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4th Gen 4Runner: Cross Country Runner

FleshEater said:
Yes. There were two times out in Wyoming that I didn’t think it was going to shift out of 4lo.

It also takes forever to shift into 4wd or 4lo when cycling it every month to keep the actuator working. It’s an absolutely stupid transfer case.
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have you tried changing the fluid, by chance?

I believe ORS still makes part time kits - but apparently not for the 4th gen 4runner.
 
FleshEater said:
Isn’t my only option then to add a switch to turn on the ADD if I keep it?

Congratulations 665.0coupe !
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YotaAtieToo said:
I'm not sure, I'd think you could do that.

What are you trying to gain? Just get rid of the electronic shifting tcase?
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Yea you can do that, really easy, I did that when I installed my lefty. It's one of the two plugs that is up by the shifter in the stock tcase. Cut the plug off and splice wires and a switch in. I am assuming it's a j shift tcase, I don't know what kind of sourcery the non j shift ones have going on.

Thinking about it even with the electronic case just trace the wires out of the actuator and splice a switch in.
 
Slander said:
Yea you can do that, really easy, I did that when I installed my lefty. It's one of the two plugs that is up by the shifter in the stock tcase. Cut the plug off and splice wires and a switch in. I am assuming it's a j shift tcase, I don't know what kind of sourcery the non j shift ones have going on.

Thinking about it even with the electronic case just trace the wires out of the actuator and splice a switch in.
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It is a J shift case.

Can I follow the wires or do I need to use a tester to see which is which?
 
FleshEater said:
It is a J shift case.

Can I follow the wires or do I need to use a tester to see which is which?
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Do you have the FSM? It lists it in there. I found mine by stripping the wires back and touching them and listening for the actuator.

I'm guessing it should be the plug on the left side of the case.
 
Slander said:
Do you have the FSM? It lists it in there. I found mine by stripping the wires back and touching them and listening for the actuator.

I'm guessing it should be the plug on the left side of the case.
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I don’t. I have a Chilton/Haynes manual, but I’ll get the FSM since it’s not going anywhere.
 
FleshEater said:
I don’t. I have a Chilton/Haynes manual, but I’ll get the FSM since it’s not going anywhere.
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If you are in no rush I can look at my Tacoma one in a few days and I can send you the screen shot.

Or just pull the center console, and access the shifter base, cut the wires and touch them together with the ignition on and listen for the ADD actuator to cycle.
 
Slander said:
If you are in no rush I can look at my Tacoma one in a few days and I can send you the screen shot.

Or just pull the center console, and access the shifter base, cut the wires and touch them together with the ignition on and listen for the ADD actuator to cycle.
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I’m in no hurry, still going to hunt down an FSM.

However, I’m seeing this FJ transfer case has either zero aftermarket support, or I just can’t find it. :homer:

The junkyard case I found has no shifter and they appear to be a unicorn or something. But from what I saw it almost looks like the same base as my Tracker shifters.

Going to keep looking for stuff, see if I can find what an original shifter base looks like.
 
So I was doing research on 3rd Gen Tacoma's and the FJ case swap because I've had problems with my actuator also. I came across this:

ADD Harness
 
FleshEater said:
I saw that, but making my own is going to be a fraction
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I'm sure some wire and a two way rocker switch can be had for much cheaper, but then I'd have to figure out how to hook up all the wires correctly.

Post some schematics and pics when you get to that point for us less electrically inclined people.
 
FleshEater said:
Yes. There were two times out in Wyoming that I didn’t think it was going to shift out of 4lo.

It also takes forever to shift into 4wd or 4lo when cycling it every month to keep the actuator working. It’s an absolutely stupid transfer case.
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I forget how different yours is from mine sometimes.

I hate the fully electronic tcases.
 
665.0coupe said:
You got the part time case from an automatic vehicle right?

Front range off road makes a twin stick set up.
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Yes, I made sure it was from an automatic. I haven’t bought it yet. I need a shifter.

YotaAtieToo said:
I forget how different yours is from mine sometimes.

