Phattyduck's '99 4WD swap
- Thread starter phattyduck
- Start date
RockenAlex
New member
Just the speedometer calibrator part? Well, it fits right there, next to the rest of the harness, behind the kick panel. Once you have it set (that's why its out in the open), it isn't necessary to have access to it again.
If its for the truck in total... well, not 100% sure yet.
-Charlie
Ohhhhhh didn't get the fact that it was just a correction unit. I thought it was tapped into the computer and then corrected it for separate speedo :thumb:
Colorado buff
New member
You sir are skilled! Slow clap moment!!!! Great thread!
phattyduck
Elite Member
Drove up to Northern California for a long weekend at my parent's cabin... Got the 4Runner back to its native environment (where it spent its first 12 summers for weeks/months at a time). It got to visit with its replacement ('07 SR5 4WD, bought used in '11) that my Dad still drives.
No offroad challenges or anything. Just a 7 mile dirt road in/out and the last ~0.5 mile unmaintained stuff. Of course, I used to drive my lowered WRX in there... (just not up the last hill)
-Charlie
No offroad challenges or anything. Just a 7 mile dirt road in/out and the last ~0.5 mile unmaintained stuff. Of course, I used to drive my lowered WRX in there... (just not up the last hill)
-Charlie
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phattyduck
Elite Member
Big update!
Last weekend was transmission swap time. Planned for a 2-day event. I didn't take all that many pictures, but here are some key points along the way:
Step one, remove the interior:
Next, make the plan of attack for the mods to the body. We chose to separate the floor pan from the stiffener plate to keep as much of the original floor plan in place. More on that later...
The 4wd trans waits patiently for its new home, while pissing fluid (forgot to drain it before we pulled it...):
Time to remove all the electrical connectors, remove all the other bits around the trans:
And a pic to show how you can get to all the bell housing to block bolts... extensions!
2wd trans supported and ready to come out:
We made a mis-calculation when we put on the 4wd crossmemember... the crossmember bolts are too long to come out with the new frame horns on there! :embarassed:
So, the oxy torch had to come out a bit earlier than expected:
And then the 2wd trans comes out. I'll keep this for spare parts, unless somebody wants it... I swapped the neutral safety switch and trans temp sensor over ('97 into a '99 - wasn't sure if the older trans just had a switch there instead of the sensor)
To be continued...
-Charlie
Last weekend was transmission swap time. Planned for a 2-day event. I didn't take all that many pictures, but here are some key points along the way:
Step one, remove the interior:
Next, make the plan of attack for the mods to the body. We chose to separate the floor pan from the stiffener plate to keep as much of the original floor plan in place. More on that later...
The 4wd trans waits patiently for its new home, while pissing fluid (forgot to drain it before we pulled it...):
Time to remove all the electrical connectors, remove all the other bits around the trans:
And a pic to show how you can get to all the bell housing to block bolts... extensions!
2wd trans supported and ready to come out:
We made a mis-calculation when we put on the 4wd crossmemember... the crossmember bolts are too long to come out with the new frame horns on there! :embarassed:
So, the oxy torch had to come out a bit earlier than expected:
And then the 2wd trans comes out. I'll keep this for spare parts, unless somebody wants it... I swapped the neutral safety switch and trans temp sensor over ('97 into a '99 - wasn't sure if the older trans just had a switch there instead of the sensor)
To be continued...
-Charlie
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phattyduck
Elite Member
More to finish off day 1 of the weekend:
While it was up in the air, I checked the rear axle seals... leaking! They were wet when I did the 3rd member (just did the seals, no bearings or anything else). They are still leaking. Parts ordered from Camelback for the whole shootin' match back there. That'll be another day though.
We cut out most of the 2wd shifter stiffener plate to match what we had from the 4wd (there are some matching holes, making it easier):
Bolt in the 4wd plate to mark all the plug weld locations:
Grind weld locations clean and weld:
Then paint to hide the welds.
hwell: We also put in a small filler piece to allow the shifter rubber seal to seat correctly.
And that was it for day 1. We took the evening off to watch the speedway races. Harley night at the dirt track is a little too much fun.
-Charlie
While it was up in the air, I checked the rear axle seals... leaking! They were wet when I did the 3rd member (just did the seals, no bearings or anything else). They are still leaking. Parts ordered from Camelback for the whole shootin' match back there. That'll be another day though.
