AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

You're too much man.
Another great trip report.

 

Wow what a bummer to end that trip but happy you made it home. Nice trip report. Gives me reason to go explore that area.

 

Yeah, bummer ending. Waiting for the teardown report.

I would love to take a long trip to the southwest, so much to see. It's just so far . . . gotta have at least 2 weeks, and that's just to explore one area.

 

Thanks guys! Even with the bummer ending - esp. so, since I was looking forward to taking the guys through Dedeckera on our final day - it was a great trip and a good introduction to Death Valley for a couple of them who'd never been there. Plus, gives us an excuse to go back again... if I can get them to do the drive.

The actual teardown might take a bit, but the rig review and replacement will be done pretty quickly, since there's no way I can be out of commission for long. Need to take full advantage of the winter months for desert exploration! It's a long drive, but totally worth it!

 

You said that like we don't want to haha

 

Oh, I know you'll be there. It's our two compatriots we need to worry about. Been trying to get Monte down there for years now. Maybe now that he's seen that it's not always 100°, he'll want to head down more often.

 

I am indeed more open to it as a place as it was a nice 50º-70º most the time. I'll take that. drive does suck though haha but at least its a nice scenic drive when its light out.
Will prefer to not be alone maybe next time. Was realllllly pushing it a few times there with the lack of sleep and highway hypnosis.

 

Rig Review - What worked and what didn't in Death Valley?
Part of the Back for More (Dec 2021), Last Minute Rush (Oct 2021), Lowest Peak in the Park - aka Into the Owlsheads (Nov 2021), Highest Peak in the Park - aka Pushing into the Panamints (Nov 2021) trips.

December 15, 2021.

It's been three months since the last rig review, and in that time I've put another 10,000 miles on the Tacoma. With a nearly catastrophic failure, as well as a few great successes, it's time to dive into the good and the bad from the last several trips:

• Last Minute Rush (Oct 2021)
• Lowest Peak in the Park - aka Into the Owlsheads (Nov 2021)
• Highest Peak in the Park - aka Pushing into the Panamints (Nov 2021)
• Back for More (Dec 2021)

200,000 Miles!

I want to start off this rig review with a reasonably significant milestone - the Tacoma hit 200K miles. I feel it's important to lead with this, since on my last trip - Back for More - we ended up ending the trip early due to my transfer case losing a bearing, and because I recently had my rear axle housing crack. It may seem that the Tacoma is having a tough go of it, but I like to look at it from a different perspective: in the last five years, I've put more than 140K miles on a 22-year-old truck and by and large it has been trouble free. If one thing is for certain, it's that I chose the right platform when I bought my Tacoma so many years ago. This thing is fabulous!

I added 40,444 miles to the odometer in 2021 alone!​

The Axle Housing Reinforcement is Working Well (crack temporarily resolved)
TL;DR - I've put 10K miles on my reinforced axle housing and it's working great. I'm really in no rush for my new one to arrive.

Back at the end of September, as I was driving home from the Aftermath trip, I noticed that my rear axle housing had cracked at the perch for the passenger leaf spring. Taking a cue from Ryan @Reh5108, I refrained from simply welding the crack, opting instead to fabricate a patch to fit over the entire housing in that location. At the time, my solution was meant to see the Tacoma through one or two trips - just long enough for my custom Diamond Axle to be fabricated and delivered. As with everything these days, the six-week estimate on that has dragged on, and I've now been waiting upwards of 12 weeks. However, the patch has been working so well that I'm no longer in any sort of rush. In fact, I'll be taking my time to prep the new housing once it arrives, as it's no longer a pressing issue. #superhappy #ThanksRyan

It's amazing what a little metal glue can accomplish. This fix was a huge success.​

Transfer Case Input Shaft Bearing is Imploding (new-ish)
TL;DR - I need a new transfer case.

Like most of the rest of the Tacoma, I "only" have 200K miles on the transfer case. While these are generally viewed as rock solid components that can last upwards of half a million miles, mine actually started to show signs that something was wrong nearly 100,000 miles ago. I thought I'd rectified the problem after changing the oil, but clearly that wasn't the case - the damage already done to the bearings that keep things spinning smoothly.

