Notices
1980 - 1986 Bullnose F100, F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Early Eighties Bullnose Ford Truck

M5R2 vs T5

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jul 21, 2016 | 07:12 AM
  #1  
Jumpdummy's Avatar
Jumpdummy
Thread Starter
|
Junior User
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 94
Likes: 0
From: North East Arkansas
M5R2 vs T5

Currently have a 302 with a M5R2 transmission in a 83 F100. Engine needs rebuilt/replaced. I found a 302 with a T5 transmission attached. Should I swap it all or stick with my M5R2? Truck is used for weekend driving. Never pulled a trailer.
 
Reply
Old Jul 21, 2016 | 07:55 AM
  #2  
Gary Lewis's Avatar
Gary Lewis
FTE Legend
15 Year Member
Photogenic
Photoriffic
Shutterbug
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 32,875
Likes: 48
From: Northeast, OK
I don't know anything about a T5, but found a thread on it here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...-t5z-swap.html. Some things to think about pointed out there, like drive shaft length, clutch linkage, and shifter placement.
 
Reply
Old Jul 21, 2016 | 09:59 AM
  #3  
Jumpdummy's Avatar
Jumpdummy
Thread Starter
|
Junior User
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 94
Likes: 0
From: North East Arkansas
Thanks Gary, That helped. Think I will stay with the M5R2.
 
Reply
Old Jul 21, 2016 | 03:43 PM
  #4  
ctubutis's Avatar
ctubutis
Moderator
15 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 22,415
Likes: 92
From: Denver Metro Area, CO
Club FTE Gold Member
Originally Posted by Jumpdummy
Think I will stay with the M5R2.
Good idea, it's a truck transmission and not one designed for a sports car.

The T5 was used in the Mustangs, here is what my sister's looked like after too much abuse at the drag strip:



 
Reply
Old Jul 21, 2016 | 04:41 PM
  #5  
FuzzFace2's Avatar
FuzzFace2
FTE Legend
10 Year Member
Photogenic
Community Builder
Liked
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 30,890
Likes: 4,119
From: Angier, NC
Club FTE Gold Member
Originally Posted by ctubutis
Good idea, it's a truck transmission and not one designed for a sports car.

The T5 was used in the Mustangs, here is what my sister's looked like after too much abuse at the drag strip:



Was that a WC T5?
Did she have a positive stop after market shifter installed?
Also 5th gear billet bearing retainer installed?


The shifter is the big one as you over throw the gears and bend the shifting forks. Then the next gear it moves does not engage all the way and you end up with what you see in the pictures.

There are other little things like replacing the plastic fingers on the shift forks with billet ones and billet cluster (1-2 / 3-4) keys as the stamped metal ones will bend.


I rebuilt WC T5 with all the goodies above + to run behind my AMC 360 v8 and did not want it to fail.


As for the T5 in anything other than what it came in and the shifter lining up where it needs to be is the biggest thing to work around. They say you can use an S10 tail housing but the speedo cable is in a different place and does not line up with the gear on the output shaft and it is not easy to fix this.
Dave ----
 
Reply
Old Jul 21, 2016 | 08:55 PM
  #6  
ctubutis's Avatar
ctubutis
Moderator
15 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 22,415
Likes: 92
From: Denver Metro Area, CO
Club FTE Gold Member
Originally Posted by FuzzFace2
Was that a WC T5?
No idea, she farmed out the job to one of her racing buddies.

Originally Posted by FuzzFace2
Did she have a positive stop after market shifter installed?
Also 5th gear billet bearing retainer installed?
Everything was stock, she replaces things as she breaks them. IIRC she had a Tremec sumthin-or-other installed which required re-gearing the rear end.
EDIT: My brother tells me it has some sort of "Hurst limited" shifter, apparently on her second one of those.
She's also beefed up the axles (after having broken at least one).

Originally Posted by FuzzFace2
The shifter is the big one as you over throw the gears and bend the shifting forks. Then the next gear it moves does not engage all the way and you end up with what you see in the pictures.
Apparently, it was third gear that suffered the most damage.

Originally Posted by FuzzFace2
There are other little things like replacing the plastic fingers on the shift forks with billet ones and billet cluster (1-2 / 3-4) keys as the stamped metal ones will bend.


I rebuilt WC T5 with all the goodies above + to run behind my AMC 360 v8 and did not want it to fail.


As for the T5 in anything other than what it came in and the shifter lining up where it needs to be is the biggest thing to work around. They say you can use an S10 tail housing but the speedo cable is in a different place and does not line up with the gear on the output shaft and it is not easy to fix this.
Dave ----
I took some videos of her about two weekends ago (she is on the inside lane on both) below are Rounds 2 & 3 of the Stickshift class at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, CO.
She made it ALL THE WAY TO THE FINALS!!!! Lost that one but that's OK, I'm still proud of her, I taught her how to drive a stick shift in my father's Corvette when she was 14-15 yo.