I hate the fully electronic tcases.
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Same. My Chevys aren’t bad, but this Toyota set up seems to be plagued with issues.
 
FleshEater said:
It is a J shift case.

Can I follow the wires or do I need to use a tester to see which is which?
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Current tcase is a j-shift? I thought all 4th gens were dial selected?

Still curious if new fluid will help.
 
I can’t believe how hard it is to find reliable information on this swap.

So I keep searching and reading. Cannot confirm if a body lift is “needed” for this transfer case swap or not.

Now debating on whether or not I should buy the case and just personally check for clearance issues or say fawk it all together. This 4Runner is NOT getting a body lift. I’m also not sure if I can hammer the floor enough to make it work or not.

The best site I found for this is Toyota-4Runner.org and it’s plagued with pop ups, ads, and is the worst forum I’ve been on. But it has a chopped up write up that I’ve been referencing for this.

If anyone here has done this in a 4th gen 4Runner that’d be great to know. If I go ahead with it I’ll try to put together a competent step by step for it all in one post.
 
You're not kidding, that site is horrendous.

This guy mentions 4 other members that documented this swap, maybe you can piece it all together with the info\pics they posted.

Toyota-4Runner.org

The Largest 4Runner Community in the World
www.toyota-4runner.org www.toyota-4runner.org

I started to go down this rabbit hole with my 3rd gen tacoma and it's a complete shit show, at least it appears to be a doable swap with the 4runner.
 
FleshEater said:
I can’t believe how hard it is to find reliable information on this swap.

So I keep searching and reading. Cannot confirm if a body lift is “needed” for this transfer case swap or not.

Now debating on whether or not I should buy the case and just personally check for clearance issues or say fawk it all together. This 4Runner is NOT getting a body lift. I’m also not sure if I can hammer the floor enough to make it work or not.

The best site I found for this is Toyota-4Runner.org and it’s plagued with pop ups, ads, and is the worst forum I’ve been on. But it has a chopped up write up that I’ve been referencing for this.

If anyone here has done this in a 4th gen 4Runner that’d be great to know. If I go ahead with it I’ll try to put together a competent step by step for it all in one post.
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I hate to suggest it... maybe you can find some archives from RockSolid Toys?

Or a call to Demello off-road may shed some light. I think both were early in the FJ swap game
 
Kaptain said:
You're not kidding, that site is horrendous.

This guy mentions 4 other members that documented this swap, maybe you can piece it all together with the info\pics they posted.

Toyota-4Runner.org

The Largest 4Runner Community in the World
www.toyota-4runner.org www.toyota-4runner.org

I started to go down this rabbit hole with my 3rd gen tacoma and it's a complete shit show, at least it appears to be a doable swap with the 4runner.
Click to expand...

I followed some. Almost every one on that site has a body lift or a V8 with a body lift.

I might just buy the case and do a test fit myself. It’s not like I couldn’t re-sell it or just return it to the yard.
 
Cut out the floor and rivet a new panel in if you cant massage the floor enough with a sledge.
 
FleshEater said:
Dude…this thing is all minty and the nicest thing I own. Trying go easy on her. :laughing:
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That's why i said to rivet it, plus carpet covers all that up anyway!! You are already trying to rip one of her major organs out, some scars won't hurt her!!:laughing:
 
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NWF has a good chart for the VF transfer cases.


FWIW from what I can gather the front half of the case is the same for a manual vs electronic shift VF4, the electronic shift case has a block off plate on top where the shifter would be. The only mod to the body you should need to do is for the shifter itself and you need to cut a hole for it anyway.

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I was off today, had to take the wife to an appointment. So I swung by the only place I could find locally with an FJ Cruiser case with a shifter.

This is marked Grade A. No idea how many miles, but it shifts like butter and sounds really good when I spin it.

So I moved the 4Runner back to the main bay. However, I ran it up and down the driveway a lot and shifted it in and out of 4lo many times. It works great. But I wanted this FJ case on hand just in case.

I’m not sure when this will be going in. Maybe this spring/summer? Maybe next winter.
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Not necessarily

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