chad , i did it , do you have access to a lift ? that and a tall trans jack ?, and a helper and you're good to go , did it in 5. 5 hrs . bill was impressed with that time . the fellow member that i helped do my swap had many dodge trans removals under his belt , mostly 5 speeds ,and that had alot to do with the quickness of the job , if i did it myself , with an inexperienced helper , it probably would have taken me 10 hrs .
THIS PERTAINS TO 2000 MODELS AND NEWER , MAY ALSO PERTAIN TO 1999 ...
special tools required are a porta power with long extensions , or small bottle jack with a length of steel bar , or 2 pieces of 1 inch black steel pipe , a piece of threaded rod that fits inside the pipe and 2 nuts and washers , you need to spread the frame to get the crossmember in and out , you can force the crossmember out , but you will NEVER get it back in !! trust me on this
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you just need to open it a bit , when it gets to the correct point the crossmember will almost fall out . also you need the barring tool , get it from snap on (expensive) or miller tools , and a soldering iron and a heat gun for the resistor you need to add in the harness inside the trans .
READ THE SUPPLIED DIRECTIONS A COUPLE TIMES BEFORE STARTING ... IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SHOP MANUAL ... GET ONE !!!
you may want to disconnect the batteries , can't remember if we did or not , its up to you .
first thing to do is to remove the TC bolts . drain the fluid from the pan , the transfer case and the TC while unbolting everything , it will be messy , you can drain the TC by disconnecting the front line on the trans , disconnect the other end from the heat exchanger and place off to the side ... be careful removing the plastic clips that hold the cooler lines together , now would be a good time to replace the line you just removed with part number CH05011244AA , trans cooler line with temp port and CH00118752 adaptor without check ball to replace the fitting with the check ball on the cooler , the new line has a check ball built in and it would be another restriction to have 2 check balls in series , call Blair at Parker motors , he was giving special deal to TDR members for this line 1-877-511-5599 it was about $89 US including shipping ... .
next disconnect all wiring and linkages and the red/black vacuum hose from the transmission, i pulled this line completely off the truck so as not to damage it as it runs across the crossmember .
punch mark the driveshaft(s) yokes for proper phasing when reassembling and remove driveshaft(s) .
you can either do the VB swap NOW ... Bill K. recommends doing it first ... or wait and do it with the trans on the bench upside down , i did it with the trans out , the hardest part was getting the park rod back in the VB , doing it with the trans in the vehicle with the tools Bill supplies is easier i think , you have gravity in your favor should you drop the e-clip and when trying to get the park rod back in . clean the area of the trans where the electrical connector and the VB linkage shaft come thru before pushing it down as it gets dirty in that area . Bill's instructions and tools make it an easy job. if you do it now , install pan back on the trans after its in . if you are swapping the apply lever you have to do that with the trans on the bench , as the access for the pin that holds it is behind the TC and you have to have the TC out and the trans upside down with pan off to do it .
IF YOU HAVE A 98 OR OLDER PUT THE TRANSJACK IN PLACE NOW !!!!
now you want to unbolt the trans crossmember from the frame , there are holes in the side of the frame to access the nuts , be careful as the nuts will fall in the frame and you need a long magnet to fish them out , again i know this first hand
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. now remove the 2 bolts that hold the trans mount to the crossmember and the 2 bolts that hold the mount to the trans . (POST '99) put the trans jack under the transmission and jack up the transmission some to get the weight off the crossmember .
on the frame about 10 inches behind the crossmember you will see 2 large access holes , put your spreader right behind these holes , one each side , towards rear of truck ,on the bottom edge of the frame , its strongest at the 90* angle, after you have the crossmember unbolted and the trans supported , spread the frame just enough to get the crossmember loose and remove the crossmember then take the spreader off and put it aside .
next remove the 6 nuts that hold the transfer case to the trans and remove the transfer case i found it easier to handle the trans if you remove the transfer case , no gaskets , comes off easy , its a bit heavy .
now lower trans/engine so you can reach the upper bolts bellhousing bolts , pull the dipstick off the trans i didn't support the engine but you may want to , leave it in a downward angle though to make it easier to get the trans back on . adjust angle of your trans jack and slide the trans back and down , watch the cooler lines and wires while pulling it down , have your helper WEARING THICK GLOVES in the front of trans to make sure TC doesn't fall out or that the trans tips forward , watch out it will be front heavy and depending on how long it hasn't been run , TC may/will be HOT , i drove 60 miles to do the swap and about 2 hours after shutting down , the TC was still VERY HOT ... swap TC if you are doing the apply lever swap , DO IT NOW .
make sure you seat the TC all the way in and reinstall in reverse order . REMEMBER FRAME SPREADER TO REINSTALL CROSSMEMBER ON NEWER RAMS ... also after you have the trans bolted to the engine and the crossmember do the TC bolts , put them all in loose FIRST , then tighten them , it is possible to have 1 not want to go in if you tighten them as you install .
Bill will tell you how to adjust your TV cable , if you have multi-boxes this becomes fun because as you add HP the shift points move UP in RPM ... again i know this first hand with the VA and PE on HOT 3 , my shifts are 3100 , 3400 , with just the 275's , no boxes and not touching the TV cable they shift around 2600 i have to readjust for 2900 with VA installed and live with it there ...
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edit ... also get the 4. 2 apply lever from bill , he has a technique for correctly adjusting the front band without an inch-pound torque wrench , its the best way , when i dropped my pan to do change fluid , my front band probably had double the clearance it was supposed to have , readjusted using 1/4 allen wrench between the lever and the piston , snug down the adjuster but not enough to start compressing the piston , tighten the locknut .
also shipping by ups from wash state to mass was 45 bucks each way .
[This message has been edited by Mopar-muscle (edited 01-29-2001). ]
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