FJ60 Transfer Case removal (1 Viewer)

[golf80]

Good Morning,
I am new to IH8MUD and have just in the last year gone back to my first love of Land Cruisers. After initially owning a 1973 FJ55 several years ago I recently bought a 1984 FJ60 with an eye on rebuilding it. I am making good progress but have reached a point where it is time to rebuild my T-case. I have ordered a kit and found a competent mechanic to do the work but planned on taking the T-case out of the vehicle myself to save money. I have seen dicussions on both side of removing the t-case alone vs. removing the t-case and transmission together. Anyone offer advise about the positives and negatives?? Obviously it would save me a ton of time and energy to just remove the t-case as long as that would not lead to other problems. Thanks for any help and advise.

 

[2mbb]

The transfer case does not come off as a unit, but must be disassembled to remove it from the transmission. there are several bolts inside the front half of the case that hold the case onto the transmission. You can disassemble the case with the transmission on the truck, but then I'm not sure what your mechanic is going to do. I would think it would be easier to drive your truck to your mechanic rather than remove the transmission and transfer case yourself and tote it to the mechanic.

You can download a copy of the chassis manual from this site. This will give you an idea what the task entails. Index of /Cruiser and M416 Manuals

 

[Lost]

if you are going to dismantle the case yourself, all the mechanic will have to do is change the bearings on the outputs shafts. seals are pretty easy to replace.

 

[fred]

If you're going to go to the trouble of removing the T-case, then 90-95% of the work is done.

Seriously. The actual removal and replacement of the bearings, which you might have a shop help out with, might be a bit easier for a mechanic with a press, and that's about it.

You basically remove and install a half a dozen seals, (a few taps with a mallet and a socket or a wood block - tho' removing the speedo seal can be tricky), and maybe 7 bearings, several of which just slide on (Pilot bearing in the back of the front output shaft is the only tricky one to remove).

You'll need a torque wrench that can go to at least 94 ft-lbs, and 36, 34, 32 mm sockets (plus the usual array of 12, 14, 17...)
(To remove the shaft nuts I needed 36 and 34 (?) put to replace them I needed 36 and 32 - i've been told that the standard retainer nut changed to the slightly smaller size. Works, so I'm fine with that.

The skidplate is heavy, and, if the idler shaft and rear output shaft come off WITH the back half of the T-case when you remove it, the collection is quite hefty! If you are CAREFUL, and tap the idler shaft in as you pull the case, you may be able to get everything to stay on while you pull the aluminum housing.

Oh, AND BE CAREFUL to CATCH THE BALL (or have a container beneath to catch it!) when you pull the gears, bearings and spacers off of the transmission output shaft. There is a ball bearing that sits in a keyway on the shaft and a slot in the spacer ring that rides inside the seal between the tranny and the t-case. When the collar slides off the ball will most likely fall out.
(This pertains to the 1982 FJ60 split T-case, at least...)

 

[John McVicker]

Good post Fred, Might give PO enough encouragment to do it himself.

John

 

[golf80]

Thanks guys for the replys. Fred - very detailed and helpful. I didn't mention that I have a donor vehicle so the plan was actually to pull the t-case from the donor vehicle and then replace it in my driver. I have 2 transmission/t-case combos so that may help a little if I get in a bind. Not being experienced with transmissions and cases has me a little worried but this is very good info. Thanks again.

 

[fred]

golf80,

Another point to be aware of, if you do the rebuild with the T-case IN the vehicle.

The nuts on the three output shafts (transmission output shaft, t-case rear and front output shafts) all have a large nut that acts as the means of bearing retention. These are the ones that require the 94 ft-lb torque wrenching.

They are also "staked" nuts - there are a pair of slots cut in these output shafts. The nuts are large aluminum hex nuts, with a this circular collar rising above the hex portion. The "staking" process involves whacking a chisel or punch into the edge of the aluminum collar to bend it down into the slot on the shaft. This will prevent the nut from backing off at all. However, it does mean that you will have to do some chiseling to pry these back out of the slot to remove the nuts.

And, if doing the job in the vehicle, you will probably find it fairly difficult to perform the "staking" on the front output shaft. The tranny support bracket is in the way. Toyota very thoughtfully provided a small "window" int eh bracket that is pretty good for placing a punch or chisel against the stake nut. The problem is that if the vehicle is just up on jackstands, you have VERY little room to swing a hammer. I certainly could not manage to stake that nut with a 40 oz machinists hammer. Since I could only get about a 4-6" swing on it, going straight up, I was not surprised.

You might have an air tool that could do this. I simply sweet talked the oil change joint that I use into breaking the rules and letting me div einto their pit for thirty seconds to take a couple whacks on each side of the front output shaft and complete the staking. thankfully it's not a problem to drive the truck without the front driveshaft!