caligula455

a little bit of progress to post, but not much. the long weekend was not as productive as i was hoping for.

I can't get the ball joints pressed in with the Autozone press. it wont line up even because the screw threads hit the upright part of the spindle and the ball joint starts going in crooked. i tried it upside down, but am having trouble clearing the threaded end of the joint. i have another idea to try, but it will have to wait for tonight.

next weekend is my girlfriend's birthday, so not going to make a lot of progress then either. if i can't get the ball joints in myself i'm going to take it to a shop to press in for me some time this week

other progress:

• bought drain plug for front diff
• swaped transmission with junkyard
• installed new dust shields on CV shafts

caligula455

Finally some progress!

I found a pipe fitting about the right size and cut it down to length with a hack saw.

This let me get the ball joints started as the tubes that came with the press were too short on their own and two deep stacked together to fit. The ball joints started going in a little crooked, but with a little pressure they both popped in straight.




Once they were pressed in a bit, I switched to the tubes from the press stacked on each other. The adapter in the middle was for the non-turning side of the press. I did this to make sure it seated level.



Then all you have to do is put in the retaining clip




and put on the boot and spring. The castle nut and cotter pin are on there just so I don't lose them.



Next up, swapping the spindles and installing the front end, hopefully this weekend.

Anyone know if the 4xinnovations transfercase mount will bolt up to the chain drive t-case? I know its not designed for tacomas and it's too short but the bolt spacing/angle on top looks right.

I have an idea for using the 2wd cross member and a clocking adapter but i need a really short mount like that one.

bigtrucknwheels

very nice work man, I am glad to see someone do a swap like this. you're a brave soul, this is uncharted territory to my knowledge. haha.

excellent though, and I am subscribed!

caligula455

no real progress over the weekend, but i did manage to spend some more money. I also dug into the wiring diagrams from several years of tacoma and tundra and figured out exaclty what type of connections i have on the transfercase and ADD actuator (there are several different control styles, all using the same connector.

From amsoil:

• SEVERE GEAR 75W-140 Synthetic EP Lubricant
• Synthetic Manual Transmission and Transaxle Gear Lube (75W-90) API GL-4
• Synthetic Universal Automatic Transmission Fluid

From Toyota:

• 4wd transmission crossmember
• electrical connectors
• "4wd" badge for the tailgate

From Inchworm:

• used tacoma VSS - 30 tooth

Still need to buy:

• 4wd transmission mount
• transfercase controller
• misc electrical wiring, heat shrink, split loom, etc.
• good shop vise to hold the carrier during the re-gear

I found a transfercase controller from a junkyard with the pigtail attatched that they said was for a 2004 tundra for $75 but it was for a manually shifted transfer case, not the electrically shifted that i have, at least as far as i could tell from the FSM. It had one connector, and the one i'm looking for has two.

caligula455

all the parts to install today



the front diff mounts in the stock 2wd #1 crossmember



diff being jacked up - big thanks to my girlfriend for working the jack while i kept the diff balanced. went right in to place like it belonged there.



diff all mounted with drop spacers - view from the back



Calipers removed and hung out of the way and ABS sensor and brackets removed



I for the life of me could not get the upper ball joint and tie rod end off. hit them with a deadblow hammer for an hour and got nowhere. finally went to autozone and got both sizes of tie rod pullers. the small one worked for the tie rods



still cant get the upper ball joints loose. I tried hitting the ball joint, the UCA, the spindle, nothing worked. i literally cut the end off my deadblow hammer trying to get them loose.



off to autozone again tomorrow to get a gear puller to work on the upper ball joint. I have to get the new spindles on so i can install the drive shafts and get oil in the front diff.

i'll post more progress tomorrow.

hurley842002

Awesome job man. I'm suprised no one has chimed in about "should have done an SAS". I think its awesome, seems like most are agreeing.

caligula455

thanks. i could always SAS later, but i have enough on my plate for the moment and all this stuff was designed by Toyota to fit. expect another post with the rest of the front end work tomorrow.

hurley842002

Yeah, hope you have a large plate. I'm looking forward to the updates

caligula455

started the day with another trip to autozone, got a ball joint separator and got to work. got the 2wd spindles off pretty easy with the new tool.

here are the tacoma spindles next to the tundra spindles. you can see difference in dust shield size.



the CV axles snapped right into the front diff


tacoma spindles went on next


wheels on, axle nut tightened


finally, here is the end result. still need to put oil in the diff before i drive it.

caligula455

just a quick update. filled the front differential with amsoil severe gear 75-W140 and took it for a test drive.

