I am in the middle of tackleing this job and it is not going near as smoothly as I thought. $500 to the trans shop is looking like it would have been worth it.

I got the trans separated from the motor and mounts and slid it back JUST far enough to get a wrench in there to get the flex plate bolts out and bearly sneak the broken plate out. Heres the problem. I cant get my fingers in there enough to get the bolts into the new one.

My questions are:
#1 I though you could take the trans and transfercase out together!? It appears not because I have the pair back as far as possible and it hits the welded crossmember below the transfer case. And it cannot go above it. This still does not allow the transmission to clear the front welded crossmember to come out.
If I could even get it back another inch... I could get it in with out pulling the trans.

#2 Whats involved in separating the transfer case from the transmission? If I took the transfercase out, the transmission would go back that extra inch to get the plate in.

#3 WTF was dodge thinking when it welded those 2 crossmembers in!? And making the middle one (bolted trans support) angled so it wont come straight down!?

I keep swearing to my self.... "This cant be this hard. I just cant be!"

 

1: Nope sorry you can't take it out as one. (We did say that earlier). LOL Sorry sounds like you made more work for your self. Do your self the favor and REMOVE both of them not just moving it rearwards.

2: Remove the driveshafts if you haven't already shift linkage and wires. Remove the bolts 6 or so. 1 is directly on top which can be a pain. I can't remember if you have the body lift, if so it will help getting that bolt as well as any of these other engine to transmission bolts off.

3: They probably were thinking of rigidity by welding in that crossmember. They weren't thinking of ease of access.

 

Report:

Project is done AND I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANY TRANSMISSION WORK ON A DODGE DAKOTA TO ANYONE!!!! This job would have cost me $500 labor at a local trans shop and would have been worth every penny.

Anyway.... you CAN do this with out dropping the transmission and separating the transfer case. Its a real bear, but if you are not able to drop the trans yourself, you can do it. Just need small fingers.

Got everything bolted back together after 3 nights of working on it and went to start it and it would not start. WTF.

Crankshaft position sensor. NEED TO BE CAREFUL WITH THIS IF ITS THE POS STOCK ONE. (Like above mentioned ) Must have broken off while jockeying around the transmission and when I bolted EVERYTHING back together, it was hanging down in the bell houseing.

Split EVERYTHING back apart to get it out, bought a new one (With a metal mount) bolted all back together and drove it to work today.

Will never do that again and dont recommend it to anyone or their worst enemies!

Thanks for the help guys!

 

Well, it's done and you have $500. My friends (car buddies) think I am weird that I pay someone to fix my vehicles, major problems, and not fix them myself. "It'll only take a day to do" they say, yup, while I am on the lake fishing they are busting their hump. BTW, I also have the best running vehicles that don't have chronic problems.

There is a BIG difference between working on cars and fixing them.

 

Completely agree. And if its just a project vehicle for fun versus your daily driver... that makes a big difference too.

I have 2 other irons in the fire that need to be completed before the snow flies and this one pushed them back a week!