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88 tranny tunnel

kontradictions

kontradictions

1/2 ton status
Joined
Jul 14, 2006
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im going to be pulling the 700r4 out tonight since it decided to take dump on me the other day, wont shift out of 1st!

I have been reading and reading about the easiest way to do this by myself and everyone seems to think a hoist, which i have, through the tranny tunnel floor in the cab of the truck is the easiest. Well my problem is on the 88 K5, the tunnel is pinch welded and seam sealed up, not bolted up like the older K5's have. I have also line-x the inside of the truck so that isnt helping me either.

My question is, should i just take the grinder to the tunnell and cut it out where its all seam sealed and welded up and then worry about remounting it after the new tranny is in and the truck is drivable, or should i just try to pull the tranny from below with a jack?
 
pull the tranny from under the truck. If you have access to a tranny jack, thats always the easiest, if not, get a ratchet strap and strap that tranny to the jack as best you can and drop it carefully. Pull the x-fer case first if no tranny jack is available. I wouldn't mess with the floor's seam sealant and pinchwelds as that is a lot of work.
 
yeah well my only worry is, first off i dont have a tranny jack but i do have 2 floor jacks. My next problem from below is the truck has 6" of lift and is sitting on 38.5 tires, so it's up there. I was planning on pull the tcase then the tranny, but i didnt think my jack would be able to reach it, without piling up wood block or something of that nature...

i just figured it to be easy to get the grinder out with a cutting disc, cut the floor out and get the hoist in there.
 
I have an 89 blazer that I had the same problem with the spot welded tranny cover. No problem to remove it just locate the small indentions where it is tacked and drill out. Then take a putty knife and wedge it in between hump and the floor to brake loose. To put it back together after removing tranny just use some sheet metal screws.
 
buckmtn said:
I have an 89 blazer that I had the same problem with the spot welded tranny cover. No problem to remove it just locate the small indentions where it is tacked and drill out. Then take a putty knife and wedge it in between hump and the floor to brake loose. To put it back together after removing tranny just use some sheet metal screws.
Click to expand...

kinda makes me wish i didnt line-x the entire interior of the truck, but i will see what i can do. I honestly think it's going to be the easiest way for me to get it out with getting that floor piece out and using the hoist.
 
kontradictions said:
i just figured it to be easy to get the grinder out with a cutting disc, cut the floor out and get the hoist in there.
Click to expand...

Be a lot harder and uglier to clean up the mess from cutting the tunnel out than it will be to figure out how to get jacks tall enough to drop them.

The seam for the tunnel overlaps, cutting somewhere else means welding it back in, and that would be lots of fun with a bedlining material in the way.
 
dyeager535 said:
Be a lot harder and uglier to clean up the mess from cutting the tunnel out than it will be to figure out how to get jacks tall enough to drop them.

The seam for the tunnel overlaps, cutting somewhere else means welding it back in, and that would be lots of fun with a bedlining material in the way.
Click to expand...

i thought about that too, but i would more than likely make it so i can easily remove the piece again if for some god forsaken reason i have to do this again
 
if you do all that work for the tranny tunnel and hook a hoist to the tranny, just remember that the t-case is usually the heavy end of things and to hook the hoist to the back of the tranny case near the adapter. I borowed a tranny jack with a strap already on it and the removal of the tranny was no more than 30 minutes. Did the entire swap in the steet so a cherry picker would have been a pain. Install was just as easy and the tranny jack swivels, rotates, goes up and down, pivots, and has adjusters for all types of different trannies and rear ends. To me, the hardest part was getting it out from under the truck. Even with 36's and 7" lift, i had to jack the truck up a little to fit the whole setup under the body/frame.
 
you don't need a tranny jack to do it from below. places like harbor freight have tranny adapter things for a regular floor jack. i've dropped a tranny with my craftsman 7k lb floor jack, jackstands and a block of wood. it was a newer truck, but same idea.
 
sorry, the tranny jack i was talking about is a adapter that fits on a 3 ton floor jack.
 
yeah id use one of the tranny jacks if i had one and i dont have time to get one from harbor freight, so im just going to have to wing it with what i got...im hoping with the tranny tunnel out and using the hoist it will make it easier as well to put it back in too.
 
Sissies, just muscle them up in there, they're not that heavy. Actually I used a regular jack once or twice as well as a motorcycle jack before. The motorcycle jack worked well but if you know how to balance the trans properly it will drop with no problems. Pull the t case first though because if you dont it will make things real awkward and hard to balance. Really though the 208 isnt that heavy, I lifted a 205 and hung it on the back of my 400 with nothing more than a little muscle. I got under that bad boy and huffed it up on the back of teh trans. At the time truck had a 8" lift on 38"s.
 
kontradictions said:
yeah id use one of the tranny jacks if i had one and i dont have time to get one from harbor freight, so im just going to have to wing it with what i got...im hoping with the tranny tunnel out and using the hoist it will make it easier as well to put it back in too.
Click to expand...

You don't have time to run to the store for a tranny adapter but you have time to cut the hell out of your floor and then try in vain to keep it from leaking and rusting when you put it back together?

:thinking:
 
goldwing2000 said:
You don't have time to run to the store for a tranny adapter but you have time to cut the hell out of your floor and then try in vain to keep it from leaking and rusting when you put it back together?

:thinking:
Click to expand...

I needed it out last night and there isnt a harbor frieght close enough to me that has one in stock.

Anyway, i was able to get it out without having to cut the floor. Lots of extensions and a wobbler on the end made it easy. Pull the tcase off like everyone said first and then unbolted the trans all on my own with nothing but some mucsle and a little help from my floor jack.

Where is that sweet spot to balance anyway? I need to find it somehow...
 
Excellent. Glad you didn't have to create more work for yourself.

FYI, Harbor Freight isn't the only place that carries the jack adapters. Most decent parts stores should carry them also. If you lived by me, I'd let you borrow mine. :D
 
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