Everything came to a head in the Back for More trip, when a strange noise from the case was diagnosed as an input bearing and abruptly ended the adventure. My plan here is to replace the case with a low-mileage junkyard case in the short term, getting me back out on the trail as expeditiously as possible. Then - without the pressure of time - I'll crack open my original case and rebuild it before swapping it back into the Tacoma.

I'm quite looking forward to this, as I thoroughly enjoy learning about the various components on my truck and how they work.

I've already picked up the replacement transfer case I'll be swapping in.​

Third Jerry Can
TL;DR - I recently added a third jerry can to my pack-out for certain trips, and it's been great.

Winter means trips to the desert, and more specifically to the California desert. Trips to California mean high gas prices, and so I've added a third Scepter Military Fuel Can to my pack-out. While each can is rated for 5 gallons, in reality - by the time they expand a bit due to pressure - they hold almost exactly 5.75 gallons, meaning that three of them together can fill my tank from nearly empty, significantly reducing the amount of fuel I need to add at exorbitant prices.

So far, this has meant that I've only needed to fill up once in the Golden State, and even then, I was able to be selective about the service station I used. I've found Scepter MFCs - while they aren't cheap - to be by far the best Jerry Cans; there is a reason they are used by both the U.S. and Canadian militaries.

Nearly a full tank of gas.​

Broken Leaf Spring (new)
TL;DR - The top, military wrap half-leaf on the driver side broke in two places. I'm not sure what I'm going to do as far as replacement goes, but I have two options.

A couple days into the Last Minute Rush trip, I discovered that a new clanking sound from the rear end wasn't something rattling in the bed, but was the military wrap top leaf of my rear springs. It'd broken in two places - at over the rear axle at the u-bolts, and also in the very front where it wrapped around the main leaf. Needless to say, I'd never expected my Alcan springs to fail; I think they did for two reasons. First and most importantly, the leaf wasn't part of the original leaf pack, and in order to make it fit, Alcan didn't wrap it as tightly around the main leaf and front bushing as normal. This allowed it to move more in normal operation, and metal movement leads to fatigue. Secondly - of course - my leaf springs have a lot of miles on them - eventually, failure was inevitable.

As far as what to do - I've already purchased a replacement set of leaf springs from Alcan. The "easy/obvious" solution would be to install them when my new rear axle housing arrives, since I'll be disassembling the rear end anyway. Alternatively, I also still have the original military wrap leafs that came with the springs. I could drill a center hole in the correct place and replace the single leaf. Doing so would allow me to continue to use this pack for another several years, as it's not currently showing any indication of sagging.

You've served me well, but I'm still a little disappointed in you.​

Avocado Storage
TL;DR - if you're a fan of avocados, a little care can keep them safe and unbruised for up to 10 days.

I eat a lot of avocados. For the last couple of years, I've been using a storage method that's worked amazingly well, and that I realized - even after all my talk of tacorritos and guacamole - I've never mentioned. Better late than never.

The key is to start with green, hard avocadoes - preferably with a little bit of stem remaining. You should always start this way - even when buying avocados for home - since anything that's ripe in the store won't last more than a day and likely already has brown dents and bruises. The little bit of stem keeps the avocado from losing too much moisture and also keeps it from growing mold where flesh is exposed when the stem is detached.

Once you bring them home from the store, avocados should always be stored at room temperature until they are just ripe enough to eat. Beyond that point, ripening will continue - more slowly, a good thing - in a refrigerator (be it at home or on the trail).

When headed out on the trail, storage becomes critical. In the thin plastic bag you got at the store, bouncing around with the rest of your food, is a sure way to end up with gross, brown, dented avocados. Instead, spend a few minutes before leaving to wrap each avocado in its own hand towel, and place it carefully in a structurally sound cardboard box. Ideally, the box will hold one layer of avocados - mine holds six to eight, depending on size. Store the box somewhere in the cab of your vehicle, so the avocados sit flat, and the box isn't being jostled around. The floor is a good spot, I've found. Bonus points if you cover the box with something soft to insulate and keep heavy items from collapsing it.

After about 3 days, your avocados should be ripe enough to eat. If you'll use them within 5 days, you can just take them out of the box as you need them. If you need them to last longer than that, move a few the fridge or cooler, storing them in the same way - wrapped in a towel and contained in a box. This uses a bit more space, but will result in perfect avocados every time!

