Engine, Tranny, transfercase for fj40 sound ok to you? (1 Viewer)

[lx450landcruiser]

ok i have a chevy 350 v8 mated to a th400 tranny and a dana 18 transfercase. what do you guys think? Its im my fj40 now and i have custome drive shafts since the whole combo is kinda long but i have yet to get it up and running long enough to test it out. Also does any one know anything about the dana 18 transfer case? i know it and the dana 20 are almost the same except the dana 20 has an overdrive?
any help on info would be great. I dont know anything about the transfercase other then its out of either a jeep or a scoute.

thanks again
mike

 

[HI^C]

Sounds great and actually i was looking to do the same thing, as the cruiser case seems to be a POS to me, too many cracks many different times, case saver ha ha. th350 to Lc case now because it fell into my lap.

I do know of a guy that ran that setup and had very very litte trouble with it, ran mild bbc to built sbc in front of the setup.

18 and 20 cases interchange, 18 has a small hole case and big hole case, 18 case are suppose to be weaker then a 20 case. Common swap is putting 18 gears in a 20 case. Check out some info on AA or novak on identifying cases. MOST 18 are factory twin sticks got to love it. BTW i dont own and never owned a jeep.

 

[willsta2000]

8)Personally the only reason I'd go to a t-case setup other than the Toyota would be because I was going to a center-dump t-case to run with full-width axles. Granted, I have not heard anything derogatory about the Dana t-cases, I do have a buddy who's "popped" two cruiser t-cases, but both times, he's admitted he was driving like an idiot. Bottom line, anything you'd find in a *eep, I'd second guess, because they're built to accomodate less than a 1/2 ton vehicle,... cruisers, on the other hand are built like a 3/4 ton.
Personally, I've wheeled with Blazers, Broncos, and *eeps, and seen plenty of breakage on all their parts. Blazer (3/4 ton axles, d-shafts,... popped front and rear d.shafts... had to tow out), Bronco (broken front D44 short side shaft end/ujoint... had to drive ~50mi out of our way to get out of the hills in 2wd), and *eep (popped read drive shaft,... had to drive out in fwd with a BADLY bend front driveshaft, was hitting either the frame or engine every revolution (was suprised he even drove it)). Bottom line, conquered every obstacle they did in my FJ40 w/ stock drivetrain, and never even broke a course spline birfield.
Bottom line, IMHO, if you break anything on your FJ with less than 200hp, it's your own damn fault.

Keep it 'Yota


P.S. I'm currently swapping in an LT1 right now (sick of carbs dying at the wrong time... damn near got myself into a couple nasty rolls),... and, knowing my luck, I might just be eating my words when I triple my existing ponies.
Personally, if I would wish 'Yota would have done anything different, they would've made the body longer, had the engine placed a few inches forward,... resulting in less wasted space behind the front bumper, and having both d-shafts the same length... stock.

Good luck, whatever you choose.

WILL

 

[Poser]

Anything can and will at the most inopertune time, fail.

Is a Dana 18 or 20 stronger than a cruiser case?

I do not know, they all have people selling bolt-on reinforcing plates or braces. All have a history of braking, even in a slightly modded applications.(see line one above)

I have done the 18 guts in a 20 case swap a few times for guys. They are still using the t-cases, and are happy with them.

Run it! See what happens. Keep us posted!

Good luck!

-Steve


Oh, and Will-

Hopefully you keep making deposits in the luck bank. Hopefully you do not ever have to deal with any failures on that Land Cruiser of yours.
Just keep in mind...

"Anything can and will at the most inopertune time, fail."

 

[lx450landcruiser]

thanks guys im gonna do the sterring soon and the wiring then let her rip and see how she goes. Dont know when she will be on the road but ill be sure to let u know.

mike