Trouble reseating the tranny

I am having a helluva time getting the tranny reinstalled in my '71 CJ5. I replaced the clutch/pressure plate/clutch fork and t/o bearing and it's all ready to be put back together. I'm having a tough time getting the input shaft to fully seat. I was able to get the splines from the input shaft to fit in the clutch disk but I couldn't get it to seat. It was about 1 inch off. I backed it out and inserted my clutch alignment tool which went in without any problems. The input shaft looks good and not bent or anything.

Is this usually a pain in the butt or am I doing something wrong? It was a bear to get off so I imagine it's tough to put on too! Any tips would be appreciated!

-Milan

 

Sometimes this is a real pain sometimes easy. A decent jack to level it all up is very, very helpful, a second set of hands is a god send, after that remember patients is a virtue. It will then all of a sudden slide in like nothing. The only other thing is you haven't hit or pushed on this thing hard enough to damage the pilot bushing have you???

 

make sure to lube the pilot bushing slightly with some lithium grease. Other than that I would think its just not aligned correctly. sometimes the clutch alignment tool doesn't get it perfectly straight either. If you can wait until tomorrow, I'll stop by and help you in the morning.

 

It can be a real PITA sometimes. Make sure you don't start tightening the bolts on the bell to take up the inch. That's a sure fire way to break a bellhousing.

 

Did you replace the pilot bushing? If so, did you check it on the end of the shaft before you put it in? As was mentioned above sometimes they are just a b*tch and then will suddenly just about fall into place.

 

When we put Joes back together laying on the ground at Crawfords last may we struggled with 3 of us for 15 minutes and then it slid in so easy it was pitiful.

 

That's a pain in the *** to do by yourself. Billy was going to help me but I was to impatient to wait for his help and did it myself. If you can wait for help or bribe somebody with beer you're much better off. Big jack is a great help and two longer bolts, one in the top corner and one opposite corner (diaganolly) helped out as well. I also loosened the tranny adapter as well before installing, that gave me a little bit more play as well.
I spent a good two hours with no luck went to lunch came back and played with it again no luck. Then I used a couple of 4-5" bolts to help guide it in. Still no luck. So I got up from under the jeep, shook the crap out of her (I probably kicked it as well) told it I'll tow her to the Everglades and leave her there. Went back under and it finally bolted up. It would have been much easier with help.
But if you're so inclined to do it by yourself - a big jack, some long bolts and a little luck.

 

If he has a stock 71, he doesn't have tranny adapter!!

 

I have a full roll cage in mine and I use a strap around the gearbox/transfercase and a come along around the center tubes of the cage. I can swap mine in and out in no time with almost no effort. Unfortunately not everyone has a full cage. I replaced the pilot bushing the first time I did this and had the same troubles you are having. I measured it and found the hole to be undersized so I had to remove it and bore it out a little to get the shaft to fit in it. Then it went together great