Nate, I know I forgot more than I remember when it came to dealing and diagnosing my trans problems. My symptons were: at approx 65mph it was like I threw a switch and the car would immediately start to vibrate. It'd vibrate so bad I couldn't see out of the mirrors. It also was hard to shift at high rpms, it was more noisey than a normal TKO should be (especially at the input shaft area, and the noise would diminish when I pushed the clutch pedal in), it generated a lot of heat, etc. I did everything including (in no particular order):
1. Replaced the ring and pinion
2. Replaced the differential, axle, and pinion bearings
2B. Replaced the actual differential, and axles
3. Replaced the U joints and had the DS balanced (which is actually not always a good thing... more on the later)
4. Re-balanced the tires
5. Had the car out at TTC's headquarters in Toledo ohio and had several engineers look over the car, they said the "cone" inside my DS was broken
6. Bought a NEW aluminum DS for a 96-up car (same yoke as a TKO) at Summit on the way home from TTC.
7. Put a piece of metal the same thickness as the stock exhaust hanger bracket in between the crossmember and the tranny
8. FINALLY re-indexed the bell housing using lakewoods offset dowel pins.
This all but cured the problem. It still vibrates a little but its not bad by any means either. The THREE biggest changes came from replacing the axle bearings, putting the spacer in between the tranny and the crossmember, and indexing the bell housing.
I've said it a hundred times since then, you MUST index the bell when putting these trannies in... you'd think that after all the money I spent and the time I fought with it that people would want to avoid the same mistakes I made and do it right. I almost sold the car due to this, I mean just add up what it cost me to narrow it all down with everything I did. hell, the drive to TTC's headquarters was a 7 hour drive one way!
Parts needed for a TKO swap in a 94-95:
1. TKO trans
2. bellhousing
3. 93-older clutch fork
4. shorter bell housing bolts for the top two holes
5. a fox dust cover for the bell if using the aluminum one
6. new clutch disc
7. driveshaft spacer
8. spacer the same thickness as the stock exhaust hanger bracket that needs to be cut to fit in between the tranny and the crossmember
9. New yoke for the DS
10. A dial indicator with a magnetic base TO INDEX THE BELL HOUSING
11. A tape measure (I did not do this but I wish I would have) to measure the "placement" of the tranny in the tranny tunnel. Measure from each side's pinch weld to the center of the output shaft of the STOCK trans, measure the distance from the center of the output shaft of the STOCK TRANS to the top of the tranny tunnel.
12. A flashlight to look up near the shifter area to ensure there is no contact between the tranny and the tranny tunnel
13. GM SYNCHROMESH tranny fluid
14. this "may" be for fox's only... but when using a STEEL bell housing you will want to check the area between the crossmember and the back of the bell as it typically hits if the crossmember is not modified and moved back.
That