RC60F Transmission swap including 4th Gen Taco

Stoke levels are high, amigo..

 

Just trying to get the damn clutch to bleed. Went ahead and got the driveshaft in. Lots of pumping pedal and gravity bleeding and still nothing. Annoying…other than that it’s ready to go.

 

Finally got it to build up pressure, but not enough to drive lol. I can barely get it into 1st and 2nd, but R won’t go. Probably something in the synchros not lined up just enough. Don’t wanna force it.

 

Finally took it for a brief drive. Only used 1st and 2nd and reverse because the clutch is still too unbled to shift gears without clutch burning. All I can say is: WOW.

It’s like instant regear….again. The weird thing is, the super short 1st and 2nd don’t feel too low at all…they both feel really nice. I’ll report back as I get it to drive more!

 

Dry shift that b

 

Took it for a better drive. My thoughts (no overdrive yet). Keep in mind I have 5.29 gears on 265/75R16 tires. I am already set up very differently than the vast majority of folks.

1st - Pretty short, but not in a bad way. It feels drastically “lower” but it’s not like a granny gear or a tractor or anything like that. Really, it’s just helping a low torque motor get things moving a bit easier, or 21% easier to be exact. One thing is for sure, I am shifting now by like 10-15 mph, and that’s at like 4000 rpm lol.

Doing just the transmission on stock gears equates to about as much change in R/1/2 as going to 5.29 gears from stock. So for me, I basically got double results from both changes.

2nd - Feels great. It’s low, but still super normal feeling especially in parking lots, alleys, etc. low speed stuff. It does wind up a lot quicker, similar to 1st, so you’re grabbing 3rd more quickly, but not in a bad way. If you wind it out to redline you’d still be going 50-60 mph on stock gears depending on your redline. For me, I’m topping out around 40-45 mph and that’s what a 6800 rpm redline.

3rd - You can definitely tell it’s different, but this one is not very drastic at all - and it really shouldn’t be. It’s just revving a bit more into the 3000s at 35 mph than the 2700 or so I was used to before with 5.29s. It’s only a 9% change, so really minimal. Like going from 3.73 to 4.10. Where this one will probably shine is the aggressive accelerations in the mid range; like 40+ mph. Enough of a gear boost to get you into the power band more quickly, but nothing you really feel too much when just piddling around in town at low speeds.

R - this ons is really nice too, like 1st and 2nd. After all, it’s on the same cluster set similar to the RC62F, so all 3 of those gears were modified by the same amount. This means that like 1st, reverse is pretty drastic at the low speed stuff. It backs up the driveway much better than before. I can still see value in a 2low kit or a twin stick transfer case, but it’s a lot less necessary for sure. Especially when paired with 5.29s.

I’ll report back on the overdrives soon. I don’t expect to find much difference honestly. 2600 vs 2900 at 70 probably won’t feel that different. I didn’t do this for the overdrives, I did it for all the other gears. It might help my mpg a bit though.

 

Yes. Very. Smokin deal!

I did not realize until this evening that all of this had gone down already. Last time I visited this thread was back at the beginning of December or so. Somehow I even missed your tag.

The next time somebody hears of Toyota doing that deal, send me a message!

Very stoked for @BLtheP

Where’s OP at with his swap now? @Jowett hmm?

 

They ran a 15% off Labor Day deal, and then did 25% off Black Friday. The Black Friday is typical, so you can almost guarantee they will be available next year. The catch is that you ideally need to have avoarticipating dealer nearby. Basically, you need a dealer that is on the parts.toyota.com network because they all participate in the Black Friday sales since it’s officially through Toyota. Other dealers like Longo, Sparks, etc run their own parts websites through revolution parts, and they don’t run the same deals. Those are the places to go during the year, and Toyota is where to go during Black Friday. Black Friday is 100% worth waiting for unless you just really want it “now” (whenever) for $800ish extra.

 

This swap is now on my list for 2025 mods. Was going to regear from 4.88 to 5.29 now that the 37s went on but the gearing of this tranny seems better all around.

Thanks @BLtheP for going through this.

 

Put probably 20 miles on it now. I really like this. 1st and 2nd I’m already used to on the street. They’re a bit short but I’m already used to that so this was just yet another adjustment. 3-6 feel really good. I thought I wasn’t going to like the taller 6th as I’ve gotten used to the torque of the stock 6th with the regear. I lost a bit of that pull, but it’s a lot quieter in 6th now and probably will get better mpg. I am cruising at 2600 at 70mph now instead of 2900.

5th feels pretty close to the old 5th, so not much new there. It’s like 200 rpm difference (lower) at the same speed, so not huge.

Overall, this is a great improvement. The low speed gears are fantastic. The top end gears are fine, not degraded compared to before. I have 0 regrets and I don’t think I need any more time to be sure.

70ish:

 

I think pretty much anyone would like this. I will say, I don’t think I would have liked this for myself as much on a fully stock truck. I’d end up driving it like a 5-speed because the 6th gear would be too tall for my preference. However, I really like it how it is with my 5.29s. SC and 4.88 and everything all factor in too obviously and I bet yours would work well also.

Just glad it’s done and actually works. Every single aspect was 100% bolt in. I have a feeling Toyota spied on this thread and subtly provided us an option to help, plus they make money on us buying transmissions anyways lol.

 

I had suggestions, but you figured it out. Booya

You gona bring it to the jamboree in May? I wanna check this thing out

 

Is that in Texas? Possibly. On the surface it’s a pretty boring seeming truck, but I’ve really tailored it to my liking with inconspicuous stuff lol.

 

It is. That's why I asked. Even though I realized that in certain parts of Texas you could drive for 13 hours and still be in Texas. Lol

Been having gearing discussions with people for years now given that I'm armored and tired up but still running stock gears.

 

That’s right, it’s the one out east. About 2h15m from me. I might could make a trip this year. My buddy who’s a tuner has gone the last few years and always mentions it but I forget and I don’t know anyone there. But if you or someone else wants to see something, I could probably make it

 

My swap hasn’t moved forward. Life happens, health issue with family (essentially watched western medicine kill my father) … and then the retaining wall (that the neighbor should be maintaining) which supports the foundation of my carriage barn, fell. This caused the foundation and main rear wall to kick. So 80% of the tools and parts (including all my RC trans parts) had to be evacuated to another barn located on another property I own. There they sit in storage while we complete repairs on the 1890’s carriage barn here at home.

Back to transmission swapping.

 

This is excellent to see come to fruition, and I'm saving to be able to do the same! Excellent documentation along the way!

 

Something I forgot to mention. Starting in 2nd. That is very easy to do now and doesn’t feel like I’m bogging it down hardly at all. I’m still going to use 1st 99% of the time, but starting in 2nd will definitely make way more sense at times than it used to.

With only 5.29s, I did not like starting in 2nd. So this transmission itself on stock gears probably will still not make 2nd gear starting enjoyable. But combined, the two make a great pairing.

 

That is something I miss about my Pathfinder. Starting in 2nd was almost normal

 

@BLtheP - A couple questions...

Do you still have your accumulator in or have you bypassed it?
Do you ever fight with (what I think is) rev hang? On my stock drive train I tend to rev 1st up high so that 2nd doesn't lug, mostly when trying to be quicker off the line when turning onto a busy street, but it's a long wait for the revs to come down into the matching range (to my mind). I've always wondered if this is one of the things a tune might address, or if I'm just an unskilled driver.