Removing FJ60 transmission/transfer case - tips? (5 Viewers)

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And the weather should 0 or less or 100+ anywhere in-between is just not a challenge.
I did it alone in a public parking space just as a blizzard was setting in. It was -2 degrees by the time I got the truck started. Fun times.
 
Buy a transmission jack, cut a slab of plywood and bolt that to the jack, drill holes for the bolts of the rear motor mount. Being able to solidly bolt down the transmission will make installation very (relatively) easy.

You can drop a transmission with almost any jack because here, gravity is your friend, installing gravity is not your friend.

Use two headless bolts in the lower bell housing holes as guides when installing the transmission and that will help a lot.
 
What type of grease is best on the pivot points for the clutch fork like where it pivots on the ball in the bell housing and the pivot points at the ends of the fork where the TO bearing is pinned to? I've heard of everything from spline grease to white lithium grease to high temp axle grease to red n tacky, etc., etc. I know its important to not get any grease on the clutch friction disk and flywheel so they don't glaze, but it also seems like these areas where the clutch fork pivots need some kind of lubrication. All ideas about best practices, hard-learned experiences/lessons, etc. welcome and thank you in advance for your guidance.
 
What type of grease is best on the pivot points for the clutch fork like where it pivots on the ball in the bell housing and the pivot points at the ends of the fork where the TO bearing is pinned to? I've heard of everything from spline grease to white lithium grease to high temp axle grease to red n tacky, etc., etc. I know its important to not get any grease on the clutch friction disk and flywheel so they don't glaze, but it also seems like these areas where the clutch fork pivots need some kind of lubrication. All ideas about best practices, hard-learned experiences/lessons, etc. welcome and thank you in advance for your guidance.
I just use some red n tacky. Really any heavy grease that stays in place will work.
 
I’m just about to start this job and I’m wondering how you support the engine with the trans out if you’re also pulling the oil pan?

Maybe there will be an obvious spot for a Jack once I start to pull things apart but I’m not seeing it now.

I’m pulling the trans to rebuild the T-case, but I’m also putting in a new RMS and oil pan gasket while I’m in there.

Thanks all!
 
I’m just about to start this job and I’m wondering how you support the engine with the trans out if you’re also pulling the oil pan?

Maybe there will be an obvious spot for a Jack once I start to pull things apart but I’m not seeing it now.

I’m pulling the trans to rebuild the T-case, but I’m also putting in a new RMS and oil pan gasket while I’m in there.

Thanks all!
4x4 across the fenders with a ratchet strap from above around the front dampener
to stop the engine from nose diving with everything off. Make sense?
 
I’m just about to start this job and I’m wondering how you support the engine with the trans out if you’re also pulling the oil pan?

Maybe there will be an obvious spot for a Jack once I start to pull things apart but I’m not seeing it now.

I’m pulling the trans to rebuild the T-case, but I’m also putting in a new RMS and oil pan gasket while I’m in there.

Thanks all!
One possibility:

 
Use the stock jack, or some other screw type jack, not hydraulic, under the oil pan. Place a piece of 2x6 between the oil pan and jack. Doing it this way will also allow you some adjustment on the rear tilt of the engine when you are reinstalling the engine.

I've used a hydraulic jack before that lost pressure overnight allowing full tilted weight on the motor mounts, that's why I say avoid hydraulic jack.
 
I have the screw jack under the plan now, but need to get the oil pan off.

I think I can wedge two pieces of cut to length 2x4 under the bell housing. There’s a flat surface on either side where the bottom cover bolts on.

Hard to explain but I’ll share a pic…if it works. The engine looks like it weighs 1000 lb and the front engine mounts are so far forward that it seems like a bad day if the support gave out.

Thanks for all the help!
 
A beam (aluminum pipe, wood) spanning both closed doors in the cab with a cinch strap with hooks dropped down through the shift lever hole in the floor — works most excellently to hold up the bellhousing

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Ohhh, that’s a good option. I wonder if I could just have the beam/wood across the shifter opening in the body? Seems like it would be strong enough.
 
It’s out! I worked with what I have and it took me a while. How someone could do this at a campground is beyond me. Impressive.

