pocketrubbish

Hello all, just acquired a 1985 4x4 bone stock with 260,000 miles, NONE of them in 4wd. My father bought it new in 1985 and used it for commuting to work for a few years until he realized a sedan is more reasonable for that, but he couldn't bring himself to sell the truck.

It has a recently rebuilt engine (no idea if its a decent rebuild or not yet, time will tell) but a horribly mangled G52 transmission. It will only go into second gear and even then it barely moves. Lots of metal in the oil when I drain it, so this tranny has got to go. I was able to get my hands on a decent used W56-b for cheap BUT it came without a transfer case.

So I will have to mate the W56-b (top shift) with the original transfer case (forward shift). As far as I can tell, all I need to do is convert it to top shift right? Using a kit such as this: http://www.marlincrawler.com/transfe...conversion-kit

The kit looks like its intended for people running dual cases but it should still work fine for my reasons, right?

I know that I could track down the correct transfer case but again, the one I've got is in great shape, having never been used in 4wd before.

I don't have much experience with these (nor trucks in general), I come from a world of 1970s to 1980's Mercedes and Volvo. That being said, I now have a 85 Volvo 240 and a 85 Toyota Pickup 4x4, the two most indestructible vehicles in the world.

Toyota~Boy

iTrader: (2)

You can do whatever you wish, however I'd strongly recommend getting the transfer that matches the W56. You should be able to pick one up at any parts yard fairly cheap. I purchased my W56 for $200.00 and it included the transfer case.

However if you planning on keeping it then a r150 series would highly be recommended as its much stronger then both the g and w series. I purchased my W56 before I new all the tranny info lol.

But what your trying to do will work as well.

Welcome to YT. Lots of useful info can be found here along with some really nice helpful people.

pocketrubbish

Well if I ever need to go with a new tranny sometime in the future than I will check out the R150, but for now I think I will get the w56 working. Thanks for the tip though. I don't plan on doing any really rough wheeling or rock crawling, just following some more mild trails. I am an part time astrophotographer and right now I try to take my Volvo to all sorts of remote places that it really doesn't belong so I feel the truck would better serve me for now.

I am in socal and somehow I have never once seen one of these in a junkyard and I go quite frequently looking for MB and Volvo parts. They just don't end up in the yards here I guess.

One last question, is the transfer case that comes with the G52 the same (apart from foward shift vs top shift of course) the same was the transfer case on the w56? I assume it is but I also know what happens when I assume something.

rokblok

iTrader: (1)

Same t-case, different shifter locations. Convert it to top shift and it'll be fine.

You can't put an R150 trans behind a 22R(E) without a turbo 22re bellhousing, and those are getting hard to find and spendy. I put a W56B behind my 3RZ conversion after I disintegrated my G52. It's a good tranny. Best of all excluding the heavier duty R series, IMO. . Steel center bearing section, which won't deflect or distort, which I've heard of other W series doing.

You will have to cut into the trans hump and elongate it to accommodate the new shifter, which will sit further back. If you have a bench seat, that may be something else to consider. And fabbing a new cover/shifter boot is in your future...

pocketrubbish

Cool thanks.

I ordered the conversion kit with the shifter, new boot, new shifter bushings and a new output seal. I do have bench seats but from eyeballing it I think I will be okay. I figure I will have to fab up a new metal plate to cover the hole, not a big deal. I read the instructions for the conversion kit and it looks more involved than I thought it would be so we will see how it goes. Overall I think it will be pretty straightfoward as long as I don't lose any parts.

85TurboRunner

Only the W56A has the steel center section. In 86 when the B came out they changed to aluminum. Thats why its the W56B.

pocketrubbish

Damn, it looks like every parts shop is out of stock on the top shift conversion kits. I wanted to get this done this weekend, maybe I'll try to track down a top shift transfer case instead.

rokblok

iTrader: (1)

That's interesting. The Marlin guys told me steel center on the B. Guess I better see if its ferrous. Lol

85TurboRunner

Well after doing a quick search I guess I'm wrong.

I always thought the A's had the steel center and the B's had the aluminum but everything I just read says otherwise.

pocketrubbish

Alright, I picked up the transfer case, looks like its in good shape. BUT one more hurdle and I think I'm clear. Transfer case did not come with a shifter and from what I can gather the actual shifter in the current foward shift transfer case is the same as the top shift case BUT the base adapter is different. I don't have access to the truck until the weekend (at a different location) but I think I can just drill new holes in the current base plate to make it fit. Should I attempt this or should I order myself the correct baseplate?

aztoyman

I would get the correct base. Not sure if you can make the other one work.

