THE-HOE

iTrader: (3)

Well I haven't really seen a thread where people went from 4wd to 2wd so i figured I would post up some pictures from when I did it.

The first thing was to take the transfer case, converter and old transmission out. The transfer case is in good working condition, the transmission is a FLT level 4 that no longer has forward gears. That being said, this transmission has lasted me through hell, and I will be buying from FLT again when I have the money.



With those out of the way I installed my new 4l80 flexplate, spacer, and bolts. (60 bucks from the junkyard)


Well heres the 80e. ( got it for 125 bucks with converter and dipstick from craigslist)


And here is is all cleaned up, and painted.



Next i extended my transmission line since this transmission is from a 97 or newer truck. I just used a compression fitting to connect me stock, cut, tranny line into the existing line that came with the transmission.


Next I had to use a tranny mount out of a 2wd transmission because the one for my 4wd was too wide and would not bolt up to the 2wd transmission.


Next was to make the cross-member, notice I drilled a single hole in the center so the 2wd cross-member would work.



Next I installed the transmission



Next I will be taking out the front diff and tearing apart the front axles and customizing them so I do not need to buy 4wd wheel bearings. Pictures should be up tonight.

TIM Z

iTrader: (12)

Lookin good bud.

Doesnt matter who builds it, the 60E isnt meant for full size heavy vehicles with boost, just wont last. I found out the hard way too.

For people who dont know, the 97 up 80e has better fluid flow due to the placement of the cooler lines on the trans case. And 00/or 01 up 80e has the LS style 12 oclock bolt hole on the bellhousing, but both years will work.

2 questions:

1. Rear driveshaft?

2. You gonna show how you ran/ did the wiring?

Congrats on your swap, your gonna be so glad you did it in terms of reliabilty and feel of the 80e shifts!

THE-HOE

iTrader: (3)

Thanks man, As for the rear driveshaft I will eventually have to order one. For now I have one that works, but its a little sketchy. I have to save up and order a nice strong one that has a slippage joint in it. Or whatever its called

And actually no, ha i didn't get any pics of the wiring but i did not do it myself. I bought a harness, because although I am very mechanically inclined, I do not mess with wiring. So it was a plug and play type of thing when it came to that.

GMCtrk

iTrader: (27)

Any clue what your driveline angles are like? Any vibrations?

THE-HOE

iTrader: (3)

No, i have no idea my driveline angles, That is something that I have never had to deal with before so I need to learn a lot in that department. And Yes it does have a vibration at about 70 mph. I was not sure if it was just beacuase the drive shaft I am using could be out of balance, or if it had something to do with driveline angles.

GMCtrk

iTrader: (27)

Most likely angles. I've been fooling with mine, but have had vibration issues since the 80 swap. Driveshaft is balanced, new ujoints, etc.

Also, why is your crossmember angled down?

THE-HOE

iTrader: (3)

Its hard to tell from the pictures, but that part is at the same angle as the parts that get bolted into the frame. The pieces that are welded to it are the things that are angled. It was to lift the transmission up a little bit higher because if I would have welded them straight ( without the upward angle) the driveshaft would have hit a cross member that my Tahoe has about a foot and a half behind the transmissions output shaft. maybe i can find a pic

THE-HOE

iTrader: (3)

Ok, next thing I did was take out the stock front axle shafts. Here is a pic installed.


Once i pulled on this one ( because I forgot to unbolt the outside nut) it fell apart.


If you unbolt the outside nut it will come off the splines instead of pulling apart at the joint like this one did. It doesn't matter though because it was going to get taken apart anyway.

Next I took all of the bearings and guts out of the assembly that gets bolted through the wheel bearing and it looked like this.



Then you just bolt it back in. This way my wheel bearings will stay together, and I didn't have to spend money on 2wd bearings.


Lastly I took out the front diff. It was easy to get all the bolts holding it in loose, but the diff was stuck up in there between its mounts and the steering linkage. I had to steer my Tahoe all the way to the left and maneuver it around quite a bit, but it eventually came out. Heres pictures of where it bolts up and it finally out of the vehicle.





Now I have a lot of cleaning to do, this thing is dirty.

THE-HOE

iTrader: (3)

bump for night