FJ Transfer Case Swap into a V6 4th Gen

[Flesh Eater]

have you already sourced the twin sticks? My suggestion, keep it simple and forego that mod and just keep the j-pattern shifter. I swapped over to the twin-stick mod in mine (primarily because the junkyard elected NOT to include the factory shifter and I couldn't find anything cheaper than $600 for a replacement) and can tell you I have used 2lo LITERALLY 2 times: one was to make sure it works after I swapped it in, and the second on a trail before quickly realizing that 4hi was significantly better than 2lo. I just haven't found the need or application for 2lo. Especially if you haven't/arent planning to upgrade the rear axle..

it is significantly easier to package and seal the single shifter vs the twin sticks. I also found that when I'm in 2Hi and try to accelerate from a dead stop with heavy throttle, my t-case wants to "pop" into 4hi and clunks as the synchro slips and tries to engage. I'm not 100% certain if this is a result of modifying the case to accept the twin sticks or not, but I can eliminate the sound by holding the 2hi/4hi stick selector forward under heavy acceleration.

As far as seals and bearings.. there's really nothing much to these cases and you have access to everything once you crack it open.. just be mindful of the synchronizer hub/springs when you take it apart.. they'll shoot out and you'll never find them again. I have personally yet to hear anyone having to replace bearings on a t-case so you may be overthinking that.. the seals are like any other seal when it comes to replacing. I elected to not change anything on my junkyard t-case that has god knows how many miles and it has 0 issues for the past year of use.

The junkyard case I found has no shifter. If they’re that hard to find I might just pass and grab a case off eBay with a shifter. Are you sure you put those sticks in properly? Like there’s not a detent spring/ball missing? Seems odd it would do that.

I know Marlin Crawler had a shifter for $140, but it’s out of stock and way over priced. I’m not sure if one of the Zuk shifters I have laying around could work or not.

My opinion is basically if it’s out on the bench and some of my trips are 1,500 miles one way, I’d rather just do a bearing job in it then, rather than on the side of the road/trail.

 

[aemravan]

The junkyard case I found has no shifter. If they’re that hard to find I might just pass and grab a case off eBay with a shifter. Are you sure you put those sticks in properly? Like there’s not a detent spring/ball missing? Seems odd it would do that.

I know Marlin Crawler had a shifter for $140, but it’s out of stock and way over priced. I’m not sure if one of the Zuk shifters I have laying around could work or not.

My opinion is basically if it’s out on the bench and some of my trips are 1,500 miles one way, I’d rather just do a bearing job in it then, rather than on the side of the road/trail.

I think that may very well be my issue... but not my fault lol. I definitely put everything together correctly, however, the twin sticks I got from Front Range Offroad have no springs or ball detents at all. they are just some floppy sticks unfortunately..

What gets removed from the inside of the case is the lock-out pill that keeps you from selecting the low gear until you are in 4hi. Maybe that's got somethign to do with what I'm feeling but who knows. I'm not sure what the factory shifter mechanism looks like, but I thought from some diagrams I saw it had some sort of a spring mechanism.

If you haven't already, checkout car-parts.com to see if there are any other local yards to you that you can call. I don't know why the hell they pull the shifters off the cases.. A lot of the ones I saw pictures of recently still had it included but were a bit further of a drive. I'm definitely not spending $400-600 bucks on one of these cases since I can find them locally between $100-300 bucks , just need to find one that still has the j-pattern shifter included with it

 

[Flesh Eater]

I think that may very well be my issue... but not my fault lol. I definitely put everything together correctly, however, the twin sticks I got from Front Range Offroad have no springs or ball detents at all. they are just some floppy sticks unfortunately..

What gets removed from the inside of the case is the lock-out pill that keeps you from selecting the low gear until you are in 4hi. Maybe that's got somethign to do with what I'm feeling but who knows. I'm not sure what the factory shifter mechanism looks like, but I thought from some diagrams I saw it had some sort of a spring mechanism.

