Forever looking at my options.... The latest thought is a SCV and I do the R&R. Any feedback on time it takes. I'm sure several factors come into play.

One more thing. about how high does the frame need to be off the ground to lower and remove these animals. I have 7ft 6 in garage. May have to find anohter place to do this.

if your on your back, figure a good day. Thats assuming you have proper tools as well. The hieght of the frame will depend on how your doing it. If your on a floor jack, you will need alot. You can cheat the height but you then have to slide the trans under, then your jack and then put the trans on the jack while laying on your back, a tough feat for even the govanator.

A whole day? How many bolts are holding it in? Is it really that difficult to pull?

I did mine on a hoist and it took me probably 8 hours to R&R but it was my first and I was reading a service manual every step to make sure I didn't miss anything.

It's heavy and awkward.

A whole day? How many bolts are holding it in? Is it really that difficult to pull?

Like Eric said, it's heavy. You will need about 24" from the frame rail to the floor to get it out and back in. I did mine by myself on my back and it took me a day to pull and build and a day to completely install. It was my first also and I didn't have a manual. Experience would be a big help. Good Luck

About four hours to remove, and close to the same to install for me.

I've had mine out twice in my garage. Both times, by myself. Rented a trans jack, that's about the only special tool needed.

As stated frame needs to be at least 24", but with the jack I used, needed to be around 28"

Really not to bad to do. I may do mine again to check how my trans mods have faired from a tough racing season, even though it's been flawless.

with my buddy Jed helping me and a 2 post lift and trans jack (70 dollar ebay special!!) took about 4 hours. 3 hours to put it back in. Just a PIA because its so heavy. The top bell housing bolts are a stretch to get to, and the torque converter bolts are kind of tedious to take out and replace.

ben

I drove my truck up on 8x8 blocks of wood with 33's and still had to take the tranny off the jack. It wasn't too bad, I was able to get it back on the jack by myself. You should be able to do it inside a day if you have the tools. A 24" extension is nice for the bell housing bolts and an impact universal for the torque convertor bolts and big wrench to turn the engine over to get to them; maybe it was 1 7/16" I think. This is where a second person is handy.

Don't be afraid to hammer on the convertor bolts with the impact gun; I use a IR impact so it has plenty of power, but not too much.

I pretty much used the impact on everything, just turned the power down on the bell housing bolts.

I have done it on my back a few times. Its not bad getting the trans on and off the trans jack under the truck if you have a few guys. One person to slide the trans jack under the trans. one guy on each side of the truck standing up on the out side with a big peice of metal or maybe a long 4x4 or something that lift up on the back of the trans(on the rear exension housing) and one guy that benchpresses the front of the trans(bellhousing) with the converter out.

A good transjack will make your life MUCH easier.

First time I would budget a day and a pal or 2 figuring all the right tools. After you do it and have stuff lined out you can do it in a few hours pretty easy.

I hope to be doing mine this weekend, so I will let you know on Saturday night.....

One night after discovering a seal leak after some test and tune, Tom Crick at Fine Tuning, dropped,replaced the seal and reinstalled in less the two hrs, mind you I helped lift out the t-case and pass him some bolts):h He has a system, seems to work quite well):h

Steven whats an Evolution Stage .5 transmission? :confused:

I don't know about you guys, but after watching Mike L. and his guys do two transmissions for me, it is money well spent. If I had the time and the knowledge, I think it would be fun to do. The last transmission I did was 25yrs ago on 1976 Honda Accord and it was a stick. No more for me.

Does anyone know where to get the torque specs needed for the trans install? I couldn't come up with anything, I read that suncoast has them but couldn't find anything on there website.

What specs would you like? I cant think of anything I actually put a torque wrench on during the R&R.

Just a good impact and use your head, little bolts, not so tight, big bolts, tighter.
If I can help, give me a call.

Just be carefull guys when you do this. Time doesn't matter; safety does.
mike

Steven whats an Evolution Stage .5 transmission? :confused: Something that Tom at Fine tuning is working on, I basicly a DTT with his mods to improve it, so it not really a DTT stage II anymore.

