I just bought a 1994 4runner, it was love at first sight (read:sucker). She has a pretty good vibration at speed. I checked all the usual front end suspects and when I got to the drive train the shaft going to the rear wiggles in the transfer case...a lot..like a 1/4 up and down.

Can this be rebuilt? Is it worth rebuilding or just replacing? If I replace what cases are compatable? Is it supposed to wiggle and I'm barking up the wrong tree?

HELP!

 

are you sure its not just the u joint? Thats the driveshaft your moving, and im willing to bet its the front u joint going bad...7 dollar part

 

Nah, the u joint is sound as a pound.

I was really hoping that it was the u joint, but I can grab the drive shaft at the case and give it a good wiggle. If I hold the joint and twist the shaft there is no motion.

Any ideas?

 

Hmmmm, sounds like the flange nut has come loose. Might just try and retorque and stake it again and see if that helps.

 

Not sure what the flange nut is, or "staking', but it sounds like a pull apart and put back together and see if it works?

 

Big nut in the middle of the ujoint flange that holds the flange onto the t-case.

 

Kewl, I'll give it a shot in the AM!

Thank you

 

Staking: you'll notice that the nut has a little smush mark on it where it screws onto the output shaft. That's the stake mark. When you go to retorque just use a punch or flat head screwdriver to "restake" it in the groove there. Make sence?

 

Perfect sense, I'll try it tomorrow. I have some help coming to assist in the power steering pump replacement and will give it a shot then.

I would have loved to worked on her today, but its 10pm and I just finished work and am still covered in sheetrock mud. The truck will have to wait

 

I am having the same issue with my 95 V6 Auto 4runner. I also narrowed it down to the drive shaft at the transfer case. According to the 4wd shop there is a bushing inside the Transfer case that holds you drive shaft in place. I had the shop tighten it down but they said since it was worn they could not tighten it down all the way. My vibration was better for about a week and now I think it is worse so I called a 4wd shop that specailizes in Toyotas. Here comes more bad news. Not only do you have to split the transfer case apart to replace this bushing but the guy at the toyota shop told me that the V6 automatics transmission is attached to the transfer case. As in not just by bolts but you cant seperate the two. The toyota guy is going to do some more research on it today and get back to me. I hope he is wrong. I will let you know what I end up doing about this bc your probably going to end up needing to replace that bushing. Good luck.

 

You can separate the two. While the A340H is definitely a different animal that usual, you can unbolt the transfer case and get inside of it for repair, just like any other transfer case setup. The difference is that the transfer case is "integrated" with the transmission. Fluid is pumped between them, it is more of a system than something that bolts on the back of the transmission like a gear driven case.

Look at this thread. The guy does a mod to put an Inchworm adapter on his A340H to eliminate the integrated case and go to a gear driven case with crawler gears. In the thread, on page 21, you can see him disassembling the stock T-case. The bushing you are talking about is in the tailshaft on the T-case, a pretty easy thing to get to.

Good luck guys.

https://www.yotatech.com/f191/dirtco...0/index21.html

 

Thanks for the help Outlaw Mike. Any suggestions on where to get that bushing or should i go ahead and do a complete rebuild kit?

 

If it truly is just the bushing, then I would replace the bushing and the output shaft seal and leave it at that. If the rest of the case is working fine, leave it alone.

Good luck.

 

Hey BigBluePile and Flash319,

Your advice worked like a charm, pulled the shaft and the flang nut was 4 FULL TURNS FROM TIGHT! Its been 500 miles and no issues. I still have some vibrations but I attribute that to good ole fashion "old truck character" (wheel bareings perhaps, not bad enough to mess with now though)

Good luck Smedley, let us know how it shakes out.

 

Well I cant find anyone including the toyota place who can tell me what bushing it is that i need. I am buying a gear driven transfer case and an adapter to use with my v6 automatic transmission. So long crappy chain driven integrated with the transmission nonsense.

 

As it so happens my vibration returned last night (damnit)...

Smedley- Where did you find this transfer case adapter? And is it really easier than tracking down the bushing?

 

Inchworm sells the adapter, it is $450. No, it is not easier than replacing the bushing. The link I posted above shows the work required to get the adapter on the trans. You have to disassemble the rear half of the trans, cut the output shaft down with a cutting wheel, pull the valve body in the main trans and install parts from the rear part to get the parking pall installed.

To do the bushing, you just have to pull the small tailshaft assy off of the transfer case. It is an easy repair, after you find the bushing.

 

Hmmm...seems like a no brainer. Since I'm not a hardcore off roader, I think just replacing the bushing will be fine. But now the hard part, finding it.

Any ideas?

 

This is one of the coolest sites I've seen. http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/

Put in your VIN and you can get the part numbers for any part on your truck. The exploded diagrams are also useful for the big picture of what you're doing. You can take that part number to your local dealer parts dept or mail order from one of the online Toyota dealers. Toyota of Dallas gives about a 20% discount and has been great for me.

 

THAT KICKS ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Txs dude!