A-Ha's Build.

[aha2988]

Just an update on the Fj T-case swap.

Its Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Absolutely love having 2wd. Turning under acceleration, Turning radius, and all around drive-ability much better in 2wd.

A buddy of mine just picked up a new 3d printer, planning to look into creating a trim piece to fit in place around the leather boot. Been Going through Cleaning this thing up from all the off-roading its done the past couple years. Seats and carpet scrubbing to come for certain. I've also had a dash on order from toyota since August so maybe in the next few months I'll see that to!

Its been exciting to get back on the road with this thing. I finally figured out what my major vibration in the front end was. My black rock d-window wheel center caps are not in tolerance to create a hub centric mate between the wheel and the hub. Also removing the steering spacer installed during the body lift, tightened up my steering. Starting to feel like a new ride all over again!





I've still got to do something about the 650lb coils in the front end. I really really want to put a solid axle in. I can't seem to push myself past the point of reading/researching about it to actually start doing it. Probably just going to fall back on ordering new radflos with 700lb coils. The dream is still there though.

 

[Mike07SE]

apparently I was due for a new set of gear teeth? I don't drive the 4r much anymore these days on the road and wanted to get back into daily driving it here and there. Went to get an inspection friday and had this happen on the way out of the neighborhood. I don't even remember giving it that much hell the last time I went off-road. I'm thinking a rush install or something. Fortunaty I purchased through eastcoastgearsupply.com and they still have it under warranty until next October! shipping it off to get repaired/replaced this week. Check out the pinion teeth marks on the carrier!

View attachment 239986
View attachment 239987

Dang dude, that's crazy! My 4.56's (w/Truetrac) did the exact same thing to me last year. I even had the same thought that I haven't put even put any strain on them to warrant breakage. A call to ECGS had them out and fixed up under warranty at no cost.

 

[aha2988]

Dang dude, that's crazy! My 4.56's (w/Truetrac) did the exact same thing to me last year. I even had the same thought that I haven't put even put any strain on them to warrant breakage. A call to ECGS had them out and fixed up under warranty at no cost.

well at least I'm not the only one. Taking this axle apart is getting old though lol

 

[Mike07SE]

well at least I'm not the only one. Taking this axle apart is getting old though lol

What's strange is that mine failed almost identical to yours. A link to my google photos:
https://goo.gl/photos/ChL5z1VNWLbAL127A

 

[Darklight]

You don't need no stinking hub caps

 

[aha2988]

Well I did a thing.... Dayna 60's inbound!

:banana::banana::banana:

 

[Inv4drZm]

Well I did a thing.... Dayna 60's inbound!

:banana::banana::banana:

:thumb:

I will be eagerly following, probably with some questions along the way.

 

[Billynath1988]

wellllllll that escalated quickly

 

[aha2988]

well the D60's I purchased need a good deal of work before they're even close to ready to mount. Need to convert the steering knuckles on the front to a high steer setup, new seals, new carriers, new gears, etc.

Instead of just letting the 4r sit and wait I figured I'd clean up the front end (again) and keep it on the road a little longer.

started with the alignment gusset plates,



Need to change out the Inner tie rod links and refresh the CV axle boots/grease. Maybe time for some new wheels.

Also had the luxury of helping bobby install his Total chaos long travel and got to trade him my 650 radflos for his 700lb radlfo's so I finally have the right spring rate up front!

 

[Darklight]

Glad to see you got the Cam gussets so quick and already installed!
Hope the 700 lbs coils hit the spot for you my man :biggrin1:


Bobby

 

[TNRacing]

I love your build. I just picked up a FJ transfer case to swap mine out. Then I came across this other website post

4RUNNER FJ T CASE SWAP | Toyota Off Road | Anaheim | RockSolidToys

In there they state that you should run the ADD front diff.

They state;

"Now, some of you have asked me why can't I just swap out the FJ Cruiser T case and leave everything else alone? Good question. And here is the answer why you shouldn't.

When you leave the stock front diff in, it now cause's the front differential to spin which in turn spins the front drive shaft which spins the chain inside the transfer case. Not only does this cause premature wear and tear on a t case that was not designed to spin all the time, it cause's pressure inside the case which cause's oil to come up and out of the shifter handles at the top. Even when you have the breathers on the case, which you should always have anyway, it's not enough to over come all the oil being pushed up to the path of least resistance. Through the shifters. The stock case does not have these manual shifters and is a pretty good sealed case until the rear actuator seals start to fail. Then you see the leaks.

