Im currently tearing down my t case out of a 1988 4Runner. It's attached to a W56 5-Speed transmission. Im trying to remove the front drive output gear and Im it's stuck. It moves out just enough to accommodate the snap ring, but it wont go in all the way to be removed. I know the cases are aluminum so I don't know if its safe to heat up..Thanks for your help.

 

My recollection is that it does not come out the front.
Remove the snap ring, support the front half of the case, and use a brass or aluminum hammer, or drift, to drive the bearing and gear out the back.
You should not need to use heat.
The bearing is usually fairly tightly pressed to the output shaft though, and you might need a bearing seperator plate and a press
if you need to remove that bearing from the output shaft.
That bearing is not so easy to lay hands on, and they're a bit pricy.
That bearing is often bad in cases that have laid with any water in them because the water settles there at the lowest part of the case.

Look at this thread>>RF1A Transfer case bearing numbers - YotaTech Forums

 

right on..I've whacked it a few times but its seems like the bearing is just a tad too big to fit through the case. I might have a bad angle..Im definitely going to replace that bearing. It's not very smooth..

Should I just level the case as best I can and give it another go? Or is there some kind of puller I can get to pull it through the other end?

Thanks

 

It should come out if you whack it square. A hammer with some mass helps.
Make sure you use a soft hammer, or punch, and a wood cushion on the case, so as not to mar the sealing face.

 

Finally got that shaft out. Just needed a little motivation from the dead blow..😂. I was being too gentle..

Gonna get everything cleaned up..Then replace all seals, gaskets and bearings. This was a pretty easy teardown..Marlin Crawler has a really good step by step and there's a video on YT that follows the guide and shows you what youre getting yourself into. Good stuff...

 

Would it be worth buying the 4.70 gear kit and making the switch?

 

Depends on how you use your truck.
I built single 4.7 cases for both of mine.
I like 'em.

 

I did the 4.7 gears when I was single case and it is awesome for crawling but too low for cruising on the trail when you can't really use high range. I went to dual cases and often use the stock low range so if I had to do it again, I think dual cases with stock gears is what I'd do based on how I use my truck.

 

With a 4.7 case, 5th gear low range is similar to first gear high range.

 

You are absolutely correct millball and I did that until Marlin said it wasn't a good idea. I didn't want to damage my fresh trans. I ended up going dual cases and a high pinion eventually. In this setup I typically use either 2.28 OR 4.7 but don't often use both at the same time. When we built my son's 91 he chose to save the cost of the 4.7's and buy the dual adapter instead. His build was the same as mine other than being a 3rd gen and he never regretted not having the 4.7's. Especially on a limited budget.

I'm not saying 4.7 gears are not a good idea. I just wished I had the 2.28 option as well and I didn't realize that until I didn't have them anymore.

 

This "dual case" thing keeps coming across my search..I honestly had never heard of it until a few weeks ago..I'm definitely not trying to build a crawler or anything like that at the moment. So I think for the time being I'll just keep it as is. I may go to a dual case in the future..In fact I probably will knowing how I do things.. So for now I'll just get a bearing, seal and gasket kit..The gears look fine, and then I'll slap this back together and paint it. Thanks for everyones input.