Another PreRunner 4x4 Conversion Thread...my 2004 Build

Time for a little/potentially big update. Sold the 2001 trans I had bought previously as I managed to find one from another member here from an 04 with 125k miles on it. It also had a matching TC. When I picked them up they were apart



I finally took the time last night to get them cleaned up and bolted together. Ended up using a tail housing from a different transmission as it was cleaner and had the ability to put the forward shift if I wanted to.



Going to start the tranny swap tonight, hopefully we can get the old one out and the new one stabbed in by tomorrow afternoon. Lucky for me I get to do the work at my buddy's house who has a lift.

Wish me luck!

 

Nice! Good luck with the swap. Keep us updated.

 

Thanks man! Finally ready to get this thing done!

 

Its been a while in the making for sure!

 

Conversion successful! Got the tranny in last weekend - I tried to take as many pictures as I could but ended up working too hard towards the end!


Up on the lift she goes!


Cut the hole for the transfer case shifter out of my original shifting assembly

Old tranny out and into storage


New tranny ready to go in and....



Installed! Buttoned up the crossmember, installed driveshafts and off the lift she went. Overall it went well and the 4x4 works very well - so mission success! However there are two issues I still need to address.

We couldn't seem to find the other end of this harness for the tranny temp sensor, looked everywhere and it was as if it disappeared. Any idea where the other end is on the wiring loom?



Also - I was told that the TC and tranny were out of a 2004 Tacoma but there is no speed sensor on the TC, just this plug. Anyone have any idea what the right speed sensor is?



All in all though, super happy with how it turned out and it's officially 4x4!!

 

Nice work!! And congrats on the install

 

Dang! I’m almost ready for mine. Waiting for my gusseted spindles to come so I can press the manual hubs in and make my process easier. Do you work at a shop or just happen to have a lift?

 

If you're doing that, may as well reinforce your coilover buckets. Those are much more prone to cracking and failure than your spindles

 

Oooh, from total chaos or a different brand?

 

You're probably looking at the gussets they offer; I'm referring to the top plate.

The tower cracks over time, and is much more prone to failure than forged spindles.

Personally I wouldn't bother beefing up a pair of spindles, but instead would focus on the coilover buckets.

Some say it's much easier to weld with the motor up and out even.

 

Why not do both?
Thanks for the info, I just looked it up and had no idea. Is this what what your referring to? I can’t really find anything for the top plate

 

Cause the spindles don't need any help.

Here are some random broken towers. There are many threads of this happening -







And here's the reinforcement -

 

Our spindles actually do suffer from a weak design. Check this out - no way a well designed part for off-roading would have had this happen to it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hgWUDnMpvQ4

1st and 2nd gen design is nearly identical besides location of the upper and lower ball joints.

 

They do bend, hell I got a buddy who believes his is bent. But that's with heavy wheeling and abuse.

I read about and actually see way more issues with the coilover buckets than any issues with spindles themselves.

 

Idk it seems how you use your truck - a lot of go fast guys in the desert have no issue with coil buckets but bend spindles and it seems like overlander guys will bend buckets with their super heavy rigs.

 

Good point, hadn't considered all that weight.

Rotopax, shovels, scottle, fridge, RTT, and more.

 

And shock tuning - well tuned shocks won’t transfer impacts to the top of the bucket as much as an untuned shock. Not to mention well set up bump stops keeping impact off the shock body at full bump which most desert trucks focus on a lot more than overlander rigs

 

I wish I did! My friend has a lift so we opted to do it there as I really didn't want to be bench pressing trannys & TC's!

 

Congrats on install ! Another fine job at the forums, I love this site !

 

Thanks man!!