If you haven't already, checkout car-parts.com to see if there are any other local yards to you that you can call. I don't know why the hell they pull the shifters off the cases.. A lot of the ones I saw pictures of recently still had it included but were a bit further of a drive. I'm definitely not spending $400-600 bucks on one of these cases since I can find them locally between $100-300 bucks , just need to find one that still has the j-pattern shifter included with it

I actually found a case with a shifter. It’s $371, but whatever. They rated it grade A quality. We'll see when I go pick it up.

My biggest regret when I geared my Tracker transfer case was not adding twin sticks. So I was going to do it to this, but after seeing the Front Range sticks, they’ll be super tight next to the automatic transmission shifter.

 

[aemravan]

I actually found a case with a shifter. It’s $371, but whatever. They rated it grade A quality. We'll see when I go pick it up.

My biggest regret when I geared my Tracker transfer case was not adding twin sticks. So I was going to do it to this, but after seeing the Front Range sticks, they’ll be super tight next to the automatic transmission shifter.

$371 isn't bad since everything else you'll find on ebay starts at $400 plus shipping. I really don't understand.. but whatever.. even at the local junkyards the pricing can vary from $115 up to like $750 and it seems to be driven by the model it comes out of.. It seems wrecked FJ's can be had for low $100-200, but as soon as you get up to a 4runner with the same manual case the price sky rockets to $600+ (even when they have higher miles).

From a packaging standpoint, it actually isn't terrible. It can be done, clearly.. since I'm running it, I just used flat steel bar to make the shifter extensions/shift them over so they package really nice above each other. The issue I ran into is trying to seal everything up nicely.. it's super easy to run a single shift boot and seal a single shifter... they have dual shifter boots, but because of where these come out under the auto shifter there is no way to fit it.. so i just ended up cutting 2 slits in a rubber pad and slid it over to cover the opening. The in-cabin has some shift boots now.. but they are far from perfect.. I'm in the middle of sourcing a replacement case with a stock shifter that i'll probably work on replacing over to in the next few months during the off-season.

 

[Flesh Eater]

I keep reading through all of this. There seems to be a lot of opinions to wade through to get to facts.

My biggest question is, does the 5 speed auto need a body lift for this?

I have an 08’ 4Runner and it’s a long distance traveling vehicle. I do NOT want a body lift or to go any higher. It’s also extremely clean so I don’t want to mess it up too badly by cutting into the floor and hacking it back together to make the case fit.

EDIT: I really appreciate the info on this site and the members who contribute, but my gosh…this place is littered with ads. Has this always been the case?

 

[AuSeeker]

I keep reading through all of this. There seems to be a lot of opinions to wade through to get to facts.

My biggest question is, does the 5 speed auto need a body lift for this?

I have an 08’ 4Runner and it’s a long distance traveling vehicle. I do NOT want a body lift or to go any higher. It’s also extremely clean so I don’t want to mess it up too badly by cutting into the floor and hacking it back together to make the case fit.

EDIT: I really appreciate the info on this site and the members who contribute, but my gosh…this place is littered with ads. Has this always been the case?

Use an AD Blocker and the ads will be gone.

 

[Flesh Eater]

Use an AD Blocker and the ads will be gone.

Holy cow! Thanks! I had no idea that existed for my phone.

This site is actually useable now.

 

[aemravan]

Body lift isn’t mandatory but you will hate life trying to get the shifter into place ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Flesh Eater]

Body lift isn’t mandatory but you will hate life trying to get the shifter into place ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m used to wrenching on Suzukis, so everything is tight.

Looks like it’s just new driveshafts, ADD switch, and ABS switch…I need to go back and read if the dial selector can be removed and the 12V plug put there.

 

[aemravan]

I’m used to wrenching on Suzukis, so everything is tight.

Looks like it’s just new driveshafts, ADD switch, and ABS switch…I need to go back and read if the dial selector can be removed and the 12V plug put there.

you don't need new driveshafts. The stock ones work just fine.

All you have to do to make the front one work easier is hammer out the studs and use nut/bolt combo. This way you don't have to worry about compression the shaft to make it fit over the studs. Otherwise, since it doesn't have to move up/down it works just fine.

