2 low-2hi shift on the fly with twin sticks?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

island45

island45

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Dec 20, 2007
Threads
133
Messages
1,139
Location
Orcas Island in NW Washington State
Website
www.mtpickettwoodworking.com
I just read 5 posts about the AA twin stick setup. Having seen the pics in threads I feel I can fab up a similar system without much problem. I have a '79 fj 55 with the stock 3.70 axles and 255 85 16s. I live on the side of a mountain on a very hilly island and I also tend to pull trailers. My 1st gear is just plain too high. I have suffered with this for 39 years now. When starting out at the bottom of a hill with a load, which I do often, I find that 2nd gear in Tcase lo is a good 'granny gear'. (Hubs unlocked) I pull the hill and shift through the gears until I can pull over and shift to high range. I have about 1000 miles on my fresh Tcase rebuild thanks to Orange45 youtube video, so don't wanna just start jamming gears to experiment. Will the twin sticks make this more possible or practical? I have one other point to mention is I have owned a LOT of old ford heavy trucks with a square cut non synchro 'crash box', so I understand how that works. I just don't want to go busting anything in there if this is something that doesn't work. Maybe some of you do this as a matter of course? I just thought I'd put it up and see. I see some folks just remove or cut the gate, but I do like the twin stick thing. If I cannot shift it on the fly with twin sticks or cut gate I will just leave as is. Thanks in advance. Gary
 
You can't or shouldn't shift on the fly from hi range to low range or vice-versa.
 
Ok, Thanks you both saved me some time and money. 4,11 diffs would do the trick too. Are FJ 40 axles a bolt up under a 55? I see them used. Fastest speed limit on this island is 40 mph and that's just two straightaways. The rest is 35. And no, I'm not going back to 7.00 x 15s. :)
 
Yes they will swap over, or you can just swap out 3rd members which might be easier.
 
island45 said:
My 1st gear is just plain too high. I have suffered with this for 39 years now.
Click to expand...

Another option would be to swap out your H42 transmission for an H41; the H41 has a 5.30:1 1st gear. The H41 was a foreign market offering, so not super common here, but Spector Off Road imports them (that's where I bought mine).

The H55 has a 4.84:1 1st gear, and an overdrive 5th, but you'd have to use the later split transfer case, and lose your parking brake. The H41 is a bolt-in replacement for the H42 and uses your current transfer case.
 
A lot of good options here. I lean towards axle swaps. I have a '67 rear from a low mile 45 that I pulled 30 yrs ago when I found a FF in a junkyard in British Columbia and a friend has a good front from a '73 that I can trade for. My '79 axles have the large 4 bolt flanges. Will they interchange? And yes, I get drum brakes which for me could actually be better. Blasphemy you say? I have a very strange 55 with totally different usage and some issues i inherited with my body swap. With the '47 ford truck cowl there is no room for a brake booster, so my front discs have become manual. The MC now aims directly at the carb and I'm running an early ford mustang MC that was for a car with front discs and manual brakes. The current setup requires a lot of pedal effort and the entire brake system is new. Maybe drum/drum from old manual 40 would stop better? Keep in mind I'm 73 in May and drive on a 58 sq mile island without a stoplight. Been self employed here for 50 years, raised 4 kids and now semi retired. I have a lot of skills and a lotta good parts and stuff on my ten acres, but not a lot of extra cash stored up.
Rear quarter retake.webp
 
Keep your axles, but swap in 4.11 diffs. You can source a front and rear third member from a 4X/55/ series of similar vintage. Check that the flange bolt patterns match your driveshafts, and it should be a bolt up affair. And cut the gate. even tho you can't shift on the fly, having 2LO is a must as far as I can see.
 
Yes, That saves all the new brake components I installed a couple years ago. What years have the larger flanges? If all I can find are the smaller flange, can I swap them out by making the change at the cross in the U joint? I have some old driveshafts laying around. Do my 3.70 gears have value, for instance guys who run the freeways? Mine are tight and never seen off-roading other than my steep gravel road up the hill. I'd still like to improve the brakes. I can get some pics of the firewall, or should I start a specific brake thread? I have considered a stout jackshaft, moumted high on the firewall on pillow blocks to activate the huge stock booster/master but mounted on the passenger side. It's some pretty hillbilly sh!+, but I really miss my booster.
 