With all of these parts spinning, gas mileage suffers as well as reliability. So to do this swap correctly you'll want to do it all. Then you can have your cake and eat it too. "

I was wondering if you have had any problems with yours? or are they just fishing for more money in their conversions?

thanks!

 

[phant0maz]

Hello everyone, it's my first post in this forum.
Thank you [MENTION=65653]aha2988[/MENTION] for sharing your experience. I was reading about different FJ t cases swaps and conversions, and I'm getting more and more confused. First of all ,can you manually engage the centre differential lock, or it switches on when shifting to 4Lo? You have 2 shifters, is the one for 2wd/4wd mode and the other for High/Low gears? If so how do you lock the centre diff?
And one more thing I can't get is - isn't it the front drive shaft disconnected from the transfer case when in 2wd? I hope someone will put some light on this because my head is going to explode from all the info I've red ... and it's not getting clearer. Thank you in advance.

 

[aha2988]

I love your build. I just picked up a FJ transfer case to swap mine out. Then I came across this other website post

4RUNNER FJ T CASE SWAP | Toyota Off Road | Anaheim | RockSolidToys

In there they state that you should run the ADD front diff.

They state;

"Now, some of you have asked me why can't I just swap out the FJ Cruiser T case and leave everything else alone? Good question. And here is the answer why you shouldn't.

When you leave the stock front diff in, it now cause's the front differential to spin which in turn spins the front drive shaft which spins the chain inside the transfer case. Not only does this cause premature wear and tear on a t case that was not designed to spin all the time, it cause's pressure inside the case which cause's oil to come up and out of the shifter handles at the top. Even when you have the breathers on the case, which you should always have anyway, it's not enough to over come all the oil being pushed up to the path of least resistance. Through the shifters. The stock case does not have these manual shifters and is a pretty good sealed case until the rear actuator seals start to fail. Then you see the leaks.

With all of these parts spinning, gas mileage suffers as well as reliability. So to do this swap correctly you'll want to do it all. Then you can have your cake and eat it too. "

I was wondering if you have had any problems with yours? or are they just fishing for more money in their conversions?

thanks!

I didn’t see marlin install the ADD on the KOH race truck Wyatt from RST and them just built out of one of these but they did use an atlas vs. the FJ tcase. Maybe I should get an atlas lol.

I haven’t had issues, i extended the breather to the engine bay for one, for two this is not my daily driver I may run to town with it 5 times a year now. I can confirm the chain is excessively noisy when not engaged in 4wd and I can see the benefit to pairing this mod with the ADD system. I believe I remember seeing Wyatt having a write up and it not being very difficult. Can probably source a ADD components from the same place I got this transfer case.

Hello everyone, it's my first post in this forum.
Thank you [MENTION=65653]aha2988[/MENTION] for sharing your experience. I was reading about different FJ t cases swaps and conversions, and I'm getting more and more confused. First of all ,can you manually engage the centre differential lock, or it switches on when shifting to 4Lo? You have 2 shifters, is the one for 2wd/4wd mode and the other for High/Low gears? If so how do you lock the centre diff?
And one more thing I can't get is - isn't it the front drive shaft disconnected from the transfer case when in 2wd? I hope someone will put some light on this because my head is going to explode from all the info I've red ... and it's not getting clearer. Thank you in advance.

There is no center diff locker in an fj tcase, when in 4wd it’s always true 50/50 split with the fi tcase. The factory Torsen 3 tcase allowed what they refer to as “all wheel drive” letting the power split up to 30/70 between front and rear. “Torque sensing” is where it’s name came from. Supposedly sends power to the axle that needs it most (or the one with the least traction) thus requiring a locking feature for true 4wd capacities.

Yes one shifter is hi/neutral/lo one shifter is 2wd 4wd.

When the fj tcase is in 2wd the driven planetary gear on the front drive output gear set free spins the 2wd/4wd shift fork moves this planetary gear in and out of engagement when you select the different modes.

When that planetary gear is not engaged the front drive shaft can spin freely however it wants to. Same as the left and right side CV axles spin with the tires independently from each other separated by an open carrier in the front differential.

Adding the ADD feature found in the V6 models of these trucks and Tacoma’s allows you to also disconnect the passenger side axle from the front differential. This prevents the combination of both front axles turning the driveshaft which in turn free spools the transfer case chain and gearsets unnecessarily as mentioned in the comment before yours on this thread.

