[eschaider]

Thanks, Gary. As we watch Paul's assembly of the reverse idler shaft something jumped out at me. Tremec machines a relief in the main case for the dowel pin that is used to limit the forward movement of the shaft. The relief is adequate to allow the tailshaft to be assembled to the main case without interference with the dowel.

If the reverse idler shaft is modified to use a snap ring the case will need to be machined to provide a relief for the snapring to register in so it does not prevent the tail shaft from fully seating against the rear face of the main case. In actual fact you would probable want to machine the main case to accept a hardened washer that would fit between the snap ring and the main case.

The reason I an suggesting the washer is that a snap ring only has a small shoulder that would stand proud of the reverse idler shaft. We already have a shaft that is being forced forward with enough force to break the end of the idler shaft. With just a snap ring and no larger diameter washer to spread the force over, I suspect the snap ring would be mushed into the aluminum backside of the main case.

That means a second machining operation, this time on the main case, to accommodate a thrust washer. Not impossible to do but the mod has just taken a significant step up in complexity and potential transmission main case damage if not done correctly.

Discretion may be the better part of valor here. My car has 295 tires in the back and at 7000 rpm in fourth gear is a whisker north of 191 mph! I (fortunately) lack the poor judgement to tempt disaster by running it that high in fourth before shifting into fifth, In the real world it would appear that if you could not beat the car next to you before the end of second gear let alone fourth gear, (assuming you have not crashed yet) a power shift into fifth gear is not going to improve the situation .

This particular component failure begs the question why are we power shifting into over drive at lower speeds where fourth gear is the better gear to be in. Even with the stock 3.46 ring and pinion my car was delivered with, 4th gear is good to well over 160 mph! Frankly at anything significantly over 100 mph or so in these cars require a steely spine and stunningly good driving skills not to mention a good dose of bad judgement.


Ed