I have a '94 4x4 xtracab with a 22re. Tranny is popping outta gear and grinding hard going in. I have owned a bunch of 86-89 4Runners.. and I a few trannys kicking around. Can anybody tell the difference between the "older" and "newer" Trannys are? Is it just gear ratio's or is the length different? What about the t-cases? I am wondering if a 5 speed transmission will bolt in and up to my '94 with out and cross member or drive shaft mods. Also... I just guessing that the tcases are the same.
What I have found is that the 86-88 use either G54 or W56... not sure what is in my truck now, or what the ones I have from '87 4Runners are.

 

at the minimum, there are forward shift and top shift transfer cases, so the holes in the tunnel need to match up with the right transfer case/trans combo.

you should be able to look under the truck and see what you have in there now, and then match it up with the pile of parts.

marlincrawler.com has photos of all the transmissions that were made for these trucks... more info here: http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/faq/parts/

you should already have a 5-speed trans in there now.

 

Assuming neither of the trucks have ADD, you have a forward-shift W56 in there now, and an 86-88 22RE will have a top-shift W56. The transmission will bolt in but the shifters won't line up. ADD trucks had G56, I believe. Go to marlincrawler.com and find the transmission chart to confirm.

 

My 93 4runner had ADD and a G58, which is interchangeable with a forward-shift W56 so long as you swap the transfer case too. Same length and floor cutout for shifters match perfectly; however the shifters are not interchangeable. You can tell which you have by counting the bolts on on the transfer case.

 

So ADD trucks had chain-driven cases like the V6 ones? Or was it a different gear-driven case than normal 4-cylinder models?

 

Correct, the G58 pairs with a chain-driven transfer case. The easiest way to tell them apart is to count the bolts on the back of the t-case; I forget the number for the RF1A vs G58's t-case, but you can find that by searching.

I swapped my G58 for a forward-shift W56C+RF1A so I could get the 4.70 gear. It bolted right up and even the cutout in the floorboard matched perfectly. I did need to get the shifters for the new transmission and t-case as well, the old ones didn't work. I needed to bend the 5-speed shifter so it wouldn't hit the stereo or interfere with the J-shifter, but that was simple (heated with propane torch, used large pipe for leverage, bent a little at a time).

For your swap, you just need to see if you have a forward-shift or top-shift configuration currently, then swap for the same type. I was just letting you know that if you have a G58 currently then a forward-shift W56 will swap in place.

If you cannot see from underneath then removing the boot over the shifters will allow you to see.

 

I am doing the same tranny swap. I have a 95 4Runner with a g58 (forward shifting, chain driven TC) and I am swapping in a W56 (forward shifting, gear driven TC).
My question is what did you do about the crossmember? Did the existing G58 crossmember work or did you buy some kind of aftermarket or custom fabricated one?

 

No the w series and g series transmission don't use the same mount, and I'm.going to ignore you inclusive transfer case mumbo-jumbo.