I currently have a Shep 5 spd in my MR, but am thinking of upgrading to a dogbox. Everywhere I've read they say recommended for racing only. I realize thats because of the lack of Syncros, and the difficulty of having to slam gears.

If I were to drive it occasionally on the streets do you think I'll have any major problems, becides having to shift hard which I do anyways?

I'm worried that with my shifting style I'm putting alot of wear on the syncros, and my transmission does not feel as smooth as it used to. Personally I think the dogbox will be a good move, but would like to read some of your guy's opinions.

I'm a fast shifter, and enjoy throwing through the gears, MY IX is my weekend/drag car, but I do occasionally take it out when I need some me time.

Educated suggestions/facts welcomed.

 

i wouldnt suggest driving a car with a dog box on a street

 

I have known people with them on the street and as long as it is not a dd you will be fine.

 

do it, dog box's are sick. But not DD frendly, if it's a weekend machine i would def do it.

 

Another issue with a dogbox for daily driving, is they typically require rebuilds every 10k or so... pretty expensive...

 

Wow didn't know that, but it does make sence.

 

Would it actually be necessary for the setup you currently have?

 

Yeah My IX is defenitly a weekend warrior, I normally drive the X on a daily baises. Thanks For the advice, I Was unaware of the rebuild after 10,000 miles, but that seems fair, Especially since my car is an 06 with 11,000 miles on it lol, that's less than 3,000 a year. yeah I would say weekend warrior.

 

10,000 miles would be nice. My rebuilt Hollinger lasted less than ~2,000 and it needs to be pulled out as 3rd gear won't stay in place on its own. Admittedly this wasn't 2,000 street miles, it was several hundred practice miles (dirt test track), 3 hillclimbs, a rally-x, a rally-sprint, a pavement track day, and some street miles sprinkled in.

With dogboxes, the quicker you shift them, the smoother your shift is. I wouldn't say they're hard to shift, there's just really no way to be "wife/gf friendly" on the shifts...just slam the lever into the next gear.

Dave

 

is there any grinding when you make the shift? NP shifting fast, I can do that just fine sometimes I get a grind because the syncros don't have time to match. my shep 5 spd is my second tranny. but as for street driving do you still depress the clutch or just slam it in? what other driveling components would I possibly have to worry about? I have an RS diff, and stage 5 rear axels. If I do the switch I'm also thinking of adding a sequential shifter, It'll help me out a bit at the track.

No clutching it will be a good thing especially since my carbonetix likes to lock me out when it get's hot. I've contacted Shep and got prices, fot the components, I'm going to contact my shop and find out if they are willing to do the tranny build.

I like the reply's especially from guy's that have a dogbox in their cars keepem coming!!

 

Dogboxes dont last as long, and they can also be LOUD. Ive been in a couple cars with Hewlands and they whine like mad. Be cool to have one on the street... sort of.

 

the 1st problem you have the carbonetics clutch.. Spend the $$$ on a good clutch like tilton carbon and you wont have lockout issues #1.. I dont know how long a dogbox can last driving on the streets but to me its not much fun... You have to be very careful downshifting, going into 1st etc.. it cannot grind, it has no synchros.. it just goes in gear.. the next issue is going in the wrong gear.. it will go 1-2-1 like nothing and 2-3-2 as well.. Id advise against it for street driving myself.. ifit was a track car you were going to take out 1x every few months for some street " Testing " id say ok.. Not for weekend driving..

Mike

 

No grinding on the shifts at all just a 'snap' when it goes in. If you're very slow with the shift, you can actually feel the dogs hitting whatever it is that they hit...I felt it once or twice when I was trying to learn rev matching. I quickly decided it wasn't worth the wear and tear, so I went back to just pounding gears.

I'm not sure at what point the stock gearbox starts to crap out (i.e. gears breaking), but I can tell you I never once thought twice about banging a downshift to get the car to powerslide out of the tarmac hairpins on Pikes Peak...and I was running BFG Drag Radials in a 275 width.

I've got my old stock IX gearbox over at ShepTrans getting the street/strip treatment, REM ISF, and some sort of output tube upgrade. I've also got the JDM 5th gear going in there, so ratios will actually be pretty close to the ones in the Hollinger box. Hopefully it'll be back in the car by the middle of next week in time for the Land's End Hill Climb on August 8-9th.

Dave

 

My car has all the sound deadening removed, and with the dogbox its borderline unbearable on the street. The car is basically just an echo chamber. When racing, I've got a Stilo helmet on all the time, and the helmet has nice ear cups built in so lots of the noise is canceled out. It sounds badass to be sure, but it'll probably get old after 100 miles.

To get a general idea of the whining noise you'll experience out of the gearbox, put your car in reverse and get it up to 30mph or so. In a safe place of course!

Dave

 

The whine is fine It really dosen't bother me. ok thanks mike for your input. It hought the carbonetix tripple was a good clutch, I've never heard anything bad about them. I liked my Excedy twin much better though. Like I said I don't drive it much on the street, occasionally I do, but I drive this car maybe once a week when I'm home, maybe I'll give it a try. I might buy a wrecked 8 trans and build it into a dog box. It seems like it fits my driving style, if not I can always go back to the shep 5.