transmission question
 

im taking out my transmission to do a rear main seal and clutch. for some reason the clutch housing is hitting the floor of my cab before the output shaft has cleared the transmission. is there any trick to getting it out. ive tried jacking the tranny up. ive tried lowering it. i just cant seam to get it out. any ideas will help. thanks in advance.

Ok; What year, engine, make & model.

Sometimes there is a spot weld flange the just catches the top; use a a big hammer and long stick. Pull the shifter out, 6 bolts or turn the metal ring counter clockwise and free the handle.

You lower the tail of the trans, the back of the engine hits the firewall & holds it. twist & pull until it lands on your chest. it will hurt, use a towel so you are not covered from head to toe in oil. the input shaft maybe stuck in the disk requiring extra effort. worst case, unbolt engine mounts and slide engine forwards a couple of inches.

It's a 91 pickup 22re with a w56 trans. The trans is on a jack. Ive been hesitant to lower it all the way down but if the motor will rest on the firewall I'll try that tomorrow and if not I'll just unbolt the motor and see If I can get any play out of that. Shifter and 4x4 shifter are both out. Thanks

Here's how I do it. Split the xfer case off the trans; about 8 14mm bolts. Drain the oil from both cases first so you do not make such a big mess. When it splits you are going to wear gear oil, so do not panic and drop the case. this also makes it less stressfull to bench out of the truck. it also makes putting them back in easier.

Change the rear seal & gasket in the back of the w56 while you are in there. See marlincrawler.com or NAPA dealer. NAPA sells a cheap Chinese made clutch kit... do not buy it, you will have trouble. get the Marlincrawler kit, it costs more but it works better. or just get an Asisn disk from the dealer and reuse the pressure plate. I have done this for 300k miles and it still holds for me YMMV. Also change the pilot bearing, they do not last forever and do tend to tear up your input shaft.

Get some 60 grit emery paper & a flat metal plate or something and polish the flywheel while its out.