So, what should have been an easy weekend job has turned into my worst do-it-myself experience. :-( I was simply going to replace the clutch, pressure plate and throw-out bearing on my '72 F100 4X4, but the truck gods were definitely not on my side. Everything was going great until I was tightening the pressure plate bolts and a grade 1 or 2 bolt, that a previous owner must have used, broke off in the pressure plate with so little torque that the flywheel didn't even turn. After drilling and extracting the broken bolt everything was once again going good until I went to put the transmission back in place. So (after all the complaining here's my actual problem:

I can't get the transmission to line back up for anything. It was fairly difficult to get out, but not too hard. I ended up having to remove the transfer case to even get it close (The transfer case was sticking up to high and hitting the cab floor), but now the lowest part of the transmission is resting on the cross bar that the higher part of the transmission should end up bolted to and the angle is too great for me to be able to line it back up. I tried lifting the motor a little to cut down on the angle, but I still can't get it in. Has anyone done this work before? Any ideas on getting everything back together? I'm by no means a professional mechanic, but I'm usually not to bad at this stuff.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

Josh

 

It's not really clear to me but it sounds like perhaps you don't have the crossmember removed? It has to be removed before the transmission comes out and replaced after it's back in. Usually the rear of the engine can be dropped DOWN a little to make things easier to line up. After that is done and before your putting your transmission back make sure you use a line up tool to center your clutch disc. If not done that makes things VERY difficult sometimes, even if it's off just a liitle. If you didn't do it while installing the cover have someone push down the pedal while you line up the disc when it comes free. If you're by yourself hold the pedal down with a stick propped in place. If you didn't have the crossmember out you must have had fun getting the transmission out. Oof.

 

Well, that would make things easier if the cross member was out, but I could not figure out how to disconnect it. :-) It looks to me like there are bolts holding it in place through the cab floor, but I could not find them inside the cab. Could someone tell me exactly how to remove the cross member? Thanks!!

 

The crossmember should just be bolted to the frame. There should be two bolts on each end of the crossmember holding it to the frame. Remove these, remove the crossmember, and then you'll have plenty of movement in that tranny to get it lined up.

 

I am not exactly familiar with your 4wd vehicle but most (all?) of the time the crossmember is bolted at the frame on each end. 2 bolts each end on these Ford trucks unless 4wd is different and has more. This pretty much applies to any vehicle with a frame and many without. I really don't think you'll find any bolts through the cab floor. Not stock anyway.

 

Sorry, I was out of the room for awhile and should have gone back and looked before hitting "submit". Practically ended up saying the same thing as bigric.

 

Well, I got the crossmember removed. there were 4 bolts on each side. I have no idea if the second pair of bolts were not original, but they came through the top of the frame and down through the curved top of the cross member. I had to pound a wedge between the cab floor and the frame in order to get enough space between them to get the bolts out. Now I just have to get everything put back together. Thanks for the help!

Josh