2009 4.0 Auto to manual swap.

Man this makes me sooo tempted... everything about my truck is perfect except for the terrible auto trans. Nice to see someone actually do it and not just say “itLl bE cHeApEr tO sElL iT aNd BuY a NeW oNe”
Two questions, where’d you get the trans/tcase? Just lucky to find a yard with a taco with the m/t? On car-part, all the transmissions run like $1600.
And q2, whatever happened with converting the a/t ecu? It looks like you send it out to get reprogrammed but then it didn’t end up working?
Thanks man. You’re gonna make me start browsing Craigslist for parts again haha, shouldn’t be too bad on my 07 aclb.

 

For my trans I actually picked it up off a guy on offer up. He was a toyota tech. without the transfercase. The swap wasn’t even a thing for me until I saw that. It was cheap so I took a gamble and bought it. Just shoved it in the garage for later.

since your an 07 you should have the MT harness plugs under the dash. I wanted to not have any check engine lights, so I bought a 2009 MT 4x4 ECU. Plug and play swap. I did have to have my vin programmed to the new ecu.

But. I was able to start the truck and drive it with the auto trans ecu before I bought the MT computer. My cluster just looked like a Christmas tree.

As well as when you shift, it supposedly has a “rev hang” where when you shift the Rpms stay up for a second after you shift. But if you don’t racecar shift and shift normally it shouldn’t be a big issue.

 

Ah gotcha, lucky you then! I’ve been kinda keeping an eye on Craigslist/fb marketplace for a while and they pop up occasionally, like right now there’s just a trans for $1000 but that still feels like stretching the budget a little too much. Maybe I oughta start keeping an eye on 1st gen tundras and fjs on part put as they use same manual trans (fj has a slightly taller 6th gear, but everything else identical)

 

Well if you plan to do a FJ transfer case that would be perfect. I should have went that route, but I will in the future. I want the mechanical Transfercase engagement.

 

Yea, sorta. The manual FJs came with a full time 4wd tcase and no option for a two wheel drive which could be good if you want awd but not if you like the 2hi. Still manual shift tho.

Thinking the ra60f out of the v6 tundra would be the ticket because it’s not a Tacoma part so it won’t be so stupid pricey.

 

Lennie know if you see something in or around south Carolina. I'll do the same with colorado. I'm definitely doing it

 

Ha! First one to swap wins! After more research, (admittedly far too much) I've learned some new things. A, the transmission from the tundra wont work as the 05-06 tundra with the 1gr 4.0 only came in manual in 2wd so it won't work for us, and the 07-09 4wd 1gr 4.0 tundra only came with the 5speed auto. B, the RC62F (third gen tacoma transmission WILL fit and actually has pretty favourable gearing but is even harder (see, pricier) to source than the RA60F in the 2nd gens. So all that said, the only transmissions that will work (in the us) are the RA60F (2nd gen taco), RA61F (FJ), RC62F (3rd gen taco).


(See here for RC62F swap, https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/6-speed-shenanigans-ra60f-ra61f-swap-to-rc62f.701237/ )


Gear ratios:
RC62F (3rd gen taco) ratios:
1st: 3.982:1
2nd: 2.017:1
3rd: 1.321:1
4th: 1.000:1
5th: .848:1
6th: .713:1

RA60F (2nd gen taco) ratios:
1st: 4.171:1
2nd: 2.190:1
3rd: 1.488:1
4th: 1.193:1
5th: 1.000:1
6th: .849:1

RA61F (FJ Cruiser) ratios:
1st: 4.171:1
2nd: 2.190:1
3rd: 1.488:1
4th: 1.193:1
5th: 1.000:1
6th: .799:1

FOR REFERENCE,
A750F (Stock 5spd auto)
1st: 3.520:1
2nd: 2.042:1
3rd: 1.400:1
4th: 1.000:1
5th: 0.716:1

 

www.car-part.com

this is where I got most of my parts. There’s a couple dozen 3rd gen MT transmissions on there right now. There’s also a bunch of 2nd transmissions too.

 

yea that’s what I was saying earlier, they’re just all a bit out of budget, for me, anything much over $1000 starts to get hard to justify for the swap. I know that’s a hard price to get but I’ll just have to keep my eyes out for a good deal.

 

I'm in the same boat as well. Lol. Was looking at the 61F. What's the difference in transfer case mounting between 60F and the 61F. Is it just spline count? I'm ok with a non shifter case.

Did see a 60F in GA but the truck cought fire and they STILL want 1.6k for it.

 

From everything I can tell, they’re the same transmissions, just different 6th gear ratio. Both manuals have a different spline output shaft than the auto so you’ll either need a manual tcase or swap the tcase input shaft for the manual one, but that doesn’t look too hard.

 

Been daily searching and finally got someone to quote a reasonable price. That 05 on carpart in the north east 138k on it. Trans and case for ~1.9k shipped waived core charge but it was only 40 bucks. Don't know if I'll go with it yet. Was hoping they would salvage the rest of the parts from it. It's listed on multiple spots but the shop in vermont actually has pictures of it. @noco_taco you find anything your way?

 

found and FJ transmission for $100 with a “3rd gear synchro on its way out”, seems kinda risky it may need a full rebuild, local transmission shop quoted $1200 for a rebuild and I looked everywhere and couldn’t find any sort of a rebuild kit to do it myself. Story was the guy selling has a side hustle thing and a customer with an fj said 3rd gear was grinding but he drove it and couldn’t replicate issue he claims. So could just need new fluid, or could need new synchros. Been super busy at school I really haven’t had much of a chance to look for parts. IRS just said they will be sending me the stimulus money in my return this year so that makes it more tempting haha.

 

Dang, even for 100$ it may be worth a shot who needs 3rd anyway lol. I'd do it for the rebuild. I believe I have the FSM for it. There are some threads on here of guys taking it on. Doesn't seem difficult just time consuming.

https://www.transmissionpartsdistributors.com/toyota-ra60-6-speed/

These guys have a kit on sale

 

07 on car part in pueblo. No price listed

@noco_taco

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fj-cruiser-t-case-install-in-2007-tacoma-6-speed-manual.182470/

In this thread the guy says the manual shift fj transfer case is 1" longer than the auto one. If this is true shouldn't this compensate for the 1" loss. Instead of an RA60F, doing the full RA61 swap?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/6-speed-shenanigans-ra60f-ra61f-swap-to-rc62f.701237/

Another option that seems pretty doable. A third gen fits right up. No new shafts or spacers.

 

Seems the third gen transmissions are the same price. Probably worth it to go newer

 

Always a possibility

 

In the same boat as you, this is the only thread I could find for a 2nd gen swap.

Thank you for documenting! How is the swap holding up?