An avocado a day...is better than an apple a day.​

1lb Propane Bottle Extension Hose (update)
TL;DR - I love this simple modification and it's made cooking with the propane stove much more enjoyable.

Over a year ago now, I made my Genius Camp Stove Tube Extension. I've used it for more than 100 nights of camping at this point, in temperatures ranging from 18- to 105°F. In every situation, it has been fantastic, and the hose seems to be in just as good shape today as it was when I installed it. For less than $2, this has to be one of my favorite little modifications, and something that just makes camp life better. A side benefit is that @mrs.turbodb finds it easier to install on the stove than the original neck, since it doesn't require the propane bottle to be installed at a weird angle.

Cheap and convenient.​

Breakfast the Easy Way
TL;DR - we're always looking for ways to speed up meal time. Storing spoons, bowls, cereal, and paper towels separate from the rest of the kitchen stuff - and within easy reach - makes breakfast a snap.

In order to maximize exploration and relaxation, we're always looking to streamline meal preparation. Breakfast - when we usually just eat cereal with fruit - was always a pain because we had to get out the dry box for the cereal, the kitchen box for the bowls and spoons, and the fridge for the milk and fresh fruit. Six months ago, I made a small change: I put the bowls, spoons, paper towels, and cereal in the cab of the truck - just sort of thrown in wherever they fit, since none of them are fragile - and suddenly, breakfast is so much more convenient! We've gone from needing to pull everything out of the bed of the truck (when it's generally the coldest part of the day) to only needing to open the fridge for the milk and blueberries. Awesome.

Adding blueberries to breakfast is a huge win. They aren't cheap, but they are worth it.​

Toyota Tundra OEM Brake Pads
TL;DR - I couldn't be happier with the performance, longevity, and low dust of the Toyota Tundra OEM brake pads.

They aren't cheap, since you have to buy both brake pads (04465-35290) and shims (04945-35120) separately, but these pads have lasted me over four years and 120,000 miles, with a truck that weighs 5,500lbs! I don't know what I expected when I installed them in October 2017 as part of the Tundra Brake Upgrade - one of my first mods to the Tacoma - but they've certainly outperformed anything I could have imagined. I've replaced them with the same product again and look forward to another long service life!

I highly recommend Toyota Tundra OEM Brake Pads.​

Scepter MFC Wrench
TL;DR - I should have gotten one of these long ago; it makes opening the Scepter Jerry Cans so much easier.

On my Last Minute Rush trip, I finally broke my homemade - from a 2x4 - Scepter jerry can opener for the last time. Luckily, I broke it in a situation where I didn't actually need access to the fuel in the Military Fuel Can (MFC), but that didn't make me any happier at the time. Never having wanted to spend the money on the actual Scepter wrench, I finally gave in. This thing is amazing. It fits well and makes opening the cans a snap. I should have gotten it a long time ago.

A few items I recently added to my kit that I should have added years ago.​

Garmin inReach Mini
TL;DR - After a couple solo trips where I had limited cell coverage, and some thinking I should have done long ago, I now have an inReach Mini.

I've known for a long time that - especially on trips where mine is the only truck - I should be carrying an emergency satellite locator device. The problem - for me - is the subscription; I hate subscriptions. However, I finally realized that the subscription for the Garmin inReach Mini is such a small percentage of the overall amount that I spend on this hobby that it is silly for me to to have it. And so, now I do. I haven't used it much so far, but I'll throw together a bit more info about it, why I decided to buy it over other options, and how I have it configured in an upcoming post.

Seemingly solved from previous Rig Reviews

1. The Axle Housing is Cracked - fixed as noted above.
2. Oil Leaking from Transfer Case - I guess it's a good thing I never did anything about this, now that the transfer case is getting swapped out.

Unchanged / Still an issue from previous Rig Reviews

There are some things that have been featured in Rig Reviews that are - as yet - unchanged from when I originally reviewed them. Rather than highlight those things again, I'll simply link to them here.

1. The Drawer in the In-Cab Battery Cabinet Rattles - unaddressed. Still rattles.
2. Front ADS Coilover Spherical Bearings - I'm giving the new FK stainless steel bearings several thousand miles to see if they perform better.
3. The Zipper on the CVT Tent is Shit - I don't know how I'll ever address this, short of getting a GFC.
4. I Need New Seats - Still rocking the bottom-cushion-swapped OEM seats, but I've already got something in the works; won't be long now.
5. My Suspension Squeaks - still squeaky. I'm not all that worried about it, so I'm in no rush to fix it.