We cut out most of the 2wd shifter stiffener plate to match what we had from the 4wd (there are some matching holes, making it easier):
Bolt in the 4wd plate to mark all the plug weld locations:
Grind weld locations clean and weld:
Then paint to hide the welds.
hwell: We also put in a small filler piece to allow the shifter rubber seal to seat correctly.
And that was it for day 1. We took the evening off to watch the speedway races. Harley night at the dirt track is a little too much fun.
-Charlie
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phattyduck
Elite Member
Day 2 started with dealing with a broken stud on the exhaust downpipe flange.
Normal stuff, right? Double-nut, pull it out. NOPE. Weld a nut, unscrew it. NOPE, x3:
Each time, the stud got a bit shorter, so we just drilled it out. So there was a 2-3 hour waste of time. At this point, I wonder if we even needed to remove the exhaust?
Back to the regularly scheduled program... Lift trans in place, bolt it up, and put it all back together!
I somehow forgot to put the 4wd shift knob in the box of parts, so I got to drive home with no knob there. I did get it on that night and made a short trip to work and back with it on there:
The trans shifts very well. Possibly better than the totally babied (but 270k mile old) 2wd trans. We did do a drain+refill on the trans, the fluid that came out was a medium to deep red, so the trans was at least somewhat taken care-of.
There are still some loose ends:
- The 4wd shifter cup was completely disintegrated. I have a new one on order from Marlin.
- The front nuts for the rear prop shaft were half missing, and all the washers were missing. The 2wd uses a slip yoke at the front, so no dice there either. On order from Camelback... so no more driving 'til those are in place.
- The wiring is still left. So no actual 4wd yet. It does a mean 2-low right now though... :lol:
So, for now I wait on about $600 in OEM parts (all the rear axle stuff + misc other stuff) and I'll be back on it again soon. Poser shots to come after the wiring is done....
Medium term will be the new rear axle bearings and seals and Tundra brakes (with upgraded rear wheel cylinders from the small '15 wheel brake parts).
-Charlie
Normal stuff, right? Double-nut, pull it out. NOPE. Weld a nut, unscrew it. NOPE, x3:
Each time, the stud got a bit shorter, so we just drilled it out. So there was a 2-3 hour waste of time. At this point, I wonder if we even needed to remove the exhaust?
Back to the regularly scheduled program... Lift trans in place, bolt it up, and put it all back together!
I somehow forgot to put the 4wd shift knob in the box of parts, so I got to drive home with no knob there. I did get it on that night and made a short trip to work and back with it on there:
The trans shifts very well. Possibly better than the totally babied (but 270k mile old) 2wd trans. We did do a drain+refill on the trans, the fluid that came out was a medium to deep red, so the trans was at least somewhat taken care-of.
There are still some loose ends:
- The 4wd shifter cup was completely disintegrated. I have a new one on order from Marlin.
- The front nuts for the rear prop shaft were half missing, and all the washers were missing. The 2wd uses a slip yoke at the front, so no dice there either. On order from Camelback... so no more driving 'til those are in place.
- The wiring is still left. So no actual 4wd yet. It does a mean 2-low right now though... :lol:
So, for now I wait on about $600 in OEM parts (all the rear axle stuff + misc other stuff) and I'll be back on it again soon. Poser shots to come after the wiring is done....
Medium term will be the new rear axle bearings and seals and Tundra brakes (with upgraded rear wheel cylinders from the small '15 wheel brake parts).
-Charlie
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73Duster440
New member
Cool build you have there would love to 4wd swap my truck someday.
How do you like the Dakota Digital calibrator? I like the idea of not having to remember how far my speedo is off at various speeds
How do you like the Dakota Digital calibrator? I like the idea of not having to remember how far my speedo is off at various speeds
phattyduck
Elite Member
It seems to be working just fine so far. I have seen in glitch momentarily sometimes right around 55mph, but it is very fast and doesn't repeat, even if you stay at that exact speed. Not sure what is up with that.
I really wanted/needed it on there, as my tires are 13% bigger than stock now...
