Yes, the press is key.

When I built mine, I used a 3" to 4" ABS pipe adapter instead of that fancy tool. Worked like a champ.

But getting all of the clutches aligned wasn't working for me, so I took my spare shaft and cut it down to make my own alignment tool.

 

Seems to me the hardest part is removing and installing it from the truck from the videos i watched.

 

Yeah, it's a bit of a bugger. Especially in a 2wd like mine. I had to jack the side WAY up to get the trans under the frame while on a tranny jack.

 

My truck is the sport edition. 4x4 3/4 ton It's pretty high and has 17 inch wheels.I'm starting to think i should do it myself.I can buy a lot of really strong parts for the price of a "built "one that i only have to install. I just want everything needed before i begin.The torque converter seems to be a huge part of the cost .Is it really necessary to buy a really expensive one to make it survivable for medium duty service.The most extreme workout would be towing 10000# a few times a year mostly on the highway and medium off road use. Would stock with weak points addressed be ok? Opinions...

 

Don't spend big bucks rebuilding the trans, and then put a cheap converter in it. You will hate yourself later when the cheap converter blows up, and takes out that nicely built trans. Get a GOOD one. Do it once, do it right, never worry about it again.

 

I went with a Recon CR70X-S2 iirc, when I bought my truck.

I towed an enclosed trailer with a 3-bedroom house worth of furniture and crap back from Florida to WA, 4k gov springs, 60lb exhaust springs, #100 fuel plate (that's about it for extra power), and it held up just fine. Trailer weighed in somewhere well north of 10k pounds.

 

I got rebuilt tranny from transdepot i got their stage 1 it was 1400. No core so i can work on my old one is i choose .I got new radiator and new tranny line .It seems good so far .I've drive about 20 miles and i'll tell more later.It seems to shift very smooth.

 

I now have 230 miles on it and it's doing good so far.While accelerating it seems to hold the gear longer and more output to rear wheels and gains speed on long climb. Took a lot of fluid though almost 12 quarts. Pan seems the same . Shifts from park harder than old tranny and when engaging 4 wd it hits hard from 4 low to 2 wheel high while in neutral.Is there an adjustment for this?

 

The shift from 4lo, to anywhere, (and into 4lo as well) is always a pain. Just the nature of the beast. I try having the trans in neutral, truck just barely moving, and yank it hard back into 4lo, (my truck is a 96, different pattern than yours I think.) and that works pretty good. Don't stop in neutral, you will end up having to shut off the engine to complete the shift more often than not, if you do.

 

Sounds like a good price. I would add an external trans cooler in your rig, cheap insurance... especially since you tow occasionally.