Let's see your FJ case swap

My new case is a 4Runner case. The Trail Teams runner cases are the same as the FJ case.

 

I feel like deja vu

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/lets-see-your-fj-case-swap.455278/page-10#post-18638181

 

Indeed...

 

Cool deal. Appreciate it.

 

Used to be able to score an FJ case for like $400 or so. Haven’t looked them up in a while...

 

Wyatt told me “5th gen 4runner t case's which are the same as the FJ” back when he prepared mine.

 

When shopping for t-cases I found it difficult to discern if a 4runner had a stick shift or not. Sometimes the ad would state that the t-case would interchange with the automatic FJ but when I looked at the actual photos of the donor vehicle (if they were provided) I would see a knob on the center console and no stick.

A lot of the ads on ebay would state that a t-case from a Limited would also fit a Trail Edition. It may be true that they would bolt up but I'm pretty sure the Limited has a knob and the Trail is the only one with a stick.

It can be tough to confirm what you're actually going to receive when you buy online. Best thing I could think of is either look for ads that show the donor vehicle and try to see if it has a stick or call and ask the seller to confirm.

 

I had a lot of these same problems when trying to look for one on Ebay also. Eventually gave up and trolled around till I found one local to me. I do have a 4runner case in mine, and it had less than 30,000 miles. Not sure what year though.

 

That's probably the best way to do it.

People are crashing their cars everyday so there should be some 4runner cases in every major city!

 

Hey yall, would like to get some thoughts and opinions on something..

I have a 2009 2.7L w/ the R155 (2wd prerunner)

I am considering swapping in a 4wd ecu/4wd tranny/4wd rear Driveshaft/FJ t-case.

I want to make my truck have 2wd Lo and 2wd High. I dont plan to convert the truck to 4wd because i want to go LT later on and i can get better numbers from a prerunner. Question is, does anyone see any potential issues i might run into if i swap this in and just leave out the front driveshaft/diff/CVs? Besides of course a cross member relocate

I will probably take a flaming for this, but I love my PreRunner, and would like to take advantage of some lo range torque while offroading.

 

Totally doable.
Don’t need to have a front driveshaft hooked up for 2low.

 

You don’t need the 4wd ECU, but I don’t see how it is worth the trouble just to have a lower gear. If you’re going to do all that, it is too easy to just do the rest and have 4wd. IMO you’re better off regearing the rear diff.

I couldn’t find a 4x4 rear shaft for a decent price, so I had mine modified. It was $430 to have a brand new spicer slip-joint installed, new U joints, and both sections retubed to position the carrier bearing correctly.

 

Thanks, thats what i thought as well seems pretty straight forward minus the cross member relocate

Interesting, im guessing the fj tcase eliminates the need for a 4wd computer to engage it?

May not be worth it to some, but i would use it all the time. Also im running 4.88s right now and my truck still struggles when im offroad and have to climb hills. Just doesnt have enough low end oomph. Truck sputters and tries to die while climbing steep hills. Have to back down and full on send it. Main reason for me doing this is to have better control in situations like this and not have to worry about sending it wot. Could go to 5.29s but that would be miserable on the hwy with 33s, and thats most of my driving.

Also will likely only do this if my stock trans craps out on me and i need to replace it anyways. Not gonna put this on the top of the list of things to do, just an idea to upgrade if im already swapping in a new tranny and i have everything apart

430 isnt bad for all of that work. May have to look into this if i cant find a cheap used one. May have a lead on one though

 

I totally understand your want for a lower gear. When off road I frequently need low range just to get up a steep incline. Most of the time I don't really need the traction of 4wd, just the lower gear.

 

I get what you’re saying, and it would work fine. If you want 2 low that bad, you really ought to keep your eye out for the front end parts at a good price. Everything up front just bolts up. Swapping the trans and installing a tcase is the hardest part of a 4wd conversion. The front end stuff is easy.

 

Thats a good point, everything would be in place if i ever wanted to swap it, it would be quick. Im sure it'd happen eventually, this might just be the snowball to get me to do it.

 

I love 2 Lo and use it a lot. I only use 4wd in the winter in snowy conditions. In your scenario, I'd opt for an FJ case and have the stick come up like mine does. Who knows, maybe you could use the front T-case output to power something mechanical while you're driving!? I imagine with your already low-geared rear end, you'd have an amazing crawling gear.

 

For that price (probably 4k when all is said and done), you'd be better off upgrading the rear end and getting a portal axle

 

Having the option of 2 low would allow you to retain a higher gear set to run down the highway while still having off road capability when desired. I know 3rd gear + low range has gotten me out of some serious mud. Plenty of torque and pretty decent wheel speed. As far as price goes, I paid $500 for my R155f plus $200 to ship from Denver, CO to central MS. T case was $250 and I picked it up locally. I'm running the stock FJ shifter and it comes up into the gear shifter area quite nicely

 

I followed @6 gearT444E ‘s write up a couple of years ago and did mine.

I love it. I’ve put about 30k on it and driven to Moab from NJ twice. No problems what so ever.