BassAckwards' AWD 6 Speed Supercharged Tacoma

Good thing you don't have to worry about N/A

 

After having the 4 banger turbo'd there's no way i could ever go back to stock or even supercharged. The BW has me wanting to sell the maggy off the v6 as well lol. You sir are a bad influence..

 

Out of curiosity, how long did it take you to find a VF4B transfer case? I've been watching for a while and haven't seen one pop up locally or ebay.

 

It did take some time to find the right case. It was a bit of finding a needle in a haystack so to speak.

All the ones I saw on eBay were way overpriced and had too many miles.

I got lucky and found one on TW that a guy had bought the complete driveline from a MT FJ for his truck to replace the engine. It had only 30k miles but it was around $700 shipped IIRC.

The other took me about 6 months to find, but lucked out again and found one in a local salvage yard about 60 miles away from me. Had 120k miles and was missing some shifter pieces but I got it for $450. It was quite the hunt to find one though, so I can relate. They are much harder to find, and they are typically twice the cost of an automatic trans t-case so if you find the right one, my recommendation is to jump on the opportunity

 

I’m a few months late here, but figured I’d throw some pictures in here and some feedback on the VF4B AWD t-case. I don’t drive the truck often, but I took it on a 2300 mile road trip to and around Colorado last October. This was the first long trip since the AWD swap and it performed great. Went through everything from hot and dry to snow and ice over Hoosier pass at 11,542 ft. As a comparison to the part time 4wd system, this one is just simpler and better for my uses. No shifting in and out of 4wd depending on the conditions, or if you need to make a sharp turn. With the AWD case I left the center diff unlocked and forgot about it. Definitely my favorite upgrade for the truck to date. It also really has me looking forward to the swap on my other truck!

I did end up swapping out the HPtuners ecu for my UCon when I got back home after the trip. I had a steady P0136 that kept tripping the CEL but it didn’t cause any drivability issues, and the truck ran great. I wanted to see though if it was ECU related or a mechanical issue, so it was easy enough to throw the UCon back in. No codes yet, but i haven’t driven more than 100 miles or so since I got back. Also, over the whole trip, the truck averaged 16.93mpg

 

That looks like a really scenic and awesome trip! I love exploring old buildings/ruins/heritage stuff.

AWD does sound seriously awesome for off roading and not having to worry about binding and just enjoying the driving with lots of traction. Sounds like the way I'd want to roll if I actually 4x4'd much. My wife has a Mazda CX-5 that's AWD and for driving in the winter it's really stable and and enjoyable.

 

It was a lot of fun, there is lots to see up there. Makes for a good excuse to go back, just have to find the time!

yeah I could definitely see the appeal for it off-road. I am surprised more folks around here don’t explore it as an option. I have even gotten on the FJ forums some, and it seems like there are ppl on there trying to ditch the AWD case for a part time 4wd case. I guess if you don’t need it most of the time it does hurt gas mileage a little. Like you said though, it’s super stable in the crappier weather. Makes driving less of a chore when things get messy. Throw a blower in the mix and traction becomes an issue at times haha

 

Time to Gymkhana the Taco, since it is AWD.

 

The cliff dwellings remind me of Manitou Springs,near Colorado Springs.

 

i had to look that one up lol. Sounds like a blast!! Probably need some better suspension before getting rowdy.

Good eye, that is the exact spot where we were. Beautiful area!

 

Your suspension is good. I Taco Sense it. Just need to test it out in a good field.

 

Another AWD question for you. What did you do about your 4wd indicator? Is it on or off? Or is it actually connected to the transfer case to indicate when you go from AWD to 4wd?

 

My 4wd indicator comes on just like it would from the factory, except it’s now AWD High locked (50/50 split). So in High unlocked there is no light on the dash like you’d see in 2wd with the stock case. High locked shows the 4wd indicator, and then low locked shows the 4lo indicator. Yes it is wired to the transfer case sensors.

I used the wiring info in this thread

 

Picked up a leer 100r today! A big thanks to @SpeedwayTaco160

 

I was the guy that sold you the first awd case. So stoked to see that you're putting it to good use. Great build you have here.

 

Got a few things knocked out on yesterday.Started out adding some Thule cross bars from my other camper I had from when I added a basket to that. I also wired in a quick disconnect for the third brake light so it’ll be easy to unplug if the shell needs to come off.


Then moved on and installed the bed rug. I had to notch my tool box brackets some to allow for a little more adjustment but other than that it was pretty straight forward

Fully debadged to prepare for having it painted. Third brake light will be removed as well as it needs replacing so i got one of those on order. Also ordered some gas shocks for the rear window. I will say the side windows that open are a game changer. Makes it so easy to get to the tool box vs having to climb in there.

 

Hey thanks a bunch for dropping in Barney! It has been solid for me so far. I ran it a few thousand miles and then swapped in another case of the same kind in this truck. But the one you sold me is going to be installed behind my 2.7L here in a few months. Thank you for the kind words sir

 

Reinstalled my aFe side pipes, and dropped the sc pulley down from a 2.8 to a 2.6 this weekend. After running the TRD catback for a while it definitely feels like the 3” catback helps flow more, but damn it is loud. It is quite burbly though, which I do enjoy

 

That AFE system has small mufflers? The side exit looks sweet but the sound exits closer to the cab for sure. Maybe some good door/floor sound deadening would help. Want to do my floor at some point for similar reasons. Then I can be obnoxious on the outside and calmer on the inside lol.