Clutch is out. I have never replaced one before and dont even quite understand how they work!? I have replaced three head gaskets (on three seperate 4runners) and am handy but the thought of a clutch replacement scares me. Is it that difficult? Do I need to look out for headache potential bolts etc. Need any special tools, besides a tranny jack? Should I just pay to have it done? Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

 

If you can do a HG, you can do a clutch.

Its all just nuts and bolts. No special tools besides the clutch alignment dowl that comes in the clutch kit.

 

^^^ Like deathcougear said I personally would take your flywheel to a machine shop to have it resurfaced to have a good clean start for the new clutch. Should not cost more than $40 to have a good shop do it. Good luck

 

ditto on doing it yourself. Just take your time and make sure you remember to pack your throw-out bearing. Guess why I'm telling you that?

 

The clutch is very simple to replace. The clutch kit usually comes with a pilot bearing which can be tough to get out. Other than that its a direct swap of parts, then bleeding the clutch.

 

Easy job, you can do it in an afternoon

Ditto on flywheel resurfacing

 

You are on your back to get the tranny out. It isn't a great time. But I'd totally do it to save $.

 

This is not something you want to do alone if you have never done it before even if you have it goes much better with 2 people.

While it is pretty straight forward there are things you need to have if not a tranny jack although most really don`t work well with a transfercase transmission combo. Two floor jacks one for the engine and one for the transmission

Good tall jackstands to get the vehicle high enough to get the trans /case out from under the truck.

long 1/2'' extensions to remove the bell housing bolts.

The question of do I remove the front sway bar I find it much easier.At this time if you have not done so a good time to put new bushings on that

If you are in the saltbelt most bolts will fight you to remove them .

Sometimes one is forced to do things for budget reasons I am sure we have all been there

 

Thanks all. So I would leave on the transfer case? The FSM mentions removing it...Also, will I have to loosen motor mounts to get clearance???

 

Not sure on your truck, but I definitely have never needed to touch motor mounts. There's plenty of room under a 4wd truck to not have to lift anything. It's in theory a simple job. As mentioned, just nuts & bolts. But if you've never done it, trust me, it'll be a serious pain. But you should definitely do it. It's just big & heavy. If you can do a head gasket, this is technically easy, it's just a pain. I mean it's huge and heavy.

If you know someone who's done it before it's going to make things a million times easier. Especially since you're in Missouri, I'd start spraying something like PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench on all bolts NOW. Days before you start the job.

Removing the t-case sure makes the tranny a lot lighter. Not everyone does it. I do. Just remember that once the t-case is off (if you take it off), the only thing holding the tranny is is the bellhousing bolts. Of course even with those out likely there's going to be a seal you need to break, so the things not going anywhere without some serious rocking back & forth, but still...you don't want that thing falling on you or the ground. So either have someone or something supporting it.

Getting it back in is also much harder with the t-case attached, just because of weight (with really uneven weight distribution) and bulk.

The last time I took my tranny out and back in, each took about 3 hours, and we weren't moving fast. But my first time ever doing it...I was under my truck for 8 hours, then had people help when it was time to actually pull it. That was on my 86 and I definitely didn't touch anything but the tranny (no motor mounts or sway bar and no jacking the truck up). But at that point I had done nothing but oil changes.

Anyway, it's kind of a crappy job until you've done it a few times, but I say definitely do it. Rent a pilot bearing puller, or try to the grease-packing method.

 

I agree, pb blaster eveything for a few day,if possible GET OR RENT A TRANNY JACK,it will make things much easier if your doing it alone,also it will make lining things up a ton easier when putting it back in. also,youll probably have to drop off your flywheel for re-surfaceing overnight as i have never had one done in a couple hours.there is a cool trick in the tech section i think for removing the pilot bearing with wet paper and a socket...it really works slick!!i would also change the rear seal while your at it...easy,cheap insurance!!!take a deep breath and jump in,its not that bad.

 

Get a friend to help and you should be good. A clutch is waaay less complicated then a HG, just a little more Work involved.

Set aside a whole day so you don't have to rush thru anything.

Good Luck!

 

You think that is heavy, try doing a clutch on a big rig, the clutch assembly alone weighs about as much as our transmissions do.
I would also suggest removing the transfer case, it will take an extra 5 minutes and make things easier, you will do fine its easy.

 

I have no experience with this...but somewhere on the Marlin Crawler site I read that they actually don't recommend replacing the rear main seal, unless you really know what you're doing. For some reason people do them wrong quite a bit. They'll practically never leak if left alone, even after hundreds of thousands of miles, but apparently they've seen quite a few leak after a home mechanic replaced them. Just something to think about...but like I said, I have no personal experience with it.

 

Thanks again everyone. I guess I'll give it a go. May be back with questions....

 

It's possible to do it yourself, but I wouldn't recommend it. I did it twice and it can be frustrating to line up. If you have access to an engine hoist it would make it pretty simple. Wrap a chain around the tranny from the top and extra support from a jack on the bottom.

Everything else is pretty simple..make sure the clutch is facing the right direction. Torque everything to spec. Replace the pilot and throw out bearing while your in there. Grease up the input shaft just enough so nothing will bind up, but not so much that it slings everywhere.

Pic just for fun

 

man your crazy you dont even need a floor jack... i replaced mine with a rachet strap just run a board through the windows and run it through the floor its alot simplier plus that way you can always just scoot it back the only thing u gotta really remember is to put the pressure plate in first and put it up in the tranny then put the clutch in personally i didnt even worry about the throwout bearing or anything of tht nature bc my clutch went out when my buddy doing 50 slammed it into 1st and it shattered but thts just a choice