well my sammy needs a clutch and i havent the slightest idea on how do it ill figure it out but are there any pointers you guys can give me and on my 1988 sammy is the cross memeber part of the frame ( thats what it looked like to me) i also could use a clutch alignment tool if anybody has one ill gladly pay you some money for it

When I replaced mine I pulled the engine and tranny together. You don't need to do that, I think you can just pull the drive shaft, un-bolt the engine and tranny mounts and slide it back off the engine then down with the front and out. I might have an alignment tool some where, hmmm. Send me a pm, I might find it.

A lot of clutch kits come with a free plastic alignment tool.  If nothing else you can usually borrow one from the parts store.

When I replaced the clutch on the SJ-410 I was able to just disconnect the intermediate shaft in between the transfer case and transmission then drop the transmission out the bottom of the vehicle.  I'm not sure if you can do that on a Samurai though.

yeah you can just take the crossmember off, take the d shaft off, unbolt the starter, take off your electrical on top of the tranny, unbolt the tranny, and it should just unstab out,  ive done 2 by myself, so it cant be that difficult i didnt even have an alignment tool one of the times

Once you get under there you will see how easy it is. I put a couple of trannys in one of the sami's I had and it was not a problem.

I sent you an e-mail. Hope it helps.

You will have to disconnect the motor mounts. I haven't figured out another way. I've done this a few times. Here's what I would suggest. Gather your parts first. Couple bottles of mystic gear oil and some prolong transmission treatment as suggested to me my Mrfuelish. If you go to suzuki info.com, you can find a copy of the field service manual. It will tell you how to do the clutch. Basically, when I do it, I remove the starter and disconnect the trans wires. Disconnect the clutch cable too. Then I get the exhaust out of the way for clearance and slide the engine forward a couple inches. Disconnect the necessary drive shaft or shafts and disconnect the transmission. Undo the motor mounts and transmission mounts and remove the tubular cross member. Slide the tranny back away and drop it down forward and it's out. It helps to have a cherry picker, or a come along attached to a 4x4 post straddled between a couple ladders so you can maneuver the motor back and forth. Clean your tranny off if you like. Remove the clutch assembly and remove the flywheel. Take it to a shop and have them turn it. $35.00 and 1 hour turn around here. Knock the pilot bearing out and put the new one in and reinstall. Install clutch kit and put it all back together. You will need the tranny in first gear when  you go to reinstall so you can turn the back of it to make the splines line up going into the back of the engine. I always do it without a jack and just muscle it back in. It will probably take you a day. Try to allow a couple days so you can run the flywheel to the shop. If your rear main oil seal is leaking, now is the time to replace it while the flywheel is off. You can also change the oil pan gasket while you have the engine lifted with the hoist. It's mostly tedious work and the hardest part is wiggelling around in the tight confines under your Zuk. The first time is the hardest and after that, it's alot easier but still time consuming. I'd help you if you were in my area. It's really not too difficult. Hope this helps and I hope I didn't talk you out of it. With what you will save in labor, buy yourself a good clutch kit and maybe a tool or two.

-Adam

I did not disconnect the motor mounts to pull the trans, pull the distributor and put a block of wood between it and the firewall and the engine will sag enough to clear the firewall with the bellhousing when you have trans crossmembers out of the way.

thanks alot for the help i got a suzuki clutch disc of ebay so im hopefully gonna just use that and turn my flwheel thats why i dont have a alignment tool. im going to get started on this tommorow well seee how it goes

I did not disconnect the motor mounts to pull the trans, pull the distributor and put a block of wood between it and the firewall and the engine will sag enough to clear the firewall with the bellhousing when you have trans crossmembers out of the way.

I always have a heck of a time getting my timing right after I pull the distributor so it's easier for me to just unbolt the mounts from the firewall and slide the engine forward. Just my preference.

-Adam

well i got it out and man was it a crappy time the crossmember was just a pain i had to pull the distubitor and it still took some prying and swearing.  do u guys think a oem clutch will hold up to 33s?

well i got it out and man was it a crappy time the crossmember was just a pain i had to pull the distubitor and it still took some prying and swearing.  do u guys think a oem clutch will hold up to 33s?

Shouldn't you have asked this question before you bought the clutch? You already got the clutch off ebay right? I think I would have got a top notch clutch for the 33's myself if you're going to wheel in it. For street, it should be o.k. for now. Probably wear a bit quicker than with stock wheels. As far as getting the tranny out, I've done it both ways and prefer to move the engine forward a couple inches with a come along attached to a chain for support. Right now I have a big eyebolt attached to my garage ceiling for the come along. It works out pretty good and I don't have to touch the distributor + it gives me more room to get to the bolts on the starter and transmisson to engine bolts when the engine is slid forward.  I hope your transmission goes back on easier for you.

-Adam

What is all this talk about moving the engine forward to take the tranny out   You definitely don't need to move the engine to get the tranny out. 

I know you already have it out......but for future reference......
You may need to notch (or bend) the front of the flat plate on the rear crossmember (the one the rear bracket of the tranny mounts to).  If you don't notch/bend the crossmember plate.......once you have the tranny loose, it will slide back, but it usually hits the crossmember just barely enough that the front of the tranny won't clear the clutch.  I have seen pics of the mod, easier to see a pic than to try to explain it.....search on various samurai websites or google it and you can probably find a pic.

Hey, I read somewhere to do it like that and it works pretty easily for me. I suppose the mods a good idea for as often as I've pulled mine lately. I do like the extra room for getting to the bolts since my hands and arms usually get tangled up. It only takes me about 5 minutes to hook up a come-along and undo the motor mounts and maybe 10 minutes to put it back. It seems to make it alot easier on my knuckles and saves time on all the bolts.

-Adam

i think ill notch my cross memeber for now i was actually thinking about notching it while i was pulling the tranny and swearing at suzuki for making such a stupid design