 

Smart about the avocados!
Stealing that idea.

I have inadvertently made guac by the first day on the trail.

 

I recently ordered one of Factor 55’s fancy fids. I do have synthetic winch line (and even a fid). But my splicing tools are with my sailing gear. The F55 uses a kellum like device to pull the rope through which should make the process quick in the off chance I need to fix the line.

 

Glad to hear that axle repair is holding up, mine seem to be doing well also. Bummer about that leaf spring!

 

Always love the write ups of the valley, new boundary signs (again). Lot’s of changes since my days there in the mid 80’s, I remember watching SuperBowl XlX at the Rhyolite train station, it was a bar/casino back then. A really cool building as many of the old train stations in the west were.
The talc mine up Warm Springs canyon that was still operational and had water in the pool, my first trip over Mengel pass. The Barker ranch was still there although making it’s way towards derelict status. The big summer storm in 84 that washed out Wildrose canyon, along with 10 miles of Hwy 190 from the Billie Mine down to Zabriskie point, great times for exploring and see a lot of the area before it became popular.
Exploring and hiking around in Rhyolite area then, I actually see the art as an improvement, this was all before the gold mine that sits adjacent to the town site. Classic example of the the boom bust cycle throughout the region over the decades.​

I have to put the Owlshead mountains on the bucket list, always wanted to do some exploring down that way, wasn’t really set up for it when I lived/worked there, working 5 day weeks limits you to choosing between spending most of the time driving or shorter trips which allow hiking or mountain biking. Thanks again for the guided tour, the Great Basin area just rocks along with the eastern Sierra as some of the most interesting country to wander through.

 

That’s some nice country down there. Not sure about the shell casing, looks too small to be a 20mm casing, unless it is an earlier version. Great write up once again.

 

Thanks for sharing the info on the DC trouble shooting. Uni-T makes a couple DC clamp meters that will measure DC amperage, not super expensive either

$44 UNI-T UT203+ Digital Clamp Meter AC/DC Current Auto Range True RMS Max/Min Backlight Multimeter

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XDWLDQ3?ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

 

Sorry to go back a bit, but the DMT folks and the associated eBay seller no longer cover the hood insulator. Any thoughts on other quality aftermarket replacements?

I used some reflective insulation that said it would work and I cut it to size but it was too thick and just pushed into the plenum and other parts of the engine, making everything dirty and tearing the mat in the process.

 

Sorry for the delayed responses, I was... yep, in Death Valley again. It's become a second home this winter. Not that I'm complaining.

LOL, I've done that too, and so I started looking for solutions. If you don't have a box, you can also use a big salad bowl, as long as other heavy stuff doesn't fall down into it and smash the green gold.

I didn't expect the leaf to break, but it's not really that big a deal for me. I've been running trips since September with it broken (over 15K miles now) and so far it's been OK.

Glad you're enjoying them as always. I wish I had the perspective of folks like you who saw it many years ago. I'm sure my perspectives of today will be foreign to later generations as well, but I can tell by what little I've seen of the park that it's always changing. Watching that over time would be cool (and probably depressing in some ways).

It's a 20mm for sure (I talked to a park ranger).

I was never able to find any others, which is why I always figured I'd eventually just get another OEM one. Looks like DMT does sell the mat still, but like the one you got that didn't work, you'd have to cut it to size. Personally, I'd just get OEM; with the price of gas these days, it's only like 3 fill-ups.

 

LOL that's quite true! Now I feel like I can rationalize it, since you're right--at the end of the day it's not that pricey. And the OEM one is a perfect fit. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Swapping the Transfer Case

By and large, the Tacoma has performed spectacularly over the 21 years since I drove it off the lot. With regular maintenance, I've really only had two or three failures - none of those failures requiring anything more than an early drive home - over the 200,000 miles it has travelled!

I suppose I can't always expect everything to work perfectly, and on my Back for More trip to Death Valley, I had a bad-enough-to-head-home-immediately failure of the transfer case. But, the story starts much, much earlier...

