Build Thread: the '92 Runner, AKA "blue"

pELYgroso

pELYgroso

'Merica
Location
LEHI, UT
So we just picked up this 4runner from Cascadia because we've got kid #2 on the way and the Grand Vitara is too small for 2 carseats in the back seat. My wife was looking at some more $$$ SUV's but I found this and after driving it around a bit, she loves it! I told her that if we got it, I'd use the $$ from selling my red 4runner to go towards paying down a couple debts that we're working on and she agreed. Win-win because we still have a buildable rig, money going towards debt, and no payment on a more $$$ SUV that she was looking at! The only downside is that since we now will only have her DD (this 'runner) and my work truck, I have no dedicated play rig that I can stick in the shop for weeks at a time to build up, which means that this will be a slow build.

First order of business: a name. I've named about half of my rigs in the past and couldn't think of a good one for this so I asked my 2 year old. After thinking for a minute, she yelled, "BLUE!" We tried coaxing her out of that name but it stuck, so Blue it is. Even though the 'runner is green haha.

Blue came to me completely stock besides some very loud 33's, no rust, immaculate interior, and the trusty ol' 22re.

While diagnosing what Tyson and I thought was a noise coming from the ice-terrain tires, I found that the rear diff was actually the culprit so last weekend I pulled the 4.10 rear diff from my red 4runner and threw it in the '92. The bonus is that it now has a lockright! No more humming noise!

My next mod will be a t case swap from my red 'runner so that I have the 4.7 gearing as well. at one point I had a '90 pickup that was bone stock besides a lockright in the rear and 4.7 gearing on 31's and I had a blast in that thing, so I'm excited to get this 4runner to that point! I've never messed much with pulling or installing a t case, so i could actually use some help with it. I imagine it's pretty straight-forward, but some experienced help would make me a little more confident w/ the swap.

Other mods to come:
-front bumper
-rear bumper w/ swing away tire carrier
-low profile roof rack (doesn't even have any rails at the moment. I'll need to source some from the junkyard)
-CD player (currently has stock tape player)
-remote locks from "teh sexay"
-sliders
-possibly an OME lift....maybe Kurt will let me do some trade work on his roof :D
-brighter head lights
-tinted windows
-paint these rims gloss black (I like the green rig w/ black rims like steve's last "flavor of the week" -although I guess that was technically 2 rigs ago now haha)
-possibly a rear ceiling mounted DVD player for the lil' ones

I plan on this being a semi-capable DD/ glamping rig that I keep nice and comfy for my wife and kiddos. The comfier, the more we use it outdoors!
 
a couple pics:

both 'runners up in the air for some diff action, and the diff w/ the lockright that I installed into the '92
 

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would anyone be willing to help me out this Saturday w/ a t case swap? Possibly somebody who has already seen Steve tub a wheel-well haha! I'm in Lehi as well. I'd like to do it before the weather turns for the worse. I could supply some pizza and beverages if that would help motivate!

Thanks in advance!
 
I can, and I have ha.

although my mechanicing doesn't really ever include a Toyota. Toyota wrenching is a fairly uncommon thing to me.
 
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pELYgroso said:
Awesome man! I appreciate it! I'm planning on starting around 9am. One of these days I want to go check out Steve's polished methods of tubbing a wheel well. Maybe on the next rig haha. I always have things going on his build days it seems!
Click to expand...

Its a pretty simple process, and with taking your time it turns out pretty clean.
 
swapping a tcase is honestly 10x easier than swapping a diff.

Here's the process.

tools needed: 14mm wrench, 12mm wrench, oil catch pan, 22mm (I think) wrench to drain the fluid.


1) drain fluid
3) unbolt driveshafts (this step takes the longest)
3) unbolt the 4 bolts on top holding the shifter lever on
4) put a floor jack under the tranny and lift it about 1/2"
5) unbolt the 4 bolts that hold the tcase mount to the tcase
6) unbolt the 6 bolts that attach the t-case to the tranny
7) do a reverse-bench press and lower that bad boy down. It probably weighs 30-40 lbs.

I'll bet we could pull a t-case in 15-20 min with a handful of guys and air tools.

One thing to make sure is that they're both either forward shift cases or they're both top-shift cases. Can you take some pics of both cases so we can double-check?
 
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Steve, you are the man! I could totally start at 8! I could probably even start to pull the red 'runner before Saturday since it's still on blocks in the driveway! I'll go take some pics so we can figure out the top/forward shift question. Can we see the difference from the bottom?
 
You'll laugh when you see how easy it is.

Take a picture of the shifter inside the car. One has the lever coming out of the t-case and the other has the lever coming out of the tranny. Here's a good article that lists which vehicles had what stock:

http://www.marlincrawler.com/tech/transfercase/transfer-case-bible



here's the difference:

topshift.jpg


forwardshift.jpg


ovhdcasecompare.jpg



Removal is the same whether it's a top shift or forward shift, but a top shift case won't just swap with a forward shift case. You need to make sure they're compatible before we start swapping.
 
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once we're sure they're both the same type of tcase, you can speed up the process by:

1) draining the fluid from both cases
2) removing the driveshafts
3) unbolting the top 4 bolts that hold the shift lever on

After that it'll be a quick 10 min job for us.
 
I'm betting that Blue has a forward shift case and red has a top shift.

You can convert the top shift to forward shift and vice versa, but it's a lot more than a 20 min job. I find cracking t-cases apart therapudic and fun. You'll ask yourself "what have I gotten myself into, I'm way outta my league." but but Marlin and TG have foolproof instructions on those t-cases. Print the instructions out, read a lot, and you'll get it.
 
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your newer 4runner has a g58 transmission, and the gear driven t-case from your first gen 4runner wont work unless u swap over the transmission too, the g58 transmission uses the same t-case bolt pattern as the v6 transmissions. and the input shaft is 26 spline too, and the first gen 4runner has a 21 spline input shaft.
if u swap over the tranny/tcase from the 1st gen 4runner, the shifters wont be in the right location, if u want to keep it factory looking, u need a 89-95 4 cyl pickup tranny/tcase and swap your 4.7 gears into them, and everything will line up and work perfectly. sorry for the bad news.
 
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So, does he have a chain-driven case in that runner? Does the ADD front diff designate a chain-driven case?
 
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all 4 cyl 90-95 4runners have the oddball g58 tranny with 26 spline chain driven t-case, nothing will swap with them using one or the other, thee tranny/t-case both need replaced if u want to put lower gears od double t-cases in there. that is the most oddball tranny-tcase setup toyota ever made, and yes all 90-95 4runners had add with drive flanges up front.
 
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