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Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) 5th gear fix

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2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission question about master clylinders

Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Head Work

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My fifth gear nut recently backed off on my 3500 4x4 4dr. conversion dually and I was wondering, when i tear into it will i need to replace the nut with an upgraded one or just a stocker? I am going to tack weld it back on so I didnt know if i would be able to reuse the one thats in there or what? thanks,

Lance
 
Lance,

I'll just "piggyback" on your thread to see what people say. My 5th gear has been out for quite some time(over 500 miles I'm sure). I have purchased the new fully splined mainshaft, new nut, etc, but havent had the time to pull the transmission and do the repair. In leu of pulling the transmission, I think I might just try to spot weld the nut back in place and see how long it lasts, if it goes out quick, then I can pull the transmission and replace the mainshaft at that time. My question is, what do I need to remove to get to where I can "tack" the old nut(or new nut)? Somebody give me a step by step, and my son and I will try it tomorrow afternoon. Good luck with your question, lance,

Jim Oo.
 
Jim,

Not long after I bought my truck i started getting some howling noise out of my trans. so i pulled it and tore into it. I ended up replacing all bearings, input shaft and a couple other gears. I drove the truck probably 6 or 8,000 miles and thats when i lost the fifth gear. Its been a while since i've been under the truck so you'll have to work with me here, but to get to fifth gear nut you have to pull the driveshafts of course, pull the transfer case off, then unbolt the tail shaft housing off the transmission. the actual gear and nut is outside the trans gear case but inside the tailshaft housing, when you pull the housing you should see it immediately. The gear and nut should just be hanging on the mainshaft. I've had the mainshaft and countershaft out of mine to replace everything. Its a pretty big job but not bad if you just take your time and lay everything out in order. From what i understand you can get away with just putting the nut back on and tack welding it back on. I know of a local who has done it and he's not easy on his truck by no means and his has stayed on. Hope this helps you out and didnt confuse you too much.

Lance
 
Jim,

You dont have to drain the transfer case. You may lose just a little bit, but as long as you keep it semi level you will be ok, may check fluid level after you reinstall it but should be fine. Dont know if you've ever pulled a transfer case before but if you get two people on it you can just man handle it off.

The transmission fluid on the other hand i'm not sure about. I probably would drain to be on the safe side. You can always reuse your fluid if its not bad. I would say that there will be fluid in the tail shaft housing because there is gears in there and they have to stay lubricated also. I just thought about the crossmember, cant recall for sure but you may have to hold the trans up with a jack or jack stand because i think the crossmember bolts to the tailshaft housing. I'm sure you'll figure that out when you get under it, but just figured i'd mention it. I think i've covered everything. Good luck, let me know how it goes cause i'll be in the same position at the end of the week.

Lance
 
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I've had mine off 3 times in the last 2 months. I would drain the t'case and the transmission for sure. If you tip the t'case back while you're taking it out, you will have a CSI scene of red all over your driveway (like we did). The transmission has an opening at the back wall at the bottom to allow oil to circulate to the fifth gear assembly which is outside of the box. If you pull off the t'case without draining the transmission, you will have all of the transmission oil on the ground.

I put Redline MT-90 back in the transmission - ATF in the t'case.
 
Pulled the transmission out on Tuesday night, and friend is in the process of replacing the old mainshaft with the new fully splined mainshaft. I had thought about just doing a temp fix, and see how long it would hold by tack welding the nut back in place. But, after getting the crossmember out, plus the transfer case, there was only 4 bolts holding the transmission in place, so we just pulled it on out. After we did that, I wanted to remove the tailhousing and see what the 5th gear nut had done... We had one H*LL of a time getting those little 12pt metric bolts out! found out they had used red loctite on them, had to almost bend my wrenchs beating on them with a hammer to break them lose..... We would NEVER have gotten them broken lose under the truck(if we just wanted to spot weld the nut back in place). . Finally got them out, pulled the housing, and the nut and 5th gear were just sitting on the end of the shaft, hadnt moved much, but enough the gear wasnt going to engage. Threads looked good, gear looked good, and slid right back into place. I was tempted to weld it at that time, but since I had the new main shaft, we decided to pull it apart. I helped(observed may be a better word) my friend take the gears off last night, had one heck of a time with one snap ring towards the end, but finally had everything disassymbled, and he was sliding the last gear on when I left last night. I didnt buy any sychronizers, but he looked them over and said they were not worn much at all. Tomorrow evening he will press out a couple of bearings and replace some bearings and seals, then Friday evening we will put it back together in the truck.

coadman
 
Sounds like you're doing OK. I heated the bolt heads with a small torch until they were hot. That helped soften the Loctite. I still replaced the 12 point bolts with new cap bolts. I didn't have any trouble fitting them in. Take extra care to make a nice seal between the t'case and the transmission otherwise, the leaks will drive you mad!

Good luck!
 
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