my good man...
take some more time every day for another week or so and get under there and have a good gawk all around.
my back is pretty much broken literally as i have limited function and directly ordered not to pick up more then ten pounds(20 or so for the rest of my life) and i just did this three times in the last two weeks and my big truck looks like its getting pulled apart again as well. and that is not thrilling in any light trust me. the ranger has some heavy shit compared to this rbv stuff in the b2.
in the past i would replace these in mudholes out in the woods or on mountains so you can do it at home when its all recently been apart in decent conditions.
no special tools at all besides some long extensions for the bell housing bolts. and the little disconnecty toolie dealio for the clutch line which does not apply here.
technically some consider additional special tools as there is a t27 bit on some of the front shafts and the 12 mm 12 point that goes on the rear of many d shaft flanges....i consider those normal tools.
on the front shaft yoke where it meets the pig i usually drill them out and go with normal u bolt style joint straps with 1/2 inch nuts for a jeep d30 as a upgrade. its worth it trust me. the rbv straps with the t27 are stupid to me and should be discarded asap.
outside of that pulling the t case off is easy. usually done in 9-15 bolts in manual applications not including dropping the k member.
theres 5 on the case to trans and 4 on the driveshaft flange and 4 on the front shaft. these are easily removed with a ratchet wrench set like the gear wrenches and the t27.
from there you have the shifter bolts, 1-4 generally depending on trans after you get the bezel crap and boots out of the way.
those can be trouble makers, and out here in saltville i have had to weld bolts a majority of the time on the three bolt fm146 units to remove them because the torx heads were rotted to shit, often from previous guys using the wrong tools and overtorqing them. but you should have a 4 bolt type shifter and those are usualy cake and dont give ya no shit. just like your handy little external slave.
pull the starter and wire it out of the way....hopefully you started it out with disconnecting the negative...battery cable
from there you have the exaust flange....not sure which one you have. i pull it apart at the converter when possible and replace it with a new gasket and bolts. not sure what your situation is there.
basically i drop the trans down slow and make sure i am not smashing anything.
when its hangin i take the jack slack up then load it a 1/2 inch or so.
undo the 6 bell bolts and wiggle it free. walk it back and down nice and easy.
1/4 turn the pressure plate bolts in a criss cross pattern till they free up...keep a hand on it so it stays on the pins while you take the last bolt or two out, and grap the clutch with a finger as you pull it away.
the fly is 6 bolts and can be a bastardhead with no impact for the unseasoned.
you can use a piece of angle and bolt it to the engine with a trans bolt and cock it so it catches the starter ring gear for example to hold it so its easy to bust the bolts free and retorque them later as an example.....i dont have to do that but it will make it easier to properly torque em later for a new guy.
the hard part is setting the seal in the right spot and knowing whether or not your crank is fawked and it needs to be set a bit deeper, and setting it deeper without fawking it up.
putting it back together can be a bit of a challenge if your alone...
i usually use my ratchet handle to line the clutch up...but i do have the tool for that as well somewhere.
and honestly. i dont think you will have any problems doing any of this.
but....
if you lived 100 miles from me and it was the original clutch i would tell you to sell it.
or bring it over on my days off.
i could be wrong.
