What all is involved in droping the front diff to pull the oil pan? I have always jacked the engine up to pull the pans, but dropping the front diff sounds easier if it is just pulling the mounting bolts and lowering the diff to get enough room to pull the pan. I sure love my solid axle trucks for pulling the pans.
Thanks!
Jeff S.

Yep, two vertical bolts in back and one horizontal bolt up front (if needed) and drop it down.

Thanks Roger! I was thinking of just emailing you.
Jeff S.

Does the front crossmember need to be removed also to allow the front of the diff to drop down?
Jeff

Not sure, probably depends on how far you need to lower it for access.

Good idea to, it is only four bolts and it lets the diff drop further.

It will help if you need a few more inches

However you can't drop the diff too far b/c of the angle of the CV joints

if you jack the crap out of the motor, drop the pan and the oil sump... you can pull it out the front of the truck over the steering arm. its tough and is really tight you have to turn the crank to get the rods out of the way so you can pull the pan out... its not fun but i have done it 2 times...

kevin <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

yeah, we pulled the pan, just enough to get in there, clean the surfaces and reseal, when we replaced the timing chain. Undo the motor mounts, exhaust, jack it up at the transmission, gives you just enough room. not a picnic

I finally got it done. What a mess. I put the engine together with the cork gasket that came in the rebuild kit from EB and it leaked. So I wanted to pull the pan to remove the gasket and put it together with FIPG. Well I had that stuff all up my arms after I got the pan back up there. I had to remove the pickup tube to pull the pan and so then I had to reinstall it with the pan part way installed and reaching in there without messing up the gasket sealer was not easy. I was hoping that with dropping the diff I would be able to get away without removing the pickup tube, but I was not so lucky. I tried.. I even had to jack the engine up some to get it off cause the pass side diff mount bolt got REAL hard to turn and I was afraid it was going to snap. I soaked it with PB Blaster and let it soak over night but it still kept popping and I did not want to have to drill out a broken bolt... Oh well I just finished and all looks good so far.
I have had quit the fun with this engine and leaks, when I put the exhuast manifold on, two of the rivets holding the heat shield on were interfering with the bosses on the head and the manifold would not seal all the way against the head, EB said he had only heard of this happening once before. So I drilled out the two rivet heads and it fit fine. I rebuilt the engine and had the crank ground, blah blah blah and even with the crank polished at the rear main and the viton seal in EB's kit, I had to pull the tranny to replace the seal the next weekend. I have been fighting this oil pan leak for a little while hoping it wasn't the gasket leaking. I tried swapping the oil sending unit cause the leak was right in that area but that didn't help. Then while working on the oil pan I notice the brand new water pump I installed 2000 miles ago was starting to weep out of the hole. I wiped it clean last night and when I came out this morning to work on the pan, there was a puddle of coolant under the engine and the coolant was starting to run out of the weap hole faster. Glad it happened now instead of while the wife was driving it. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
So I am crossing my fingers now.. I started it up and let it get up to temp and no leaks so far. I am letting it cool off now so I can check the coolant level.
The engine does run great though with EB's parts. I have rebuilt alot of engines but this one has given me the most trouble.
Thanks for the tips
Jeff S.