Traco Transmissions

[Alaska Jim]

Has anyone here have any information good, bad, or indifferent, about Traco Transmissions? Anyone ever bought anything from them ? I believe they are out of Lake Havasu city AZ. Thanks for any help.---Jim

[rotorwrench]

I've never purchased anything from them so I can't help with that. I've seen there exchange prices though and it looks like they are figuring to replace everything in there. $3K or there abouts is a lot of money for a transmission overhaul. Mac VP is a good source of parts and his book will cover most of the transmissions of the flathead era. The T85 types are very similar and are just as easy to overhaul. I usually end up replacing the cluster and the 1st gear plus all the bearings, seals, thrust washers, snap rings, & gaskets when I have to overhaul one. A lot of times the synchronizer assy & blockers are still good.

[Alaska Jim]

rotorwrench, I also thought that their price was high. I guess the days of pulling one from a car in the wrecking yards for 50 bucks are long gone. I had no idea that these things were bringing that kind of money. I did contact Mr. Van Pelt, and his price for the same trans is pretty close to the one from Traco. I have declared the trans in my '51 Merc. dead. It still shifts in the 3 gears ok, but there are very bad intermittent noises ,and vibrations coming from the trans and the o/d is non-functional. At first it was just when the o/d handle was pulled out, now it is with the cable pushed in also. I guess I will end up doing the rebuild myself, after all , I am a retired mechanic, just worn out with a bad back and next month having a hip replacement. I have rebuilt many transmissions in the past including the early Ford and GM 3 speeds. and many 4 speeds. I worked as a line mechanic for a GM dealer for many years. I am not familiar though with the o/d section, and have never rebuilt an o/d transmission.. considering the cost , and the shipping charges, I think I am going to learn how. Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it.-----JIm Palmer, Alaska

[rotorwrench]

I'd be glad to provide any help with questions you might have. They are really rather simple for what they do. The front gear portion is pretty much the same as the early Ford transmissions are even if you have a late 51 with the narrow four bolt Borg Warner pattern. The overdrive section is basically just a planetary that can be locked and unlocked by the shift rail for standard drive or overdrive respectively. The sprag clutch or free wheeling unit on the back of the output assembly allows the sun gear to go in forward or reverse motion for shifting into full planetary overdrive. The big solenoid controls that shift through a pawl into a balk ring & gear plate assembly. The instructions in the Lincoln Mercury overhaul manual are very good with a very good explanation about how it all works.

[Alaska Jim]

Thanks rotorwrench. It will probably be a couple of months until I get to trying to rebuild it. I do have a spare transmission, but condition is unknown. I got it in a trade years ago. I think I will go through it and then just swap them out. I do have a reprint of the factory Lincoln/Mercury service manual for the '51 Merc. I do wonder though if the ratios in the transmissions are all the same, or if there were some that were better than others. I like the ratios in the trans that is in the car. I am aware that the Lincoln had a better gear set that every one used to want. I know that there are 2 different ratio's for instance in the Ford top loader transmissions used in the '60s. Anyway, like I said it will be a while until I get to it because of my up coming surgery. Thank you for the information, and your offer of assistance, I appreciate it. I will let you and everyone else know when I finally get to it .------Jim

[rotorwrench]

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The R10 types all had the same ratio in the Ford line. I'm pretty sure the Lincoln cars of the 8BA era used the heavier duty T-85 gearbox types that bolt to the 337 engines but I'm not 100% certain. I' think they were also R10 types. The pre 48 Lincoln stuff had R10 planetary set ups too as far as I know but they were closed drive and very long with strange looking mounts. The later y-block & FE transmissions went to the R11 planetary that had 4 planet gears instead of 3. Those units were heavy duty enough to work with the big block FE engines that came out in the later 50s. I think they had a very similar ratio even though they have one more planet gear.

Where the ratio can be changed is at the rear axle. The 3.91:1 Mercury/Dana 44 ratio was good with the R10 overdrives. Lincolns usually had higher number ratio for the heavy weight cars. Ford cars had a different rear axle than the Mercury & Lincolns so there ratio was a bit different at 4.10:1.

[Alaska Jim]

Rotorwrench, do you think that the trans. in my Merc. with the round bell housing type mount, would have the same internal ratios as the Ford Transmissions ? The rear end ratio in my car is a 4:27. works great with the o/d, not so good with out the o/d. Out of o/d it runs about 2800rpm at about 50mph if I remember correctly. Thanks again for all your information.----Jim

[rotorwrench]

I think all the R10 types had the same output ratio. The drums, planet carrier, planet gears, and sun gear were all the same basic type and diameter. They did have different mounting, control, and electrical configurations for different models that made them work for all the different applications so they weren't exactly the same over all.

[Alaska Jim]

Thanks Rotorwrench , I got my '49-'51 Lincoln and Mercury Factory manual, and my old '52 factory shop manual out, and have been reading up on the transmissions. The Lincoln /Mercury manual and the '52 Ford manual cover the o/d pretty good. I have a '49-'50 shop manual but it does not cover the overdrive section, only a standard 3sp trans. It all looks straight forward enough . Thanks for all your help.----Jim