The rear shaft can be made as is depending on your rear suspension setup.. but to be on the safe side, I just ordered a 1" driveshaft spacer. I have been running this set up for the past year with no issues whatsoever.

I do recommend buying some driveshaft U-joints and replacing those while both shafts are out, but unless you have destroyed shafts, save your money.


As far as the ADD stuff is concerned.. instead of driveshafts.. I would actually recommend going to a local junkyard and sourcing yourself a non ADD front diff out of a 4wd model. When I exploded my intermediate shaft and housing I was able to find a complete front diff for $125 here locally... swap out the intermediate shaft and get rid of the ADD tube all together... you'll have a much more solid front end that way. You just need to verify the spline count is the same.. but I can't imagine it being any different from everything I've seen since the cv axles and all are the same.. The whole "you need a functional ADD to run the FJ tcase" was a myth created by rocksolidtoys to sell their $600 "harness". This T-case has been proven by multiple folks (including myself) to not have any issue when the front diff spins and back-feeds into the case via the front driveshaft.

I would even argue that running an ADD setup will wear out the spider gears in the front diff much faster than a T-case will wear since with it disconnected all motions goes from spinning the ring/pinion to spinning the spider gears full time.


As far as the dash switch is concerned, yes, you can remove it.. I'm running my midland radio mount in it's place. However, the one thing I haven't gotten around to figuring out just yet is how to trick the system into operating as stock.. obviously removing the factory t-case actuator breaks the 4wd system and you will have a constant VSC & TRAC OFF lights (which are only meant to come on once you go into 4lo/diff lock (in my case).

I know if I spent a little time with a factory actuator pin-out and the dial switch I could come up with a small circuit board that replicates the factory selection and get's the lights off.. but I haven't found the time or desire to deep dive... I de-soldered one side of each bulb so they aren't always on, and am using the 2 plunge switches from the FJ t-case to tap into my factory center diff lock wires (to light up when I go from 2hi to 4hi) and using the second switch to tap in to the 4lo light bulb when I go 4hi to 4lo. This gets me my visual indication of what I'm running and works for the time being..


It's a bit different for you since you aren't full time 4wd now.. so I imagine you have the exact lights you need already there to tap into.. you didn't have a center diff lock button.

As far as the ABS switch, I'm not sure what you're referring to with that? My ABS seems to work just fine.. at least last that I remember sliding down a snowy hill in the mountains.. lol.

 

[Flesh Eater]

you don't need new driveshafts. The stock ones work just fine.

All you have to do to make the front one work easier is hammer out the studs and use nut/bolt combo. This way you don't have to worry about compression the shaft to make it fit over the studs. Otherwise, since it doesn't have to move up/down it works just fine.

The rear shaft can be made as is depending on your rear suspension setup.. but to be on the safe side, I just ordered a 1" driveshaft spacer. I have been running this set up for the past year with no issues whatsoever.

I do recommend buying some driveshaft U-joints and replacing those while both shafts are out, but unless you have destroyed shafts, save your money.


As far as the ADD stuff is concerned.. instead of driveshafts.. I would actually recommend going to a local junkyard and sourcing yourself a non ADD front diff out of a 4wd model. When I exploded my intermediate shaft and housing I was able to find a complete front diff for $125 here locally... swap out the intermediate shaft and get rid of the ADD tube all together... you'll have a much more solid front end that way. You just need to verify the spline count is the same.. but I can't imagine it being any different from everything I've seen since the cv axles and all are the same.. The whole "you need a functional ADD to run the FJ tcase" was a myth created by rocksolidtoys to sell their $600 "harness". This T-case has been proven by multiple folks (including myself) to not have any issue when the front diff spins and back-feeds into the case via the front driveshaft.

I would even argue that running an ADD setup will wear out the spider gears in the front diff much faster than a T-case will wear since with it disconnected all motions goes from spinning the ring/pinion to spinning the spider gears full time.


