Wyatt's "AWSUMDC" 05 Toyota Tacoma Solid Axle Swap

[wyatt]

The Beast Gets a New T-Case

When Toyota built the new Tacoma's, they thought it would be nice to have an entirely electronically controlled transfer case. Not a bad idea for the guy who wants t take his date on a picnic but not so good for someone like me. Now the transfer case is pretty strong. The strongest yet to be put into a Taco, but the actuator can be troublesome. Water and dirt gets in it and then your stuck not being able to shift it at all at times. Cleaning it got old for me.

This is the little culprit.




Some people have tried to make this t-case into a manual setup but because of the way it is shifted, with the actuator on a single rod, it meant having to remove the actuator and exposing the t-case internals to dirt and water because a good seal could not be made. When you take the actuator off there is an o ring that stops water from going in and oil from leaving the t-case. I didn't like that option.

Now in Australia and the rest of the world, Toyota was still using a manually shifted t-case for the Hilux which is the international version of the Tacoma if you will. It is shifted b a lever that comes up into the cabin just like all other real 4X4's. Only problem with that case is it is a forward shift. There are rods that come from the front of the case and go into he rear of the transmission and the case is shifted from a lever that is placed on top of the rear o the transmission.

Hilux t-case with rods that go into the rear of the transmission.


The Hilux t-case wont work for our Taco's because of this arrangement.

Then in 2007 Toyota came out with the FJ Cruiser and in it was what I needed. The strongest chain driven case that Toyota has ever made and it was a top shift with a lever instead of the forward shift of the Hilux.

2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser fully manual chain drive t-case.


So this is the case that is going into The Beast.




I had to take the sensors from my Taco case and put them onto the FJ case. You will eed to plug the rear hole becasue you only need to use the front one on the drivers side and the other port on the passenger side.

Because of the drive shafts I am using I had to have my flanges triple drilled. That way I can use what ever Toyota drive shaft that I want.



I then installed my vehicle speed sensor I made for my Tacoma t-case as well.


So there you have it. Next will be the installation of it once I get the crawler box back from Marlin. There are going to be a few other surprises to this case that I will tell you about in the near future so stay tuned.

[Roams001]

Why must you always do cool stuff after I dropped coin on something else?

That would replace the V8 full time case no prob I take it?

*off topic*
Oh, I did manage to tear my rear 3rd link off its gussets this weekend and grenade the rear drive shaft u-joint at the same time. End of the day run, was tired and impatient...my fault...but we did learn we needed to make that bracket much stronger.

[wyatt]

Originally Posted by Roams001

Why must you always do cool stuff after I dropped coin on something else?

That would replace the V8 full time case no prob I take it?

*off topic*
Oh, I did manage to tear my rear 3rd link off its gussets this weekend and grenade the rear drive shaft u-joint at the same time. End of the day run, was tired and impatient...my fault...but we did learn we needed to make that bracket much stronger.

Sorry about that. Hey did you get my email or pm. I can't remember what I sent you. Anyway, I can't find your address. Don't know why it's not in mu 'puter. Can you pm it to me again please.

Bummer on the link. Those top link take one hell of a beating.

Yep, this case would take the place of the full time V8 case but it only has the 2.57:1 low range in it and that can't be changed. If you want that case then it would be a good idea to put a crawler box in front of it for lower gears but I'm not sure you have the room under there with the gas tank. I'd love to see it happen though.

You did good with your Lefty so don't second guess yourself.

[Hilux_Max]

good stuff wyatt....so you pretty much have the same setup now as my hilux, minus the flanges....is that right?

[boof]

Good stuff

[eMOJO]

That FJ case looks beef, pitty it's a lefty as I have the actuator on my case... though it hasn't given me any trouble yet

[wyatt]

Originally Posted by Hilux_Max

good stuff wyatt....so you pretty much have the same setup now as my hilux, minus the flanges....is that right?

Yep! Same as yours.

[wyatt]

Originally Posted by eMOJO

That FJ case looks beef, pitty it's a lefty as I have the actuator on my case... though it hasn't given me any trouble yet

You don't have the lever in yours? Yours is shifted electronically? Hummm.

[eMOJO]

Maybe I missunderstood what acutator you were talking about... mine still has a lever to shift from HI to LO but 4WD is electronicaly activated - I think it's called an ADD system

It has an actuator on the transfer and front left axle

[wyatt]

Originally Posted by eMOJO

Maybe I missunderstood what acutator you were talking about... mine still has a lever to shift from HI to LO but 4WD is electronicaly activated - I think it's called an ADD system

It has an actuator on the transfer and front left axle

Yes. You have the same transfer case as the early model Tacoma except yours is a right hand drop and not left like the Tacoma's. The actuators n those seem to work pretty good because it's only used to go into 4wd. The you have the lever to go into 4-lo. The new Tacoma's have the actuator to go into 4wd and 4-lo. Major pain in the

I like your truck. I like the lines it has and the fit of the quad cab. Looks good.