SM465 install.....How I did it alone

[saxart]

Just wanted to share how I put the SM465 trans back in the truck myself today. Hopefully this thread helps someone in the future. The back story is that I had a buddy over yesterday. He and I, with the help of a floor jack and a pair of jackstands, tried 3 times to get the transmission in, but nearly dropped it on our heads and our fingers all three times. I don't own a transmission jack, and didn't want to pay someone else to put it in, so it was time to get crafty with the welder. (If you don't own a welder, gather up the pieces and ask a local muffler shop to hook you up with the juice box)

First step was to remove the "saddle" from your floor-jack. On mine it just pulls out.



Next, find a cheap socket from your local home improvement store that is the same width and length as the stub on your floor-jack saddle. (The one I found cost a whole $2.25) Once you've located a matching "stub", weld it to the bottom of a plate of steel. (Please don't judge my welds, this is supposed to be a helpful thread, and "hate" just wrecks the mood. LOL)





Next you're going to remove the two side plates that are on the transmission and weld some "legs" on top of the jack plate you just created. These legs need to bolt to the holes in the transmission case from the two side plates. I happened to have some bar-stock that had slots in it that just happened to work for the holes that line up with the bolt-holes on the trans case. (I got lucky...)



You'll get the angles right if you bolt the "legs" to the transmission, then weld them to the plate.

Here's the finished set up:





The resulting set up is so sturdy that I was able to raise up the transmission and drag it around the garage like a kids wagon in that raised position.



(Excuse the mess in the background, it had just started raining and I had to drag a bunch of stuff in from the rain.)

One caveat is that you'll need to get the truck up pretty high to get this set up under the truck, then lower the truck back down once you get past the frame rail. I have the front clip off this truck, so I was able to sneak it in right behind the front wheel where the frame rail rises up over the front suspension. Even then the truck was pushed up about as high as a floor jack would take it.

Good luck everyone...