Richmond Gear RGI-5 Internal rail trans

[spdbrake]

I came across this while surfing Jegs today.
Evidently these were released Nov 2021.
https://www.jegs.com/i/Richmond+Gear...gn=retargeting
several configs
https://www.richmondgear.com/auto-pa...trans-assembly

From the looks if it, its a TKO T-5 clone. Tail section look T-5 and front mount looks T-5. Which would be good for someone upgrading from a T-5 not to have to buy a new bellhousing. I haven't come across info on the syncros yet.

[eschaider]

This is a Richmond version TKO600 with a number of the internal whoopses that Tremec included (at no additional charge) for their normal TKO customer(s), corrected in the Richond box.

I saw this trans in person at the PRI show last December. It is basically a TKO in a Richmond case that mimics the Tremec as far as bellhousing attachment, spedo gear take off and tailshaft are concerned.

The were two big deals that I saw as I looked at the trans and talked to the Richmond folks. The first was the proper alignment of third gears on the main shaft and countershafts. Tremec had a misalignment that approximated 0.200" and resulted in broken third gear failures that would spew gear tooth materials throughout the transmission destroyoing other gears.

In the past Tremec would tell the consumer his transmission failure was due to a missed shift that allowed the gears to clash, destroying each other. The problem with the disingenious Tremec explanation is that the transmission is a constant mesh transmission with gear selection initiated by sliding synchro collars that engage each gear to the mainshaft by locking the synchro teeth inside the sliding synchro collar to the selected gear. The gears do not slide in or out of engagement

Richmond corrected this misalignment design mistake and for what it worth so did Tremec but not in the TKO transmission family. To get the corrected mainshaft countershaft alignment fix you had to buy their "new" TKX.

The second thing Richmond appears to have corrected was the timing on the internal shift rails used in the 2-3 shift. Tremec's internal timing left a lot to be desired. Liberty has a fix for the Tremec supplied shift rails that corrects the Tremec supplied bad shift timing.

In addition to the above Richmond claimed to have used an improved design synchor ring that is supposed to allow 7000+ rpm shifting. If we believe what Tremec says in their marketing materials they have also upgraded the synchros in the TKX to be more like the multi-synchro units used in the their T-56 design units.

Price-wise this and a TKX are about neck and neck. I think, but I am not certain, I would trust Tremec's words about the TKX improvements which means I would probably opt for a TKX if I were buying today.

I bought my TKO 15 years ago so I ended up using the Liberty Shift rails with the corrected 2-3 shift timing, along with the carbon fiber faced syschros and the bronze finger tips they offered for the internal shift forks. In fairness after installing the new shift rails, carbon fiber synchros and bronze finger tips for the shift forks the transmission behaved like Tremec claims a new TKX transmission behaves, shifting smoothly and effortlessly at high engine speeds.

The short way home if you have a TKO is the Liberty mods — but they won't correct the third gear misalignment. Our cars do not weigh enough and most of us do not have the hutzpah to come out of second gear above 7000 rpm and powershift into third — sooo, only a remote chance of hurting third gear.

BTW the top pic below is what the TKO 600 third gear misalignment looks like and the bottom pic is the damage it can do. You can tell by the dates on the pics how long this has been an issue with the TKO 600

[spdbrake]

Great info Ed,

They appear to be neck a neck although the RGI-5 is a dated design. Just appears Tremec sold the design TKO to Richmond.

I have a TR3550-II TKO and its working fine for my needs. If it dies someday I may spurge for a TKX.

[eschaider]

Originally Posted by spdbrake

Great info Ed,

They appear to be neck a neck although the RGI-5 is a dated design. Just appears Tremec sold the design TKO to Richmond.

I have a TR3550-II TKO and its working fine for my needs. If it dies someday I may spurge for a TKX.

I made a similar comment to a Tremec rep at the show and he said that the design was not sold / licensed to Richmond but instead was a copy of the TKO 600.

I think it is interesting that the TKO 600 and the TKX and the RGI-5 all use the same gear ratios. Obviously the basic transmission ratio selection was pretty good — it was used in three different 5 speed transmissions. With the third gear problem fixed in the TKX and Richmond versions, its essentially a coin toss — their prices in the aftermarket are identical.

The one reason I would use the Richmond box instead of the TKX is that Tremec cut us adrift for almost two decades with the TKO 600, maintaining virtually all the ill mannered TKO 600 problems we experienced were not a design/manufacturer oversight but rather an end user usage issue.

What goes around comes around. This time it's their turn in the barrel. An interesting side note is that while i did not have the opportunity to measure them, the gear tooth face width in the RGI transmission had the visual appearance of being wider than the TKO/TKX gears.