Inside the '05+ Tacoma T case

Inside the '05+ Tacoma T case There have been a lot of people who have asked if you can make the electronic shifting T case of the current generation Tacoma's into a manual shifting case and although there has been one that I know of that has done it, it is not in my opinion the best way to go about getting a manual t case into the new Taco's.

I have posted up here what I feel is the best way to accomplish this but there are still those that want to see why you can't just stick a lever on this case and make it manual shifting. Because of this I have taken my Tacoma T case apart to show you why it can't be done at least not to my satisfaction.

I also did this because there are those that have the 6 speed Tacoma's and want to put the FJ Case int their trucks and although the could easily just swap in an FJ Case from a six speed FJ, trying to find one is near impossiple so I have found a way to make them happy.

First, lets get into the Tacoma case.

From the outside it looks just like the FJ case with the exception of not having any shift levers and and motor hanging from it's rear. But then you open it up an a new world awaits you.

Getting it open is as simple as pulling off the front drive flange and then taking out the twelve 12mm bolts that hold the front half to the rear half.

In this photo you can see the front half has the planetary gears in it and the rear half has the shift forks as well as the hi/lo and 4wd gear sets. Another thing you will notice is that the shift forks are upside from the common configuration of most other Toyota case's and it has one shift rod that controls another internal shift rod. Because of this one rod you would have to rig some sort of lever off of te back of this case t move this rod. The problem with that is once you take the motor off of this case there is an o ring that keeps dirt out and oil in the case that will now be gone. I don't like that option.


This is the inside of the FJ Cruiser T case. Notice that the two shift rods are a the top of the case and not at the side of the case like the Tacoma's is.


This is looking at the planetary gears and the oil pump in the front portion of the case.


Here is the back half of the case and it holds the hi/lo gears, 4wd, as well as the shift rods and forks.





Now, for those that want to put an FJ Case in the six speed Taco's this next section is for you.

If you can't find an FJ Case from a six speed but you have one from the auto FJ, your going to have to swap the input shafts from one to the other. Since they they are basically the same, the easiest way to do this is to just swap out the entire planetary gear set with the input shaft from the front of the case's. This way you don't have to get into taking all those gears off of the input shaft and thats a pain.

First thing you have to do is take the oil pump and pick up off. There are three 10mm bolts that hold the pick up on. Take those off and out comes the oil pick up.

Oil pump behind the pick up.


Oil pick up with screen. You can see some of the sealant that Toyota used on the screen. There is anlso a magnet on the bottom of it to catch any metal particles.



The oil pump once the pick up is removed. There are three 10mm bolts that you need to remove to get it out.




Once the pump is out you can now turn the case over and remove the input shaft cover plate. There are five 12mm bolts that hold it on.


Once that is off you'll see a snap ring that is holding the planetary gearset with the input shaft in the case. Remove that snap ring and the entire gearset will come out of the case through the inside.

UPDATED INFORMATION

In the picture below are the two different input shafts that you'll find in the Tacoma and FJ Cruiser t case's. The huge one is the 22 spline six speed input shaft and planetary gearset and the smaller one is the 23 spline automatic input shaft and planetary gear set. You'll also find the 23 spline case in the 2.7 4 cylinder Tacoma. As you can see the six speed input shaft is huge compaired to the 23 spline shaft from the Automatic transmission trucks. Everything else is the same with the exception of the front plate so they are a simple swap if you know what your doing.

​

The front of the case minus the input shaft and planetary gears.



Now, to put the input shaft into the FJ Case you'll need to do to the FJ Case what you have just done to the Tacoma case. Once you have it out you simply reverse what you did and put the the input shaft from your Tacoma Case into the Fj Case and close it up and mount it in your truck.

That's it folks! Pretty simple.

If you want this swap, but don't feel comfortable about doing this yourself, RockSolidToys can do it for you. Just email me at Wyatt@rocksolidtoys.com.

 

nice wright up wyatt.... im not familiar that good with the whole crawling thing... but how would it benefit you more to go with a manual FJ T case.... as opposed to be electronic..??

 

Hey, whats up man? How are you doing?

There are a couple of benefits to them especially if you convert the manual shifting case to a twin stick configuration.
Let me explain. First off, if you do a lot of wheeling then those little motors get dirt and water in them and then they wear out and stop working. Seen too many people stuck in 4lo. The manual case is much more reliable

Now, if you switch to the FJ case you still have shift on the fly like you did with the electronic case. Also, if you do the twin stick conversion you can now control the 2wd 4wd shift rail independent of the hi/lo shift rail.

