Hey guys,
Anybody use a Rankin in their race car? Mine makes a LOT of noise while driving. I know th usual stuff.
Could there be a shim option to make shifting not so hard on the gears. I want to make sure I'm not damaging my tranny before I ruin it. Thanks for all the input.

What's a Rankin?

Nascar style transmission
Similar to jerico

I'm going to be putting one in my racecar this coming weekend, I'll let you know my experience.

Rankin is a pretty broad term as it denotes the shop that built it. They can (and have) built straight cut gear boxes with dogs, straight cut gear boxes with syncros and several versions of helical gear internals.

So, let us know specifically what you have and we might be able to help.

A "shim option" to be "not so hard on the gears" is pretty vague as well. The gears really don't get worn during shifting as they are ALWAYS meshed to their partner gear (like all transmissions), but the dogs can take some wear due to slow or 'limp' shifting simply because they are designed to be shifted fast and firm. Even then, the dogs wear and won't last like a typical helical/syncro box. They are not designed for 'gentle and easy' (street) use and, predictably, they fail miserably at it.

Straight cut boxes make noise. I'd need to hear it myself in order to tell you if the LOT OF NOISE is really excessive or just normal. By pulling the unit apart and checking the bearings and the preload on the stack you can at least figure out if your box is likely having a problem or not. Shifting issues on these boxes tend to be fairly evenly split between wear/setup/preload inside the box or arm angle/shift rod preload/shifter setup outside the box.


Costas
cars and such...

[quote name='Shortcutsleeping' date='Aug 5 2014, 11:07 PM' post='180248']
Rankin is a pretty broad term as it denotes the shop that built it. They can (and have) built straight cut gear boxes with dogs, straight cut gear boxes with syncros and several versions of helical gear internals.

So, let us know specifically what you have and we might be able to help.

A "shim option" to be "not so hard on the gears" is pretty vague as well. The gears really don't get worn during shifting as they are ALWAYS meshed to their partner gear (like all transmissions), but the dogs can take some wear due to slow or 'limp' shifting simply because they are designed to be shifted fast and firm. Even then, the dogs wear and won't last like a typical helical/syncro box. They are not designed for 'gentle and easy' (street) use and, predictably, they fail miserably at it.

Straight cut boxes make noise. I'd need to hear it myself in order to tell you if the LOT OF NOISE is really excessive or just normal. By pulling the unit apart and checking the bearings and the preload on the stack you can at least figure out if your box is likely having a problem or not. Shifting issues on these boxes tend to be fairly evenly split between wear/setup/preload inside the box or arm angle/shift rod preload/shifter setup outside the box.


Costas
cars and such...
[/quote


Costas,
I think you answered my question. I tested the car over the weekend at a small airport. Going to race in Charlotte soon. I noticed the more firm I was with the tranny the better it shifted. I think training the ear to up shift at the right time is key.
I'll respond to post after the race weekend.

I finally got mine up to me from Charlotte. A couple of questions on your install. Did you plumb in a cooler? Do you know if all Rankins came with an oil pump or gear squirters? Here's a picture of mine, do you know what the 90 AN fitting on top is for? I'm having difficulty finding any info on Rankins. Vent?

No idea on the oil pump or gear squirters but the AN fitting is for a vent or you can use it as a return.

Jerico requires a cooler for road racing, my SWAG is that the Rankin would too, given the outward similarity and smallish fluid capacity. I'll be plumbing Kens up soon.

Thanks Alan,
I guess I should pull the plate and see how it's plumbed inside, so I can see if I need an external pump or not. A lot of these cup transmissions have a pump on the mainshaft and a Squirter bar aimed at the gears. Just looking for info on Rankin, not much online that I could find.

I talked to George (aka 'the old man') at Jerico about this years ago and he told me that if you're pushing cup power (over 750 at the crank) and over 45 minutes then yeah, likely should have a cooler, but even then it was marginal. Over an hour race? yes, if running "serious power".

I've never seen a pump on the mainshaft, but I've seen the jericos that had the tailshaft mod with a pump there and they were notorious for having problems. I don't know of any cup or busch team that ran them, they went to a tilton style elec pump to leave off until temps came up. A few teams even ran a two stage on the rear axle, one stage for the diff, one for the trans.

Remember...a cup team is a WHOLE LOT different than the typical club person. First, not many push that level of power. Second, we arent going through our boxes after every weekend of use and setting main lash and fork tolerance based on wear and expected temperature range. I've not touched the inside of my jerico in four years and I don't run a cooler to save the weight. I'll drain the oil every half dozen races or so and put fresh stuff in just for peace of mind. I have decent power, but still only run 30-40 minute races maximum.

I'd need better pics of the case from the sides and top to get an idea of the fill/return/vent/drain setup and potentially would need to pull the side cover and see what the oil splash/return setup is like. So many of these boxes have been modified by shops that do it totally different than other shops and unless you open it and know what you're dealing with, you're guessing.

Costas
cars and such...