Background
It was in November 2018 - while on a trip to the Owyhee region of southeast Oregon - that the transfer case first started behaving badly. Approximately every three hours of 60mph highway driving, the transfer case would sound like it was suddenly spinning up - as though it engaged 4wd. The spinning would last for several seconds as I'd begin to slow down, and then, with a loud thunk, it would disengage and everything would be back to normal. Not sure what was going on, I "resolved" the issue for the remainder of the trip by periodically stopping and manually moving the J-shift of the transfer case between the various drive modes - thus ensuring that it was properly seated in 2-Hi (or so I hoped). Upon returning home, I quickly changed the oil in the case, and was appalled by the mud-colored goop that drained into my catch can.

Never the color you want to see draining out of your truck.​

Since then - after a couple quick changes of the oil to clean everything out - the transfer case has gotten regular oil changes at intervals of about 30K miles. The oil has always looked fine, and except for seeming slightly louder in 4wd odes, it has never given me any more problems.

Just Like That, it's Over
It was on the third day of a trip in Death Valley - some 100K miles after the last time the transfer case had acted up - that I first sensed that anything was wrong. Descending Mengal Pass into Butte Valley, I heard what I would describe as a strange grinding sound from the gear-shift area of the Tacoma. Hoping that it was just something rubbing or bouncing because a bolt had come loose somewhere, I shifted the truck out of 4-Lo and into 4-Hi and pulled forward to a section of trail that was relatively smooth so I could get out to have a look.

Lucky me, not only was something wrong with the truck, but it was raining too! ​

My search for a loose bolt on the skid plate, a lost nut on the limit straps, or a loose mount for the steering rack turned up nothing, and by the time I was climbing out from under the truck, my compatriots - Zane @Speedytech7, Monte @Blackdawg, and Mike @Digiratus - were all clustered along nearby, eager to know what was going on and how they could help.

After listening to the noise as I slowly drove by them, Zane was the first to offer an idea, "Sounds like you probably lost a tooth off one of the planetary gears in the doubler, and every time that spot rotates around, you hear it grinding into the other gears." Mike and Monte agreed that this sounded like a reasonable option - given that the sound only happened in 4-Lo - though Monte also suggested that it could be the shifter bushings of the transfer case, and that, "Maybe it's not really seated in the correct mode and you're getting a bit of grinding in 4-Lo."

Not really knowing what either of those meant, I inquired as to the longevity of the case in either condition. All three of the guys felt that I could probably finish out the trip - even if it meant using 2wd and 4-Hi for the remainder of our trails - and then fix the case upon my return home. And, I could check for the easy fix - by pulling the J-shift to see if the shifter bushing was worn - in camp the following morning.

That sounded great to me, and so we continued on - to one of my favorite camp sites in all of Death Valley - to Striped Butte.

Unfortunately, upon removing the shifter in the morning, the bushing was in perfect condition; we all assumed at this point that I'd lost a planetary gear in the doubler.​

For the next 24 hours, the transfer case didn't act up at all and we had a fabulous day on the trail. However, the following morning - as we were rolling out of camp - the real grinding began. Much louder this time, it was certainly a spinning noise. Even worse, I was in 2-Hi as I was cruising down a rocky dirt road.

Still not really knowing how a transfer case worked, I let everyone know I was stopping and called Zane forward for another listen. Of course, all the guys were once again ready to help and Zane, Monte, and I all climbed under the truck to put our hands on the transfer case - which was clicking.

"Put the transfer case in neutral, the transmission in first, and let out the clutch," suggested Zane. I did, and the clicking got worse. In second gear, it got faster - so on and so forth through all the gears - and I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. "Definitely a bearing," said Zane, "Probably your input shaft bearing grinding itself to death." Monte concurred, "Looks like your trip is over."

Naturally, lots of questions came to my mind at this point -

• What is the input shaft bearing?
• Does this mean that the planetary gear in the doubler isn't the problem?
• What happens if the input shaft bearing disintegrates completely?
• How long will the bearing last now that it sounds like this?
• Will I be able to make it home?

After a few minutes of conversation, all my questions were answered to the best of everyone's ability and the general consensus was that I should be able to make it home - "though it might be the noisiest, most uncomfortable ride you've ever had," said Monte. As part of this conversation, Mike also mad the suggestion that we head home to the west - through California and I-5 - rather than via the shorter - but significantly more remote - route through Nevada. That would allow us easier access to a U-Haul trailer, should Zane need to tow my truck the rest of the way home.

