seeking advice on shifter upgrade

[SPF1061]

Originally Posted by SPF1061

I have had a TKO 500 and 2 TKO 600 .82s in my 427R SPF. My experience is that a shifter will not fix a TKO. I am using a Pro5 with a Jordan arm and I think it is as good as it's going to get...which isn't great. The 2/3 shift at 6000+ rpm is not reliable in my car. I have just bought a new, modified 600 from these folks: WELCOME TO LIBERTYS HIGH PERFORMANCE. The car is in Dennis Olthoff's shop for some major work and will have the new transmission installed when I get it back in about a month. I will post my impressions after I have put a few miles on it. I am guardedly hopeful.

Well my car was in the shop a lot longer than expected sorting out a Roush 427R rebuild that would not stop drinking oil. All good now. Regards the Liberty High Performance Mod on the TKO 600. YES! This is the best shifting TKO I have ever put through the gears. Excellent. Dennis test drove the car and he commented that it felt like the shifter was being sucked into the next gear. Highly recommended.

[Supersf]

Interested as well. I'm hearing Hurst, Steeda, and MGW. The MGW install looks straightforward on the 3550. What's the consensus in terms of performance along with ease of install for a Tremec 3550 in a SPF? Prefer not to have to drop the transmission.

Thanks

[RET_COP]

My steeda was an easy install. It's basically a bolt in shifer. You then set the stop bolts and your done. The shifter is beefier and locks out the move to third. It made a difference but it can't replicate what was done to the internals of spf1061 transmission. I reccomend the steeda or the mgw at the very least

[Jim Norris]

Originally Posted by SPF1061

Well my car was in the shop a lot longer than expected sorting out a Roush 427R rebuild that would not stop drinking oil. All good now. Regards the Liberty High Performance Mod on the TKO 600. YES! This is the best shifting TKO I have ever put through the gears. Excellent. Dennis test drove the car and he commented that it felt like the shifter was being sucked into the next gear. Highly recommended.

Sweet! I am almost ready to order a modified TKO 600 w/.82 OD from Libertys. I now have the .64 OD and not only is the 3rd to 4th shift at 6000 rpm impossible to accomplish, the rpm drop from 4th to 5th is staggering. Hopefully both of my problems will go away all at once.
My questions are: do you think the addition of a Pro 5.0 or Steeda shifter is necessary after the Libertys upgrade? They offer an upgraded TKO version that includes a Pro 5.0 for $150 bucks more. Also, have you ever regretted going with .82 od version of the TKO?

[SPF1061]

Originally Posted by Jim Norris

Sweet! I am almost ready to order a modified TKO 600 w/.82 OD from Libertys. I now have the .64 OD and not only is the 3rd to 4th shift at 6000 rpm impossible to accomplish, the rpm drop from 4th to 5th is staggering. Hopefully both of my problems will go away all at once.
My questions are: do you think the addition of a Pro 5.0 or Steeda shifter is necessary after the Libertys upgrade? They offer an upgraded TKO version that includes a Pro 5.0 for $150 bucks more. Also, have you ever regretted going with .82 od version of the TKO?

Jim, I have the Pro 5.0 and it is an improvement over the stock TKO shifter. I would spend the extra $150. and get the whole package. What is your rear end ratio? I originally ran .64 with a 3.73 rear. The final drive ratio in that combination was good for highway cruising, but that was about all that was good about it. First gear was useless and the rpm drop between 4/5 took the engine way out of it's power band. I switched to a 3:27 rear gear at the same time I went to the .82 and I love this combo. Highway cruising rpm are not quite as mild as before, but it's fine, about 2600rpm at 70mph with 295/60/15 rear tires. Everything else about this combo is way better than before.

[RET_COP]

SPF1061, Would it be worth it to have an existing 3550 re-done by liberty or just buy a new TKO 500/600?

[SPF1061]

Originally Posted by RET_COP

SPF1061, Would it be worth it to have an existing 3550 re-done by liberty or just buy a new TKO 500/600?

Lou,
Sorry, but I wouldn't know what your best choice would be.
Why don't you call Liberty, tell them what you are running, and see what they suggest?
Steve

[Jim Norris]

Originally Posted by SPF1061

Jim, I have the Pro 5.0 and it is an improvement over the stock TKO shifter. I would spend the extra $150. and get the whole package. What is your rear end ratio? I originally ran .64 with a 3.73 rear. The final drive ratio in that combination was good for highway cruising, but that was about all that was good about it. First gear was useless and the rpm drop between 4/5 took the engine way out of it's power band. I switched to a 3:27 rear gear at the same time I went to the .82 and I love this combo. Highway cruising rpm are not quite as mild as before, but it's fine, about 2600rpm at 70mph with 295/60/15 rear tires. Everything else about this combo is way better than before.

My rear end ratio is 3.73 also, and my rear tires are 295/50/15. I agree that first gear is useless when you stomp on it; it just sends the tires up in smoke even after you're rolling. The acceleration in 2nd and 3d though, is phenomenal. l am worried about losing that if I change to a numerically lower rear gear.
I think you're right about having the Pro 5.0 included in the deal. It makes good sense.
Thanks for your help.

