T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

For those that have fabrication facilities, here is a couple pics of a conversion we have done several of.
This gets an UNMODIFIED T5 or Richmond 5 speed to an early Ford rear end. The U joint parts are available from any Spicer dealer.
The fabricated cross member takes the full driving thrust like the original design.

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

Pete, That is really a great idea. So all you had to do was modify the original front wishbone to fit the clamshell. Is there anyway that you could either post
photos of the drawings for the parts or put them on a website where we could see them . Thanks, JIM in FL

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

Also I am confused. What are all the threaded (bolts?) and where does the threaded arm that is attached to the wishbone go to? Could you post more photos showing the entire assembly. What car is it in. Thanks, JIM

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

Those are the only pics I have. They are of the installation in my race car.
The other 2 cars I did were street hot rods with T5's. Same basic procedure.
The threaded rods are the shift rods going to the Richmond in this case.
The arm attached to the cross member is the anchor for the clutch cylinder.
If I ever do another installation I will record the Spicer parts numbers.
Basically you get a catalog and find a yoke with a 6 spline to fit the Ford driveshaft and a yoke that matches the output spline of the transmission and put them together with a common cross.
The whole cross member was fabricated. No original parts. There is just a flat plate that the clam bolts to.
The driveline and torque tube will have to be shortened depending on what car it is in.

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

I cleaned up the photo a little

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

This is pretty dam cool - we've all thought "5-speed = no torque tube" - nice work adn I'm looking forward to the part numbers for a future build I have in mind .... thanks!

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

Gary, GREAT. Your job, ( should you decide to accept) is to provide detail photos of exactly how that's done for a HAMB tech article. Thanks.

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

Pete,

This looks like a simple and effect setup. A couple more questions -

Did you use a grease seal in the plate that the clamshell bolts to so differential grease traveling up the torque tube doesn't leak and dirt doesn't get in?

Did you fix either of the yokes (T5 or driveshaft) or does the whole assembly float between the T5 output shaft and Ford driveshaft?

Thanks for sharing this.

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

Hey Pete,

Great idea, I'm looking forward to more details. Thanks!!

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

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Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

I like it great idea. I dumped the torque tube and went to a open drive line. I soon found we needed a torque arm to prevent axle wrap.

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

i am also running a open driveline. used the tubes from a 40 welded to the a rear brackets and a third from a bracket attached to two top bolts on the diff. and up to another bracket at the rear of the tranny. have worked it pretty hard with no problems. be sure to vent the diff. scotty

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

Since the U-joint pivot point and the clamshell pivot point no longer match, what do you do about the misalignment that occurs as the rear suspension goes through its travel? Just let things bind, or....? Looks like it would be hard on the trans bushing or driveshaft bearing, or both.

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

The yokes on both ends are free to float back and forth.
No binding.
On the T5's we put 2 bushings in the tailshaft housing to give the slip yoke more bearing area. Not necessary, just cheap insurance.

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

With a seal back at the pinion, how's the front driveshaft bearing lubed?

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

[QUOTE=George G;9164]I like it great idea. I dumped the torque tube and went to a open drive line. I soon found we needed a torque arm to prevent axle wrap.[/QUOte


George,
I built a torque arm, but didn't like the way it came out, So I added to the split radius rods and created a mini ladder bar. Hopefully, it'll take care of the lack of a torque tube. The gear has no function, other than to add some stiffnerss to the assembly. It's a worn out gear from a Ford trans. Just some recycling out of my trash pile.

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

I think 40 Deluxe came close to asking the same question I have---The stock Ford u-joint is of a floating cross design to allow the driveshaft to misalign without binding. Binding would occur even when the proper pivot locations are maintained if there is spring travel. The front to rear "float" will not resolve this problem because the fixed shaft locations can become higher or lower in relation to each other. In a race car, with very minimal rear end vertical movement, it might not be a serious situation? But in a street car, with normal rearend vertical movement, it seems like something has to bend, bind, or break if the u-joint does not self-center.

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

I agree. It would be better if a very short driveshaft was used to accomidate any radial misalignment. The trans and the rear can not always be in perfect allignment due to flexing of the mounts. I really like the overall design.

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

Hi John...I hear what you guys are saying and I thought about it for awhile before proceeding on the first build.The distance between the torque tube pivot and the U-joint center is only about 2 inches.
The race car only has about 3 inches of spring travel so the angular deflection at the pivot points is so small that it can be ignored.
Also, the roller torque tube bearing is not a super precision fit so there is some slop there.
On the T5 street installations, The same overall effect happens because the torque tube is about 4 feet long and the spring travel is about 6 inches. Hence the angular deflection is about the same.
The race car has 11 seasons on it with the same U joint and transmission rear bushings. No visable wear.
Who knows how many miles on the hot rods with the T5's. I know the guys fairly well and I'm sure they would let me know if something was wearing out.
It's one of those deals where the engineering is not dead on but it works.
BTW, the race car is for sale and I might consider delivering it.

PeteVS: The torque tube bearing is lubed by packing. The spacer washer in front of it keeps dirt out. No problems with that in 11 years and we race on dirt about half the time.

Re: T5 to early Ford rear end.
 

Here's another one:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...he+torque+tube