I was bummed. But, I was also super glad to have such good buddies along to help.

In the end, everything they'd suggested about the trip home was right - I made it home under my own power, and it was the most uncomfortable drive I've ever endured, the horrible noise of the bearing spinning up startling me every few minutes, causing me to jump in my seat.

What to do Now?
I didn't do much on my first day home. I was tired from the 20-hour drive, and frankly I sort of wanted to ignore the problem. It wasn't until the following day that I started thinking through the best way to fix the problem. As I saw it, I had three options:

1. Buy a new transfer case from Toyota and swap it in, knowing it was good.
2. Buy a used transfer case from a junkyard; swap it in and hope it was good.
3. Crack open my transfer case and try to fix it, then reinstall it and hope it was good.

I realized that my highest priority was getting the truck back in working order - so I whatever solution I came up with had to be fast. This mostly ruled out a strict rebuild, which Brett @Squeaky Penguin also suggested might be a bad idea - or at least more work than was worthwhile - if a bearing had grenaded and taken out other components with it. Plus, he reminded me, remember that mud that was in there for who-knows-how-long, and the havoc that it could have wreaked.

My inclination at that point was to purchase a new transfer case from Toyota. Sure, it was expensive at $2,453, but knowing that it would be a high-quality, brand-new part meant that it'd likely be trouble-free as well.

Unfortunately, replacement transfer cases for 1st gen Tacomas had been discontinued by Toyota years earlier.

Wah, wah.​

And that left me with only one option: find a used transfer case, hopefully with relatively low miles; swap it into my truck, and then cross my fingers. Of course, I realized that whatever route I took, I also wanted to rebuild the original - doing so sounded like a few days of fun, and a lot of learning about the internals of my drive train.

So, I started asking questions on TacomaWorld. What kind of case did I need? Could other "versions" of the Tacoma transfer case be modified to work with my 4wd, MT, J-shift, w/Rear Diff Lock, w/ABS, w/ADD truck? Oh, and of course the most important question of all...

Anyone got a transfer case I can buy?​

The outpouring of help from the TacomaWorld community was fantastic. So many people offered help and advice - some publicly, others in private - that it put a smile on my face and even (briefly) restored my faith in society and (parts of) the internet.

So, to Zane @Speedytech7, Monte @Blackdawg, Mike @Digiratus, Brett @BossFoss, Ryan @Reh5108, Brett @Squeaky Penguin, Mike @Area51Runner, @Lil Puke, @6P4, Andrew @04Pre_Runner, Dan @Empty_Lord, Austin @austinmtb and anyone I missed - a huge THANK YOU!

In the end, two bits of information were the most useful in helping me find a transfer case that I could use as a replacement. First - suggested by several people, but which Andrew @04Pre_Runner included illustrations for - was the details about the difference between M/T and A/T cases:

​

While the differences were identified, no one really knew why there were differences.​

The second useful bit of info was that besides the transmission type and J-shift vs. and electronic 2wd/4wd selector, pretty much nothing else mattered. ADD, Rear Diff Lock, etc. are all supported via sensors that attach to the transfer case, and these sensors can be purchased separately if whatever case I bought needed one or more of them:

As usual, Toyota's descriptions of the sensors leave much to be desired; hopefully this helps.​

Besides the sensors, there is a lot of confusion around transfer case identification in general.
I've tried to provide lots of photos and examples in the
Step-by-Step Replacing the Transfer Case on a Tacoma guide
to make it easier moving forward.​

​

All that information in hand, I had a new transfer case within 24 hours. Picked up at a local yard, it seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. With only 83K miles, it came off a Tacoma with a manual transmission and had a J-shift lever. Even better, it had all the same sensors as my existing case, so I wouldn't need to purchase - or swap them over - in order to get the new one installed.

What appears to be a perfect match! Let's hope that appearances aren't deceiving...​

The Swap
With the new transfer case in hand, all I had left to do - at least, in order to get the truck back in working order - was to swap it in for the old one. This meant finding a day or two where I could work on the truck - ideally out of the cold and rain of the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately, cold and rain are the standard operating environment for most of the year - and especially at the end of December - so it was just after Christmas that I decided to attempt the work in the garage. I'd recently patched my rear axle housing in the cramped space, and hoped that I'd be just as successful swapping out the transfer case.