-Charlie
phattyduck
Elite Member
Good reminder! I forgot to put the two fittings on the OEM parts orders I just made. The stock breather is/was good on my housing (I did check and clean it when I put in the 4.1 rear diff), but I might as well have everything up a ways...
-Charlie
phattyduck
Elite Member
The less important half of my OEM parts order came in yesterday, so I installed a few quick and easy things...
First, a new visor clip. This is the second one to break on me since getting the truck. I'm beginning to think my wife likes breaking visor related parts on vehicles, but maybe she just uses them more often because she is short! She's on the 4th driver's visor and 2nd passenger visor in her '08 Mini...
Also figured it was time to do the PCV valve, grommet and hose. There was a bit of dirty film around the PCV valve and the parts are cheap. The valve I removed still had the right sound, but it did look old. It is always fun to dig out grommet bits from inside the valve cover - at least there is a shield there to hold the parts before it gets to the cam/lifters.
The rest of that parts order is everything needed to rebuild the rear axles (seals, bearings, retainers, etc, along with the larger 16" wheel brake cylinders). Those will be another time, when I have access to a press at my buddy's house.
-Charlie
First, a new visor clip. This is the second one to break on me since getting the truck. I'm beginning to think my wife likes breaking visor related parts on vehicles, but maybe she just uses them more often because she is short! She's on the 4th driver's visor and 2nd passenger visor in her '08 Mini...
Also figured it was time to do the PCV valve, grommet and hose. There was a bit of dirty film around the PCV valve and the parts are cheap. The valve I removed still had the right sound, but it did look old. It is always fun to dig out grommet bits from inside the valve cover - at least there is a shield there to hold the parts before it gets to the cam/lifters.
The rest of that parts order is everything needed to rebuild the rear axles (seals, bearings, retainers, etc, along with the larger 16" wheel brake cylinders). Those will be another time, when I have access to a press at my buddy's house.
-Charlie
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phattyduck
Elite Member
I had a little while to work on the 4Runner over the weekend.
First, who has front doors that don't hold themselves open? The little holder-opener-thing is called a Door Check by Toyota. I replaced the front two this weekend. Not a very difficult process, though I had to do some repair to both front door cards where some clips were disconnecting themselves from the cards.
I also got the first bit of wiring for the 4WD system done. These are the wires that run the ADD VSV's. Just two power wires and a ground that connects to the driver's fender. The two wires that run into the cab are there in the dash harness, so all I had to do was clip them into the engine bay side of the plug under the dash after getting them in to the cab through the grommet.
You can just barely see them going to the back side of the large plug above my hand:
I still have to connect up the transfer case position indicator switches and the ADD position switch. I have to pull apart that side of the dash to see what wiring is already there to decide my plan of attack there. I also have to put in a few bulbs for the 4WD light and ATP light.
-Charlie
First, who has front doors that don't hold themselves open? The little holder-opener-thing is called a Door Check by Toyota. I replaced the front two this weekend. Not a very difficult process, though I had to do some repair to both front door cards where some clips were disconnecting themselves from the cards.
I also got the first bit of wiring for the 4WD system done. These are the wires that run the ADD VSV's. Just two power wires and a ground that connects to the driver's fender. The two wires that run into the cab are there in the dash harness, so all I had to do was clip them into the engine bay side of the plug under the dash after getting them in to the cab through the grommet.
You can just barely see them going to the back side of the large plug above my hand:
I still have to connect up the transfer case position indicator switches and the ADD position switch. I have to pull apart that side of the dash to see what wiring is already there to decide my plan of attack there. I also have to put in a few bulbs for the 4WD light and ATP light.
-Charlie
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Kmurt
New member
I also got the first bit of wiring for the 4WD system done. These are the wires that run the ADD VSV's. Just two power wires and a ground that connects to the driver's fender. The two wires that run into the cab are there in the dash harness, so all I had to do was clip them into the engine bay side of the plug under the dash after getting them in to the cab through the grommet.
Just an FYI and I know you live in California but if you feel wet/dampness on your drivers side carpet, it's coming from that grommet that you put a new wire through. My wire for my subwoofer is ran through there and after a couple of days of rain, water seeped through and my carpet was soaked. Highly recommend you put some sort of sealant there.
phattyduck
Elite Member
Interesting. I wouldn't have guessed it gets wet there with normal rains, etc. (power washing the engine bay, on the other hand...) I'll keep an eye out for it. At least it is an easy fix, even if I have to move the charcoal canister to get to it.