I would try to keep the 79 late model frt end with the larger knuckles and birfields and swap 3rds. If the rear is a full floater I would keep that too and swap 3rds if possible.
Screenshot_20241106_115958_Chrome.webp
 
Last edited:
Yes, your 3.70:1 diffs have value for the reasons you mentioned. They should sell quickly.
 
island45 said:
Yes, That saves all the new brake components I installed a couple years ago. What years have the larger flanges? If all I can find are the smaller flange, can I swap them out by making the change at the cross in the U joint? I have some old driveshafts laying around. Do my 3.70 gears have value, for instance guys who run the freeways? Mine are tight and never seen off-roading other than my steep gravel road up the hill. I'd still like to improve the brakes. I can get some pics of the firewall, or should I start a specific brake thread? I have considered a stout jackshaft, moumted high on the firewall on pillow blocks to activate the huge stock booster/master but mounted on the passenger side. It's some pretty hillbilly sh!+, but I really miss my booster.
Click to expand...
what issues are you having with your breaks? that 79 should have disc front/ drum rear. I only had issues when the booster failed, and if my drums fell out of adjustment. And when the booster went, I swapped in a mid 90s 4runner/ hilux booster with the spacer. Gotta flip it upside down, dial in the push rod clearances on both the pedal side and master side, and use the inline check valve. I think I also upgraded the master to a 60 series, complete with the proportioning valve. All of this is bolt right on stuff; no cutting or fabing.
 
In 40 plus years of driving my 72 I have used 2 low once in reverse because it was too muddy to get out and turn in the hubs.
 
Charlie, that's why I'd like to have 4.11s. To explain why I can't run a brake booster it might be best to watch my 2 part video on the creation of the 'Foyota'. Some of you have already suffered through these amature features and can just skip about half way through part 2 to the under hood sequence. Together, they are about 10 minutes long, so you might stay awake if your coffee is as black as mine. I must also note that since I filmed this I have sawed off the 'modern' steering column and sleeved on a stub to hold an old dodge 3 spoke wheel, rebuilt my Aisan carb thanks to the great videos (I'm sorry can't remember if it's Pinhead or Pighead's video) , installed bicycle inner tubes on the annoying clanking tailgate chains, etc etc. On those 3.70s maybe someone wants to trade? Just tell your wife you are taking her to Orcas Island, 'The Martha's Vineyard of the West'.
 
You can just remove the tcase shift gate ,just watch out how you do it or what you build because you can or it can (t-case) pop out of gear and go into neutral in the t-case which is scarey when in low gear and your crusier takes off in a time when you where least expecting it.
scary s*** when crawling down a steep hill or up and t-case pops into neutral and you need to slam the brakes on and your rig starts to slide off the side of the road. Whatever you build build it right.

you can shift on the fly from 2x4 to 4x4 high if your hubs are locked. Just not low range.
 
pb4ugo said:
You can't or shouldn't shift on the fly from hi range to low range or vice-versa.
Click to expand...
You can shift from high to low if you change gears with the transmission. I was running in 2nd and shifted to 4th first before shifting to low. I was not going very fast when I did it.
I don't think I can do it with the H55F and 3:1 low range.
1911 said:
Another option would be to swap out your H42 transmission for an H41; the H41 has a 5.30:1 1st gear. The H41 was a foreign market offering, so not super common here, but Spector Off Road imports them (that's where I bought mine).

The H55 has a 4.84:1 1st gear, and an overdrive 5th, but you'd have to use the later split transfer case, and lose your parking brake. The H41 is a bolt-in replacement for the H42 and uses your current transfer case.
Click to expand...
You don't have to loose the parking brake with the split transfer case. The parts bolt right up. i know because I didn't want lose the parking brake and didn't want it moved to the rear axle. I converted the FJ60 axle to a full floater with front hubs and disc brakes. I don't like drum brakes and just have one this way.
 
The parts bolt right up? Are you refering to the non USA parts some people source to keep their drum parking brake? I have always heard the split case parking brake parts were difficult to come by.
 
island45 said:
The parts bolt right up? Are you refering to the non USA parts some people source to keep their drum parking brake? I have always heard the split case parking brake parts were difficult to come by.
Click to expand...
They may be or Georg used 4 speed parts, I put Toyota parts on mine. When I ordered the H55F and split transfer case from Georg I requested that I wanted to keep the brake and had to have the parts added to the crate and ordered a rebuild kit. I also had 3:1 gears installed in the transfer case. There was an assumption that I kept the parts from my 4-speed but the brake parts were sold with the 4-speed and transfer case. Later I will include a photo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom