Remove transfer case from G56 first??

[seafish]

Trying to decide if its a good idea to take the time and trouble to first pull the TC off the G56 in order to make removing and reinstalling the G56 for the clutch replacement more manageable ( in other words, easier to align on reinstall)

All ideas welcome, with priority given to those from people who have actually done it themselves.

 

[CVR222NV]

Trying to decide if its a good idea to take the time and trouble to first pull the TC off the G56 in order to make removing and reinstalling the G56 for the clutch replacement more manageable ( in other words, easier to align on reinstall)

All ideas welcome, with priority given to those from people who have actually done it themselves. View attachment 141608

The SIL I removed the transfer case (TC) first and believe we did so before removing the transmission cross member. The TC is not that heavy by itself and makes getting the transmission out a lot easier. The TC is offset to the center line of the transmission making the combined unit unwieldy. That said, you could probably get the TC and transmission out as a unit, but I would definitely recommend reinstalling the TC and transmission separately as getting the transmission aligned, especially the last inch or so, will take some patience. Hopefully, Valair provided an alignment tool to get everything properly aligned. SBC provides that tool with their kit. SBC also had really good instructions online. Hopefully Valair does as well. Good luck with the install!

 

[petersonj]

Agree with @CVR222NV. I have replaced four Cummins powered truck clutches with the trucks on jack stands. I removed the transfer case on each of them before removing the transmission. It makes the weight on the transmission jack much more manageable, especially when re-installing the transmission.

- John

 

[seafish]

Thanks for the replies…will remove the TC first.

 

[seafish]

Unbolting and removing the transfer case from the G56t took only 30 minutes with the bulk of the time and ONLY frustration spent trying to remove the nut at 1 oclock (looking toward the front of the truck from behind the TC.

The LONG heat shield running above the exhaust pipe meant that I could only use a 1/4" drive ratchet in order to get any throw and also the depth of the stud meant I had to use a 3/8" drive 12 point reduced to 1/4" in order to get onto the nut but the ratchet couldn't back up enough to get the nut entirely off the stud without pulling the TC back a bit first. In other words, it's SILLY design that demands just the right socket on a short 1/4" ratchet drive !!! I'm definitely going to nip about a 2" corner of the heat shield closest to the bell housing off to make installing it back MUCH easier with a ratchet wrench.

Once the TC was off, I jury rigged an 8 x 8 and a couple of 2x8s onto the floor jack by drilling a two holes aligned to accept the transmission crossmember studs as well as a 5" x 1/2" deep hole in one of the 2x8s to accept the puck on the floor jack. The hole should be centers right where the bell housing and the gear housing bolt together.
Then I simply ratchet strapped the G56 in 2 places, at the rear and at the shift point, in order to snug it to the 8 x 8 and rolled the floor jack backwards while watching for clearance at the transmission tunnel.

Once I had loosened all of them by hand, the bell housing bolts were easy enough to back out using an impact driver and a LONG 3/8" extensions with a flex joint at the socket to get at the bolts from all the way behind the transmission.

The hardest part was sneaking the bell housing past the exhaust support/bushing bracket, so I ended up pulling out the bushing from the bracket and then was able to swing the bracket out of the way. If Dodge had simply reversed the orientation of the bracket welded on the exhaust down tube, it would have been a simple matter to just slide the whole bracket back with the transmission on the floor jack.

 

[seafish]

The 8x8 with screwed I used to strap the G56 to does NOT allow me to easily get the G56 out from under the truck, but I will simply =leave it safely strapped on the floor jack under the truck…Its pulled back far enough past the tunnel to allow complete access to the flywheel and clutch assembly as well as the throw out fork and bearing.

 

[seafish]

I have an odd question … what do you suppose the running temperature range of the actual bell housing is??

I am thinking that most of the heat buildup is generated and cooled within the gear housing by fluid motion.

Asking because Im thinking of adding some aluminum CLD to help reduce the gear rollover noise being amplified by the huge aluminum bell housing. NOT talking about covering the whole thing, but only adding some CLD strips to help dampen the bell itself.

The butyl rubber on the CLD is rated to 300 degrees.

 

[Regcabguy]

Agree with @CVR222NV. I have replaced four Cummins powered truck clutches with the trucks on jack stands. I removed the transfer case on each of them before removing the transmission. It makes the weight on the transmission jack much more manageable, especially when re-installing the transmission.

- John

You must have been young.

 

[Regcabguy]

I have an odd question … what do you suppose the running temperature range of the actual bell housing is??

I am thinking that most of the heat buildup is generated and cooled within the gear housing by fluid motion.

Asking because Im thinking of adding some aluminum CLD to help reduce the gear rollover noise being amplified by the huge aluminum bell housing. NOT talking about covering the whole thing, but only adding some CLD strips to help dampen the bell itself.

The butyl rubber on the CLD is rated to 300 degrees.

Mine sounded like it had an SBC noisy DD in it. Amsoil 75-90 MTG helped heaps but they are not nearly as quiet as the NV500's I've driven.

 

[Regcabguy]

I have an odd question … what do you suppose the running temperature range of the actual bell housing is??

I am thinking that most of the heat buildup is generated and cooled within the gear housing by fluid motion.

Asking because Im thinking of adding some aluminum CLD to help reduce the gear rollover noise being amplified by the huge aluminum bell housing. NOT talking about covering the whole thing, but only adding some CLD strips to help dampen the bell itself.

The butyl rubber on the CLD is rated to 300 degrees.

I sold my camper and don't tow. I'm going back to the stock clutch. I had 37K on it when the rear main seeped. The clutch place convinced me to chuck it. I ran a 60 hp Smarty tune, had a 2200# camper on my back since '06 until recently and the guy said it was like new. My other buddy's Ram had the stocker go 110K with an aluminum utility bed and popup. The rig weighed 10.5 K. The trans is fine. He's run ATF in it from new. I want that quiet trans back.