While Rockland Standard Gear...
While Rockland Standard Gear (RSG) uses only new parts, that doesn’t mean they don’t modify some of them. This T56 tailshaft housing was machined to fit the larger main shaft used in this build.
“Out of sight, out of mind.” It’s a phrase that’s just perfect for transmissions. After all, tons of thought goes into squeezing out every possible pony from the engine, but often times the chosen transmission isn’t up to handling the extra output. This is especially common with LS engine and T56 six-speed transmission combinations. The stock T56 is a great trans and is easily capable of handling the output from a stock LS engine, or one that has been juiced up a bit. But as the power output is ratcheted up, or when the driver screws up a shift, weak links in the T56’s internals start to rear their ugly heads. Shift forks bend, output shafts twist, and gears grind into new and horrifying shapes. In short, it gets ugly.
Just like you can beef up an engine’s internals with fancy forged parts, the guts of a T56 can be made stronger too. This brings us to Rockland Standard Gear. They’re in the business of making transmissions stronger with smoother shifting. How much stronger is directly proportional to how much cash you have stuffed under your mattress. They have everything from a budget-minded, nearly-stock trans capable of handling 550 lb-ft of torque, all the way up to their mack daddy Tranzilla. It’s capable of handling an astonishing 1,200 hp and a 1,000 pounds of twist..
Here you can see all of the...
Here you can see all of the trans components. This is a good example of why building a transmission should be left to the professionals. One incorrectly installed part could cause the whole deal to grenade when blasting through the gears.
Since we didn’t have over five grand to spend on the one named after the big Tokyo-smashing lizard, and selling organs is illegal here in the US, we decided to have Rockland Standard Gear (RSG) toss together something a bit more in tune with the wallet of the average gearhead. Their Son of Tranzilla T56 has many of the same upgrades as the full-tilt Tranzilla and can easily handle up to 750 lb-ft of torque. Do you really need more than that?
So with camera in hand, we headed over to RSG for a look at what goes into their Son of Tranzilla transmission. After all, engines get all the glory, so the rest of the driveline deserves a little attention too.
The Tranzilla Difference
The Tranzilla T56 is designed to handle up to 1,000 lb-ft of torque and is offered in a wide array of ratios. They come as steep as 2.29, or as short as 2.98 for first gear. All the remaining gear ratios can be suited for your specific needs, whether it’s drag racing, road racing, or just tearing up city streets. The gears have a less helical profile, which enables them to handle more torque. This makes the trans a bit noisier, but who cares? Strength is king when you’re at these power levels.
The 32-spline shaft on the...
The 32-spline shaft on the left is a hell of a lot bigger than the stock 27-spline unit on the right. They are made from the same material, but there’s considerably more of it in the new shaft from RSG.
"Viper spec" is a common term...
"Viper spec" is a common term thrown around when it comes to T56s, so don’t confuse it with RSG’s Son of Tranzilla since they aren’t the same thing! Here you can see the Viper-spec single-carbon blocker rings on the left and the Tranzilla double carbon rings on right. RSG only does "Viper spec" on the stock-style transmissions they build. Viper spec is nowhere near as good as the multi-ring Tranzilla parts.
Second gear goes on next....
Second gear goes on next. On regular T56s, only double carbon goes here, but on Corvette and Transzilla, there are three carbon surfaces on gears one and two. The 1-2 synchronizer, which is the thicker steel piece, goes on and gets tapped with a hammer's butt end, then it's put in a press to get it on the entire way with its bearing. Here’s the completed main shaft assembly with first gear installed.