has anyone ever had a serious problem lining up their 5 speed when reinstalling? im having a very difficult time and im exhausted from pushing on the beast! flywheel, clutch , pressure plate, bellhousing , and throwout are all installed on back of the engine. im only working with the trans itself on a tranny jack. input shaft is making it into the throwout bearing and thats it! ive tried repeatedly at every angle and i cannot get it to start into the clutch splines.eveything seems to be still lined up in the bellhousing still. im losing my mind and im not sure what to do now. ive even had studs in place in the holes that mount the trans to the bellhousing to make sure of the angle (and ive tried without them for more free movement). any help will be greatly appreciated!!

 

Did you replace the clutch disk? If you did are you sure it's the correct disk?

I haven't wrestled with a truck tranny but my old 3 speed in my 55 chevy was a bear once and I had to re-align the clutch disk with an old itranny input shaft. Did you take the shift stub off the top of the tranny. That could be keeping you from aligning the tranny properly.

Edwin

 

I have an idea, if you have the bellhousing installed then the clutch can be actuated right? If so, have somebody actuate the clutch, this will release the disk and allow it to move while you are getting the tranny aligned. Make sure you have a little grease on the input shaft and the splines.

Don't attempt to actuate the clutch without the tranny in the bellhousing though. The throwout bearing has to slide on the tranny input shaft housing.

I have not pulled a manual tranny on one of these trucks so someone please confirm that this process might work.

 

Lets do this the ezy way....take your clutch back off and make sure it slides and fits like it should over the input shaft...ya know by itself on the floor there nothing else attached.
once that is confirmed....use the plastic dummy shaft to line things up puuurfectly, taking you time to evenly tighten dwn the P.plate....when your done the dummy shaft should slide in and out with no jamming allowed.
Further somtimes I will use extra extra long bolts or all thread to connect the trnny to the bell or the bell to the eng.....(less strain)

 

got the right pilot bearing? if you check every thng again like was said above (it takes no time at all really, then its just getting the purfect alignment. ive never done one with out the bellhousing attached to the tranny, maybe you should loosen the belhousing bolts a little in case its off a hair. tilting the front up or down while moving the whole thing up and down helps to (just rambling, you probably know that already) good luck

 

And are your shuffle pins still there???? the round things that line the bell perfectly to the block?? short hollow things one on ea side....belive they are counter sunk a little in 2 diff bolt holes.....if these are gone/ left out therewill be issues

 

I've installed a lot of transmissions and converters on all types of machinery and offer this advice. First make sure that you have the correct friction disc and pilot bearing. Fit these pieces first by hand to the transmission input shaft. If the splines match up ok, and the pilot bearing fits the shaft ok, you now know this is not a problem. Use a alignment tool to insure that the clutch disc is aligned to the center of the flywheel. Use the correct diameter bushing on the tool to fit the flywheel pilot bearing. Place the transmission in gear so that you can turn the splined input shaft with the output shaft. When the transmission stabs in initally try to use some bolts to help line up the trans, don't try to use the bolts to force pull the trans together. You will risk damaging the housing or the pilot bearing. If everything seems like it's lined up ok try to turn the output shaft a little to help the splines on the disc and input shaft align. Spline type couplings are usually a close tolerance fit and have to be right on the money to slip together. Slightly wiggle the trans to help. Don't force it together, when it is lined up it'll slip on in. Try to work comfortably, that is don't place yourself in a bind where you are off balance or straining yourself. Let the tools do the work, sometimes taking a little break helps when things aren't going smooth. Good Luck.

 

Done a few myself, B Proctor is giving you very good advice, as he said, don't force anything, if everything is right it will go in place .......

 

I agree with B Proctor. Put the trans in gear, then turn the output shaft while applying forward pressure to the transmission. Do make sure first that the clutch disc is correct, and will fit over the input shaft.
Good luck, I think it will go easier now.

 

Getting lined up is very difficult. It has to be lined up and the shaft rotated to exactly slip in all at the same time. As was said, DO NOT FORCE IT. IF you force it the last half inch you will probably push the pilot bearing cage through the flywheel. You won't know a difference except that you will see vibrations and the clutch will go bad much faster also loosening the trans bearings. Cummins did this to mine when it was new and had the 53 block replaced.

 

thanks for all of the quick replies!! well, im guilty. i didnt test fit the new disk to the new input shaft that i put into the tranny. other than that, the locating dowels are still in place and the bellhousing seems correctly installed. when i put on the new clutch and pressure plate, i did use the dummy tool and followed to torque procedures given to me and it all seemed ok and i was able to insert and remove the tool once torqued. after i became frustrated, i did slip the old clutch onto the new input and it fit proerly and i slid the dummy tool into the old clutch and it fit properly. im not at risk as of yet to damage the pilot because i cannot even engage into the clutch. ive been using all thread as guide studs and ive tried without to let me wiggle a little more. i must have the clutch misaligned at this point because when i try to slip the old input shaft in by hand (shaft only ), it makes it into the clutch but isnt making it into the pilot and im not about to force it in. i guess ill be removing the bellhousing, pressure plate and clutch and starting from scratch. making sure that my input will make it into the pilot , and clutch splines. i never figured id be battling with this for so long! thanks again and ill keep ya'll posted once i can get a chance to do all of this.

 

Don't feel bad, stuff happens, I have spent hours on a few of them over the years. When it is right, it will just slip in. You can visually line up the clutch disk to make sure it will clear.

 

ok ! the beast went together today finally. i took off the bellhousing and pressure plate and clutch. my suspisions were correct - there was misalignment. but it wasnt from me trying to align the tranny- it was from the poor quality alignment tool. i was retorqing the pressure plate on reassembly with the alignment tool in place. then , i removed it and tried to insert my loose input shaft into it - it wouldnt go!! so, what i ended up doing was torqueing it down using the input shaft as my alignment tool. worked beautifully! so , when i went to reattempt installing the trans, it popped right in. hooray ! hooray! i thought that i was gonna be in another jam with that crossmember. i cussed at it a couple of times . then, i realized there was a "sweet spot" in the upper rear area on the frame where the x member mounts. i was able to pop it mostly right into place by hand with a very few light taps with my b.f.h. thanks for all of the help!!