Builds Red Dragon - HJ61 Build (1 Viewer)

[cruiseroutfit]

My case aluminum pieces are getting vapor blasted, meanwhile I've been collecting parts to take home.

I figured since I'm going through all of the effort to clean this case up, may as well do all OEM new hardware

This is all of the hardware for a vacuum shift split-case reassembly.

This doesn't include the hardware/parts in our TCVCDKIT vacuum diaphragm rebuild kit or the TC8690 transfer case rebuild kit.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Just got back from spending some time at the Toyota US mothership and have a gorgeous box of vapor blasted parts. Thanks Travis

We are going to tear down a handful of 6x, 7x, 8x and 100/470 t-cases and get him batches of parts to clean up. We'll have them for future core t-case builds when customers are not interested in going with new.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Progress was made. Life has been spooling faaaassst. So fast I've not had much of a chance to tinker on the t-case after getting the aluminum bits back from Travis. I stole Olly (our parts & tech engineer) from the shop for the morning. He's built dozens of t-cases in the last few months and hundreds before that (fun fact, he had Marlin LC Toybox #2 in his FJ60 ~20 years ago ), while I've done a few in my day... he's just so damn fast at it so I recruited him to come help me this morning. He was happy to join me in playing hooky from work (well, it's sorta work).

Laying out all the new parts. Box on left is the TC8690 overhaul kit (all new bearings, seals, gaskets, idler shaft, etc) and not pictured is the new input gear (TCG3621260081) and new take-out Idler Gear & High/Low Output Gears (2:1 ratio). Basically the only parts I'm using from my original case are the front and rear output shafts, Hi/Low and 2/4 sleeves & linkage, the PTO unit, vacuum diaphram and a few others. It would have been much quicker to just use one of our new t-cases BUT this was a slippery slope that started as a leaky front output seal and turned into a complete case overhaul with mostly new parts. When in Rome.

Never forget the 5th gear oiler

He made quick work installing the t-case front half and gears while I overhauled the vacuum diaphram and cleaned up the 3 t-case mounted switches. We knocked out the back half of the case and measured pre-load on the rear output shaft. I need a tiny bit thicker shim to tighten it up a tad. It's within spec but right at the bottom and I like to be at or near the top with new bearings. I'll grab an assortment of shims at the shop and tinker on it again this weekend. I should be able to have it all buttoned up in a few hours.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Found another hour to tinker this morning.

Next up mount the PTO box and propeller shafts.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

It's all buttoned up. It was going to surrender its lift position for another vehicle project (finally install the turbo/exhaust on the HZJ77??) but I decided to at least do an oil change while it's still hanging there. The t-case turned out 100% splendid. Cleaned up and re-sealed the PTO unit. New driveline and PTO shaft hardware. Even did new zerks on the driveshafts.

Twisting my brain on this: I've serviced this tcase/PTO as well as many others with the PTO over the years and don't recall ever giving it much thought. We all agree the transfer case lube is shared with the PTO unit on the side of the t-case. And we agree the manual for both a standard split t-case and PTO t-case both call for 2.2L. The PTO unit itself calls for 0.5L, so let's call it 2.7L if you're filing based on a measurement alone.

But you can't just pump them full and plug them when they drain out as the PTO fill sits approx 1" higher than the t-case fill. So if you pump all the fluid via the PTO fill, you could watch for the lube to fill the PTO, spill over and fill the t-case. BUT, if you fill the t-case first, plug it, and then move to the PTO. You could add considerably more lube into the tcase itself, like 1+L extra.

So I'm curious. For those of you with split transfer cases and PTO's, what's your filling method?

Bottom of PTO fill on left (it's on the side of the box, you can see the boss in pic). It's bottom is over the top of the actual t-case fill on right.

 

[BrickRunner]

I filled the tcase first, but didn't plug it, filled the PTO box until it started draining out the tcase fill port, then installied both plugs. The tcase fill plug is lower than the PTO plug, but the fluid still has to get over the hump where the two boxes mate, which is about the height of the PTO fill port.

IIRC the FSM shows a range where it acceptable for the fluid level to be above the fill port level a small amount.

I've always filled my other diff's and gearboxes by level, never premeasured fluid volume.

It's gonna get sloshed about anyway, so if the PTO is full from the get go, any excess tcase oil that gets thrown into it will drain back to the tcase.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I filled the tcase first, but didn't plug it, filled the PTO box until it started draining out the tcase fill port, then installied both plugs. The tcase fill plug is lower than the PTO plug, but the fluid still has to get over the hump where the two boxes mate, which is about the height of the PTO fill port....

That's exactly what my method too.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Tinker tinker. Oil change, fluid top-off and some tinker time. I picked up this C2Design (@c2dfj45) hood strut kit some time ago. It's been sitting in the back for a year or so. Busted that out. This is the 3rd kit I've used on my personal Cruisers and we've installed them on customer Cruisers too.

As noted in his instructions, the later model 6x Series (and certainly this HJ61) have a thick bead of body sealer where the factory hinge attaches to the firewall. I found the best results with a rotary tool and abrasive bit. It trimmed it smoothly without getting into bare metal and causing a potential corrosion issue.

Finished product. Love it!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

The last trip I took this on was a particularly dusty (and sandy) trip out to some dunes in a remote part of Western Utah. The dust bowl contents were exact proof of the conditions that day

Cleaned/rinsed out and a new OEM air filter was put in.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

New license plate light (ELEC95A09) and a ATC tailgate panel on my HJ61. Love the shag carpet but not conducive to cooking, etc out of the back. This panel will allow better utility and I can always revert to the carpet for special occasions