Lizard928

I now have a couple 2 post hoists and have not removed it via this method in many years. :P
Removing the transmission while I am on my back is definitely something I do not wish to do again!

islaTurbine

I’m envious Of you having a 2-post, though I feel fortunate to have a 4-post even if it’s not ideal for doing certain types of maintenance work. My car obviously sits on the wheel ramps of the 4-post which makes the traditional method of transmission removal of lowering the entire rear suspension a bit more involved. That’s why your method here intrigued me.

It would be very much appreciated if you could jog your memory and let me know your thoughts on those three questions.

Bulvot

I have a four post lift and recently removed and installed the manual transmission on my 1987 S4.

I first removed the exhaust from the X-pipe back, then used bridge jacks to lift the rear of the car by the factory jack points on the body. I removed the wheels and followed the WSM in every regard. To hold,lower and lift the crossmember, I used a 1/2 ton transmission jack (Sunex 7793B). Using the transmission jack, I lowered the cross member onto the ramps of the lift and then jacked the bridge jack up to the highest safety locks to give as much clearance as possible between the car and the lift. Then, I lowered the lift to the ground and walked the crossmember out to the rear one end at a time. I had to fold the shocks down/out, but with the car jacked up the wheel wells had plenty of clearance for that. I put the crossmember on a dolly to make it easy to move around. It's really not very heavy and can be picked up by one relatively strong person with all of the suspension components attached. But, a dolly makes it easier to move around.

I used the same transmission jack to remove and install the transmission. It made it super easy. I did use a thick steel bar and some wood blocks to get a nice stable platform for the transmission, and of course used the safety chain. You could definitely do the same thing with just some wood.

While there are a lot of steps to the transmission removal and installation, it was pretty easy. The hardest part about the whole thing was doing the alignment afterward. And that was only a pain because I decided to redo the caster on the front and that iterative process is never much fun. But the transmission removal and installation turned out to be pretty easy.

I did leave the torque tube installed since I had no need to remove it. The transmission jack is pretty essential in my opinion. Unless you have at least one other strong person (preferably two extra people for a total of three) to help you lift it into place and strap it up. I wouldn't recommend doing it that way, but it's probably possible. If you don't want to spring for a transmission jack, you could probably do it with a floor jack, or even better a motorcycle jack. Just lower the lift low enough to be the right height for the jack on the ground. The problem with that is you may end up having to have the lift raised a little, but not high enough to hit the first safety stop. Maybe put some wood under each corner of the lift ramps just in case something goes wrong? A proper transmission jack would be much safer and a lot easier

Bulvot

Here's a photo from when I did mine. You can see the black steel bar that I put under the transmission to extend the length of the jack platform, the piece of wood I put on the bar to support the rear of the transmission, red 90 degree ears that I placed under the fins just keep the transmission from rolling, the transmission jack itself, the blue ratchet strap holding the transmission to the car, and the black bridge jack holding the car up.

islaTurbine

I have a transmission jack but I’m hoping to avoid removing the rear end. I’ll be removing and rebuilding the TT and also inspecting the clutch assembly and replacing anything that looks suspect. Because...WYAIT, right?