It drives like a new truck! the new upper ball joints helped with some rattling i was feeling over bumps and in general everything feels good and tight, no leaks, squeaks, rattles, etc. cant wait to get those wheels powered.

bigtrucknwheels

so when does the transfer go in?

looks great, by the way. I'm jealous of your mechanical abilities..

caligula455

transmission and transfer will probably go in next but I may do the re-gear first while i get all the electrical sorted out. the transmission and transfer case is a pretty big job though particularly since i'm doing it by my self and in my driveway. buying or making a transmission jack is probably in order for that one.

zlathim

You can usually rent a good tranny jack for $30-$40 per day.

TexanTaco

I can't wait to see the next step, I'm hooked! And huge props for doing this yourself, wanna do the same thing to my Tacoma next?! You will be a 4wd conversion expert by then!

caligula455

I picked up some Mickey Thompson Classic wheels with Toyo Open Country AT tires this weekend. The wheels are 16x8 3 5/8" BS and the tires are 285/75/16. two tires have some tread left but the other two are worn very unevenly and one has a big screw in it so they are junk. i guess i'll get two more and see how long the two used ones last then replace them as well. i want to get them remounted with the lettering on the inside anyway.

The wheels are very clean though, worth the price just for them.



The uneven ones look like this


the good ones are a little better, not a whole lot of tread left though.

caligula455

I got my 4wd center console bezel over the weekend. It's from an '01 with wood grain trim. The good news is that the harness plugs are the same as my stock bezel, the bad news is that upon closer inspection they don't match my wiring diagram so i have to find which wires are for the buttons.

There is a wire for every pin on the connector though, so it looks like the wires to the gauge cluster 4wd and 4lo lights are in place already, i'll have to pull the gauge cluster to confirm.

here is the 2wd bezel by the clock


here is the 4wd bezel


i might already have the wires in my harness that go from the gauge cluster to the 4wd ECU, I'll have to investigate that as well.

installed in the truck (the tinted plexiglass below the head unit looks much better in person with out the flash shining through it)


anyone have the wiring diagram for a '00-'04 tundra?

caligula455

I had a really good conversation today with Jim at Inchworm. I'm picking up a used VSS from one of his tacoma transfer cases and I was asking if he had harnesses laying around for some of the other plugs i need. We came up with the idea of swapping the 2/4 and hi/lo switches from my case to the tacoma style switches which have a wiring lead before the connector.

here is what i have:


here are the switch i want to use


I have bosses up there for those switches but the all electric transfer cases don't have upper shift rails as it is all shifted by the motor so I cant put them there. Hopefully they will fit where my switches are now. Jim was saying that the early vs late style switches have different thread sizes. Also there are two sizes of VSS gears, i'm guessing i need the later style. If you get them wrong you either don't engage the teeth or grind them up.

This is an '05 tundra transfer case, note that there are no top rails at all. Also note that by '05 they are using the abs sensors to generate the speed signal so there is no VSS, though they still have the gear to drive a VSS with a cover over the hole.

caligula455

Here are where the electric transfer case switches are located


Here are the switches themselves, different connector on top, but same measurements




Can anyone confirm the depth of the shift rail switches is the same?

Here is the plug from where the manual shift rail switches would go in the spot where my switches are, same threads.


Here you can see straight through to the other side of the case, definitely no shift rails in there

caligula455

After finding all the pins in place for the 4wd dash buttons, i was encouraged that more of the 4wd wiring was already in my harness but I got more than i was hoping for. It turns out that the transfer case controller is already wired in!!

My guess is there is a connector somewhere by the transmission for the transfer case harness and one somewhere in the engine compartment for the ADD motor harness. If i had the right wiring diagram i would know exactly where the connectors are.

It has also become very obvious that the wiring diagrams i've been looking at are not the same as what i have. I've been looking at the '05 tundra which i realize is different, but since it uses the same 4wd system I thought it would be close enough.

Here is the 4wd controller plug under the passenger kick panel


Here is a closeup of the wiring colors and the connector

bigtrucknwheels

this is exciting!

though I am glad mine is a fully mechanical 4wd system, thats a lot of wires and a lot of sensors and parts to fail...