Have you never put a body lift on? Its not rocket science. He can't need that much room to get everything in. There's not that much difference in size. Not sure why you're making this more difficult then it needs to be.

 

Not making it difficult at all. Why so defensive? We're all here to help and no I don't understand your method. A body lift requires a few inches of lift. If you tilt the cab on one side 3" that's only 1.5" of space gained at the tunnel...simple geometry. What if he needs six inches....are you telling me you can tilt the cab a foot without unbolting the fender? I find that hard to understand. I've torn these trucks down to the frame so I know what is difficult and what isnt. What I suggested is no more difficult and keeps from flexing body panels at joints that were meant to flex. Removing four bolts and shifting the fender off the cab is 10 minutes of work. But if your method is possible and works...great. I just don't see it and will wait for 93 to tell us how he achieved it.

 

Remove
The
Front
Body
Mounts
At
The
Bumper
And
All
The
Ones
At
The
Cab.

Cab and fenders all get lifted together. What's confusing you?

 

The fender is still connected to the front core support at the top....are you lifting the core support with the radiator, evaporator, battery tray etc....all that is connected to the core support that's still connected to the fender. That's what is confusing....and no sense in responding like that...trying to have a civil discussion.

 

Not getting at anything except I'm a dumbass. My bad, shouldn't have made a diverge without saying so. Not sure what you're getting so pissy about to be honest.

But on topic, body lift is not what we're talking about. For example, 2" body lift requires a smidge more than 2". Cramming an NV3500 under a cab without being able to remove the bellhousing may require a lot more lift... no one who has responded including me knows exactly how much.

 

I don't know...try and ignore him, just looking for an argument or somethign. But yes, you can lift the whole cab, fenders and rad support by only disconnecting a few things, but the question is exactly how much does it need to be lifted and how much slack is there in all the wiring and hoses, and for that I'm right on board with ya because simply angling the cab MAY not be enough to cram the NV in without a heck of a lot of trouble.

edit: just seen you have said basically the exact same thing that I just said in the preceding convo...so yeah we're on the same page in the same book robertmee.

 

No, not trying to start an argument at all. That's pretty petty on the internet with a complete stranger. Just trying to convey not much, as you stated, needs to be disconnected to lift up the in tire front 2/3 of the truck.

 

Okay but the problem is how much lift needed.

Just for future reference the one word per line deal comes across as pretty rude when it's clear there's just a difference in opinion...actually more like just perspective. robertmee's post made total sense to me, not sure what there is to disagree with in it.

Cheers.

 

Thank you for a civil response. Yes the issue at hand is how much center lift at the tunnel is required...that's why the insistence of comparing it to a body lift of a couple inches made no sense to me because I suspect it's going to be much more than that. And if you unbolt the fenders at the cab and core I believe you can move them side to side off the cab enough that you can tilt the cab more. Even then theres limitations with the steering shaft, the ac lines and the brake lines which are all still holding the cab to things you're not tilting.

It will be interesting to hear from ragged or 93 when he does it as to the final solution....as we are all just best guessing at this point.

 

93RT you're almost there, take that leap man! There's a 5.9 somewhere with your name on it!

Seriously, I guess I started this mess by wondering out loud what it would take to get that NV3500 back out once I put it in my '89. I know I mentioned jacking the cab, and that still seems necessary whenever I look at that cross member. That being said though, '95-'96 V8 4WD 5 speed Dakotas used the NV3500, and therefore there must be a documented way to get it out. I'm reasonably sure (yeah, I know) that a '96 Dakota 4WD has the same cross-member configuration as the '87's did. The problem I've run into is that I can't find anything on the subject. The manual breezes right through the removal process, like it's straight forward, i.e. no cab jacking required. And heck, the 4WD's with automatics should be in a similar situation, since they also have an integral bell-housing. Of course, you don't have to move an automatic straight back several inches for the main shaft to clear the clutch assembly, like you do with a 5 speed.

OK, maybe I've over-stated the case, maybe it's easier than it looks. It's too late tonight, but tomorrow I will try to get a couple pics of what it looks like under there, clearance-wise. I know the last time I was looking at it, I figured if I lifted the cab 2-3 inches at the bell-housing, it would probably be enough. I would do that by jacking the left side, putting a wood spacer in the mounts, then jacking the right side and placing spacers in.

Sorry it took me a couple days to jump in here. Family events keeping me away.