These videos have been really shrunken by Facebook, sorry about that.





 
Reply
Old Jul 21, 2016 | 11:25 PM
  #7  
Festus Hagen's Avatar
Festus Hagen
Methanoholic
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 6,442
Likes: 8
From: Maine (NorCal Native)
Club FTE Gold Member
Originally Posted by ctubutis
She made it ALL THE WAY TO THE FINALS!!!!
Chris,
Better than going home in the first round!

Full Tree or Pro Tree?
What were her RT's?

-Enjoy
fh : )_~
 
Reply
Old Jul 22, 2016 | 09:08 AM
  #8  
ctubutis's Avatar
ctubutis
Moderator
15 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 22,415
Likes: 92
From: Denver Metro Area, CO
Club FTE Gold Member
Originally Posted by Festus Hagen
Full Tree or Pro Tree?
What were her RT's?
No idea on both questions, I'll need to ask her.
 
Reply
FTE Stories

Ford Trucks for Ford Truck Enthusiasts

story-0

Top 10 Most Expensive Ford Trucks Ever Sold on Bring a Trailer

 Joe Kucinski
story-1

2027 Ford Super Duty Buyer's Guide (Every Model, Engine, & Package)

 Brett Foote
story-2

Top 10 Ford Truck Tragedies

 Joe Kucinski
story-3

AEV FXL Super Duty - the Super Duty Raptor Ford Doesn't Make

 Brett Foote
story-4

Lobo Vs Lobo: Proof the F-150 Lobo Should Be Even Lower!

 Michael S. Palmer
story-5

Ford's 2001 Explorer Sportsman Concept Looks For a New Home

 Verdad Gallardo
story-6

10 Best Ford Truck Engines We Miss the Most!

 Joe Kucinski
story-7

2026 Shelby F-150 Off-Road: Better Than a Raptor R?

 Brett Foote
story-8

2027 Super Duty Carhartt Package First Look: 12 Things You NEED to Know!

 Michael S. Palmer
story-9

10 Most Surprising 2026 Ford Truck Features!

 Joe Kucinski
Old Jul 22, 2016 | 06:26 PM
  #9  
FuzzFace2's Avatar
FuzzFace2
FTE Legend
10 Year Member
Photogenic
Community Builder
Liked
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 30,890
Likes: 4,119
From: Angier, NC
Club FTE Gold Member
It looked like she was running brackets with a dial in of 15.xx if ai saw it right.
Brackets with that dial in most of the time is a full tree.


My street car I started racing was 16.0 - 16.50 my drag car was 13.0 - 13.5 both depend on out side temp & track I was running at. Most of the tracks I ran at were 2+ hours away when I lived in CT. All were 1/4 mile down here 1/8 mile is big but don't see why?


As she found out drag racing a stick car is hard on parts. I went auto because of that but also upgraded ever thing on the drag car when building it.


sorry to get side tracked
Dave ----
 
Reply
Old Jul 22, 2016 | 07:57 PM
  #10  
Festus Hagen's Avatar
Festus Hagen
Methanoholic
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 6,442
Likes: 8
From: Maine (NorCal Native)
Club FTE Gold Member
I saw the dial, didn't really pay attention to it, not a big deal, I agree typical bracket racing uses a Full Tree, not always.

As you obviously know, RT's are everything, and to understand the drivers RT's you gotta know what tree!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~
 
Reply
Old Jul 22, 2016 | 09:34 PM
  #11  
ctubutis's Avatar
ctubutis
Moderator
15 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 22,415
Likes: 92
From: Denver Metro Area, CO
Club FTE Gold Member
No problem on the hijack, the OP hasn't been back since yesterday morning, I think he got his answer and left.

OK, I talked to my sister this morning; there is a LOT more to this stuff than one would imagine!

Yes, apparently, this is bracket racing (something termed ET? don't remember) she is typically the slowest in her class at 15.xx in the quarter mile, she posts a time that she cannot beat else she'll lose the run. Figuring out what the next time will be is something of an involved process, I watched her do it.

My vantage point was from the halfway point, there is even a big, yellow stripe across the track to show that.

Yes, she's on her second Hurst positive-stop-thinger shifter; she's been doing this in this car since the early/mid 90s and broke an axle I guess about 10 years ago, the transmission breaking was only about two years ago.

The trees, she went on & on about that... apparently she has done both Full & Pro Trees but spends most of her time on the non-pro variant (don't remember the details, I think it was something about the timing, or maybe one racer beginning before the other one on the premise they will "catch up and overtake" the frist).

Neither of us know what a WC T5 is.

OK, RT... Reaction Time...

.040

Whatever that's worth, you can tell I know very little about this. I was on an amateur track (not drag strip) about three years ago, my trainer (my first time there) was showing me all the stuff that is part of racing on a race track, apparently it's not much different on a drag strip....
 
