1996 Dodge 3500 CTD 47RE -> NV4500 Swap Started (w/ pics)

[dieselfuelonly]

Well, I have 5 more days until I've got to head down to ECU. Ugh. Shoulda worked for a year, but... whatever. Of course I procrastinated on the swap.
PART I:
Picked up the rest of the stuff I need for the swap, minus the flywheel bolts. UPS hadn't delivered them to Phil yet (or something happened to them after they arrived, we don't know).
1. Got the flywheel that was in the donor truck resurfaced. Looks great.

2. New clutch - South Bend clutch rated for 350HP, 700ft/lbs of torque. If the guy that bought the cab of the donor truck would have showed up 2 days earlier, I would have gone up to the 400HP clutch, but, too late now, I can always upgrade later. Not like I'm anywhere near 350HP now anyway.

3. Stopped by Northern Tool on the way home. Bought a 16mm wrench (as I had 4 15mm wrenches, 5 17mm wrenches, but apparently ZERO 16mm wrenches, WTF??), 2 sets of jack stands, as I couldn't remember what the set I had currently were rated for (stupid frickin' 2WD truck is too low and will be need to have all four corners off the ground in order to get the auto tranny out and manual tranny in), a little set of 1/2" sockets and a wrench, needed a wrench as my other 1/2" wrench disappeared, and a trans jack. Picked up my floor jack from the old house and mowed the lawn there (please, someone buy that damn house) on the way too.

Part II:
Drive truck in garage.

Stop JUST in time before backing into your NV4500.

Support the front of the truck with jack stands to make it easier to work under if you have a 2WD. Really wish it was a 4x4. Really like those dual-locking jack stands.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Don't forget to chock off the tires so the truck can't roll.

Remove the 4 bolts holding the driveshaft together by the rear diff. Unbolt the support at the back of the cab if you have the 2-piece driveshaft like I do. It helps to have a floor jack under to support the driveshaft during this, so when you remove the last bolt it doesn't come down and crack you on the head. Then, just pull the driveshaft out of the rear of the tranny. There shouldn't be a flood of fluid unleashed unless you have a bad rear seal. But a little fluid will leak out. Push the driveshaft off to the side.

Remove the 2 10mm bolts that hold the cover on to access the bolts holding the torque converter on. (the hole to the right). If you have a barring tool remove the rubber/plastic plug so you can turn the engine over and feel the bolt as it goes by to remove it. There are 6 of these bolts.

I didn't have a barring tool. So, I used a 22mm socket on the alternator pulley to turn the engine over. Its great to have someone do this while you feel for and remove the bolts, otherwise its kinda guess-and-check.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Start removing cooler lines. Realize that its probably a good idea to drain the tranny fluid out before you remove all these lines. Couldn't find a container to drain it into as all of mine were full, so I'll have to get another tomorrow.

Instead, take the required retarded looking picture of yourself, and call it a day. Didn't get much done... but, I'm getting there .

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Hoping this post will fix the title to 47RE instead of 48RE...

[EDIT]

Nope, maybe a mod can fix it?

Thanks.

 

[BRUISER]

Hoping this post will fix the title to 47RE instead of 48RE...

[EDIT]

Nope, maybe a mod can fix it?

Thanks.

DONE

 

[RufusTheRam]

nice, it's good to see something like this representing the younger crowd.

all of you retarded "underage users" take note.

 

[RenegadeT]

...3. Stopped by Northern Tool on the way home. Bought a 16mm wrench (as I had 4 15mm wrenches, 5 17mm wrenches, but apparently ZERO 16mm wrenches, WTF??),...

I'll bet you did have at least one 16mm wrenches before, they're marked 5/8

good post

 

[braxton357]

That transmission jack will pay for itself many times over...trust me. Well worth the money. And fwiw, you can turn the flywheel with a flathead screwdriver and watch for the TC bolts with a mirror. In my experience, quicker than using a barring tool, but maybe not as quick as having a friend turn the alt. I assume you know that the frame has to be spread (quite a bit) to remove the crossmember, a porta power makes that easy too. Also think about putting a floor jack under the front of the engine and tilting it to remove/install the new trans, makes life easier as well. Your exhaust is more than likely going to have to come off too.
Oh, and you're going to have to lift the truck quite a bit higher than that to get the trans out too...
I've only pulled/installed mine twice...but both times by myself. Just some things I've learned. At least you get to skip the bench pressing the tcase onto the output part.
Have fun.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Thanks for the advice. I decided to buy the transmission jack because my dad is considering the possbility of buying the automatic from me, since it only has 15k miles on it and some good Goerend stuff in it and putting it in his '96 2500. By the time I would have rented the trans jack twice for my removal, and swapping trannies out on his truck, it would almost equal the price of buying one.

I realize the truck is gonna have to go up quite a bit higher. But for now, I just needed a little more room to work "comfortably" under there, so just raising the front end slightly worked well.

I've heard different ways of removing the crossmember, ranging from what you suggested to beating the living snot out of it with a hammer. From what I hear a bottle jack and a piece of 4x4 works great - I think I'll try that first.

If you ever remove your trans again, get someone to turn the alternator pulley and stick your finger in the hole and just feel for when one of the bolts comes by. It was super easy and only took a few minutes. The worst part was getting the bolts out because there isn't much room for your socket wrench to move, so it takes a little bit to get started.

If the exhaust needs to come off, that won't take more than a few minutes. Since its all hand made (the redneck way, of course ), I can just remove a clamp or 2 and a hanger and it should come off easy, the worst part being trying not to get diesel soot all over me in the process.

Thanks for the tips, and I'll try to update this daily as I go along. I hope to have the auto out tomorrow, and get the hole cut for the floor shifter tomorrow - we'll see how that goes. My 2 jugs of the Castrol Syntorq trans oil is supposed to arrive tomorrow or Monday from Quad4x4 - that stuff is freakin' expensive!! Hopefully those damn flywheel bolts get here in time - I MUST have this done by the end of summer break, otherwise...... well, I'll get it done .

Its 3:22 am. I can't sleep.

 

[Cperry]

Quad 4x4 also sells a tranny filter that i ihave installed on a few NV's. I have the syntorque and the tranny filters in stock so you won't have to buy from montana or wherever dan is from. Good company that Quad 4x4 they know there NV4500 stuff.

Now stop taking pics of yourslef and rip that bad boy out.