What that means to you is, lets say your out on the trail and your in lo but need need 4wd. You simply shift into 2wd and your still in lo. You can't o that unless you have a twin stick configuraton or you try to fool your computer with now OTHER electronic switches. It's also useful when your binding up your front tires and you want to take the pressue off of them. You simply shif into 2wd lo and now your front cv's are saved.

 

im good brotha hope all is well with u and your fam and having a safe and fun new year....

so it puts less strain on the CVs..???in electronic shifting u cant shift into 2wd drive low and that would probably damage the gearbox as well... does this not put strain on your driveshaft..??? or this is after u go one piece haha...

 

Hey awsumdc
Since you had seen all those transfer cases. I want to go to AWD on pickup. I have V6 Auto, so from Tundra guy it looked like I can use one out of the Lexus SUV (re-badged Prado) or I was thinking maybe AWD case out of FJ would fit.
Any idea?
EDIT: Idea is to have AWD >4HI > 4L

 

yup...

 

My mind is literally blown, I think I'll have to re-read this about 8 times. May just trick me into doing this swap though

 

Hey Larry no problem man.

No, you dont have to swap out the input shaft if yo run a crawler in front of the transfer case and behind the transmission. There is a coupler that will mate the tranny and crawler together and then the transfer case just bolts directly to the rear of the crawler.

 

The case from the FJ that would fit your truck, if your truck is the '05+ Tacoma, is a partime transfercase so that won't give you all wheel drive.

The case's that are allwheel drive come from the 4Runners here in the states and they are all completely electronic. The amount of work that would need to be done to get this to work correctly would cost a small fortune. Just rewiring everything and finding all the computers to make it work would drive most people away.

I wouldn't do the swap for anyone because I feel it would be a waste of money. There would be no benefit that I can see from this because the rear of your truck is too light to benefit from this arrangement.

I'm not saying it can't be done because I believe anything can be done. I was told that my truck couldn't be built. Then I was told that when it's done it won't wheel very good. Then I was told that I could get a crawler box in it. Then I was told that the FJ case won't work for my truck.

Good thing I never listened to any of those people.

What I am saying that for the time and money that would need to be spent on a project like this, I can't see the benefit of doing it.

 

Ok. No problem. I can get you set up.

You cannot change the gearset in the chain driven case's. There is no room in which to do it and if you could find the room, making the gears bigger would weaken what is one of Toyota's strongest built case's ever.

 

When you use a twin stick configuration you can remove the power going to the front wheels while in lo to relieve any binding issue and thus take the strain off of your CV's. When you make the swap to an FJ Case there is no need to change the drive shaft because they are the same size s the Tacoma case. They actually use the same case housing and almost all of the same internals.

 

ohhhh I think I get it.. but I see these pics and threads of the carrier on our truck being not as strong and people switching over to the 1 piece Driveshaft(as far as the rear is concerned)..??? now when putting into 2 low like that on any type terrain(i.e crawling or climbing Etc.) that wouldnt put unnecessary strain..??? sorry for all the newb questions but this thread is really interesting....

 

well yea cuz its all 4 wheels... unless im trippin lol he is saying with the twin stick config u can switch to 2wheel Low while on certain terrain... or is there still power to the all 4 wheels or is it 2WD??? thats where i am trippin at.... i think i had to many rockstars haha...

 

god this is sweet!

 

dude i know right... lol

 

Damn this is interesting...to bad non of this can ever be done…because I have a 2wd

 

I like the newb questions. Thats why I created RockSolidToys.

Nope. No undo stress is created.

 

too cool Wyatt! - this is why I joined the RST forum too...

 

When you have a twin stick you have seperated the shift rods so that you can select the lo gear while in 2wd. You no longer just have lo in 4wd.

Lets say you are driving along and then you want 4wd. You shift the one lever that says 2wd/4wd into 4wd and now you have power going to front and back axle's together. Now the terrain gets tough and you need lo gear. You now shift the lever that says hi/lo into low and your now in 4wd lo. Power is going to both the front and rear axle's and it's lo. Now you get into some really tight area's and the going is really slow. You start to feel that your front is getting bound up so you now shift the 2wd/4wd lever into 2wd while leaving the hi/lo lever in lo. You now have power going to the rear axle only while still in lo and you save your front CV's from damage. Then when your front is no longer binding up you simply shift the 2wd/4wd lever back to 4wd on the fly mind you, and your now back into 4wd lo and power is once again going to both axle's.

When the trail gets a little easier but you want to stay in low gear you simply shift the 2wd/4wd lever into 2wd ad cruise around in low gears. You can change how lo it is by shifting through the transmission.

I LOVE IT MAN!