Man i have done quite a few clutches on quite a few different cars and trucks, but the change on my 4Runner is by far the worst i have ever seen...

I did the Clutch on my Taco about 3 years ago, but it had a 2 inch BL and was SAS'd, I had a hell of a time getting some of those bolts out. Especially the 4 bolts that hold the inspection cover onto the bell housing. I spent almost 4 hours trying to get that damn tranny out, and by the time i did, the machine shop had already closed for the day, so i won't be able to get it back on the road for another week. (I work Wednesday-Sunday Swings and take care of a 8 month old durring the day)... I also broke one of the exhaust studs, so i'll need to replace that.

Any Tips from you guys on getting this thing back together? I'm sure i can do it. But any tips would be helpful...

 

I have pics from my 1st gen clutch work here somewhere.
Probably not highly suggested but we ended up using ratchet straps through the body and anchored to the roll cage

More people with big muscles is what I needed

Oh yeah, we also ended up using a small bottle jack and a 2 1/2 ton hydraulic jack to try to stab the tranny straight in. I don't think it took us that many tries but I do remember it feeling like nothing was going right.

BruceTS mentioned to me that he has a different approach that takes up minimal amount of time. Maybe you can PM him for more details? Something about removing the transfer case so that you're not lugging the entire thing? I vaguely remember some kind of restriction though...

Sorry I don't have any details!

 

Sorry, I can't offer any tips, but I can offer moral support! Replacing a clutch is something I've never done on any vehicle. When the time comes to replace Sherpa's I am going to have to fork over the dough and have a professional do it. Hats off to you for doing it yourself! Hang in there!

 

I thought putting the sucker back in was 10x eaiser that getting it out.

If you have a floor jack try finding the trany's center of gravity and wheel the jack under and jack it up.

then again I am a pretty big guy and throwing a transmission around is not too hard.

 

Hvaing a clutch done at a Toyota dealership is no joke when it comes to $$$, granted I had to have a few bushings and springs replaced in the pedal assembly, and a new clutch mater cylinder, that only accounted for about $600 including labor. The whole job ended up being $2100, , but it never drove better than the day I picked it up. So you might want to start saving now if you see a clutch job coming up soon. If your lucky you might get away with only having it turned and not replaced. I'm almost glad to have my auto back for that simple fact alone.

Good luck with your clutch replacement, it sucks having your truck down for that long, wish I had known someone like you who knew enough around when I had mine done, might have saved some major $$$.

 

I also found putting it back was much easier than removing it, just make sure you use an alignment tool and get the clutch disc centred correctly.

 

yeah most clutch kits should include one... at least the clutches I have done have.

 

I think my '95 cost me $1100 at the dealer several years ago and that included the TRD HD Clutch kit with the heavy flywheel. My wife hated the new clutch when I got it changed. Now she loves it and criticizes the '99 clutch. I might consider doing the clutch myself, but never during the school year. If it had to be replaced during the year I'd just take it to Las Cruces Toyota again. Good dealer.

 

Wish me luck. I'm putting in a long overdue clutch this weekend.

 

We worked on my clutch on a driveway with a slight incline. This may be why the clutch came out so easily (after painful unbolting) and went in so difficulty.
Sorry, something I forgot to factor in

 

I just replaced my clutch by myself with a floor jack so it's pretty fresh in my mind, here's what I did;
Remove the shifters, jack the 4Runner as far up as possible and support it with some 6 ton jack stands. Disconnect the front and rear drive shafts. Disconnect as much of the wiring harness from the transmission as you can, wait on the hard to reach areas on top of the transmission. Unbolted the clutch line and slave cylinder from the transmission. A Craftsman ratcheting wrench works nice to take off the four bolts on the dust cover. Next I used my nukes to disconnect the swaybar to help with removal. I put the floor jack directly on the transmission cross member because that is the balance point however I have an MC09 so the balance point for a regular transmission is just ahead of the crossmember. Remove the Transmission Cross member and lower the floor jack, when lowering disconnect any parts of the wiring harness that were too difficult to access before. (I left the crossmember attached to the tranmission because with the MC09 that cavity is filled with gear oil and would leak if the bolts were removed.) With the transmission lowered it makes it MUCH easier to remove the top bolts on the bellhousing, the starter is also easy to remove on the 3.4L, just two bolts and it's out. Once all the bolts are removed and I verified that wiring harness is disconnected I raised the floor jack slowly until the neutral point is reached and the transmission slides right out. Note how the angle and height of the transmission becasue you will need to find that neutral point again to slide the transmission back in. Another tip when installing the transmission is to observe the gap between the bellhousing and the engine, the gap needs to be the same all around or else it will never slide in. And finally having a 1/2" impact gun and various length extentions and u-joints make all the difference in the world. I think I set a new solo record of 2 hours to remove and repace my tranny, it was on Christmas eve and I needed to get to my parents home for Christmas.

 

Here's a write-up I did a few years ago, don't know if it'll help or not.
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/4Runne...enance/clutch/

 

oof im glad i didn't put my clutch in myself. Accualy, i have no tools to do this with so it wasnt goign to happen with me doing it. Anyways, Sent it out yesterday and the brand new Toyota OEM clutch with all the other nonsense is in. Going to pick it up tommorow and hopefully it will be less unpredictible of where its gonna catch andthat it wont lug it anymore....my old clutch was so long overdue it would catch close and slip everywhere..it was almost undriveable. Hah....had some intersting launches from hills on the way to the tranny shop..lmao i made some people angry...

I was on a hill and i do my usual hill launch and im sitting there and the clutch wasnt catching and i was just sitting there with the engine screaming at 3k (high for my runner) and i wasnt moving..(yes i know how to drive a stick) eventauly it caught and i made it the next few blocks into the shop

 

I'll be ordering my parts tomorrow. I guess I'll do it over the long easter weekend. just hope I can find a shop that will resurface the flywheel for me. I want to go ahead and do that for good measure. I'm slipping when I go to pull out in front of traffic so I'm through playing games. it's drivable but it's annoying when I go to stand on the gas to speed up quickly and it slips instead of gits up and goes. I was in just 4th but now it's in 2nd, 3rd and 4th and occasionally in first if I pound the pedal from a full stop. Thanks for the good write up Bill, hopefully after I get this done we can make another Barnwell run and give our ARB'd 4.88's a workout.

 

my mechanic is normally a really really precise guy and does great work, but on my clutch replacement, he screwed up and i got the pickup home and it leaked half the oil out all over the garage. so i limped back to him and he redid it all. guess a gasket failed somewhere. pays to check yer work.

 

Rear main seal... lots of times replaced while the clutch is out since it's such a pain to get to.