T-45 rebuild

amf201091

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Under hard acceleration at higher RPM's, I'm getting a grind every time when shifting from 1-2, 3-2. Think I'm going to rebuild the t-45. How do I make this thing bullet proof?
 
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Jakespeeds

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I did mine a few years back. I was lucky enough to have a guy locally that had been doing the T45 for years and had built a bunch of check gauges and fixtures for putting the together correctly. The factory Ford upgraded 3, Reverse fork took three tries before we got one that was within spec. They were all formed a little different. Then trying to get the clusters to shift correctly was a nightmare. Do what you want but with the knowledge I have now and the experience. I would sell it on Craigslist for whatever I could get and upgrade to a better transmission. That is just my personnel experience.

Jake
 
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amf201091

amf201091

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I totally would if I could afford it!! I don't plan on making 300hp or more anytime soon so improving the t-45 seems like the best option for me. I'm just not familiar with the t-45 or transmissions in general, so I'm seeing if there is a kit I could buy that would improve the t-45's overall performance.
 

lwarrior1016

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I totally would if I could afford it!! I don't plan on making 300hp or more anytime soon so improving the t-45 seems like the best option for me. I'm just not familiar with the t-45 or transmissions in general, so I'm seeing if there is a kit I could buy that would improve the t-45's overall performance.
White just outlined what I’ve done to mine. It shifts good at 7500 rpm and never let me down. Now, I didn’t have shifting issues prior to the build like you are, so there are some things I didn’t do. I did not change bearings and I did not have to set shaft endplay like Jake was talking about. Look on line for a pdf version of the t45 rebuild manual and see if it’s something you’ll have the tools to do.

I just got done doing a t56 and tooling was a big time hold up.
 

Werecow

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Don't know if this will help you out or not, but if you look on YouTube there's a guy named junkyard Dogg that goes through a complete T5 rebuild that might help.. it's a 2 part video that is pretty long but is in depth if you wanna look it up and check it out. He's got a lot of other good tech tips and videos as well if you look him up..
 

OLD H2S

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I did the T45 my self and to me the hard part was getting the parts. But I kept at it because of the reviews saying how good the T45 is with the right parts and how much torque it can hold. I have pushed 400HP and 450T through mine, I am pushing 300/300 through it now. I did not go for the 28 spline input shaft because you really got to dump on the trans to brake the 10 spline but for a power adder then... I do not drag race but I do beat on the car HARD and with the Torsen diff that really limits tire spin I am pushing the trans to lots of torque multiplication. The stories of how smooth the built T45 made me do mine and it is smooth shifting under power and people that drive it ask me first thing what is the trans because they shift better than anything else. Is it true? I do not have enough experience to say but this set up is the best part of the car and makes you want to beat on it more. I am running a Steeda TriAx and that has been good and adjustable for 23 years.
As far as the build it self, it was ok, not easy but it is just bit fiddely . I have done other manual trans because when I got pros to do it I am disappointed with the out comes, I do it myself. The main tool is a GOOD big snap ring plier. A press to get the bearings on and off, if you do the bearings. I could not find much info on how to do the procedure so make notes and take lots of pictures. The problem I had was the sequence of assembly. I had to learn the pattern and that took time to take things back apart when I got too far ahead on one shaft and not the other. You can assemble a shaft but it is more of building both at the same time from the middle outward, If that make since, I would get too far ahead and have to back up, so it is do one part then go to the other shaft and add a part and jump back and forth.
It took be 2 days to get it right but I did it 3 times. Why because it was good BUT.. I would see or feel something and figure out what it was and what could make it better by adding a shim washer and that what was the secret, just getting all the slop out of it. I have some pictures somewhere. Over all I would be sad to sell the car with this trans in it. This is a Ford design problem from the bosses.. make it cheaper. Just changing a few parts make a world beater that would have made the T45 In high demand still but stock you can not give them away.
Sorry for the rant but it is not BullShit if you have done it.
 

joe65

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This is interesting to hear. I've been debating what to do with mine. It has 200k miles on it, but it still works fine, but its on stock hp. I had my mind set on a gforce 3650 but those things are over $3k.
 

cwgu3

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I rebuilt mine last year, Not that difficult but I'm a mechanic. Amazingly enough you can find parts for these but you really have to spend some keyboard time finding them at good prices. Best thing to do is search for another t45 that someone just wants rid of to pull parts from if you need them. Bearings and races are easy to find as are seals . I have the Ford Service Manual on PDF if you want it give me you email address and ill send it to you.
 

96blak54

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Eaton lock ring pliers
bosch-snap-ring-pliers-otc714-64_300.jpg
A press
A big dead blow hammer or heavy hammer some blocks of wood.

One of the lock rings resides under a component name that escapes me, but this particular lock ring was made soft and needs to be placed back into that location even though its dimensions are the same as the others
 

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