i will be changing out my torque converter with a banks one ths weekend and am wondering if there is any seals or bearings that i should change while i am in there, an special tools needed to change said parts.

 

I just did this last month in my 02 psd. You'll only need to lower the trans and scoot it back about a foot to get the old one out.

The bell housing bolts are 19mm and you'll need a swivel union and around 3 feet of extentions are best. That way you can be towards the rear of the tranny and get plenty of torque on them. The torque converter is attached to the flywheel by 6 13mm nuts. Inspection cover is 10mm bolts. I had to grind mine off and easy-out them.

The starter can stay in. If not doing any thing else to the trans or transfer case, you might be able to leave them attached, depending on what type of jack you have. Driveshafts were a bear for me. Attached to the transfer case by 12pt 12mm bolts. No room to get a socket on them, so they have to come loose via a hand wrench. I found one about a foot long at sears that had a 14mm on the other end. Carrier bearing bolts are 14mm. U-joint bolts are 8mm front and rear.

Exhaust can stay in but if removing the transfer case from the rear of the trans, those bolts are hard to get to. The skid plate and crossmember are 15mm and 18mm bolts/nuts. Nuts that hold the trans to the crossmember are 21mm I believe. DO NOT take any of these loose until you have the trans and/or transfer case properly secured on jack!!!

Undo the lines from the side of the case. The shifter linkage needs to be unbolted off the side. You do not need to remove the electronic shift module from the side. The linkage is attached the the shift arm via a plastic retainer clip (white on mine). Before removing the linkage bracket, use a sharpie and mark on both sides of the clip. This will help with reinstalling where it was before.

There's 2 wiring plugs going to the transfer case and 3 on the tranny itself. The 2 sensors on top (front and rear) are hard to take off with it in place. Lower the trans some and you can gain access. There's some vent tubes on top also that can't hardly be seen when in place.

Long version of help! But hopefully it helps. I took mine all the way out so I separated the trans and the transfer case, so I removed all the exhaust, heat shroud, driveshafter, and unplugged all wires. You may not need too.

I also did it entirely by myself and it took me around 5 to 6 hours to completely remove it from under the truck. If just scooting back to replace TC, then it won't take as much time, especially if you've got help!!

 

They've changed the design of the front trans seal, and it would be a great time to replace it.

Banks may not include one, so make sure you have one on hand.

Anybody have that P/N for him?

Pop

 

deffitnly helped sounds alot easier than i thought after reading your post, i have done the t-case before, i will be fully dropping the tranny to make the power elbow and new downpipe install easier. i will be doing this in a garage so i have acess to trany jacks and a drive on lift, so that will help alot. when you didi the converter did you change any tranny pump seal(ie front pump oil seal?

 

strokerace, after you but the banks converter in how did the tranny act, shift better-worse,acceleration good-bad,gear hunting, was wondering if i needed a trans command

 

I would do any of them that looked easy enough. When I did clutches in my old vehicles, I would have rear mains and front trans seals handy. The rear mains were always easier than the pilot bearing, so it was my little reward when I finally got it out.

Spend the $30 on the seals and while you have it apart see how much work it will take to do them.

The shifting was probably faster because of the higher speed. As I understand the trans command type units, they just control T/C lock up. The T/C clutches are hopefully upgraded in the banks converter, but I believe the instructions for the controller is not to use it under heavy load or acceleration (you want the torque multiplying feature for those uses).

 

Ditto on the seals.

 

Removing the exhaust and shroud made me alot more room on the pass. side. That was must me and my big hands though. It may not be needed. I'd say, don't rush it and take your time.

I didn't use a banks converter. I just went back with a new heavy duty stock one. Talked to Brian at BTS about using one of his (precision) but he recommended against that because it would be too much for a stock trans. I plan on doing a fully built trans from BTS in the future, so I didn't want to put alot into it right now.

My seals were fine, so I left them alone. Didn't get into the case at all. If you've got some downtime and want to do the rear main seal on the motor, that'd be a good opportunity also.