newbie93pickup

Ive been around vehicles long enough to know that my clutch is bad. slips alot when power is applied in 4th and 5th gear some in 3rd. ive got a new clutch already. my question is how hard is it to drop the tranny and replace the clutch? can i do it by myself in an evening afterwork? i would like to save myself the 400 to have the job done for me and i plan on getting real intimate with this truck so i guess this is a good place to start. any special tools i will need?

oh yeah and Hello. im new hear. i live in vermont currently but will be moving to Washington state real soon.

lotalucas

It's not a really hard job but if it's the first time doing a clutch give yourself a little extra time to do it. Rushing a project never helps. You'll want a tranny jack. You can do it with a floor jack and rope but it's not a great idea unless you want to break a finger. Your clutch should come with an allignment tool. if not you'll need one of those. their cheap and worth it. Don't forget to get your flywheel ground. I don't know the shops in Vermont but napa usually can do it for you. The top to bolts are the only real hard part. You'll need a 17 mm wrench with something to add some torque to the wrench their hard and there's no room for any other tools. It's not to bad and it can be done pretty quickly if you don't rush it.

lotalucas

oh and getting a book for your truck would be a good investment. and the throwout bearing should be checked and replaced if needed. I'd replace it even if it doensn't need it cuz you've got the tranny off and might as well while your at it.

coryc85

It's pretty doubtful you'd be able to do it in a single evening after work, not doubting your skill, it's just a long job. The tranny and t-case together weigh a lot, so a tranny jack is extremely helpful. I did one last year with some juggling of two floor jacks and hated myself for it. I now have the little harborfreight scissor type tranny jack and it does the job just fine. As lotalucas mentioned, the top 2 tranny bolts take a lot of extensions to get to them. Should definitely either have your flywheel resurfaced or get a new one from the parts store. This is the perfect time to put a new rear main seal in and sleeve it if it's leaking. Some people have also mentioned putting a new input gasket on the tranny while it's out, so that's worth looking at. Good luck! I love the feel of a new clutch.

newbie93pickup

awesome thanks for the imput. i am going to do alot to the front end too while im at it. one lower control arm is shot so im going ot replace all for control arms and ball joints while im at it.

zlathim

Here is what I used to get those upper bell housing bolts out and back in:



The long one is 24" and the short ones are a 12" and 3" wobbly type extensions. The drive end is undercut to allow the socket to wobble:

newbie93pickup

well i went and got some swivel sockets and a 24 inch extension. took me 11 hours to do it on my own with no lift or tranny jack. but i got it done.

note to self: sweep rust flakes off the area your laying on..... leaves your back in real nice shape after 10 hours of grinding rust into your skin.

91Toyota

Your not resting your foot on the clutch when your hammering the throttle are you? I did that in my ranger (thought the clutch was bad) but I just pushed the clutch cuz I thought I was going so fast flooring it...haha. Just make sure

newbie93pickup

no it was known to be bad when i got the truck. my dad used to bitch my mom out for that all the time lol and i think about that when ever i do it myself. keeps me from getting into that habit.

plus im 6feet tall. not a comfortable possition to rest my foot on there while riding around.

trbizwiz

it also helps to remove all the bolts in the cross member and everywhere else before the top 2 bolts. now lower the tranny a little this allows you to actually see the top two bolts. The drivers side top bolt is the hardest. It's helps a little to use a flashlight, or open the hood if you have bright shop lights.
I just started mine this past weekend. I have all the bolts out. i had to pick up a come along so I cna slide the tranny back to remove it. Sunday i went to the Chiefs game (CHOKE), so I'll have to finish the clutch this week. I am worried that getting the tranny back in will be a chore considering how hard it is to get out.
Good luck on yours. I'll chime in if I learn anything new in the process. Oh I am putting in the Marlin Crawler heavy duty 1200 lb clutch. Funny though, the box didnt weigh near that much. i guess it gets heavier after you installit. LOL. Just kidding.

toyminator2000

get a flywheel from a junkyard and have t turned ready to go. That way you'll be able to get it done all on one evening.

A neat trick I learned is to use a ratchet strap and wrap it around the tranny, up through the hole in the floor and attached the ends to both of your oh Sh$t handles on both sides. This sometimes makes it easier to raise and lower when you by yourself., especially if you have duals.

newbie93pickup

i dropped the crossmember and left it attatched to the tranny. but i did that last after i took all the bolts out of the bell housing. something to note. i pulled the tranny out with my hands its slid out pretty easy. if your having trouble getting it off try lifting on the oilpan a little bit and keep shaking the tranny back and forth with rearward pressure. if there is too much angle on the shaft it will pinch and you will never move it. its a matter of balance to get it out smoothly.
and if yours goes anything like mine it will go back in about 10 times easier than it came out. i almost couldnt believe how much easier it was to get it back mounted to the engine. it took me 7 hours to get it off and change the parts and 3 to put it all back together and running.

trbizwiz

After you got it all back together how did it work out? Was the clutch improvement good? Did you remember to phase your U joint's. When I replaced my third I forgot to do that and they were out of sync. The thing vibrated like crazy. I am planning on re phasing both front and rear upon reassembly. I did not mark mine, because they were already wrong.

newbie93pickup

it feels great. there was so much difference it took some getting used to while driving it. i marked my drive shafts when i dropped them so i knew where to put them back no extra vibration that i notice. if anything the truck isnt working as hard now so it seems smoother and quieter.

Blacksmith04

I would start friday night and you might be done on Sunday. BTW bring a friend to share in the fun.

zlathim

He's been done with it for a week.