Need advice from diy mechanics

If you've got a good floor, good jack, and decent mechanical knowledge, you can do it. Put the clutch on the input shaft and bolt up after bell housing, instead of trying to stab it.

Make sure your clutch fork is over the TO bearing before bolting up. After bell housing and clutch are torqued, install your linkage and make sure everything is working before proceeding.

 

The transmission jack and seal installation tool will be pricey. Have someone you can rent or borrow from? I once rented a HD transmission jack from local rental yard.

 

Be careful with that HF jack. It'll work, but not even close to a real HD tranny jack. It'll get ya hurt in a hurry if you're not careful.

 

H F transmission jack will not lift hi enough to get it in or out but 1 time?

 

The DIY guy and Gale would be @Rideandrepair . I have put a lot of seals in using the flywheel as the pusher. There is a knack to that. Did not see buying a tool for a 12V-71 in 2021. It would never be used again.

 

I did mine, using the HF jack. As stated, it’s a flimsy jack. The angle adjusters jam up, the jack itself is loose. The chain is cheap, and won’t hold half the weight of a big trans. I put a larger top plate on mine, with angle iron added, and used grade 8 bolts to secure it, Original bolts were grade O, that’s how cheap it is. I shimmed the pinion points with washers, and replaced the adjusters with hardened bolts, so I could get a ratchet on them. I double strapped the trans, and it fell the first time, twisting the jack. Had to use my floor jack to help raise it back up, then hang the trans by 2 straps from the frame, while I swapped the twisted jack out with a new one, and then I modified the new one. It’s a job I never want to do again. Well worth $1000-$1500 labor, or more, elsewhere. Usually a 8-10 hr. Job at a lot of Shops. The good Jacks are much heavier duty. Get everything ready, and rent a good one if possible. I may swap my trans myself in the future if needed. Just be careful, Don’t trust the HF jack. It’s good for cars, light Trucks. Not 1000# Semi trans, but will work if careful. I did the rear main seal. Took advise from others and found the proper tool, loaned to me for free. I was told by many, that the tool is needed, to get it set right. Otherwise they leak. Hardest part was getting the snap ring on for the input shaft. You tubers make it look easy. Same with clutch fork kit. New bushings are a pain and easily damaged installing. I used 1 piece brass bushings, on advice of a local shop. Very little reaming needed. I also did the rear structure on mine. Replaced all the flywheel bolts with new, used DD “ peanut butter” as threadlocker, per manual. Torqued to spec, and then another 1/3 turn maybe? Whatever the spec was to get proper stretch on bolts. Strictly by the book, as I’d never done it before. Others I’ve seen just hammer them in with an impact. I’m superstitious, and from what I’ve read, seemed worthwhile to do it right. Also ran it a few minutes, with breather blocked to check for leaks at rear seal before installing trans. A 12 hr. Job took Me 4 weeks Lol. Healing up a day in between working on it. Had it not been for @BoxCarKidd offering advice, I might have had to call a mechanic to finish the job. There’s a lot of time saving tricks, I’d say after doing 4-5 jobs, I’d be much faster at it. First time though, it was the toughest mechanical job Ive ever done. I’ve done motor swaps on cars, piece of cake compared. Good Luck. You can do it, just be extra careful. Study the HF jack carefully before using. Avoid it altogether if you can, maybe rent a real jack fir $300-$400. It would be well worth it. You’ll see the design flaws. Needs to be beefed up before using. Empty the fluid first, that helps, get good airline connections set up while it’s out, makes hooking them up easier. One place that quick connectors are welcome on my Truck. Like someone said, mount the clutch on the trans, then tighten it to the flywheel, after the trans is lined up and housings are bolted back together, through the bottom inspection cover, barring the engine over, you can access 2 bolts, They do have a suggested torque sequence that I followed, so had to bar it around twice, double checked them all. PITA, but mounting the clutch on flywheel first, and trying to stab the output shaft, after aligning it using the old one, can be tough. It’s easy to get binding, and damage the clutch. Jack has to be adjusted perfectly, and maybe angle adjusted more, as trans is going in, to avoid binding. The HF jack isn’t good at adjusting. The design is dangerous. I had it all the way up, and had to jam a piece of wood in it, to keep it from swinging down on its Own. Downright dangerous. Just by dumb luck, it went together smoothly, at just the right angle. All the housing bolts lined up, almost perfectly, with only a bit of rotating the trans on the jack. You can definitely do it,

 

Here’s the new improved version of the HF death jack, and a few other triumphant moments.

 

The new Eaton is all one assembly. Has a strap instead of alignment pins, very nice clutch. Intermediate plate is already in place. It’s heavy though, had to get creative, used a strap to lift it from hand jack, then chained the jack to the p/u truck, had my wife pull forward very slowly, while I guided it in. Working on sheet metal, 2 pc. 1/2” plywood on gravel. Jack wouldn’t roll, I doubt it would roll well on solid cement. The wheels are about half the size of a real HD trans jack. Lol.