Ground transmission pull

[tyrone27]

Previous owner screwed me over and lied about the transmission being rebuilt. So now I have to put a used one in.

How hard is it to remove and install a 93 suburban transmission on the ground? I've done vw transmission but not a big truck one before. Can anyone give me any advice or tips.

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[mtl111]

Pulling the transmission while its on the ground is doable but not fun. Is your Burb a 4wd? You'll need some jackstands and a floor jack....a low profile transmission jack would be better. Removal is pretty straight forward, if its a 4wd I've found it easier to remove the driveshafts, disconnect any linkage and or electrical connections on the transfer case and transmission. Remove the crossmember bolts on the frame, remove transmission to transfer case bolts then slide the transfer back along the frame rails to make room for dropping the transmission. I'd drain the transmission by dropping the pan, or if you're lucky it'll have a drain plug. Put the pan back on for now. Remove dipstick, torque convertor to flexplate bolts, bellhousing bolts and you should be ready to drop that bad boy out! You may need to take the exhaust out to have clearance. Make sure the truck is high enough to clear the top of the trans bellhousing while its on the jack or you'll be cussing alot! Lol! Good luck and hopefully i didn't miss anything!

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[willxfs]

I did this a while back on my 1998 2 door tahoe. Its not too bad. Long extensions for the ratchet will help. My rig is 4wd so it sits a little higher and I had to remove the transfer case first. I was able to get the transmission down with a harbor freight tranny jack. I ended up having to jack up the truck a bit to get the transmission from out from under the truck. There are two wiring harness plugs on the side of the transmission (4L60E). They are pretty much glued together. I almost destroyed them getting the plugs apart. I've since read that if you use a heat gun, the glue will melt and the plugs will come apart more easily. Good luck. If I think of anything else, I'll post up. I'll be under the truck again this weekend changing the oil pan gasket.

I just remembered the plugs plug into an actuator on the side of the transmission. I think you can just unbolt the actuator from the side of the transmission and leave the whole thing under the truck. Might be easier than fighting with the glued plugs.

 

[MadDogDelpho]

Just dropped the trans in my 96 2 Door a couple months ago. You also might Want to invest in some hose wrenches for a pair of hoses on the passenger side that are a pain in the rear end. We also put the front end of the truck up on ramps and chocked the rear tires, made it a lot easier to get to everything and allowed everyone to have plenty of room working. It wasn't too hard of a job, just be careful of all your wires and have plenty of cat litter handy. It's a very spill-heavy job.

 

[tyrone27]

I just had a thought. What if the damn flex plate bolts came off. Seeing his work I wouldn't put it pass him

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[MadDogDelpho]

Then you're gonna want to remove the torque converter bolts, and when you pull the trans be very very careful, it probably won't fall off because the bolts won't be able to back all the way out.

 

[1_8TTony]

Did this job a few weeks ago in a parking lot.....took me all of an hour and a half start to finish. This is a really basic/simple transmission swap to accomplish.

Some of the tools I use for these trans jobs are:
Lots of extension for the ratchet........like 3 1/2 feet extension.

15mm wrench cut in half to access the top bolt on the transfer case.

Once the trans-to-motor bolts are broke loose, I use a tiny 1/4" drive ratchet with socket to spin the bolts out the rest of the way. Not much room to work in there between the sides of the bellhousing section of the trans and the floorpan of the truck.

1/2" drive breaker bar with deep socket and swivel extension joint to get at the exhaust bolts where they come off the manifolds.

If you have access to ratcheting wrenches......you're Golden and your swap time will be cut waaaaay down.

Yes the exhaust (2 into 1) crossover pipe will have to be removed. 8 bolts. Deep sockets or ratcheting wrenches.

As Willxsf mentioned about the plugs and the actuator on the side of the transmission. This actuator is actually called the "shift range indicator". And yes, it can be unbolted (rather than disconnecting the glued-in plug). Those bolts are 13mm. There are two bolts attaching it onto the transmission. The forward bolt is actually behind the plug. You will need a thin 13mm open end wrench to gain access to this bolt. If you unbolt it, take care when reinstalling it onto the shaft from where it came from. There is a hole in the middle of the shift range indicator. It looks like a circle, but it is not. If you look closely, you will see a tiny flat section. This tiny flat section indexes with a flat section of the shaft it slips onto.

You may need torx bit T-35 ( on a ratchet) for the shift cable bracket and the transfer skid plate.

 

[tyrone27]

Did you use a transmission jack or regular

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