is the split case easy?

[nuclearlemon]

loosing fluid in transfer and gaining it in the transmission, and the rear main has leaked since i bought the cruiser six years ago (although the last few months, the few drops it used to leave has turned to large puddles), so i figure it's time to pull it all apart and reseal. i pretty much need to have this done in this weekend.
flipped through a couple of the tech sights and the oem and gregory's manuals, and the split case doesn't appear to be the piece of cake that the older 40 cases are... what kind of surprises am i in for? any tips to make this easier? i've already pulled d/ss, skid plate, clutch cover, right front seat, trans boot and will finish pulling the shifters, xfer boot, trans tunnel access plate in the morning.
do i really have to pull the whole case apart to seperate from trans and service the seal? should i be prepared to catch parts and can an idiot figure out where they go?...hhhhmmmm how hard to swap in one of the early four speed setups i have when i totally screw this up? maybe i should just get drunk and save all my cardboard boxes to line the driveway and soak up the leaking fluid.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Yes, unfortunately you need to pull the entire transfer case apart to get to the seal. I did it last weekend.

As for your second question, yes you could swap the transfers but it's much more involved than it sounds. I wouldn't go there personally as I did a similar thing with the FJ55 restoration. It would involve swapping the tranny output shafts for the two 4 speeds as well as some other parts from the rear of the older 4 speed tranny. Taking apart a Toyota tranny is not an easy job (they've been known to break the SST's)! I'm assuming that the current tranny is supported from below rather than the bell housing as on the older FJ40/55's.

 

[60wag]

Its really not that bad. Make sure you crack the tcase ouput shaft nut and the tranny output shaft nut loose before you get too far into it. They are like pinion nuts and can require a hefty torque to loosen. If the front output shaft isn't leaking, you can leave that part of the case assembled. The more difficult part is putting it back together. The OE book shows how to stick the thrust washers in place with grease and to push the idler shaft into position after the case is assembled. Not too tough and makes sense with pictures. The seal that came with my rebuild kit (Aussie kit) that separates the tcase from the tranny was a double lip seal. The one I removed was a single. Hopefully the double will do a better job of sealing than the single.

 

[nuclearlemon]

things i learned today...

a. don't drive for an hour on the highway with the windshield down and spend the next four hours outside on a hot sunny day wearing shorts and t shirts and no sunscreen or lip balm when you know you have to spend the rest of the day rolling around on the concrete under your cruiser.

b. while i do love my wagon, there's a reason i only own one 60series and four 40series...60 series SUCK to work on

c. the split transfer case has got to be the most f$#%ed up design.

d. while it is a crappy design, it's not as intimidating as i thought...even though i did go a little to far into it than i was expecting..."i heard a tink...oh s***."

e. the hole is not large enough...what the hell ever happened to removable tranny tunnels!

f. things that didn't hurt at 27, do hurt at 37

g. the next time i need to pull the trans and said sucky xfer, i will gladly pay someone else an obscene amount of money to do it for me.

h. right now, i will gladly pay someone an obscene amount of money to come here tomorrow morning and finish this for me.

and to think i was pondering doing this by myself...thanks a s***load magoo...for being there to suffer along with me.

also, thank to tim nakari, madison wilhelm and cruiser_guy....oh, wait...skip the thanks to tim...his comment about me having bigger balls than him really did not boost my confidence level...of course listening to things go "tink" didn't either.

 

[nuclearlemon]

here's where i stand as of 11pm...tomorrow, get the bastard in there.

 

[nuclearlemon]

I'M DONE I'M DONE...never doing that again!

 

[Magoo]

yes this job was a b$%#@.thats for sure.but at this point i am not afraid to rebuild tcases anymore.makes me love my 40.60's are friggin evil.
shawn