Reply
Old Jul 23, 2016 | 07:27 AM
  #12  
Franklin2's Avatar
Franklin2
Moderator
25 Year Member
Photogenic
Community Builder
Community Influencer
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 56,980
Likes: 2,735
From: Virginia
Club FTE Gold Member
WC means "world class". Here's a link.

T5 History in Ford Mustangs with specifications for World class and non-World class T5's Modern Driveline
 
Reply
Old Jul 23, 2016 | 11:01 AM
  #13  
FuzzFace2's Avatar
FuzzFace2
FTE Legend
10 Year Member
Photogenic
Community Builder
Liked
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 30,890
Likes: 4,119
From: Angier, NC
Club FTE Gold Member
So she does not go a little over her dial in ie: if car runs 15.50 dial in at 15.75 this way you have .25 in the bank to play with at the top end. Still need to be first at the finish line but not be faster than 15.75 so you back off or hit the brakes before the finish line. Being a slower car helps as I was the slower car most of the time.


Yes RT is everything! It can change on how deep you stage the car at the start tree and what light you leave on using a full tree. I have never run a pro tree (yet).
RT can also change with you with what you eat and how much sleep you get before racing. RT you need to be OCD! With my drag car I was running .20 and had a few .00 to earn by runs. Street car was about what your sister runs, bad leaf spring bushings.


Yea I was pretty deep into it when I was racing even with my street car. Kept drag log book (Summit Racing has a good one) where you note ever thing of each run and I mean every thing. This way if you only got 1 run before rounds I could look in the log for the track I was running, weather station OAT and knew what my car would run.


The other thing with brackets other than knowing who left first I never looked at the other racer till close to the finish line to see when I could back out of it as I dialed slower than the car could run. Run your race and you will be good.
Now I want to get my drag car running again! Just what I need another project!
Dave ----
 
Reply
Old Jul 23, 2016 | 02:22 PM
  #14  
ctubutis's Avatar
ctubutis
Moderator
15 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 22,415
Likes: 92
From: Denver Metro Area, CO
Club FTE Gold Member
Originally Posted by FuzzFace2
Kept drag log book (Summit Racing has a good one)
I searched summit's site for this but couldn't find it; can you find al ink for it, please? Might make a good birthday/Christmas/whatever present.

This is another thing she went on & on about, what time to declare. She's apparently at least halfway decent at this stuff, has lots of trophies & awards in her house, she even won overall first place in her class a few years ago.

Myself, I have never been on a drag strip.
 
Reply
Old Jul 23, 2016 | 02:55 PM
  #15  
Wagonboy's Avatar
Wagonboy
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 196
Likes: 2
From: Middle Tennessee
Summit Racing® Log Books SUM-G5155
 
Reply



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:25 AM.

story-0
Top 10 Most Expensive Ford Trucks Ever Sold on Bring a Trailer

Slideshow: 10 most expensive Ford trucks ever sold on Bring a Trailer.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-27 16:24:34


VIEW MORE
story-1
2027 Ford Super Duty Buyer's Guide (Every Model, Engine, & Package)

Here's everything that has changed for the latest model year.

By Brett Foote | 2026-05-27 16:17:28


VIEW MORE
story-2
Top 10 Ford Truck Tragedies

Slideshow: Top 10 Ford truck tragedies.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-18 19:34:33


VIEW MORE
story-3
AEV FXL Super Duty - the Super Duty Raptor Ford Doesn't Make

And it might be even better than that.

By Brett Foote | 2026-05-18 19:26:42


VIEW MORE
story-4
Lobo Vs Lobo: Proof the F-150 Lobo Should Be Even Lower!

Slideshow: Does lowering an F-150 Lobo RUIN the ride quality?

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-05-18 19:20:37


VIEW MORE
story-5
Ford's 2001 Explorer Sportsman Concept Looks For a New Home

Slideshow: Ford's bizarre fishing-themed Explorer concept has resurfaced after spending decades largely forgotten.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-12 18:07:46


VIEW MORE
story-6
10 Best Ford Truck Engines We Miss the Most!

Slideshow: The 10 best Ford truck engines we miss the most.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-12 13:09:47


VIEW MORE
story-7
2026 Shelby F-150 Off-Road: Better Than a Raptor R?

Slideshow: first look at the 810 hp 2026 Shelby F-150 Off-Road!

By Brett Foote | 2026-05-12 12:50:07


VIEW MORE
story-8
2027 Super Duty Carhartt Package First Look: 12 Things You NEED to Know!

Slideshow: Everything You Need to Know about the 2027 Super Duty Carhartt Package!

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-05-07 17:51:06


VIEW MORE
story-9
10 Most Surprising 2026 Ford Truck Features!

Slideshow: 10 most surprising Ford truck options/features in 2026.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-05 11:17:22


VIEW MORE