thook

Hello all,

I've been searching for a good write-up with the complete procedure on removal and installation for a clutch on 1st gen 4rnr's. Mine is an '86. I've not been able to find something satisfactory with my searches and the online FSM doesn't start from the beginning...it's kinda broken up into sections and still doesn't cover some details I'm sure I'll need to know. Does anyone know of a good "personal experience" write-up that goes step-by step with tools they've used, handy tips, short cuts, etc.?

Thank you!

amgraham

It's not too complicated. I would suggest is get a long extension and a swivel for the top 2 bolts. I did mine on the ground and when putting it back in I separated the t-case from the trans and it made it much easier to heft back into place and have a friend put a couple bolts in. Watch any plugs and make sure they get put back into place. Oh, and try to get your flywheel resurfaced, it probably needs it and it will help ensure the clutch breaks in right.

If you just take your time and pay attention you should be fine.

Intrepid

Get a Haynes or Chiltons manual, the first time I did mine I had never done a clutch before, I just followed the directions and although it took me a while, I got it done. One big peice of advice, rent a tranny jack, it will be well worth it.

amgraham

Also, if you can get your hands on another manual that will help. If I remember right both the Hayne's and Bentley manuals had good write ups (you should have those 2 with any of these trucks IMO).

highway

As others have said 1st get a get a Haynes or Chiltons manual

I marked the driveline/ujoints position with a paint pen to ensure getting it bolted back to the original position so there wouldn't be any vibration.

Have a friend help with lowering the tranny, also a transmission jack works wonders here. we left the transfer case hooked up and left the crossmember bolted to the tranny and lowered everything in 1 piece.

Besure and double check that all the wiring is disconnected before dripping the transmission, that includes the speedo cable.

We dropped the rear of the tranny a bit and went through the shifter holes in the floorboard to get to the top 2 bellhousing bolts, i thought that was the easiest way. If your shifter feels sloppy then now is the time to replace that shifter bushing before re-installing the shifters.

the pressure plate is heavy so get a grip on it before removing that last bolt, would hate to see ya drop it on your head or something. also loosen each pressure plate bolt a little at a time to reduce any warpage of parts. (reinstall bolts in the proper sequence)

Remove the flywheel and inspect the rear main engine seal for leakage, mine was leaking slightly so i replaced it, also that would be the time to have the flywheel re-surfaced and I used blue loc-tight when reinstalling the flywheel bolts and use a good click style torque wrench.

Highway

Bill

On a W56 there are only 3 connections:
1) 4x4 light: located passenger side rear by the t-case.
2) Speedo cable: located on the t-case, quite close the the drive shaft. You just screw off the "mount" and tug the cable out.
3) Reverse switch: located on the driver side, only a few inches back from the rear of the bell housing.

You'll also need to unbolt the slave cylinder: passenger side of the bell housing.

If it wasn't obvious, drain the tranny first, it just makes it that much lighter to work with.

You'll NEED to drop the tranny down a bit to get the two top bolts. When you do this make sure to support the engine itself.

Once you get it unbolted, have your buddy man the jack. He'll probably need to raise it a bit, so you can wiggle it a bit to push it back, so to disengage the input shaft.

Changing the actual clutch is easy, just kinda heavy. It's only 6 bolts holding the preasure plate on. Undo those, and wiggle and everything falls out(literally). But x2 on it being heavy, so watch out.

thook

Crap...I thought I hit the suscribe button!

Thanks a bunch! you all. I do have a Haynes manual, but I've heard and experienced mixed opinions on using one for different jobs. So, I was not going to go by it. But, if you all say so, then I will. And thank you very, very much on the tips. It's unlikely I'll be able to get anyone helping me with this job, so I suppose I'll have to get creative on a few steps. I do have a small tranny jack and a few bottle jack, too. Looks like tonight's the night for a tear down. Yeehaw! Thanks!

thook

Seriously! Thank you all very much!

Bill

If you can borrow someone for even 15min it will make your life a whole lot easier.

Getting the tranny out is possible by yourself, but it will be tough, and will require you laying right under the tranny, and being able to press about 100lbs.

Getting it back in by yourself I garuntee will be damn near impossible. Ask a neighbor to help for 15-20 min at each point, its worth the beer it might cost you.



As for the Haynes manual, I swear by mine. Its a serious life saver

thook

I live in the woods, Bill...not many neighbors handy..lol!

But, I do have a friend I may be able to persuade...he lives an hour away. Thanks for the advice!

amgraham

That's why I said it may be a good idea to pull the t-case off the tranny. It about halves the weight you have to bench

Good luck man and be careful! Make sure you have a phone within reach as it's kinda dangerous to do a clutch swap out in the woods by yourself.

AxleIke

Ive done 4 clutch replacements. After the first which was done by hand, i vowed never to do it again.

Not sure about the prices where you are, or the closest checker/tool rental around.

What we do, which makes removal and instalation of the tranny and xcase togeter a total piece of cake is the following.

Get everything ready for the swap, ie truck in garage, and blocked and the interior panels removed, as well as the shift knobs and shifters themselved. Be sure to cover the holes with rags and secure with duct tape. remove dshafts, and loosen and remove the transmission bolts from the top, and remove the starter. Loosen, but don't remove about four or so bolts from the bottom. Don't loosen the crossmember bolts. Do this the night before, if possible.

Next, take a second vehicle, (if you dont' have one, arrange for a buddy to help) and go rent a transmission jack. It will save you both in time and energy since you don't have to wrestle with the tranny. I mentioned doing all that stuff before hand, like the night before, becasue for us, it is 19.99 to rent the jack, and its for a full day, so by doing all that, you maximize the time with the jack.

