pulling a tranny

[mauser_30]

i am recently a member here and i have a querry for the more learned out there i have a 97 ranger 4.0liter 4x4 Mazda M5OD-R1 and i am about to pull the tranny and transfer case in the next few weeks
what i am asking is how much of a pain in the ass is it gonna be to pull
and do i have to drop the exhaust??? i looked under it the other day and it looks like i will have to

 

[metalmacguyver]

have to, no. i am literally just putting my truck back together from replacing the clutch and my truck is identicle to yours. it is a pain in the ass but not as much as it is to fight with Exhaust bolts. you will have to force it out. and then some "remodeling" of the start of the tranny tunnel with a BFH and will massively help reinstallation. also to make it manageable, you need to pull the tcase first and then the tranny.

 

[madmax401]

i just did my tranny on my 96 3.0 . mine was a pain in the ass to and i was affraid to drop the exhaust, those manifold bolts were to damn rusty to work with. i ended up loosening my cab mounts and jacked the body up 3 inches and the trans came out and went in with no problems at all. plenty of room to work with and nothing broke. somebody in the past has cut the y pipe to get the trans out and then brazed it back together when they were done. it suprizingly has no leaks, i see headers in the future and that should eliminate clearance issues.

 

[metalmacguyver]

i ended up loosening my cab mounts and jacked the body up 3 inches and the trans came out and went in with no problems at all.

I was about 2 minutes away from doing a temporary body lift myself.

 

[grnrngr]

Didn't have a problem getting mine out of my 90 Ranger, but found it easier to drop the pipe to get it back in...my exhaust bolts looked pretty rusty also but got them out with a 15mm six pt socket (a 12 pt is guaranteed to round the corners and then yer screwed) on a 10inch +12inch extension and a cheater on a breaker bar. Make sure you use lifetime guaranteed tools..I broke a fairly decent 15mm socket and twisted the ends off of a couple cheap extensions trying to bust them bolts loose. But on the other hand, didn't mess with the pipe at all on my buddys 4.0 Explorer when I did his clutch...just gotta push it hard enough, and like the guy said, it's WAY easier to drop the t-case first. First time I did it, I thought it would be easier to do it as a unit, me and a friend had a rough time of it. On my B2 (three times) and on my buds Explorer, dropped the t-case first and did the whole job by myself. Good Luck!!

 

[northerncountry]

I just changed my clutch and slave cylinder although I took it out with out taking off the exhaust I think it sure would have been easier. To put it back in I used the old saws all and she slid right in couple of clamps for temp and away I went.