As far as the dash switch is concerned, yes, you can remove it.. I'm running my midland radio mount in it's place. However, the one thing I haven't gotten around to figuring out just yet is how to trick the system into operating as stock.. obviously removing the factory t-case actuator breaks the 4wd system and you will have a constant VSC & TRAC OFF lights (which are only meant to come on once you go into 4lo/diff lock (in my case).

I know if I spent a little time with a factory actuator pin-out and the dial switch I could come up with a small circuit board that replicates the factory selection and get's the lights off.. but I haven't found the time or desire to deep dive... I de-soldered one side of each bulb so they aren't always on, and am using the 2 plunge switches from the FJ t-case to tap into my factory center diff lock wires (to light up when I go from 2hi to 4hi) and using the second switch to tap in to the 4lo light bulb when I go 4hi to 4lo. This gets me my visual indication of what I'm running and works for the time being..


It's a bit different for you since you aren't full time 4wd now.. so I imagine you have the exact lights you need already there to tap into.. you didn't have a center diff lock button.

As far as the ABS switch, I'm not sure what you're referring to with that? My ABS seems to work just fine.. at least last that I remember sliding down a snowy hill in the mountains.. lol.

My driveshaft is currently about 1.5” further out from it’s stock location, so a new one might be needed.

This vehicle does long distance trips. I went 1,900 miles one way this year traveling at speeds of up to 85-87 mph across Wyoming. As reliable as I can get would be great.

Which is why I was wanting to keep the ADD. I’m not wheeling this hard enough to worry unnecessarily about strength. It has done 3 off road trips already and has been fine. However, shutting the front off from spinning is great for long distance hauls. If anything I’d like to create a type of lock out hun set up where I can make it long hauls without the CV’s spinning.

I also read earlier in this that ABS needs to be disabled in 4lo? Is that not correct? I’m piecing all this info together before I dive in.

 

[aemravan]

My driveshaft is currently about 1.5” further out from it’s stock location, so a new one might be needed.

This vehicle does long distance trips. I went 1,900 miles one way this year traveling at speeds of up to 85-87 mph across Wyoming. As reliable as I can get would be great.

Which is why I was wanting to keep the ADD. I’m not wheeling this hard enough to worry unnecessarily about strength. It has done 3 off road trips already and has been fine. However, shutting the front off from spinning is great for long distance hauls. If anything I’d like to create a type of lock out hun set up where I can make it long hauls without the CV’s spinning.

I also read earlier in this that ABS needs to be disabled in 4lo? Is that not correct? I’m piecing all this info together before I dive in.

I'm assuming you mean the rear driveshaft being further out? I mean, there's nothing wrong with getting new shafts by any means.. I was just saying it is far from a necessity as far an expense goes.. you could rebuild both shafts with fresh U-joints and throw in a spacer to make it all work for a fraction of the cost of a new set of shafts.


regarding the ABS.. I haven't disabled anything ABS related and don't ever recall my rig ever disabling ABS anytime I've been in 4lo. It does kick off the VSC and TRAC with the diff lock and in 4lo, but not ABS. Unless you figure out a way to trick the system into thinking it's operating as factory those two will be off for you once you pull the plug on the factory actuator anyway.. I mean.. if you have a functional Actuator still I guess you could just leave it plugged in and tie it off to the t-case and actuate as normal while then also manually shifting the case.. that would be a quick way to get it to do what you need.. though I'm not sure how it will act if you pull it from the case and it is no long engaged with the shift forks.

Regarding the ADD, obviously the ADD tube itself won't keep the cv's from spinning.. I'm not aware of any locking hub conversations for our 4th gen's... if you find out, do let me know lol, I'd love to be able to do a setup like that.

 

[Flesh Eater]

I got the FJ case.

So, anyone ever make a doubler out of these two?

 

[Santidelart]

got the 4crawler offroad driveshaft spacer in the mail today!





here's how it'll look when it's installed:



one step closer to getting this thing installed.

hi, about to tackle this job myself and ran into your post, mine is a 2003 v6. Quick question, how do i navigate the spacer website 4crawler, hoe do i make sure is the one you got? Thank you in advance!!