Just be carefull guys when you do this. Time doesn't matter; safety does.
mike

all jokes about me aside, take what mike says seriously! Being my first allison and having no idea what I was doing with anything about the trans (still dont even know how it works), I was EXTRA careful and I still had a mishap. Watch where you are standing, and dont crowd yourself in the "drop" danger zone around the trans when it is either on the trans jack/bench/not on the ground/whatever. Make sure there arent tools and parts and stuff behind you or around you that would get in your way should you have to move quickly to avoid something. Most of all if the trans falls or starts to get out of hand, just let it go and get out of the way. It weighs over 300 pounds and once it starts tipping there is nothing you can do to stop it. I was very lucky I was turned around and did not see my trans start to fall, because if I did see it I probably would have (stupidly) tried to catch it and it would have fallen on my foot or worse.:( Also when you take the trans out be very careful of the torque converter. With the torque converter still on the input shaft the trans is balanced pretty well. When you take the TC off (some 70 pounds?) that will suddenly change the balance a LOT. Also either keep a hand on the TC at all times or make a little piece of plate that bolts on and keeps the TC from falling off the input shaft until you are ready.

Remember to get a bag or two of oil dry before you take the tranny apart.

Ben, im not sure if i understand this right but you did it the first time with no tranny experiance? I would like to put a stage IV in as well but i dont think i could afford to do it if I paid someone at a shop to do it. Would you give me your honest opinion about how hard it was and all that. It is my only way to get around so if i screw it up i will definatly be pretty SOL. If you wouldnt mind tellin me whats up i would really appreciate it. Im 19 also, i have decent tools, a compressor and impact wrenches and stuff, but i dont have a lift. Is there any kinda tricky parts to doing this, like electrical stuff or anything i might not have thought about? Just anything that i should keep my heads up for? Sorry for all the question i guess i am just nervous. I guess it also sounds like i need to rent a tranny jack as well. Thanks for anything you can tell me.

Ben, im not sure if i understand this right but you did it the first time with no tranny experiance? I would like to put a stage IV in as well but i dont think i could afford to do it if I paid someone at a shop to do it. Would you give me your honest opinion about how hard it was and all that. It is my only way to get around so if i screw it up i will definatly be pretty SOL. If you wouldnt mind tellin me whats up i would really appreciate it. Im 19 also, i have decent tools, a compressor and impact wrenches and stuff, but i dont have a lift. Is there any kinda tricky parts to doing this, like electrical stuff or anything i might not have thought about? Just anything that i should keep my heads up for? Sorry for all the question i guess i am just nervous. I guess it also sounds like i need to rent a tranny jack as well. Thanks for anything you can tell me.

yep only tranny(s) I had touched before this were hydrostatic tractor transmissions. I didnt even know what an apply piston was/looked like before I took my ally apart, I still dont even really know how they work, so I can only offer general advice that worked for ME when I built mine and my friends allison's. Mike L would be a much better person to ask about this stuff. Lift makes it easier, thats how I did it, so Im not sure what pulling it without a lift entails. If you buy the Allison service manual its not that hard at all. Just follow all the steps correctly and triple check everything. Small details such as the several torrington bearings between the planetaries and aligning the bleed holes in the C3, C4, C5 apply pistons and clutches. The bearings look more or less the same on either side, but if you put one in upside down, you will ruin the transmission. Taking apart the C1/C2 drum is kind of a PIA the first time you do it, not that bad tho if you find a technique that works well for you. I made my own little table and spring compressor tool with a big threaded rod, and I made a couple of my own special little tools to help make it easier to get snap rings out etc.. Tony (gmc-2002-dmax) made a "stop sign" milled attachment/tool to release the C1 (or is it C2? I forget) spring cage, however IMHO I found it kind of hard to use so I just used the tool I made. Not knocking Tony at all obviously, just some people find certain techniques easier and harder than others. Also keep Mike L's (or eric/dmaxallitech) phone number close by. They are both incredibly helpful and will not let you hang up until theyre sure you did (whatever you had a question about) it right!! Torque everything to spec, make sure you have no parts left over, and then hope for the best.:D

Ive built two of them and theyre running stronger than ever, if I can do it anyone can.;)

ben

Steezey

You can do this. :ro) Many members here have done it for the first time with Erics and my help successfully.

Thanks you guys. If everything happens as i hope it will, i will be ordering it within the next month or so. I will with out a doubt take everything you guys said into consideration. Looks like I will also be getting to add to my tool collection! Thanks again and I will keep you posted.

and need a hand, let me know. It's been a while since I did mine, but some help is better than no help at all (and I know Mike L's phone number). ):h

Josh

Hey thanks josh, that is actaully really reasuring. You will definatly be hearing from me if am able to get the parts

Hey thanks josh, that is actaully really reasuring. You will definatly be hearing from me if am able to get the parts

Josh is pretty good at doing this and a hell of a nice guy.:ro)

I, and several others as well, did my (ours) own as well. Not that difficult. I had never been inside a tranny before I cracked the Allison open. Just take your time!