 

[aha2988]

Keeping the thread current isn't a terrible idea I suppose,

Had the CV's rebuilt, installed new LR upper ball joints, New Lower Ball Joints, Inner & outer Tie rod links, new toyota drive shafts, removed the inner fender snorkel (to loud for my older taste) and New Wheels and Tires:

295/75/R18 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ's on 18x9 4.5"BS Fuel Podium Wheels. Now my GMC and 4runner wear the same size tires.



not the best lighting





Found these newish moog ball joint designs. the boot redesign attracted me as that's what seems to keep tearing up on the factory style BJ boots. As well They're greesable, pointing the zerk at a 45 toward the front actually making it accessible.



had a beer with the D60's and thought about how long it's taken me to make progress, vs. time spent, vs. enjoyment. and decided to part ways. I've got my Eye on the new RCLT kit from Marlin and fresh cash in my pocket. I hear RCV's new CV's are handing 44's and warrantied to 40's. :surfer:



Installed the DECKED toolbox system in the sierra. Best thing since sliced bread! no more tools floating around the cab and it still holds max payload.



And Successfully got Silas hooked on Monster Jam, [MENTION=68704]superman3043[/MENTION] invited us out last month. Silas now sleeps with the hot wheels monster truck he got at the show. His new thing "want to watch monster trucks on ipad" it's great he'll be 3 next month. time keeps moving faster and faster.

 

[superman3043]

Great update brother. Let's get together soon!

 

[phqduphead]

I have those MTZ’s in a 17” they are awesome!

 

[Cascade4runner]

Pretty cool to see a manual shifted T-case in a 4th gen. Great idea with getting a 3D printed trim piece too.

 

[aha2988]

Cheapest Online Toyota OEM parts.

Have been waiting for confirmation on this but I wanted to share some cost savings I found.

I recently Purchased Toyota drive shafts and I typically get OEM parts from Village Toyota parts down in Florida. Just the type of person to go back to the same place I've found savings before.

Anyways, Put my order in and a week later get a call from Derrick in parts explaining that I needed to pay an additional 26-29 dollars in shipping costs. can't remember the exact up-charge he wanted but when I asked about packaged details and other shipping methods, I learned that instead of packaging these shafts separately or next to each other he put them in one 6X8X59! inch box.

After I attempted to explain to Derrick that the length is likely the reason for the increased shipping costs, he still refused to repackage them in a more efficient manor. I processed my RMA and moved on.

Low and behold I came across Evans Toyota Parts in Indiana. same type of wholesale parts store for OEM Toyota parts. Processed the same order for 18 dollars less than village Toyota and just received confirmation today that they are shipping at a lower price of 26.95 vs. the original 29.95 cost from village (before they tried to add another almost 30 dollars.)

I've purchased parts from village Toyota for 4 years now and I'll never again go back for anything else. Hope I can save anyone else the hassle of dealing with derrick.

 

[TNRacing]

I didn’t see marlin install the ADD on the KOH race truck Wyatt from RST and them just built out of one of these but they did use an atlas vs. the FJ tcase. Maybe I should get an atlas lol.

I haven’t had issues, i extended the breather to the engine bay for one, for two this is not my daily driver I may run to town with it 5 times a year now. I can confirm the chain is excessively noisy when not engaged in 4wd and I can see the benefit to pairing this mod with the ADD system. I believe I remember seeing Wyatt having a write up and it not being very difficult. Can probably source a ADD components from the same place I got this transfer case.

Thanks! After reading some more, I'm actually considering going to a set of manual locking front hubs. Just the idea of notching and welding my oil pan when adding the ADD system scares me away. hahah Thanks again for the input!

 

[phant0maz]

There is no center diff locker in an fj tcase ...

I though the fj tcase is VF4B, same one is found in Prado 120 according to this writeup:

Transfer case modification success - PradoPoint - Toyota Prado 4x4 Landcruiser Forum

1. I don't understand where the difference comes from ,because the modification made from that man includes manual centre diff lock, but than he claims that this is an AWD transfer case impossible to work as a 2WD, which seems to be possible according to what you did.

2. Instead of using ADD front axle, what will be the success of using manual hubs to prevent the spinning of the front drive shaft and CV joints?

Thank you for your help, I make a research about using Toyota transmission and tcase for a project machine, and all the info about that is helpful for me.