I have one of those mechanics sleeves that go over the fender wall, it has a tray in it too( magnetic), My radiator scoupe is a good area to set tools as well.

 

life is fun isn't it

 

howdy, boys. me again, back to the same post.
WELL, I GOT THE SUCKER OUT TODAY.

let me be bluntly honest:
none of the suggestions posted here is correct. none. either your trucks are way different, or you have some magic for those bracket bolts. don't know, don't want to know. i had it done, now i am very proud of myself. hell ye, after 5 hrs on the back, and 2 shirts that went from laundrable into shop rag category - have all rights to be so.

only one guy out of all advisers knows how to do it right:

You will have to unbolt the front of the exhaust from the exhaust manifolds too including removing the front driveshaft.I have been doing it this way and it worksThe metal u clip has to be removes to release the the two fingers and disconnect the shift cable from the arm.

wafrederick. thank you, friend.

so, here it goes:
1. donno about y'all's trucks, on mine, there's no way to get to the damn torx bolts even with driveshaft removed. maybe to one, but then the other one is completely covered by some connectors. so, yeah, if you did get to those and had them removed - what can i say...
2. thank you, dear GM, for using substandard metals on your brackets. that gear shifter bracket bands whichever way you want to, and with basic tools. it has to be bent in 2 directions: away from trannie and then, the L shaped bend in it - must be straightened. not completely, but about half way.
3. no, i did not remove driveshaft. i simply bent the bracket. then secured it to the driveshaft with tension wire loop, so it does not go back.
4. heat shield on the pass side must be loosened a lot, or pan will not come off.
5. that was all easy. after done with all this, and not even drenched in ATF, i hit the brick wall. and the wall has name. EXHAUST PIPE. it runs right underneath the rear edge of the pan. in that place, trannie has some sort of a gismo, that bulges all the way down into the pan. no way to slide pan past it - it hits the pipe.
6. i got away with loosening only pass side exhaust manifold nuts and removing muffler pipe off exhaust pipe. grabbed the pipe and put my all weight on it (265) - and that pan slid off.

if you must remove or drop driver side pipe, you'll have to remove O2 sensor first, as one of the bolts is blocked by it.

i had to drill drain plug out. it was dead stuck in the pan. yeah, heat my hiny, all it did was to burn the rubber seal inside the plug. anyhow, i went through about 5 drill bit sizes, slowly making center hole in the plug bigger, then hammered what was left from the plug into the drilled hole - took griptite socket to the head, and it let go.

took me 5 hrs. 1 hr went on exhaust only.

btw, if you want to replace filter without all the hassle - you will have enough opening without removing pan, to pull filter out and put new one in.

 

I'm pretty sure the torx bolts holding the transmission gear shift bracket is not T40, contrary to what I've seen on every forum. I stuck a T30 up in there and it is too loose (wanted to strip out) and my T40 doesn't want to seat properly (which would also strip the bolt head). I am going to order a T35 and see if that helps. Anybody have any thoughts on this possibility (I realize this is an old thread, though maybe someone is still paying attention).

This job is proving trickier than the timing belt on my wife's Sienna . . .

 

In case anyone else is looking to drain transmission fluid:

I have an 04 4x4 2500 Suburban and changed out the transmission fluid and filter today. No drain plug in pan and ran into the same problems talked about above. I unbolted the heat shield on the passenger side and tucked it back and away from the pan (can't remove it altogether with the exhaust pipes in place). Removed the shift bracket with a T35 torx. Well, removed the front torx bolt at least. Back one stripped out. Had to remove fuel rail brackets for and aft of the back torx bolt and a heat shield on the drivers side to get a 10" vise grip in there with nice fresh teeth on it to get the back bolt out. Replaced both with hex head bolts. Everything else went smooth enough. Didn't remove any drive shaft or exhaust pipes. Trickiest part was torx bolts and not making a god-awful mess draining the pain without a drain plug.

Update (in case anyone is trying to complete this job): I got under my 1500 GMC truck and took a look at the transmission pan and it is set up different from my 2500. One would probably have to remove the front drive shaft to get to the transmission shift bracket.

 

the bolts on the shift bracket can be a nightmare especially if the vehicle is ever on dirt, I normally just unhook the shift cable and pry the bracket out to wiggle the pan down.

 

First I undid the tranny pan, found that it wouldn't come out with the cross member in the way so I took down the cross member just to find out it wouldn't come down with the cross over pipe in the way. so I took the cross over pipe out and then everything was cool. I took the opportunity to free up the CO2 sensors in the cross over, practically impossible out of the truck-can't imagine what I'd have to do with it in situ. Added some anti sieze before reassembly. Replace tranny filter etc. then reassembly in proper order ie pan, cross member then pipe. I passed a rope through the flange bolt holes of the exhaust manifold (headers in my case) then through the flange bolt holes of the cross over. I was able to lift the cross over in place by myself, then just tied it off while I put a nut and bolt through the remaining flange bolt hole on either side.

 

I'm getting the impression the difference between the two

different jobs is 2500HD(like mine) and 1500. Apparently,

there are exhaust pipes and other impediments on the 1500

you don't

run into on the 2500 model...

 

Yes mine is a 1500, 2wd with standard cab. Not such a bad job if one does it in the correct order.