-Charlie
phattyduck
Elite Member
The 4WD swap is officially completed!
First, the boring stuff. The transfer case shifter seat was pretty much dust, so I replaced it with a Marlin Crawler blue shift seat:
The only challenge there is getting the snap ring back in place. Finding the right combination of downward pressure and force in the snap ring is a tough.
I got the rest of the harness put together (was cut by the guy that I bought the parts truck from) and loomed. This covers the 3 switches on the transfer case and the ADD indicator switch:
Then pull the glove compartment out to get to the ECU and pull the harness:
Then plug in and run the harness as close as I could to the stock harness:
Then it is down to figuring out which wires need to go where. About half of the wires needed to be 'adjusted' with different ends because Toyota changed where in the connectors the wires went (big terminals for small terminals, etc.). Many of the wire colors also changed, which required a lot of cross referencing between diagrams. All of the wiring for manual transfer case was already under the dash (ADD relay plug, all the wires at the gauge cluster). I did pull the cluster to put in a few bulbs and replace the burned out "D" bulb...
It actually rained in Southern California, so I was even able to test it a bit on the street without stressing the drivetrain too much...
All the lights work (well, both the lights) - including the A/T P light, which you really should never see...
The truck is about to roll over 270k miles, which means engine maintenance is up next (timing belt, water pump, radiator, etc.). Or maybe suspension...
-Charlie
First, the boring stuff. The transfer case shifter seat was pretty much dust, so I replaced it with a Marlin Crawler blue shift seat:
The only challenge there is getting the snap ring back in place. Finding the right combination of downward pressure and force in the snap ring is a tough.
I got the rest of the harness put together (was cut by the guy that I bought the parts truck from) and loomed. This covers the 3 switches on the transfer case and the ADD indicator switch:
Then pull the glove compartment out to get to the ECU and pull the harness:
Then plug in and run the harness as close as I could to the stock harness:
Then it is down to figuring out which wires need to go where. About half of the wires needed to be 'adjusted' with different ends because Toyota changed where in the connectors the wires went (big terminals for small terminals, etc.). Many of the wire colors also changed, which required a lot of cross referencing between diagrams. All of the wiring for manual transfer case was already under the dash (ADD relay plug, all the wires at the gauge cluster). I did pull the cluster to put in a few bulbs and replace the burned out "D" bulb...
It actually rained in Southern California, so I was even able to test it a bit on the street without stressing the drivetrain too much...
All the lights work (well, both the lights) - including the A/T P light, which you really should never see...
The truck is about to roll over 270k miles, which means engine maintenance is up next (timing belt, water pump, radiator, etc.). Or maybe suspension...
-Charlie
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phattyduck
Elite Member
I think I might be doing my first actual offloading tonight. Wish the running boards good luck. :bounce:
Oh, and crazy thought for the day. Or week: 2jz-gte and FJ cruise full-time transfer case behind the auto. I know it can be done. That'll be down the road, but it may happen (I've done crazier swaps - see my signature...).
-Charlie
Oh, and crazy thought for the day. Or week: 2jz-gte and FJ cruise full-time transfer case behind the auto. I know it can be done. That'll be down the road, but it may happen (I've done crazier swaps - see my signature...).
-Charlie
phattyduck
Elite Member
Had a successful first trip out with the 4Runner. Went on an easy trail, got to watch some other better built rigs (3rd+4th gen 4Runners, 2nd gen Taco) do some crazy (to me) stuff on some little side sections. Then got to watch the '06 Silverado in the group break an inner tie rod... and that cut the rest of the trip short.
In my 4Runner news, I swapped the rear upper links to the 4WD parts. Turns out they are ~1/2" longer for a different pinion angle due to the different driveshaft style. Blasted and painted, because... well, why not?
-Charlie
In my 4Runner news, I swapped the rear upper links to the 4WD parts. Turns out they are ~1/2" longer for a different pinion angle due to the different driveshaft style. Blasted and painted, because... well, why not?
-Charlie
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ChildrenOfBodom
Moderator
Great work getting the job done, my friend!
Welcome to the 4WD conversion club
Welcome to the 4WD conversion club
