So, as you may or may not know, I'm the proud owner of these:



The blue truck is my lil baby, but about a month ago the 518 crapped out on me on my way to work. There was pieces of metal, lots of red fluid and a fun-filled ride home on a tow truck.

Well, I've never been a fan of the 518. I bought the truck because she's in beautiful shape, and you just don't find them like that in my part of the country.

So, when the tranny went, I did some calling around. The estimates to have it rebuilt were between $2500 and $5000, depending on performance mods converters, etc...

So, I started looking around for 360 conversion parts. I had a guy lined up in Wyoming to send me some stuff, but the cost of shipping alone was exceeding $500, and it just didn't seem feasible.

So, one day I decided to look in Craigslist and found the dually you see in that picture. There is a lot of rust on the body, but she ran and drove great...if a little rough on the ol' bumps.

So, yesterday I started to tear into the dually to get the pieces I needed.

I pulled the driveshafts, which was an easy feat...feeling good!

The shifter came out with no issues...nice!

Then I went around the whole thing and made sure that all the wires, linkages, etc, were all unplugged. Done.

Then I got to the 4wd shifter. There were 2 cotter pins that I needed to pull. First one broke off and came out no problem...second one took me at least an hour. It was up in a place that was impossible to get to and it broke in such a way that it just would not punch/pull/push out.

Ok, problem solved, moving on.

Now, I have the FSMs for the truck, so I decided I'd look and see how the factory says the tranny should be pulled. The FSM said to pull the transfer case off, then pull the crossmember off, then support the motor and pull the tranny off using a transmission jack.

I borrowed my neighbors ATV jack, which is rated at 1500 lbs. I put it under the cross member, used some wood to build up a platform for the front of the tranny and decided to start on the crossmember bolts.

Right...those babies haven't been turned since the truck left the factory, I don't think...and to top it off, the bolts will turn from the top when you turn the easy-to-get-to nuts on the bottom. Dang.

So, I sprayed them with liquid wrench and smoked a cigarette.

I got my wrenches out and started on the 6 bolts per side.

One came out
Two came out
Three came out
Four came out
Five came out.

Now, that might seem like they went fast. They didn't. We're talking 45 minutes right here, and several bruised knuckles.

Then I got to #6 on the first side (pass side).

And, as you can probably guess, the head on the bolt stripped. ****. I tried about 16 different combinations of wrenches/plyers/sockets/vice grips.

Then, I turned to my trusty friend the sawzall. But, of course when I cut through the bolt/nut, I didn't get ALL of the nut and it was still stuck.

Then I turned to my little buddy the peanut grinder...and about 5 minutes later and a quick reminder to wear eye protection and then a few minutes with a hammer and a chisel and that bolt is out.

So, I hit the other side with the penetrating oil once more and decided to call it a night.

I plan to use this thread as a log in my progress on the swap, but I do have a question or two:

1. When you pulled your tranny, did you do so with it still attached to the crossmember? How about the transfer case?

2. Did you pull the 4 bolts on the tranny to bellhousing and leave the clutch assembly up there for later or did you pull the bellhousing with the tranny initially?

Anyway, thanks! (and sorry for the long post)

d

 

I think I left the crossmember and t-case with the tranny. I think I pulled the trans out of the bellhousing, but I can't remember now. If you have a big enough jack, and you can fasten the trans to the jack, pull the whole thing at once. I think it would be a pain to pull the t-case off of the trans.

 

I have done it both ways with transfer case on and off. It's easyer with it off. First thing I do is loosen the crossmember bolts so it's held on by just a little threds. It drops the tranny and transfer case a little so you can get to the top nut on the t case and the top bolts on the bell housing.

 

i have done it both ways also. If you have 2 people i found it easier to pull them together. If alone take them separate for the sake of safety. That is a lot of wait to pull off yourself if something goes wrong.

 

Yeah, I have it all on a nice atv jack, which definitely has the ***** to hold it, and the pad on top of it is ~ 2 foot square...plus it's strapped.

But, I'd definitely like to have a person around when I disconnect it and drop it down.

Thanks, fellas...nice to know it can be done either way.

 

I pull them just like you are, on my ATV jack strapped to it for saftey.
I leave the transfercase on.
I drop the crossmember leaving the two upper supports for the crossmember on the frame even [the one that you describe as $#^%* to remove]! I do this with a floor jack supporting the tail shaft of the tranny before lowering it on to the ATV jack. I leave the tranny mount bracket on.
There is enough room for the bell housing and all to slide back and out from under the truck.
You might need to jack the truck up a bit to slide the tranny out from under the frame, still on the ATV jack.
I remove the bell with the tranny and transfercase combo.
Remember the access hole on the motor adapter plate for the flex plate bolts before you start pulling the tranny.
Nice looking rig.
You are going to love having a stick rather than a stock slush box!
IMO

 

Thanks for the post! That's a relief!

 

this has been helpful for me as well, looking forward to the rest of this thread.

 

Great post. Can I pm ya? ad removed

 

been there done that to. was planning on doing a swap, found a good running parts truck that had been rolled, and was pulling it from western oregon to eastern oregon, almost home and I broke the center out of my flex plate, just made for a manditory swap then.

everything is pretty much a straight swap except for splicing for the back up lights, and cutting a hole for the shifter.
the majority of the time that I have pulled the trans out of my truck, both manual and auto I have pulled everything at once, the auto is easyer imo cause the getrag is just a tad heavier, that and having another person there makes a huge difference.

 

Ok, a sinus infection put this job on hold for a while...but it looks like I'm back in business!

The role of the ATV jack has been replaced by a nice friend who owns a shop and an actual transmission jack. That's awesome, and really makes me feel more confident about the whole thing!

 

Ok, so I've been at it all afternoon. This truck does not want to give up the goods. I got the transfer case out, no worries.

It took some doing, but I got the crossmember out of there as well.

I took the 4 bolts connecting the tranny to the bellhousing out.

But I'll be damned if I can get the tranny to separate from the bellhousing.

The FSM says to shake the tranny a little bit to dislodge it. I'm not exactly a weakling, and I've been shaking the crap out of it, but I'll be darned if I can separate the two of them.

AAARRRGH!

 

Are you absolutely sure you got all the bolts out?

 

4 bolts??? for some reason I think the A518 has 6 bolts plus 2 alignment dowels... I could be wrong...

Also, you might want to fill in your sig with details on your truck like everyone else does: it helps to know right away what to deal with

 

I think he means pulling the getrag out of the donor truck....4 bolts hold it in.