sewebster

You need to match, yes (except in unusual circumstances I guess). Changing the gear ratio is going to change how your engine speed is related to your vehicle speed. With a higher gear ratio your engine will spin faster to go the same speed. This is "good" if you want to be able to drive very slowly while crawling, or get more power at low speeds. It's bad for being able to drive fast at a low engine RPM. Depends on what you are looking for. Usually if you go to bigger tires you would consider going to bigger gears. Seems like the option is only 5.143, which, if you consider "stock" to be 29" would give the same ratio for a 32" tire. But there a bunch of factory options (29", 31", 4.3 gears, 4.6 gears) so it's really a personal thing. I have 31" tires with 4.3 gears and a manual transmission and it seems fine.

Note that the foot-pound numbers which are likely your preference, are the last range in the brackets.

The engine has to run longitudinally, i.e. with the crankshaft axis parallel to the long axis of the truck. I'm not sure if that's what the person was saying when they were talking about horizontal and vertical. To change your gear ration you replace the gears in the front and rear differentials.

Could be the timing belt itself. I have always just wiggled my fan out the top between the engine and shroud without much difficulty. Maybe it only works with no body lift.

Cool. I had a stick stuck through my front driveshaft u-joint once... thought it was totally busted from the noise

All that stuff is in the EM section. Complete instructions on how to inspect all the dimensions of every engine part. Well, you need to have and know how to use all the proper measurement equipment...

I think you installed your headers wrong.

Could be a bad remanufacturing job. Someone posted a video on this site a while ago showing how they do it... wasn't exactly very precise. I would rebuild your OEMs now that you have them out (if they aren't actually badly damaged) and then swap them back in and see if it goes away... or you could try returning the remans if that's a possibility. This is just an idea, could be something else too...

As long as you don't take the actual distributor out (only remove the cap and rotor) then I don't think you can put them on in a different way... just make sure you put the wires back on the right place.

If you're doing the rotor, you might want to also do the cap... should be cheap (same with the rotor).

If you put dielectric grease on the new wires (inside the boot) then they won't stick as much. Some wire sets come with a little package.

Yeah, I didn't take the front diff out, just the cross member. Anyway, there are lots of ways to do it, just need to make room somehow

The lifters have oil inside. Ideally it stays there, because if it leaks out then the lifters get shorter and make the clackety-clack sound. Fortunately they get "re-inflated" by oil pressure when the engine is running, so it usually only happens on startup if the oil got out. This is why you are supposed to always store lifters upright when you take them out. The point of the hydraulic lifters is that they automatically adjust the valve lash. But I'm not really sure it's worth it sometimes... might be just easier to adjust it manually. I think manufacturers have gone back to manual lash adjustment actually, but probably just to save money.

I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing... I was talking about removing the front cross member that sits underneath the oil pan.

I didn't strip those bolts on my front diff... but it depends on the vehicle history, bolt torque history etc. From the factory, the front cross member bolts are installed such that they cannot be removed without removing the t-bars. I think when I reinstalled mine I put them back the same way since I thought maybe it was for a good reason. But I don't think it is, so putting them on the other way makes sense and then you can get the engine in and out easily.

It is possible to remove the engine without moving the transmission at all if you remove the front crossmember... but this usually requires removing the t-bars (which isn't really that big of a deal IMHO).

Yeah, EF/EC 88 and 89 has the speed sensor troubleshooting. Did you do that procedure?

I just looked at the wiring diagram and the signal to the ECU (and the cruise control unit) does come out of the speedo itself, not directly from the sensor. So check out that wiring etc. Maybe look in the FSM for troubleshooting procedures for it...

Banjo bolt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo_fitting

I think it's just not a super common installation, so people don't know. I can't tell how different the metal sleeves are from the pictures, but if they are all different then it's probably going to be pretty obvious when you have everything all apart? Before you melt/press the old bushings out you should be able to compare everything and figure it out. If not, maybe post back with those pics. Sorry that's all I can suggest.

Looks pretty cool to me. Interested to see the finished product of course.

Probably once you get the carrier out you can compare the bushings/bolts and see what fits where?

It's an open diff, so only spinning one wheel sounds normal to me. You aren't going to get better gas mileage than with the auto hubs though.... since they automatically unlock. Manual hubs are only going to help mileage when you replace drive flanges like on the R50 which are ALWAYS "locked." This allows you to unlock them. Anyway, manual hubs are tougher than the autos anyway, so still a good mod.

You can get square drive hex bits for use with ratchets too. Very useful... lets you use a torque wrench for installation for instance.