Joey rebuilt my T56 to Level 2 specs.
Joey rebuilt my T56 to Level 2 specs.
Couple of things to address here. First of all, only light duty 3/4T 2WD 6-lug rotors will retrofit on your stock spindles. 4WDs are completely different as are the HD 3/4T 6-lug rotors. In fact, most HD rotors are 8-lug, so you wont have to worry about that.
Second. The shifter that comes with the Kiesler kit is reported to be junk. But I have seen pictures of aftermarket shifters adapted to this forward location by elongating the bolt holes a bit. That being said, most of us are still going to have to deal with the long shifter stick which negates the advantage of the aftermarket shifter. It occurred to me, (having a mv3500 in my 93 with a Hurst shifter), that the Hurst shifter for my 5-speed has a much taller tower to facilitate a shorter throw with the long stick. If the shift ball at the bottom-that goes into the trans-is the same size-or even close-the the T-56s ball size, a simple plate adapter could be fabbed up to fit the two together. Im almost positive the this would make for very short throws with a long stick. And no seat interference either.
My 92 truck is a 2wheel drive so why would I buy a 4 wheel drive rotor? The Part number I posted for the 11" 6 lug rotor is almost identical to the 5 lug rotor on the truck now. I think a lot of the those HD rotors are 8 lug and a some are 13".
The newer GTO come with a shifter arm from factory angled 4" to front for better location. I have a GMM shift arm and am going to mate this to T56 shifter to see how it works out.
Last edited by Old Nash; 08-17-2010 at 06:53 PM.
The above was a response to those that are changing to 6-lug. When you go to a 14 bolt rear to get the required strength you end up with 6 lugs. You can have the axles re-drilled or buy new axles with a 5 lug pattern, but the real easy way to go is to use light duty 3/4t rotors up front to match bolt patterns. And then you have a huge variety of rims available, of course.Originally Posted by Old Nash
As for the GTO shifter, if im not mistaken, it sits even farther back then the F-body shifter. And even if it points forward, I doubt it will clear a bench seat. And you will still have to put a longer stick on it. And that will make the throws much longer.
I thought the reason I posted the p/n # for the 5 lug to 6 lug rotor was to buy that rotor and you would have 6 lug all around. I am changing to 14 bolt semi floater and is 6 lug.
I was just making a statement that a GTO shifter has the a 4' forward extending shifter arm from the base like the Mc Leod shifter. I think you need to look at picture of the GTO shifter Yellow Sierra has for sale.and GMM shifter arm. I never intended to use a GTO shifter but "USE" the Tremec T56 shifter and adapt a 4" forward extending shifter arm to it like the Goat. It may not extend shifter far enough forward for the bench seat, but the bucket seats I purchased will solve the problem if it does not.
Last edited by Old Nash; 08-17-2010 at 06:53 PM.
Oh OK, I misunderstood your post on the shifter.
The 90's SS454 trucks had a 5 lug 14 bolt rear end and I would find a rear from one of those trucks if staying with 5 lug. The 14 bolt rear I am using is 6 lug and want same pattern on front. The 6 lug wheel/rims as you said gives more choices and easier to find.
The shifter arm will go froward 4" and then will be bent to resemble the shifters that came in the old 4 speed shifters that came in full size chevy cars from late 50' to 60's. They were bench seats (until buckets seats came out) and the shifter came up over seat if moved all way forward.
What year/model did you use when converting from 5 lug to 6 lug?
I havent yet done this swap, but Ive done a lot of research on it. That and I was a GM parts guy for quite a few years. I was just passing on the info and experience I had collected. If I recall, they changed the rotor thickness sometime around '91, but I believe that the 3/4T LD 6-lug rotors are all the same from 88-98. You will obviously want to verify this by checking whether the in/out bearing is the same for both. And if you are putting the thicker rotor on an earlier model you may have to upgrade your calipers to the post 91 model.
The rotors did change around that time and you are right about checking in/out bearing. You never can get too much info on something before starting project.
Last edited by Old Nash; 08-20-2010 at 10:00 AM.
It's not possible to know everything the first time around, no matter how much you research it. Sometimes you've got to stop theorizing and just jump in.
The rotors you'd want to use if you're converting a 2WD 5 lug to a 6 lug would be the C2500 front rotors.
I WAS planning on pulling the 6 lug front rotors off of a 4x4 parts truck that I have laying around, I discovered that wouldn't work however. Because:
The 2WD rotors have the lug-studs pressed in, while the 4WD rotors do not. I have the C2500 front rotors laying in my garage for whenver I can get around to swapping the front over, it looks like they will work, I just haven't had time to swap them, and I'm planning on getting some more use out of the front tires.
I have been looking around for wheels for a 88-98 C2500 (since that's what my truck will be "wheelwise" with the 14 bolt and front rotors both from the C2500), but, I haven't had much luck for some reason, I have no idea why? I've looked at summit, jegs etc.
I also discovered that the wheels from a 97 K1500 tahoe won't work b/c they have too much backspacing, the tire rubs just a hair on the leaf spring. My original plan was to use these factory alloys from the 'Hoe, but hey shit happens right?
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