Had always thought time was the main issue in getting into this fix however Friday night a mate offered use of his hoist to get the job done.... What a difference it made
Up she goes on the Hoist:
Compressor and ratchet gun quickly had all necessary bolts undone and gearbox plus what was left of the transfer case out
:
Changed some parts over from the old box to the new (very second hand) transfer case including 4wd actuator and levers, oil seal before the handbrake, and a cracked gear lever and plate. This is also all it should take to convert from a vacuum operated 4wd actuator to a manual one. Just remove vacuum operated unit (gone in top right hand Red circle) and replace with manual unit (in bottom Red circle). Then just need to bolt on the manual change levers to areas circled in blue:
Filled up gearbox and transfer case with new oil and then up into the hole with a block and chain:
All basically finished in ONE MORNING !
This is a major achievement for me as would normally take weekends of frustration and skinless knuckles to complete. When I did the clutch it took an hour to get the box out but 3 months to lift the heavy bloody thing back in. Just goes to show that having the right tools makes all the difference in getting work like this done quickly and with less effort than would otherwise be required.
Just need to rebuild front hub, replace bent shackle, and replace handbrake cable and truck is ready to hit the mud again. Can't wait.
Have got a start up vid of it running on the host - music to my ears
But you should have sprung over the axle while you were on the hoist