Richmond 6 Speed question

[67Fleetsidedream]

If you were going to buy a Richmond ROD 6 speed and had a final ratio of 3.73, what gear ratios would you pick and why them?

Ben

[crazy longhorn]

I think I would go with a 3.27 first ratio,as that comes with a .76 OD ratio that will put you in the 2.83 range in OD. the boxes listed with a 3.01 or 2.77 1st have a .62 OD ratio.....I feel thats too tall, & you may find the truck will run faster in 5th than 6th gear.

[Project1970]

Too tall? No such thang.

The T-56 has a 0.50:1 6th gear...in a Camaro with a 3.42 rear, that's 80mph at under 2000RPM. Niiiiiiice.

And yes, it does run faster in fifth than sixth. Honestly, though, where are you going to find a place where running that fast is a good idea?

Just my opinion...but I'd put in a T-56 before shelling out the cash for a ROD.

[crazy longhorn]

With a fullsized "brick" (pickup), the issues are about wind drag. The camero is a pretty slippery car as compaired to our trucks. I feel that somewhere in the range of .68-.70 is more ideal on the OD gearing, as you still want the engine to rev enough to be into its powerband to be effient. I have looked at several stick trannys, & feel that thr Tremec TKO would be a good choice(5 spd box , with a 3.27 1st, & a .68 OD).......it will also handle 450ft lbs tork, & is better priced than the Richmond or the T56. I ran a mild 355 in the longhorn with a 4 spd, & 3.40 gears. It would pull 5700 in high gear, but with the 4.10s added, I could pull 6400 in high.....it slowed the truck down about 10mph with the drop in gearing. On the same hand, there is a point that the gearing gets too tall, & you will be slowing down. Yea, its nuts running at speed on the open road......but you should hear a SB running 125 + on 4.10 gears

[SCOTI]

The Tremec is a good OD choice but once you factor in swapping out clutch hardware to a hydraulic pull system, I wonder what the actual difference in price is? Or, have the aftermarket Tremecs been re-vamped to work as a traditional push set-up like these trucks? I would like to be able to choose my gear options if @ all possible.

[crazy longhorn]

I have seen some aftermarket versions of the T 56, but they look a little pricey. The Tr3550. & the TKO are said to swap in with minimal headaches (both are 5 spds). for more info, check out this site.... http://www.fortesparts.com/tremec/index.html

[Project1970]

crazy...hm, I didn't think about that. Given enough power or short enough rear gears, though, and 6th gear in the T-56 would be fine.

I suggest the T-56 simply because it's probably going to be by far the easiest to find of any OD stick that will hold up to a nice V8 (because there's probably a ton of weak T-5's out there) and probably one of the cheapest. Looking through eBay, the absolute most expensive one is a new one set up for a 2003 Mustang SVT Cobra, which went for $1600...last I checked, RODs were at least $2000 from Summit. If you've got a decent junkyard around, finding a V8 6-speed 1993-1997 F-body shouldn't be a problem at all. (AFAIK, the 1998-2002 LS1 engines required mods to the T-56 that make it hard/impossible to use with a GenI or GenII V8...not sure, though)

[crazy longhorn]

The Richmond 6 spds are$ 2800-3200 through summit(ouch). I priced the Tremec TKO, & that looked about $2200-2300.....only 5 gears, but will handle 450 plus on tork. Man I hate "slushboxes", but that old hydro works so i cant afford to fix it. That old longhorn really pulls some revs cruisin with the big trucks......they roll through Ill @ 80 mph, & im tackin 4000 to run with them! fast breakin on that sb or what?