[eschaider]

Originally Posted by SPF1061

Well my car was in the shop a lot longer than expected sorting out a Roush 427R rebuild that would not stop drinking oil. All good now. Regards the Liberty High Performance Mod on the TKO 600. YES! This is the best shifting TKO I have ever put through the gears. Excellent. Dennis test drove the car and he commented that it felt like the shifter was being sucked into the next gear. Highly recommended.

Guys, you are just kidding yourself if you think throwing money at a shifter is going to fix this problem. This is yet another Tremec design screw up that needs hard parts internal to the transmission to correct it.

The fix is not expensive. The results are stunning as SPF1061 has already told you. Liberty took a lot of effort to diagnose and redesign the problem Tremec pieces. If you want to fix the problem buy the parts and put them in. If you are concerned about the complexity have Liberty do it for you.

If you want to continue to post threads asking what shifter to buy this week, skip Liberty's fix and buy a shifter - you'll be happier. Even better you can start another thread about which shifter to get next to solve the 2nd to 3rd shift problem after you install your new shifter.


Ed

[blown871]

thanks for keeping it real.

tough love is what we all need some times.. as.. over-thinking and over asking... gets the best of us.

[RET_COP]

I don't think anyone thought the shifter was the fix, a question was asked about the addition of a shifter and yes it will add to the improvement of the Liberty fix. Both topics are worthy of discussion in the same thread

[Jim Norris]

Originally Posted by RET_COP

I don't think anyone thought the shifter was the fix, a question was asked about the addition of a shifter and yes it will add to the improvement of the Liberty fix. Both topics are worthy of discussion in the same thread

Exactly.

[SPF1061]

Originally Posted by Jim Norris

My rear end ratio is 3.73 also, and my rear tires are 295/50/15. I agree that first gear is useless when you stomp on it; it just sends the tires up in smoke even after you're rolling. The acceleration in 2nd and 3d though, is phenomenal. l am worried about losing that if I change to a numerically lower rear gear.
I think you're right about having the Pro 5.0 included in the deal. It makes good sense.
Thanks for your help.

Jim - Are you running a 427 stroker like it says in your sig line? If so, you do not need to worry about your car not pulling in 2nd and 3rd with a 3:27 rear gear. Have you ever had your car at the drag strip and gotten some time slips with your present gearing set up? I can pretty much guarantee you that your et will improve getting rid of that useless 1st gear. My car will run about 50mph in first and it will get there quick. The freight train keeps pushing hard right through all the gears. I consistently run 11:30s/125mph with Avons or Mickey Thompson drag radials on the rear. I'm not half way through 4th gear when I go through the traps. Also, 5th gear becomes a REAL gear on long straightaways on road courses. No bogging. It's very much like the 3>4 shift except that wind resistance is becoming such a factor in 5th that it is really affecting the engines ability to accelerate the car hard.

[blown871]

Anyone running a 6 speed?

[blown871]

Anyone running an upgraded 5 speed?
G-force?

[Dwight]

I know this is a very old thread, but

I bought a TKO and a Pro 5 shifter a long time ago. Drove it for 10,000 miles (I think) and sold it to a forum member who is still driving it.
I then bought a TKO 600 but kept the stock shifter. I have 40,000 miles on my Cobra now. So 30,000 on the 600.
Last June at the London Cobra Show I did 12 passes down Main St and missed 3rd 9 times. Time to do something.
I researched the problem and found a lot of guys recommended Liberty Gears.

Last week I pulled my trannie and this week I'm shipping the parts to Liberty Gear to do their magic. Should cost about $300. A shifter is $200.
I have heard from 4 or 5 members who had Liberty to work on their trannies and all report their TKOs shift like a T-5.

I agree with what has been said, Spend the money on the trannie not a shifter.
I have been there and done that.

I'll post my finding after I put a few miles on it.
Dwight

[blown871]

Thanks for the updates. This is how we learn.. .....

[RET_COP]

Dwight thanks for the informative post I'll be interested in your findings. Did you ever miss shifts with the pro 5? In 30000 miles were you missing shifts with that stock shifter or was it just at the end of the 30000 miles. I didn't miss any shifts with my Tremec 3550 with a steeda tri ax. I have a new tko 600 with a steeda tri ax , we'll see how this works. If I have problems I'll let you know.

[dawger]

Did anyone happen to catch the new POWER NATION segment on ENGINE POWER I think it was. They visited American PowerTrain and they went over some of the improvements of the Tremec trasmission performed there like carbon fiber blocker rings and the bronze guides in the shifter forks. Similar improvements that Liberty Gear performs? I then headed to their web site and could not find any information regarding the transmission improvements like that found on Liberty Gears site. Was wondering if anyone out there saw the same thing. I probably will still get my transmission from Liberty Gears with the upgrades when the time comes to put HM-2013 on the road.

[Roush #1]

On my T56 transmission, I have used the stock shifter, the Steeda Tri Ax and the MGW.
When making high RPM power shifts, the MGW feels and works best for me. For road trips and going to church, I couldn't tell much difference between the Steeda and the MGW.