4wd actuator replacement

[04run&gun]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=ovGS2nNhHmd9nXkJ&v=Iq-CusWQ1Wo&feature=youtu.be
Has anyone done this with success? Unbolt the old one and bolt on a new one. The guy in this video has another video that's an hour and a half. He wound up ordering a new one that came with center locker and 4lo rods. He left the originals in the t-case and pulled the new ones out of actuator. Bolted it on, had complications, had to reclock it but that appears to be his fault. He still had problems with the center locker acting "sticky" but even when he did it manually was having a little problem with it catching in the t-case. The 4lo however seemed to work flawlessly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=dIF33jfX985NgE5w&v=xKgB_WDnttQ&feature=youtu.be
So from the 17min to 34 min section of this video you can see his process. After the 34 min mark he jumps the gun and creates a bunch more work for himself that makes itself apparent later in the video. Basically the center lock is having issues, he loosens the actuator, then tries to engage it and it works. Then tighten it back up. He probably could have done this the first go round and wouldn't have had to take the actuator all apart.

 

[04run&gun]

After seeing [MENTION=28542]Extremewlr[/MENTION] and [MENTION=3461]LockedUp[/MENTION] with there fj manual t-case swaps. I learned we with v8 AWD/4wd don't need the ADD front differential, I really want to go that route. Unfortunately I don't have all of the skill needed to do it myself nor the money to pay a pro shop.
I'm in Apache junction AZ if anyone wants to help with the welding and wiring of an fj swap ��

 

[Zero0575]

I haven't done this to swap in a new one, but I've replaced the actuator seals on a friend's 2007 v6 4runner this way with success.

 

[04run&gun]

I haven't done this to swap in a new one, but I've replaced the actuator seals on a friend's 2007 v6 4runner this way with success.

Thank you for this. I am referring to 4th gens so 07 falls in the category lol.

 

[Zero0575]

Thank you for this. I am referring to 4th gens so 07 falls in the category lol.

Oh, I know. I was just being specific. But yeah this is totally doable - I watched that same video when I was preparing to swap seals. I didn't have the same trouble he had where the actuator had issues afterwards. Everything worked smoothly for me.

 

[04run&gun]

Oh, I know. I was just being specific. But yeah this is totally doable - I watched that same video when I was preparing to swap seals. I didn't have the same trouble he had where the actuator had issues afterwards. Everything worked smoothly for me.

Ya I misread your message yesterday. I was like, this guy, to later realize I'm that guy lol. I still appreciate it though. I managed to break the seals around the rods when I was checking stuff out. On a side note, I thought it was funny when he was saying not to lose the o rings, then said they're like little springs

 

[alia176]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=ovGS2nNhHmd9nXkJ&v=Iq-CusWQ1Wo&feature=youtu.be
Has anyone done this with success? Unbolt the old one and bolt on a new one. The guy in this video has another video that's an hour and a half. He wound up ordering a new one that came with center locker and 4lo rods. He left the originals in the t-case and pulled the new ones out of actuator. Bolted it on, had complications, had to reclock it but that appears to be his fault. He still had problems with the center locker acting "sticky" but even when he did it manually was having a little problem with it catching in the t-case. The 4lo however seemed to work flawlessly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=dIF33jfX985NgE5w&v=xKgB_WDnttQ&feature=youtu.be
So from the 17min to 34 min section of this video you can see his process. After the 34 min mark he jumps the gun and creates a bunch more work for himself that makes itself apparent later in the video. Basically the center lock is having issues, he loosens the actuator, then tries to engage it and it works. Then tighten it back up. He probably could have done this the first go round and wouldn't have had to take the actuator all apart.

I've torn into my Tcase in order to replace the two O rings inside and to address the lethargic shifting into 4low or CDL engagement.

You can't just pull out the actuator, then replace it due to the two rods that are connected to sliding forks inside the tcase. This is for a V8. Take a look at the pics below and you'll see what I mean! The rods go through the shift forks and have C clips! Additionally the shift forks are attached to the rods with bolts.

I also reclocked the actuator but I had another V8 tcase actuator to look at for a sanity check. This is a royal PITA and should be avoided at all costs. Otherwise, the whole project is doable with the right tools, jack and of course help.

Now, if you want to do this from the actuator's end, that's doable with a huge amount of caveat due to the timing issue. What you'd have to do is to take apart the actuator, so that the plastic sprockets are disengaged from the serrated rods which is monumental to me. Then you can unbolt the black plastic actuator box from the back of the tcase and put it on the bench, replace the two o rings. You can see where they live in the third pic on the back side of the actuator, look for the two circle indentations. The fourth pic shows the "serrations" in the rod for sprocket engagement. That pic shows both rods but they're on top of each other so you'll need to squint to make sense!

I made a YT video of the actuator doing its thing outside the Tcase since it's such a mystery box to a lot of folks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=VT9uLvhCqwZrGT4P&v=F6VBRTYZe1g&feature=youtu.be