Towing with T56

[CDeeZ]

Oh there is data there in the form of real world experience. Hard to see from that ivory tower i know.

Leaf blower? :)

[lionelhutz]

Why don't you enlighten everyone and explain how your single experience towing 100 odd miles has proven that a T56 won't prematurely fail if you tow with it without some kind of data showing it was operating safely? For example, temperature data, wear data or oil analysis data that proves nothing wasn't being hurt during the tow.

[CDeeZ]

I'm sorry. It's not my duty to enlighten you.

I have towed MANY things with my truck since T56 swapping it. Did I bother to catalogue each instance with a full reportoire of data for you to review? No.

These are facts:

My fullsize truck, that wasn't supposed to have a T56 from the factory, now has it.

Scored a USED T56 on craiglist and installed it.

FIVE years later, after much daily driving and spirited driving ( I haven't been nice to my T56), and some occasional towing, still going strong with no sign of failure. That's not good enough of course. Not space age technology......




You're the one with the labratory obviously, why don't we use that for your uber scientific analysis?



Mrplow did a T56 swap before alot of us:

http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forum/general-discussion/technical-maintenance/95731-t56-6-speed-swap-2.html
But that's worthless too, there is no official NASA spec printout with special congressional authorization to verify it so yeah it's no good......

[lionelhutz]

And you are still continuing with the insulting bullying tactics. But then attacking the other person is the typical response from someone who can't argue facts...

Do you have any proof on how quickly the oil was being broken down?
Do you have any proof that the transmission wasn't overheating?
Do you have any proof you didn't cause some damage to a bearing or other internal part that will now fail prematurely?
Do you have any proof you didn't break through the oil film between the 6th gear set and cause a little gear face damage that will propagate into a failure?

You want to discuss some of the wording in your first post? Your opening claim was that you can tow with a T56. You posted that any internet post that says you can't tow with a T56 was BS. So, since you know these internet posts are myths you must know what is it capable of towing. So can you tow 10,000lbs 100 odd miles but only that much weight and that far? Can you tow 10,000lbs every day for thousands and thousands of miles if you wanted? Can you tow any weight any distance? What about the service interval? Do you change the oil at 1/2 the recommended service interval? At 1/4? At 1/10? What about which gears you should use for the weight you are towing vs the power the engine has? What about ambient temperature? Can it tow 10,000lbs without failing when it's 110*F out or only when it's 70*F out?

At the end of the day, all you proved was you were able to tow 10,000 lbs 100 odd miles without being broken down on the side of the road due to a transmission failure. Nothing more. Any claim you make beyond that is just as much speculation by you as the internet posts you insulted in your first post.

As for MrPlow. What gear does he tow in? Using 4th would be WAY easier on the transmission then 6th. Even 5th would be easier on it then 6th. He mentions a pump and oil cooler. So, does he have one or not? That would make a HUGE difference on the towing capacity of the transmission.

[CDeeZ]

It's called sarcasm. Maybe you should learn to recognize it. And then maybe not take yourself so seriously?
Let me restate this yet again
"
These are facts:

My fullsize truck, that wasn't supposed to have a T56 from the factory, now has it.

Scored a USED T56 on craiglist and installed it.

FIVE years later, after much daily driving and spirited driving ( I haven't been nice to my T56), and some occasional towing, still going strong with no sign of failure. That's not good enough of course. Not space age technology......

You're the one with the labratory obviously, why don't we use that for your uber scientific analysis?"
I think you grossly misinterpreted my post. Some of that might not be your fault beacuse this deal is a lot like text messaging. There is no context when you're not talking face to face.
Ang again here we go copying and pasting: that is not the only time I have towed with the T56 since swapping it. It was the MOST RECENT instance. So get off the 100 odd miles of towing like it's the only towing this trans has done.
The reccommended service interval for the T56 staight from GM is to only ever top off the trans if needed, not to ever change the fluid. Myself? I change it every 5,000 - 10,000 miles. Does it need it? Probably not. But I have the peace of mind of knowing that for a few bucks in fluid the trans should live that much longer.
At the end of the day people like you will always nitpick some little trivial detail and try to blow the whole thing wide open, because you have nothing better to do.
I have said multiple multiple times: unfortunately the only data I have on this one is real world experience. By itself it's not the be all end all but it does give an indication of what you can realistically do in the real world. It is, one piece of the puzzle figuratively speaking.
Mr Plow speaks of a pump and cooler. AFAIK, he never used one, just commented to the effect like "hey if you're going to run a T56 in a 6,000 LB bus like my suburban, and you want to do towing regularly of things in the neighborhood of 13,000 LBS; a cooler and a pump would be a good idea". Not sure what gear he towed in, I'm assuming he made use of either of the double ODs.
Torque multiplication is key
. If you gear your axle properly to match the deep ratios of the T56 and the tall tires typical of trucks, you can tow anythign WITHIN REASON. Before I had the 4.88s I run now, I had 3.08s from when the truck was an auto, and with the T56 and 3.08s: you had to slip the clutch alot in 1st to get going, and 6th was all but useless, and forget about towing with those 3.08s cuz it's not happening.
The T56 is not a towrig transmission. Noone has tried to say it should be used in semis and 1 tons and combines. But it is a beefy trans that can hadle alot of what is thrown at it, if you're smart about it.
I drive at least 200 miles every week for my job, if not even more than that. It was a little over a month ago that I drug this truck back. So IF, something was hurt from towing, I think it would have already reared it's ugly head.

[S10LS]

So whats the point of the thread? Are you recomending that people will have no issues towing heavy loads with the t-56? Or is it a thread saying I towed with my T-56? The 4.88 gear might help save the t56. But who wants to tow with 4.88 gears? I could tow 6 times the rated capacity with my old nv1500 as well. At least it has a towing rating. No data to back up any claim you are trying to make, without at least LONG term towing is not really that helpfull. If you are doing it to just mess around an see what it can take then thats cool. But to get your feelings hurt when someone is challenging your finding especially when their statement is that no full size truck came with one for towing is a bit rediculous. All kinds of data would be helpfull from exact combo you are running to the fuel mileage your getting, to a serious longevity test.

[S10LS]

"Torque multiplication is key". Probably the key to keeping it together. Keep the thread updated so we can see how it does.