H55 conversion (1 Viewer)

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Search is your friend. Not really a definitive thread for H55 swap. Will have to piece together the info from separate threads.

Good Luck!
 
If your cruiser is late '85 or newer, the H55F just bolts right up to the transfer case and engine. Only change needed is to plug a bolt hole in the transfer front plate and install a little plastic oiler thingy.
Yes, all the info is here on MUD. Worth the time to poke around through it.
If you have an earlier FJ60, more extensive modifications need to be done. Info about that is scattered on MUD too.
 
Did mine a year or so back...there are a few threads that you need to reference for all the misc pieces that must be obtained.
 
Biggest thing you will need to deal with is drive shaft length mods on the front and rear. The H55 moves the position of the T-case on the pre 85 60's and therefore you need to mod the drive shafts. Not sure on the cross member, you may need the newer one. This is good start for research for you.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/h55-swap-into-84-fj60.530446/
 
Thanks fellas. Damn, my cruiser is an '84. More work definitely doesn't sound fun. :crybaby:

Mine is an 84. Georg at valley Hybrids did the install for me. He said it was no problem, just some dshaft length changes. I thought it would require a custom tranny support x member but it did not. Ask him about it. I remember when I starting thinking of this, I was all concerned it was going to be tough. Georg said it was no big deal and easily done, no worries. I took his advise and gave it to him and it is still to this day the best thing I have ever had done to the 60.
 
Simple version, pre 5/85 cruiser, be sure to check and/or plug the "mystery" hole as well as install the new oiler cup. 3 longer bolts, post 5/85 driveshafts and TC shifter linkage components and you are good to go.
 
So, not truly intending to stir up controversy here but here goes:
Just yesterday I was in the truck with Behemoth60 and Shaker (from this forum) and we were talking about how the H55f dies so often, in fact Behemoth60 has three (3) separate dead H55f's in his yard from three separate trucks. All dead from overheating/lack of oiling. WHILE we were having this conversation we got an email from a sister club (Tarsands Toyotas) that they went on a run the day before and a member's 5-speed died. That's four now.

So, the solution proposed was the ZF-5 transmission from 90's vintage fords. Strong enough (HP and torque for the vehicles it came from were higher than what a cruiser puts out), commercially available EVERYWHERE and cheap (brand new $1500 vs the brand new H55f for ~$3500).

It ALSO seems that the F-engine and the ZF-5 have the same spline count and shaft diameter (on paper, not physically verified yet). What's needed is a bellhousing adapter, and t-case adapter. I am not a Ford fan at all, but the ZF transmissions shift very nicely.

So there you go, discuss.
 
Great info. I have owned two ZF-5 transmissions in diesel work trucks and didn't have any issues.

Who wants to be a guinea pig and try it out?
 
Pretty bold statement to come in here and talk about the H55F that way. I've never once heard of one failing due to the issues you mention, but now four at once?

Give some more background to the failures. Miles on the transmission/ service intervals/ how they were used/ etc.

If this was the case then we would hear about a lot more 4 speeds failing. They are basically the same transmission. My H42 has been in bad shape since I got in an accident, which caused the problem. My fault on that one.

I've only ever seen one other non-Toyota transmission behind a 2F, and that was a NV4500. The owner loves it.

Change the oil every once in a while and stay with Toyota, it's easier that way :)

I'll be sure to get some detailed pics when I install my H55. I think those are long overdue for this forum to have.
 
So as I said, I'm not trying to be controversial, but this did come up in conversation yesterday. All 4 weren't at the same time, just cumulative over the years.

You folks wouldn't have seen the same failures on the 4-spd as the issue is with the 5th gear basically being a bolt-on onto the 4-speed, and the overheating and failures seem to be 90% from the 5th gear, specifically oiling issues. In Canada here we've been running the H55f for quite a number of years and this is the trend some of us are seeing and we're just one club. What seems to be the known problems are:
  • lack of oil/cooling from the missing or broken oiler cup
  • lack or oil/cooling from the failure of the rear main seal between the transfer case and 5th gear, it essentially pumps out all of it's oil, running it dry. I had this on both my H55f's. Problem is common and there is a workaround to install a hose between fill plugs of t-case and transmission.
This is a possible alternative that I have no first hand knowledge on, but it would be really cool if it works. Awltek, Behemoth60, Lowenbrau (all well known on this forum) have had an Hff5 die.

There is also this thread where our club helped some world travelers where their transmission died:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/hzj75-help-needed-near-calgary-ab-canada.826631/
or this one posted by Crushers:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/anyone-want-to-help-out-a-fellow-cruiserhead.637385/

Apologizies if I offended anyone, it was just an idea :)
 
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No offense taken :)

Someone had to play the Toyota purist card haha

Sucks about the failures. I hope they at least got a lot of good use out of them before the failures.
 
No worries.

Some were high milers, but I think at least one was a fresh rebuild where the $3 oiler cup was missing, and another for sure was new-ish but definitely had the cup installed.
 

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