I am reposting this in the Ram forum for hopefully a few more looks as the motor and transmissions are the same, maybe get a few more expert eyeballs who can help me out

Hi all, so I am replacing my clutch and rear main seal on my 98 dakota, with the 5.2L NV 3500 and 4 wheel drive. I currently have the transmission, transfer case, and clutch out of the truck, along with the front differential, starter, inspection plate and drivelines. I have the oil pan loosened and ready to drop, however I have an issue. The support brackets for the front differential and transmission are part of the motor mounts and are in the way of the oil pan. They attach and wrap around the motor mounts and require supporting the motor in some way?

Does anyone have experience doing this job? I have the Pavement Sucks article as a reference along with a Haynes manual, but the article is a bit different as the transmission brackets are different in that article. I need to remove at least one of the brackets (driver's side) and would need to support the motor, but where would I support it? I don't have a picker, but was hoping I could use some 2x4s below or a 4x4 from above with a chain maybe? It got late last night for me to really look at it, but I was hoping someone here had experience with this job. Ideas on jacking locations or support locations? How did you do it? Any help is greatly appreciated!

I found this post that mentions not having to lift the motor, it is hard to tell looking at the transmission to motor bracket if it is part of the motor mount or just wraps around and can be removed without the motor going unsupported. Without the transmission attached and bolted to the crossmember currently I don't want to have the motor only supported by one mount. My other thought is to finish the clutch and get the trans and crossmember back in place to provide support. Just nice having the extra room to see what I am doing right now

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...n-removal.html

"no need to lift the engine, or remove exhaust. more than enough room to do so. replace the rear main seal while youre in there."

"there is enough room on a 4x4 to do it without liftin the engine. i always seem to have to remove the trans support out of the way though, but other than that, you can shimmy it out of there."

 

Don't those brackets just go from the engine mounts, to the bellhousing? On the rams, the engine mounts, and differentials have nothing to do with each other.

With the trans still in place, drop the oil pan. (I removed both those mount to bellhousing brackets, and the starter, I had enough clearance to drop the pan.) Then you can use something the right length to support then engine on the oil pan rails to keep it from flopping around when you pull the trans.

 

Here is an image from the service manual for the 2000 5.9L 4x4. Does your bracket look like that one? It wraps around the top of the motor mount, and has connections to the front differential tang and the transmission bellhousing.

I already have the transmission out of the truck, so maybe I should reinstall it after the clutch replacement and then remove the brackets once the transmission is supported again by the crossmember? Otherwise I can borrow a picker and just do it that way. I was hoping I could support the engine another way since I already have the trans out of the truck and only need it supported, not lifted to get the pan out....

 

Image of bracket

 

Ah, you have independent front suspension. We have a solid axle. Quite a bit different.

 

Hmm, that bracket is quite a bit different than on the older trucks, on mine it bolts on outside of the motor mount on the block, allowing you to remove it and still have a motor mount in place, yours is all one piece.

 

Yeah I didn't realize there were so many different variations on the front ends of these trucks! I ended up borrowing a friend's cherry picker to support the engine while I take off the bracket. Looks like I can get away with only removing the bracket and motor mount on the driver's side, the passenger side bracket gives just enough space for the pan to drop out. Will know for sure tonight, took most of the evening yesterday getting the picker!

Thanks for the replies!

 

So I was able to get the pan out last night... had to lift the motor about 4 inches, pretty much as far as possible without removing the lower hose to the radiator. Even with that it was still a pain to get the pan to clear the crank journals with the steering linkage below. Had to remove the flywheel to get the pan to slide out to the rear, glad the transmission is still out. I unbolted the brackets from the motor and was able to lift it straight up without touching the motor mounts, and leave the brackets pretty much in place, just had to push them back a bit to get the pan past them, that was a bonus!

The great news is the pan was very clean, no sludge in there at all! Got the rear bearing cap off and loosened the others to take pressure off the crank to get the upper rear main seal out. Got everything cleaned up and tonight it goes back together. New oil pump and pickup tube are ready to go minus priming. Little worried about getting the pan back in with the gasket but I will use the fishing line trick. It was still a tight squeeze getting the pan out, so I will have to be really careful putting it back to not clip the gasket on the way back in.

Sure is a lot of hassle just to drop a pan, not like the old days!