Thanks, Bmorgil. I neglected to mention that the engine is still out of the vehicle. I haven't put it back in yet. So the engine bay is completely open. I've taken off the interior floor plates so I can easily see the bell housing to transmission bolts and was just wondering it it was easier to take them apart while the trans/transfer case are still mounted or if I should drop everything and take it all apart once they are out from under the vehicle.
If its high enough in the air to get it out with the bell housing on, it should be a piece of cake. Just unbolt the cross member from the frame and drop it down a few inches. Take the shifters off the transfer case and then drop it down the rest of the way and roll the whole thing out bell housing and all.
Om my cj5 I pulled the tub off for rust repair, and it was well worth it! I could not be doing the work I am if it was still on the frame. For the few bolts and wire needed to disconnect, it takes 2 people to lift the tub off, saves so much time/backache when doing rust repair. Or removing transmission. I set my tub on its side on two moving dollys from Harbour freight. Then it hardly takes up any floor space and can be shoved against a wall when not working or you can roll it anywhere in the shop to work on it.
The nice thing about a CJ5 is that the access cover for the transmission is big enough to where you don't even have to remove the steering wheel to pull the body. Us flat fender guys have a tiny cover that hugs the top of the shifter tower. I agree, it is a whole lot easier to just bite the bullet and pull the body and put it in a position to better suit your comfort.
I have to agree. Once you get going, you cant beat taking the tub off. Everything becomes very accessible. Of course once you pull that trigger, its hard to stop. The next thing you know you have it completely disassembled down to the frame.
Thanks, guys. I guess you've convinced me to pull the tub. I've basically taken the front end down to the frame and I'm slowly working my way backwards! But, of course, I realized that I can't put the steering gear box/shaft in if I'm going to take the tub off, so some things just have to wait I guess.
I appreciate the advice on storing the tub on the moving dollys, 56willys! However, if you saw my shop, you'd realize that even doing that won't work. I've got too much stuff in there now, mostly due to Covid and having to buy weight sets for my two boys to continue their workouts while everything was closed and then hauling all of my Dad's stuff from his place down to mine when they moved. Some folks might call me a hoarder, I suppose. I know my wife would. I come by it honestly, though, since my Dad did the same thing. You never know when you might need this!
"mostly due to Covid and having to buy weight sets for my two boys to continue their workouts while everything was closed [/QUOTE]
The good news is you have some buff guys to lift the tub off and carry it wherever you need it. While you sit back drinking sweet tea!
I think you'll be glad you decided to take it down to the frame. You can put the steering box in and still take the tub off. There's enough clearance with the transmission cover off. Also I get the space thing, I had do do quite a bit of organizing to get my tub to fit inside the garage, tarp carports are life savers!
Yeah, I think tarps are gonna have to be my go-to for storing these. The other issue is that I have a Kelly Hard Top that needs to be removed and stored as well. Oh, well, always a problem to solve!
You're right, though, I will be utilizing my boys to help with this. I just have to wait until the oldest one is back from college to help. He's currently playing baseball in Wisconsin. His younger brother will be playing baseball in CA this fall, so then they'll both be away and I'll have to wait for both of them!!
Quick update. Finally got the Dana 25 buttoned up and filled with gear oil. As best I could figure it took 43 oz of oil to fill it. IMG20240317171145.jpg
Also received the Warn locking washers for the front locking hubs that I rebuilt so I got those installed. IMG20240317170959.jpg
And then I started in on the steering. I got the bell crank installed but that is all I could get to before I ran out of time. IMG20240317171008.jpg IMG20240317171052.jpg
One question I do have is on recommended torque values throughout the Jeep. I found, through some internet searching that the bell crank shaft nut should be tightened to 70-90 ft lb and that the bracket bolt that clamps down on the bell crank shaft should be torqued to 50 ft. lbs. My question is where do I find these values? Is there a central location to look torque values up? The repair manual doesn't mention anything about torque values that I can find.
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