05-15 2wd to 4wd conversion guide (for dummies)

I blew up my FJ case on my conversion. No final drive for the rear, loud banging, now doesn't rotate. Fortunately I was in my driveway (literally) when it happened. I had a carrier bearing go out and when I put it back together I didn't line up the splines on the slip yoke, the vibration took out a u-joint and now the TC. Where is everyone sourcing their FJ cases from and what's the going rate?

 

eBay or car-parts.com but be careful some junkyards can be a pain to deal with. Cheers homie!

 

Never give up team hell yeah dude!

 

I was going to say you may want to extend that shifter a little higher. When I did mine I had the fj shifter at about the same height and when I tried shifting into 4lo, it would hit on the side where the shifter came up through. 4hi was no problem, just when I tried shifting 4lo. Good luck with it!

 

This may be a dumb question, because I see everyone agrees the FJ AT transfer case is better. In the event that you didn’t want to cut a hole for a shift knob into the cab could you use the transfer case from a 4x4 taco and wire up your own switch? Or does that not work without the ECU being involved?

 

Wiring would be tricky as you would need a 4 position switch but it could be a possibility but it not worth the headache for most and the FJ case is considered an upgrade.

 

For those that did the conversion, what did you do with your old transmission?

 

Sitting in a pile with all the other stock Taco parts i seem to keep around..
It gathered a little surface rust but it in good shape considering. You wan it? lol

 

Nah, I’m really interested in doing this conversion myself and wanted to see if there’s a way to recoup some cost on the old tranny. The other part of me thinks it’s best to keep it around incase the new trans has a problem. Thinking about converting my daily so I can’t take to much risk

 

You might be able to Sell it on FB market place/Offer up/Craigs list or see if a Parts yard will give you anything for it?

Best of Luck in the conversion! I did mine 85% myself and couldn't be happier.

Your in the right spot for an questions that pop up or need more clarification

 

I didn’t swap transmissions. I had my original transmission rebuilt with the correct output shaft and tail housing to mate up to the transfer case.

 

Interesting, was there a decent savings for that? I see prices have gone up since this guide was created and it looks like ~$1900 with shipping for a low mileage trans

 

I’m a ways out from being able to do this but reading this guide has raised so many questions for me. I see you’re also in AZ so it’s good to know the help is there if I need it

 

Not really any savings but my truck was pretty new and I didn’t want to take the change on a transmission with unknown history.

 

I can certainly lend a hand if needed! Also if you wanna see how things line up or ideas for the cross member/exhaust reroute. I have a buddy that can do the exhaust work in his shop.
I helped out another guy here in Az with extending his shifter from the FJ. Always up for a mod day!

 

That would be sweet. I don’t own a welder or know any welders so the crossmember and shifter seem intimidating. How did everyone figure out the measurements for the shifter before welding it up?

 

I chopped the shaft off about an inch up and tacked pieces together up till it poked out of the coin holder while it was installed. You can pull the shifter out and weld it solid out of the truck after you get it in the right spot. You can just modify your stock crossmember to relocate the Tranny mount. It just needs to be more forward to match the bolt locations on the 4x trans.
I'm a welder/fabricator and can lend you a hand so let me know when your ready. I can even come to you depending on your location.
I'm in AJ on the far eastside of town.

 

Check out what i nabbed on ebay for $120... Saves alot of the hassle of fabbing up that crossmember.

 

Does that already account for the inch or so difference laterally?

because if thats a bolt on option with no fabrication I will scour every junkyard around

Edit: doesn’t seem so plug and play according to this thread https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/4x4-conversion-transmission-crossmember-issue.548258/

 

Well from what i see the mount is in a different location and is moved backward an inch or two and down vs the 2wd crossmember. Ive read through that thread a couple of times in the last few years and do know it has to be moved.

Worst case scenario is i cut off the existing crossmember mounts on the frame and just reweld them back at the appropriate location.