Here’s my sequence. This is not a ‘how to’ as parts of my process were pretty sketchy:

1. Don’t do what I did…work on a sloped driveway in 100 degrees heat with no shade. I have a restoration in progress in the garage so this was my only option.
2. Jack up the front of the truck to make it easier to work under there.
3. Remove everything connected to the trans. Speedo cable, all wires, drive shafts, and shifters. Pretty straightforward.
4. Loosen the trans mounting bolts that you can access. Mine were very tight and it’s better to do it now when everything is solidly mounted.
6. Jack up the engine under the oil pan using the factory screw jack and a block of wood. I had to jack it at the back edge to get it to lift the trans. Remove the cross member…slowly and carefully. This didn’t feel great as there’s about 500lbs of metal floating up there.
7. Get a trabs jack mounted and strap the trans on. Finish removing bolts and pull it out!

A few notes:

- I used a motorcycle jack and that sucked. Putting it back in will likey be worse. It doesn’t lift high enough and there’s no control over the trans angle.
- The shifter mount on top of the trans gets caught and does not allow the trans to be shifted back enough to get the input shaft out of the clutch. I slowly lowered engine and trans until there was enough angle and the trans cleared the body. Seems obvious but took me a min to figure out what was catching.
- Supporting the back of the engine through the shifter hole in the body as suggested above does work, but just barely. The sheet metal flexes a lot but it’s not enough to actually damage it as far as I can tell. The issue is that the engine mounts are near the front of the engine so there’s a lot of weight to support at the back.

Next up, I’m going power wash off 40 years and 300k miles of gunk. I’ll post notes on the RMS, clutch replacement, and trans install in case it’s helpful for others.

IMG_8372.jpeg
 
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It’s out! I worked with what I have and it took me a while. How someone could do this at a campground is beyond me. Impressive.

Here’s my sequence. This is not a ‘how to’ as parts of my process were pretty sketchy:

1. Don’t do what I did…work on a sloped driveway in 100 degrees heat with no shade. I have a restoration in progress in the garage so this was my only option.
2. Jack up the front of the truck to make it easier to work under there.
3. Remove everything connected to the trans. Speedo cable, all wires, drive shafts, and shifters. Pretty straightforward.
4. Loosen the trans mounting bolts that you can access. Mine were very tight and it’s better to do it now when everything is solidly mounted.
6. Jack up the engine under the oil pan using the factory screw jack and a block of wood. I had to jack it at the back edge to get it to lift the trans. Remove the cross member…slowly and carefully. This didn’t feel great as there’s about 500lbs of metal floating up there.
7. Get a trabs jack mounted and strap the trans on. Finish removing bolts and pull it out!

A few notes:

- I used a motorcycle jack and that sucked. Putting it back in will likey be worse. It doesn’t lift high enough and there’s no control over the trans angle.
- The shifter mount on top of the trans gets caught and does not allow the trans to be shifted back enough to get the input shaft out of the clutch. I slowly lowered engine and trans until there was enough angle and the trans cleared the body. Seems obvious but took me a min to figure out what was catching.
- Supporting the back of the engine through the shifter hole in the body as suggested above does work, but just barely. The sheet metal flexes a lot but it’s not enough to actually damage it as far as I can tell. The issue is that the engine mounts are near the front of the engine so there’s a lot of weight to support at the back.

Next up, I’m going power wash off 40 years and 300k miles of gunk. I’ll post notes on the RMS, clutch replacement, and trans install in case it’s helpful for others.

View attachment 3696379

Nice work! I supported the rear of the engine by using a jack stand under the bellhousing, worked well for me.
 
I ended up doing the same. Jack stand under the bell housing still leaves plenty of room to get the flywheel and oil pan off. Clutch and flywheel were a piece of cake.

The oil pan on the other hand… Holy cow. That’s got to be one of the worst on-your-back jobs out there. I used the factory jack wedged between the oil pan and frame rail to push it sideways until one side broke free. It took what must have been 1000 pounds of force to get it to break free. Nuts. I wedged some wood between the bell housing and frame rail on the other side to brace the engine. Even with one half broken free, it took a lot of pry bar to get the other half to break free. Getting the old cork off the engine will be fun.

I really thought you all were crazy for saying I was going to need a new oil pan…but you were right. I could probably reuse I but I bent it up pretty bad.

I did notice that one of the cam lobes is pretty scored up, but that will have to wait until I rebuild this engine someday…
 

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