I had a 57 ½ ton and it was as close to a "bolt in" as one could expect.
You need a T5 from an S10 and the clutch disk for it, duh! You also need a ½"
drill bit, drill motor optional. An automatic trans slip yoke added to your
old drive shaft and shortened 2" (originally a 3 sp). Maybe a 3 sp trans hump.
Drop the old trans, remove clutch, but not the bell housing and slide in the
S10 clutch and tighten up as any other clutch. Inspect the pilot bearing,
replace as needed. The drill bit is for the 4 mounting hole. Hand twist the
drill bit until it goes through, it is just a little too small . Stab the T5
and bolt it up without the shifter on. Stab the drive shaft and bolt it up.
Inside the truck, remove the trans hump and figure where the hole needs to be
for the shifter and cut it out. Install shifter, add oil to trans and go for a
cruise.
You will love the OD. I got about 23 mpg with my 57 on the freeway tooling
down the road a 55 mph. The speed limit is 75 mph and the ol' 57 didn't mind an
all day cruise at that speed. I got about 17 mpg going 75 mph at 6,500 feet
elevation. And once kicked it up to 95 mph or so! The first time I took it out
for a spin is when I opened it up and I passed a Ford 4 door diesel and he
kicked it up. He followed me into town and asked me to sell it. I pulled over
and we made a deal for $900 and my septic installed. Good deal, I guess. He
said he we were doing almost a hundred mph! He tripped out it was 235 pushing
the ol' 57 that fast. He was expecting a V8. Anyhoo, that was the first time in
years I broke the speed limit like that. I was 20 mph over. At 90 mph, the
engine was turning out 2,800 rpm's. I wonder just how stout the T5 is without
the high performance Ford parts in it, though. And you might find first is a
little too tall, but I used a Camaro T5. The shifter is in the wrong place for
a truck though. You can put an S10 outputshaft and tailshaft into a Camaro 5 sp
to get the shifter in the right place, but you will loose the speedo.
Charles Culver wrote:
> Somewhere down the road I may think about installing a 5-speed transmission
> from an S-10. Has anyone done this with a 3/4 ton AD, and does anyone know
> the difference in gear ratio (or rpm at a given speed) between the original
> 4-speed w/granny gear, and the 5-speed? And finally, how big a job is the
> conversion? I assume it will be more complicated than a straight bolt-in,
> but will it take a lot of modification?
>
> Thanks in advance-
>
> Smokey Culver
> '50 3600 5-window (mine)
> '56 3600 (hers)
> League City, Texas
>
> P.S. Thanks again, everyone, for all the responses to my heavy hauling
> dilema. Y'all gave me some great info!
>
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