Got a couple of questions for yall. One, to R&R the rear main seal do you have to drop the pan and drain the oil or what? Numero dos, what do you do with the hydraulic line going into the bell housing? And C, do you need to spread the frame to get the tranny crossmember out? Thanks for the help yall.

 

Well the 2000 factory service manual says to drop the tranny and the t case, remove the flex plate or flywheel, and then drill holes in the seal 180 deg apart. Install #10 sheet metal screws and remove seal with a slide hammer. Of course you don't want to drill into the crank or anything else for that matter. You don't have to drop the pan at all. The hydraulic line is for a slave cylinder I am guessing. According to the manual you loosen the nuts until the piston rod clears the release lever and then you are go to lower the tranny away from the clutch housing. You don't need to spread the frame to remove the crossmember.

 

When you remove the slave cylinder make sure the resivor is full as the piston will move out and suck air in to the master mine did this and it is not a good time bleeding the air out.

 

Well, we got the crossmember out without spreading the frame but it was a SOB. 3 people beat the tar out of it with a mallet until it finally sucumbed. Manuvering the tranny with the t-case on it was another major PIA. We are unbolting it tomorrow to put it back on. That flywheel is a heavy sucker. The flywheel and clutch were actually in very good condition considering how much he slipped it. The flywheel had a couple of burn spots but nothing real bad. Yall got any suggestions on helping guide this sucker back into place? I think we might try the long bolt suggestion. How important is it to mark the driveshafts when you remove them? I've been told it is and it isn't. Thanks for the help yall. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I can report back on how the new found power feels. Should we go ahead and tap the wire and run it on 5x5 or just leave the comp turned off? Thanks for the help yall.

 

Turn the comp off until the clutch gets broke in.

A couple of studs or cut-off bolts is the best way to hang the flywheel.

The real important thing it that if there's a slip yoke you took apart, you need to put it back together the same way out the u-joints will be out of phase.

 

The only slip yoke I know of is the one that slides into the tail shaft of the transmission. Is it bad if the u-joints are out of phase?

 

You'll be fine then. If the u-joints are out of phase (the crosses aren't lined up) you get nasty vibration from the shaft speed jumping up and down. With a 1 piece driveshaft this can't happen.

 

He has a 2 piece.

 

If that 6speed crossmember goes back in as hard as mine....you're in for about a half hour of fun when you start putting stuff back together!!

Did you get new flywheel bolts???? I wouldn't reuse the old ones, ever!!!

Chris

 

Please tell me your joking about the flywheel bolts. We spent 8 hours on it today and the last 3 were spent hammering out the rear u-joint. We ended up having to grind the old one out and we got the new one in with one clip but we're lacking 1/8" on the other side to get the other clip in. We don't have a press or a vice to do it with. Luckily, we were able to borrow a 10 ton puller and stretched the frame out for the crossmember. Had that sucker in in 15 minutes. This clutch had better be worth it. This is an absolute nightmare. The only thing we're lacking is the dang rear u-joint. So hopefully tomorrow we'll have this thing done. Thanks for all the help yall.

 

As long as you torqued the flywheel bolts reel good then you shouldn't have a problem. Did it 4 times in my old 98.5 used the same bolts each time, it had 270k on it when i traded it in and the flywheel never fell off

 

Oops forgot to tell you i replaced the tranny 4 times and i got so good at it that i could do it in a day by myself. if you do have some vibration in the drive shaft take it out and have it balanced that will stop the problem. wouldnt hurt to check the carrier bearing also.

 

I generally reuse the flywheel bolts, but I use Loc Tite on the threads. Whenever I put a U-Joint together and miss getting the clip in by 1/8th inch, it usually means that a roller dropped out and is laying on the back side holding it out. Generally my luck is that the roller breaks and have to replace the joint. I have a real nice Hein Warner tranny jack with all the attachments and it can handle the trans and T-case together. Worth it's weight in gold. When you put the u-joint together, use a vise to press it together. Put a socket on the cup to press it that last bit to get the clip on.

 

Mr. Blue, the trick is keeping the bolts well greased in the first place. Just take them all out and grease them every 6 months or so. It works so well on my truck that I can take out the transfercase in about 35 minutes now and the trans+tcase takes about 95 minutes. Feel free to email or PM if y'all get stuck again. I'm happy to help!

brandon.

 

Well we got everything back in and the truck is running great. The clutch is really smooth. No more loping from the injectors when backing up. No more clutch chatter when taking off. It's great. We're having some issues putting the truck in 2nd or reverse from neutral. It feels like your going to break the stick off. The rest of the gears go in real nice and smooth. Yall got any ideas? I really appreciate all the help.