI and a NV3500 5spd. It has a 4.02 1st gear from what have found. I have 2.73's in it. It does well with 165k miles on it. although when it had 70k on it the front bearing went out then I broke a piece of the shifter rail assembly powershifting it. The replacement part was an updated gm piece and was much stronger. It is a stout tranny. The problem I have with the new Tremec tr3450 that was in my 05 is a problem with shifting it hard. After 10k hard miles it will get stuck between 3rd and 5th when trying to shift hard into 3rd. I know of 3 people, including myself, that have had this problem with the new tranny.
Brian @ tbichips.com is working with me to get my tune dialed in just right on my 383. I have a holley 670cfm tb and 454 90pph inj with a 255lph pump. Running 20 lbs fuel pressure on them. The Holleys would start acting up above 15 psi and i had to swap to gm's.
Hell stick the 5 speed in there and see what happens. The worst thing that could happen is you break it. Then you'd have a good excuse to tell the wife you have to upgrade to a t56!

 

I have a 1993 C2500 with the NV3500 with a mildly modded 350, I have 6000 miles on a new tranny and new clutch and its ok if you dont beat on it, after a while it seems to not shift smooth and sometimes 1st is hard to get into. Other than that if I dont smash through the gears then its good. First gear sucks when it comes to racing, you have to shift out so early and I go up in smoke if there is any trace of water or sand anywhere. I'd go with a T-56 or an NV4500 but with the 4500 you looking at the same problem with the 1st gear.

 

mj -- your setup sounds pretty close to mine. has the 95been downthe track yet? i am also changing to a dual tbi intake with the 255 pump. what clutch are you using?

02 -- i ont think the nv4500 will fit in the s-10 trans tunnel. the 1st gear ratio is why i want the s-10 version (3.49 vs 4.02)

 

I'm still working out the bugs on the tune so it hasn't been down the track yet.