Just a thought, but it is guaranteed to make your life 100 times easier.

thook

Thanks for the caution. My wife will be around with a two-way radio handy!

So, what...pull the transfer case down first, then the tranny?


With the drive into the nearest town it will cost me in gas besides the rental fee. Besides, with the cost of the clutch, shifter seat bushings, and the money I just dumped to a top end rebuild kit on my '92 I'm pretty darn stretched for extra cash. I do have a small floor jack that I'm sure I can get to work. Balanced right, I can lift the whole back end of the truck up. Not only that, I have an idea with some heavy duty cable pulleys and 1200 poly rope that I bet I can get to work for that "extra hand" support. Hell, I'm thinking this idea might even allow me to remove the Tran/TC unit in one piece. I will try it before I bother my friend. He is an option, albeit a remote one with where he lives and the busy life he leads.... a dog kennel. Full time job!!

Well, I can't thank you all enough for the info and support. I will be careful and won't do anything beyond what I think my limits are. But, backcountry ingenuity has gotten me through many spells. If my idea works, I will just have to post it with pics. It's kinda crazy, but it's not dangerous to me or the truck...just probably not heard of.

highway

we didn't rent a tranny jack......but here is what we did my brother-in-law had a steel plate about 12 inches by 8 inches, he had an old socket welded to one side. we then took the round foot off the floor jack and the plate with the socket fit right on the jack. we used a ratchet type tie down and strapped the transmission to the plate/jack and eased the tranny down and used it to install it back. sorta of a shadetree tranny jack

highway

thook

That's a great idea. I'll have to see if I can rig something like that. I don't think the idea I had will work the way I thought it would. The tranny is too far up into the chassis. It's kinda complicated to describe the idea, so I won't even try. But, I'm seriously going to see if I can do something like what you did. Thanks!

So far, I've managed to break all but one bolt in the frame holding the sway bar clips, plus the long bolts with the bushings at either end of the bar. Everything is so completely rusty! Fortunately, when I loosened the two bolts that go into the frame at either end of the crossmember THEY didn't break, but I will need to replace them because the threads did bugger up a bit. So, I'll have to drill out the sway bar bolts and clean the crossmember bolt threads in the frame. What a pain! Oh well, atleast I found out why my 4x4 light never came on. Someone, before I owned it, pulled the connector out of the plastic harness and taped it up leaving the thing disconnected and nonfunctional. That was cool! Pfft! So now I have a 4x4 light, again. Now that's cool!! I always wanted one since I was a wittle kid!

If anyone has a good lead on where to get bushing and bolt kits for the sway bar, I'm searching the market for one.

BTW, does anyone know what the hell is going on with the site? The edit feature is screwed up and I can't use emoticons.

amgraham

You don't need a swaybar I did ditch mine though.. It really didn't make much difference on mine unless I really take some hard turns.. keeps me from speeding too much

I don't know what it is about Toyota bolts breaking.. I have several I need to drill and replace (a couple on the top, front bumper mounts, etc.).

On the links and stuff if you want rubber you should be able to get a sway bar bushing kit from about any parts store. Some carry polyurethane (I know Autozone does). Dunno about online though.

thook

Thanks for the tip on the bushings, amgraham. Auto Zone didn't have a complete kit. I did find an online store with Energy Suspension parts and complete kits...and for a good price.

A friend of mine who had a Jeep/4x4 shop for years said they just used cheap metal on the bolts. ??? Maybe he's right. But, I also think they could have used bigger bolts on the sway bar or just a stronger grade. Stronger grade in a lot of places for that matter.

Well, I followed all the wonderful tips here and I'm proud to say I'm almost done with my clutch. The weather hasn't been real cooperative, but finally ran into a nice warm spell. And I've wound up doing by myself. My only problem now is getting the input shaft to line up with the pilot bearing. I wish the hell you could see in there! I've been trying for over an hour now. Is there any neat little tricks or is it just aim and shoot for the best until you get it in? I've got socket and bar on the crank to play with the spline alignment while tugging on the tranny towards the motor, but I can't even seem to get the shaft to just mate up.

thook

Hey all, I've been doing some searching and haven't found much other than the aim and shoot method. Any input? Pretty please?

I'd get my wife to help, but she's not real strong. And I don't want to take the tranny and TC apart if I don't have to, but it may wind up being the easiest thing. Oh, and I am using a 3 1/2 ton floor jack with a tranny cradle I made. So, essentially...yes, I have a tranny jack.

all_terrain17

Oh man this thread is shades of last week when we did a tranny replacement on an old Ranger. I don't see how it's possible to reinstall a tranny without a helper or at the least a transmission jack, it took Dad and myself at least a half hour to get the transmission lined up with the motor and bolted up.

Some tips I read somewhere that may help:

If you know the input is meshed with the flywheel but are having trouble with the last inch of so, you can reinstall the bellhousing bolts all the way around and tighten little be little to "suck" the transmission to the motor. Talk to kyle_22r bout that tip...

Another tip I've read involves using ratchet straps on the frame rails to support the transmission when you're trying to line it up just right with the motor...Dunno anything bout the method though.

Oh and we were told by the transmission shop to keep the transmission in gear during installation...guess this would allow you to fiddle around with the output splines to help mesh the input?

Take what I wrote with a grain of salt though, just some suggestions we never used...

Good luck!

thook

Thanks all_terrain. I can only get the bellhousing about 2in up to the back of the motor, then no further. I'm guessing the shaft's not going into the pilot bearing because I figure if WERE in the bearing it would also be making contact with the splines in the plate. But, I know that's not happening because I can turn the clutch plate from the crank bolt and the splines are not engaging. If I do happen to get it that far, kyle's bolt trick sounds good. But, I've got the ratchet straps and can try that....with a grain of salt.