I started by draining the oil out of the case. A bit of a bummer since I'd just put new oil in about 7500 miles earlier.​

With the oil drained into a plastic milk jug so I could inspect it later, the next step was to separate the case from the output shafts - one to the rear diff and one to the front. These, I marked with a paint pen - at both ends and at the spline - so that I'd know the original orientation. Only the spline mark really matters - and then only if I separate the halves for some reason - since I was installing an entirely new case - and pulled out relatively easily.

Good Practice.​

No-Wheel-Drive Tacoma. Still more capable than a Jeep. ​

Output shafts removed, I disconnected the various plugs from the transfer case and removed the J-shift inside the cab. All that was left was to unbolt the case from the transmission and carefully lower it to the ground.

There were two plugs to disconnect. A relatively straight forward task given that I'd washed the underside of the truck after the last trip.​

The speedo gear also came out and went into a baggie, since it was covering me in more disgusting gear oil. Seriously, why does this crap smell so bad?​

Four (4) screws, and four (4) bolts were all that was needed to remove the shroud over the J-shift.​

Supporting the case with the floor jack made it a reasonably safe operation to lower it to the ground after removing the eight (8) 14mm aluminum bolts.​

With my old case removed, I followed a best practice I've seen listed several times in the Toyota Factory Service Manual and compared the old and new parts. Except for a little dirt here and a little rust there, they mostly looked the same and I carried on with the swap.

Amazing how differently colored my 200K mile case (left) looks compared to the 85K mile case (right). Someone's been playing in the dirt. ​

Installation was essentially the reverse of removal - though I did nearly drop the new case off the transmission jack and onto my head about four times as I wrangled it into position.

Fourth time was a charm.​

Before long everything was bolted up, plugged in, oiled up, and - hopefully - ready to test!

It Actually Seems to be Working
I can't tell you how relieved I was when everything seemed to work upon rolling out of the garage. I still couldn't really believe it when I drove the first ten miles on the highway - the bearings in the new transfer case functioning as they should - without any of the drama I'd experienced on the way home from Death Valley. It was splendid.

Of course, I know almost nothing about this transfer case, so who knows if it'll last me 100- or 500,000-miles, but it certainly seems good enough to keep me on the trail while I attempt a rebuild of the original. And then, perhaps, I'll swap them again to rebuild the new case - giving myself two cases in known condition, on the off chance that something goes drastically wrong in the future.

For now though, I'm a happy camper (literally), once again able to get out there and explore!

First things first, let's get the transfer case to be the correct color. ​

But Wait, What About the Oil from the Original Case?
For those that remember, I'd carefully drained the gear oil from the original case into a 1-gallon milk jug so I could have a look at it later - you know, to see if there were any little bits of metal in there. Turns out, I also swapped out the oil from the replacement transfer case relatively quickly as well - just in case there were any contaminants introduced at the junkyard, and so I had two batches of oil to test.

My plan was to wait for a nice warm day, but after a week or so, I realized I could be waiting several months for such a rare event - so I brought the two containers of oil into the basement and checked them out there.

Lighter colored (after ~50 miles), new transfer case oil on the left; original, darker colored oil (after ~7500 miles) from the original transfer case on the right. Nothing too surprising yet.​

As the oil begins to drain... look at the sparkles!​

More draining.​

That'd be a pretty good pan if I were a gold miner.​

So, there's clearly something eating itself up in the original transfer case - likely at least the input shaft bearing. As the weather warms up, I'll dig into that puppy to see what's going on.

The oil from the new case looks pretty reasonable - at least for now - another indication that things are likely on the up-and-up. Whew!

For anyone else who needs to replace a transfer case, I have a ton more photos - both educational and of the process - to help with the job in a step-by-step guide I put together for the swap.

Step-by-Step Replacing the Transfer Case on a Tacoma​

 

Yeah that looks crunchy, were those bits ferrous? Reminds me of this pan, but it wasn't a gear box... this was my Chevy 454

 

Had you thought about any of the major engine rebuilders as a source for the transfer case? And do you foresee rebuilding the old one “just in case”?

edit: assuming the case itself is OK.