Only thing I would suggest is that you buy your kit form either Eric or Mike. That way, you won't feel bad when you have to give them a call (or calls), which you will. I made sure I had cell phone numbers, and that they would be available on the weekend that I did mine. Both of those guys are extremely helpful; you can't go wrong with either one.

Year and half later, and still going strong!

Take your time, whatever time it takes, to get it done right; you don't want to be pulling that thing a second time. Take whatever help is offered as the Allison is big. And have some resources handy in case you need to make call.

But since it's the topic of the thread, I once saw a guy with two helpers pull an Allison, inspect the clutches, replace a torque converter, and reinstall the tranny, and drove it off the lift in 47 minutes. I then drove it straight to the dragstrip less than an hour after pulling in and it performed flawlessly.

Doug

But since it's the topic of the thread, I once saw a guy with two helpers pull an Allison, inspect the clutches, replace a torque converter, and reinstall the tranny, and drove it off the lift in 47 minutes. I then drove it straight to the dragstrip less than an hour after pulling in and it performed flawlessly.

Doug[/quote]

Gee Doug anybody we might know.):h

You guys are really good at building someones confidence. Could you possibly PM me a price quote Mike?

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to unbolt the converter? I am in the middle of doing my swap now and can't figure out how to get the converter bolts out. Is it possible to take the trans out and leave the converter in?

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to unbolt the converter? I am in the middle of doing my swap now and can't figure out how to get the converter bolts out. Is it possible to take the trans out and leave the converter in?

unbolt the starter, then get them through there. A long extension and impact wrench will help a lot. Turn the engine over by hand to get all 6 of them.

Thanks for the help Ben and Mike!!!

I just got done, and it rides great. Took about 2 hours to get it out and new one ready to go back in, ran into troubles when reinstalling the converter I decided to drop a bolt and get it perfectly wedged just far enough so I couldn't grab it.....after I cleared that up took about another 2.5 hours till I was lowering her back on the ground.

I got the trans from Eric with about 2500 miles on it, and the converter is brand new. I reset the TAPs with EFI and put it back to stock for the ride home, my question is...since the trans is already broken in, how long should I baby it before I can really have some fun?

Thanks again for all the help!!!

Hammer it now!

yeah dropping a bolt sucks and is one mistake I made EXTRA sure to try not to do. I wrap some duct tape around the inside of the socket so when you stick the TC bolt in it, it grips it really tightly and the bolt stays in there.

I was using electrical tape, but the one bolt just didn't want to stick.....

I ended up putting the rest of the bolts in by reaching my hand up where the starter was and getting them started, then using the long extension to tighten them.

The Alli is never the problem as it needs no break in. The TCM is the concern and getting it calibrated.

The Alli is never the problem as it needs no break in. The TCM is the concern and getting it calibrated.

So wether I'm running a stock tune, or a 100 something hp tune, it won't make a difference since the TCM will need to learn both? Makes sense to me, thanks again:)

Glad you got it up and going, I didnt see any phone calls this weekend so I assume all was well.

Let me know when your ready for core return, I'll help you through it.

Glad you got it up and going, I didnt see any phone calls this weekend so I assume all was well.

Let me know when your ready for core return, I'll help you through it.

That's cause I took them all for ya buddy. ):h :D

yeah dropping a bolt sucks and is one mistake I made EXTRA sure to try not to do. I wrap some duct tape around the inside of the socket so when you stick the TC bolt in it, it grips it really tightly and the bolt stays in there.

Save yourself some grief everyone, just stuff a rag in between the flex plate and the block. No way a bolt will drop then.

That's cause I took them all for ya buddy. ):h :D
Your always there to support me...I'll buy you a martini:ro)

Thanks again everyone for all the help..

Eric, I will give you a call tommorow about the core return

Thanks again everyone for all the help..

Eric, I will give you a call tommorow about the core return

hey 00sierra (http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/member.php?u=12449) how does the truck drive i am thinking about a suncoast 5 and a 1057 for my truck cause my ally is almost dead. Just wondering how it shifts and what it feels like compaired to stock.
Thanks
Jay

fastmax, the trans is great so far, when I first started running it, the shifts were real hard. I have since put a few miles on it and the tcm is starting to learn and the shifts are smoothing out to damn near stock. I would highly reccomend it.

I find that a magnetic socket works pretty well for converter bolts.

I'm almost ready to do mine... I just need to remember where I put that darn bag of cash. Ha. Have to see how well my printer is at printing 100 bills....