You can dog leg your shift lever to get you more clearance from your seat.

Sounds like you know what your doing and on the right track. You're going to like the W56B. I had one and by the way, not an aluminum center section.

pocketrubbish

Correct base is ordered. I'm excited to get this thing going, thanks everybody for the help. I'll be sure to post the results.

pocketrubbish

Okay I finally got around to nearly finishing it. Work has been crazy busy and I've been sick with a nasty cold for the last week AND the car isn't at my residence so I haven't had a whole bunch of time to work on it. I've got everything finished except for cutting the hole in the sheet metal and installing the shifters, I plan on doing that tomorrow night.

The job was pretty straightforward, everything bolt up nicely. I decided to replace a stiff u-joint in the rear driveshaft since I had the chance... a pain to do, but not any different than any other u-joint. Also got a chance to clean up any surface rust and repaint the shafts, cross member, skidplate and anything else I can across. Transfer case mount still looked like it was in decent shape so I didn't replace it.

Since this car has been sitting for a few years I'm going to replace all the fluids, got a couple gallons of GL5 for the trans, transfer and diffs, a gallon of G-05 antifreeze (have a bunch from old MBs and Volvos I've had over the years) and some Delo 15w-40 oil (extra detergents should clean things up after its been sitting for so long). Since I plan on using this truck for some long trips into the desert and mountain backcountrys for my hobbies I'd like to get this thing in tip top shape.

There is absolutely no rust anywhere on the frame or body (gotta love socal) but I do need to repaint it in the near future... that isn't a big deal though.

It has a rebuilt Jasper engine. A few years ago my dad blew the headgasket on it, ended up having his indie just replace the engine (not sure why it wasn't salvagable, must have warped the head or something pretty badly). Judging from how tight the bellhousing bolts were torqued this indie didn't seem to be the most competent but at least he used a good quality rebuild. There is only around 12k on the new motor. I believe the carb was replaced at the same time. It ran great before the tranny died.

So since I can't find anything obviously wrong with it, what should I be on the lookout for?

rokblok

iTrader: (1)

Only GL4 in the trans. GL5 contains different additives that are corrosive to the soft yellow metals (read: brass synchros) inside the trans, and will ruin it.

Royal Purple makes a nice "yellow metal safe" gear oil.

pocketrubbish

From everything I've read that indeed used to be the case. GL-5 contained a sulphur compound that when heated over 250F (which shouldn't really be happening anyway) it would corrode the synchros. The GL-5 specification has since been changed and now it doesn't do that anymore. No matter as I only plan on keeping the GL-5 in here for 1000 miles or so and then switching to Redline.

Menel

The sulfur-phosphorous compound forms a black coating on the gears teeth when both heat and high pressure are present, this occurs during normal operation. As the gears turn, instead of wearing the gears, the black coating is worn off. That's fine for steel. But for brass, brass is softer than the sulfur-phosphorous compound, and when it is stripped off it takes or has a chance to take some microns of brass with it. There is your wear on brass synchros. It's a fairly long process.

So it's not really 'corrosive' per se. And as far as I know, this is still used in today's GL5.

snobdds

No GL-5 in the trans...only GL-4 period, despite what your heard. NAPA sells a cheap GL-4, but Redline MT-90 is the best of the best for the trans in these trucks.

pocketrubbish

Finally got this finished up. It drives great, the W56 is smooth as silk, shift quality is great and all the gears work fine. Only problem is I think the new throwout bearing I got may be defective, there is a whine when I depress the clutch pedal. Its not bad but its there. I got a Nachi brand bearing from Autohausaz, I guess next time I'll go to the dealer. It felt fine in my hand but oh well.

But aside from that it seems to be working great and from what I can tell the truck has no other major issues aside from maybe needing some new tires.

Menel

Nachi is Japanese made, Toyota recommended.

Did you use hi-temp grease on the contact surfaces?

pocketrubbish

Sure did, same way I've done it on a few Getrag and other euro trannies. I'm thinking that maybe the bearing isn't concentric with the hub that I pressed it onto, that would explain the noise.