Now we get down to the heavy lifting - getting ready to remove the transfer case and transmission. Because Michael was out of town, and I didn’t want him to return to find my rotting corpse pinned under something heavy in his shop, I limited myself to what I thought were the easy bits. The transmission will be an all-hands evolution, I think…

Hey, the driveshaft comes off pretty easy! Just imagine that sucker rattling around like that after breaking a u-joint. And this is just the "pain-in-the-ass" end, not the "pole vault" end…

Next to come off was the front propshaft. Here’s the differential end. The Torx-head bolts here are pretty easy to get to, unlike the back end. The only trick is to put the transmission in "Park", remove the two (three if you’re lucky) bolts you can get to, then put it in "Neutral" so you can turn it to get the other(s). If you want more information on propshaft R&R, check out the Unofficial Guide to Propshaft Replacement.

Wedging the front end up like this gives you a little extra clearance to get at the bolts on the double-cardan joint end of the propshaft. Just don’t try to turn it while it’s like this.

This end is the real problem child. Even with a long extension, universal joint, or both, it’s very hard to get the socket squarely on these bolts. And when you do, backing them out traps the socket against the flange on the joint. Grrr…

Both driveshafts are out! And this time, I didn’t drop either one on my head.

Maybe I should replace the spiders while I have the shaft out…

With the transmission supported, the crossmember comes out. Having a set of deep sockets is really handy here, because the bolts that hold the crossmember to the frame are accessible only through holes in the frame. You can see that on one side, they are positioned vertically, but are horizontal on the other. One false move and you lose the nut inside the frame rail! Fortunately, I managed to get them all out without incident.

How’s this for an unpleasant surprise? When I turned the crossmember over, it started dripping oily water from the tiny gap on the end. At first, I thought I might be having a religious experience, but then I decided that it was just water that was trapped inside the hollow stamped crossmember. I don’t like to think about what it’s doing to the inside of it, though.

Here’s the transfer case. I hope that’s just engine oil. It’s going to get a physical anyway, just in case (pun intended).

Hmm. I think the transmission mount is going to get replaced, too.

Finally, I pulled the torque converter cover. Three of the four bolts are garden-variety hex heads, and come right off. But, since nothing can ever be easy, the fourth is a 6mm Allen head, ostensibly for propshaft clearance. The one thing Michael’s missing from his tool box is (you guessed it!) metric Allen sockets. He did have regular Allen wrenches, but the bolt was so freaking tight I couldn’t get it to budge, even with a cheater on the "long" end of the wrench. The stupid thing would just twist like a candy cane and spring out of the bolt head. I almost gave up until I found a 6mm wrench in the Big Box ‘O Allens that had a short end that was no more than 1/4 inch long. With nothing to bend, I was finally able to apply enough torque to get it loose. I giggled like a schoolgirl when it came loose after a half-hour of frustration.

With the TC cover off, I removed the three bolts securing the converter to the flex plate. Even with the plugs still in the motor, I didn’t have a problem turning the engine by hand with a wrench on the crank pulley, which makes me wonder about just how much compression I really have. I guess that’s one more mystery to be solved in a future installment…