Will do!

Edit:

Any thoughts on dropping the "steering rack"? From what I'm reading it makes life a lot easier. I want to take the tcase and trans out for rebuilds. I'd really prefer not taking the chance of messing something up but if it's that much easier I can talk myself into it

 

It tacks on more time but can ultimately save you a considerable amount of frustration and give you the satisfaction of knowing that you did the job properly. Again, not the most common way used by shops as it negates any profit made off the job by racing the clock but it does make life much nicer when the subframe and steering rack come down.

 

Properly? Now I disagree with your wording. You can do everything with the rack still in the car. It makes it easier if you have a lift; but if your doing this on your back then I would advise against it.

If you drop the rack just make sure you install the steering shaft in the same way it came out. If not your steering may never be right.

 

I'm on my back with almost 2 feet of ground clearance... I'll see what I can do without taking it out first. Thanks guys!

 

Whew... I got a lot accomplished tonight! Thanks to everyone for paving the way for us noobs

The axles came out VERY easy. I put the nut on almost all the way on the axle end and a few taps with a 3lb hammer got them loose. A few more taps and they pulled right out by hand

Ended up using a 2.5lb slide hammer and the "shaft" came out very easily. Wasn't much to it at all!

The top tcase bolts were tricky... but with my buddy on the ground with a fairly small 3/8 wrench and a 12" extension... me guiding the thing to the bolt from up top... it broke loose without much fight.

I have another question tho! If I drop the 4 bolts to the first section of the driveshaft... will it drop allowing me to manuvar the tcase out? This is after taking the trans out of course... it looks like it will happen but I want to be sure. If this is possible I'll just have to remember to put the tcase back in before the trans.

 

Yep, you remove those four bolts from the mid section and they will allow the drive shaft to come down and out of the transfer case.

I've done one clutch on my back with a car on jack stands, never again. Did my transfer case a couple of years ago on my back with the car on stands and dropped the subframe down a bit for adequate clearance. While the clearance is nice, it's definitely a little tricky to drop the subframe down when on your back. Good luck and be safe as doing a clutch on the ground isn't anywhere I'd want anyone I care for to be

 

Is there enough room to get the tcase out without pulling the subframe though? If it's possible I'll figure it out It looks like the oil pan may be the only thing in the way right now.

If you were using standard 2-3ton jack stands I feel for you! I bought some 6ton which allows me to get the car a little over 2 feet off the ground... not as bad as it seems but I'm not finished yet.

 

guys, is it easier to do a clutch job with a lift? Or are jack stands sufficent enough? Thanks!

 

You might want to ask some of the other guys who have more experience with short cuts but I found it necessary to bring the subframe down a bit onto a creeper and then back to get the transfer case out.

Awesome on the 6 ton jack stands as they will gain you some killer clearance for sure. I personally just prefer to have the best vantage/leverage point possible while under the car as I'm kind of a little guy and need as much on my side as possible

jkim2001,

I think most anyone would agree that it is preferable to have a lift while doing a clutch job. Everything just seems to make more sense when you have hydraulics on your side

 

Woot! I dropped the trans out today by myself I couldn't get the TOB off so I unbolted the flywheel by turning the crank.

I'm pretty damn proud of myself... with a nice jack underneath it was pretty easy to drop her by myself. Thanks again for all the help!

 

I'm STILL trying to get the damn TOB to let loose I actually started prying on the metal ring around the bearing thinking it might help but I think I made things worse.

I'm using a pretty decent sized screwdriver... Would anyone happen to have a pic of the tool you used to get the TOB off?

I was planning on just leaving the clutch in and letting TRE take it out and rebuild it for me but that's not something they do... so I need it out

 

It might be harder to take the TOB with the tranny angled because of the drop. When I got the TOB loose it was still on all the stock mounts, so that kept it level. I don't know if that would matter, but hope it helps. I also used a pretty big flat screwdriver with the tip being around 1' in. wide.

 

I have it out now so i can hold it in whatever position... I think my problem is too small of a screwdriver.

 

I usually use the flat tip of a medium to large pry bar when they get stubborn. If I can't turn it by hand then I put a big adjustable wrench on the boxed base of the pry bar and use the added leverage to rotate the assembly. As I've said, I'm a little guy and have to use leverage to my full advantage

 

I found the light on how to do it finally! I wasn't putting the screw driver behind the "ring" thing.

I managed to damage a few things that I'm having trouble finding now though