Has anyone on this forum had to seperate the body and frame to remove the transmission? My manual has a procedure to do this in order to remove the transmission. Trust me there isn't enough room to even put the socket on the bolt much less a swivel and extension. I have a 1991 4dr 2wd S-10 Blazer with the 4.3 and 700r4. I understand the procedure but I'm having some issues with supporting the body. I can't seem to find jack stands tall enough to support all the bolting points listed in the manual (4 or 5 each side depending on the model). The manual stresses the importance of correctly supporting the body in order to avoid tweeking and damage to the body. Anyone have tips or pointers on this? I've had to replace some difficult transmission in my time but nothing like this. Even the impact wrench sneard at me while trying to remove the 20 year old bolts out of the frame. Of course I just had to snap one off. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

You DO NOT have to take the body off the frame. Are you serious? In which manual did you read this? Especially on a 2 wheel drive truck. At the very most you might need to unbolt the Y-pipe. You should be having no problem getting to the bell housing bolts. You need to use swivels on a 24 or 36 inch extension with an impact from behind the transmission.

 

never have i had to remove the body to do a transmission, you can get the bolts

 

Chris, the manual is a "Chilton's". It states that the upper transmission-to-engine bolts (especially the upper left) are difficult to access and withdraw due to the close proximity of the cowl sheet metal. I know what my eyes see and I can tell you the distance from the bolt head to the sheet metal is less than 1/4 inch. There is not even enough room to put a socket on the bolt head, much less extracting it. Have you replaced a transmission on a 4dr 1991 Blazer with the 4.3 and 700r4 or something similar? Any help is much appreciated. The separation of the frame and body isn't that hard. I just need some input on how to support the body while working on the transmission.

 

support the rear of the transmission,
remove transmission cross member,
lower rear of transmission.
you should have better access to the bolts now. if not, jack up the front of the motor slightly to angle the motor giving you better access to the bolts

 

Yes Packofqtips. I first posted this question/help post in the first generation section of the forum and included what you have mentioned, letting down the back support and jacking up the front of the engine. I've heard you have to be very careful not to break the engine mounts though. I hear loosining them helps as well. At the same time I've heard that doing so still doesn't give enough room to access the upper left hand bolts. I'm gunna try that tomorrow anyway. Thanks for the input.

 

ive done a few transmission on 4wd blazers and never had to lift the body

 

OK but on what years? They all vary. Like I mentioned I've done a few myself but have never seen one quite like this. One issue I forgot to mention, when you let down the support in the rear the transmission will tilt back in my favor as far as the angle to the bolt is concerned, but after the transmission is out how do I gain that favored angle back again upon reinstallation. I have to be carefull not to bend the output shaft.

 

they really dont vary that much,
83-94 is pretty much all the same
and 95-04 is the same
and ive done both,and they were 4.3 motors

the only thing i can think of is you have one that was hit hard and no longer sits correctly on the frame

As hard as the engineers who design these things make it, they leave enough room to pull these bolts without taking the body off

 

Nope, my grandfather purchased this truck brand new in 1991 and he left it to me when he died in 1998. I'm the second owner and it has NEVER been in a wreck. It's actually in fantastic condition. My manual says to lift the body from the frame. I see a bolt head 1/4" from the cowling. It cannot be done any other way from what I see. I need help! Thanks for all the input. If need be I'll try and take some pics.