fixing tranny's?

[jt1583]

why is it that when a transmission or transfer case goes bad its necessary to send it to someone? is it incredibly hard to work on them? are the replacement parts hard to come by? i find it disturbing that all this engine work can be done in one's garage but when it comes to transmissions it has to go to shep. why is this?

 

[pneumo]

It's tougher to do a full rebuild correctly because there are many more clearances and tolerances that need to be set, it's a lot more work, and many parts can be put in the wrong way. You also need a good bearing press and gear pullers to work on the gearsets, which are expensive.

Not all tranny work needs to be so involved, tho. For example, installing a LSD is easy enough for most home mechanics because you don't touch the gearsets or the clearances of the other shafts. The level of difficulty depends on how deep into the trans you want to go. The gearsets are the hardest part.