Agentwho

Hi guys, I'm back in the 86+ forum to ask one more question. I recently bought a 85 4runner with a bad trans, ordered a trans put it in the truck and found out it was bad so it came back out ugh. A friend of mine has a forward shift trans for a great deal and I think I'm going to put that one in the truck. From what I've read I'll just need to open the hole into the truck a couple of inches and maybe bend the shifter abit for clearance of the dash.

Now I've search a bit and found a couple of post that say you can but still wanted to ask strait out, the top shift transfer case will bolt up to the forward shift w56 trany without a prob right? I don't know what year the trans is from but it is the one with the larg single opening instead of the two seperate ones

not my trans but the same


My next question deals with the shifter itself. I need to sorce a forward shifter and plate to use with the trans. If I find just the plate without the shifter can I put my stock shifter in there or are they different? I'm leaning towards different.

Agentwho

May I ask why my thread was moved to the 84-85 section when I posted it in the 86-95 section? I know I don't have many post here and may be ranked a newb but my question delt with 89+ parts mating to 85,86,87,and 88 parts. I felt that the 86-95 forum was the correct location for my post and am confused as to why it was moved to this section.

Thank you

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

:wabbit2:

Agentwho

I understand I have an 85 but I already know the trans will bolt into the truck fine. I know that I will have to open the hole in the floorboard acouple of inches to accommodate the 5speed shifter and maybee mod the shifter itself to so I don't hit the dash.

My post was to verify that a top shift transfer case will bolt up to a forward shift w56 with no probs or mods. There were a couple of post I found saying it was doable but there wasn't alot of info so I just wanted to douple check.

My main question was can I swap the 5speed shifter from a top shift w56 (a and b series) to the large plate one of the forward shift trans (c,d,and e). I searched a good bit and found no info on this. This would be usefull info to have if I come arcoss just the plate.

lokirx7

With Toyota typically if the family name, or the letter in a name, is the same most if not all the parts are interchangeable. The exceptions being some newer engines and some parts between the early/late 22r's. Given both transmissions are a W family I say with 80% certainty that everything should bolt together like they were made for each other. Given they are both 56's Id up the 80 to a 100% chance that it will work.

Keep in mind you can convert a top shift into a forward shift or vice versa. You achieve this by swapping the shift forks, and rails between the two transmissions. If you can swap the guts, I am sure what you are asking will work fine (bolting a top shift case to a forward shift). Although your shifters might be a mile apart lol! As far as swapping the shifters, I cant say if it will work or not for sure. You would need to compare them side by side, they are for two different applications albeit on the same trans. So there is no guarantee they will interchange. All I know for sure is that you can use all the top shift or forward shift parts from any W56 on any W56. Mixing and matching those parts like you are asking may or may not work.

I got lucky and owned a '91 that was already top shift when I swapped the trans into my truck, but I was prepared to convert it to a top shift if I had to. No need to hack the truck up more than I already have....

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

The W56A and B transmissions have the single shifter plate:



The C, D and E models have the double shifter plate like you show:

Agentwho

Well I thought I would update this thread for others looking into this in the future. Yes the w56 trans from later forward shift models will bolt up no prob to the earlier top shift transfer cases.



You do have to cut alittle bit out of the floor to fit the shifter

uncut


cut


The stock rubber boot plate fits as well just has to be moved forward a bit leaving a small gap that should be filled. The stock console and shifter boot fits alittle tight but looks fine.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/e3b77b1b.jpg

Chainsaw_Willie

Good info, thanks for updating this thread. I'm researching trans swaps and finding specific info about what transmissions & transfer cases work together, how to make them work, etc. is proving difficult. Just one more bit of data to add.

CAPTDASH

so is there a difference in the position of the sticks between the 2 different trannies? My 85 truck has the twin stick setup forward. I just bought the one with the separate sticks( one in tran & one in the case) to put in my 85 4Runner. Is there any difference in mounting the two? How much different is the stick locations?

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Forward shift tranny/tcase has tcase and 5 spd shifters on tranny.

Top shift tranny/tcase has tcase shifter on top of tcase and 5spd shifter on tranny.

The shift rails inside the tcase are different therefore the tcases are not swappable unless you convert the shift rails when mixing and matching forward shift and top shift stuff. All tcases have a top shift plate for a shifter but not necessarily a top shift. If the shift rails barely stick out of front of tcase it's a top shift. If they stick out a couple inches then forward shift as they have to reach up into the tranny where the shifter is.

They fit differently in your tranny tunnel so if going from one to the other you will have to clearance some sheet metal. As far as mounting they are the same.

:wabbit2:

Chainsaw_Willie

From just looking at the pics posted above, it's pretty obvious that the forward shift trannies (W56 C, D, E) have the trans shifter located significantly further forward than the top-shift trannies (W56 A, B)

More pics for comparison at the Marlin Crawler website show that the forward shift trannies all have the shifters in pretty much the same spot. http://www.marlincrawler.com/transmi...built-complete

Agentwho

There is a good bit of difference where the shifters come out of the trans but using the forward shift 5speed and the top shift 4wd shifter end up pretty close together. I didn't take a pic of the two 5speed shifters beside each other but the forward shift one is a little longer and is angled to bring it farther back to the same area where the top shift one sits



Both the forward shift and top shift (w56 a,b and w56 c,d,e) bolt up to the engine and into the truck the same way. The opening into the truck where the shifters come threw look to be the only difference to me.

In your sig you have listed a 22r engine, iirc that means it was a carberated truck and would have come with a G series trans. I think I remember reading that they came in a foward shift configureation for single cab models if not all. If your 4runner came with the 22re then it should have come with the top shift trans so the one you picked up is the correct one and should not require any mods to drop into the 4runner.

CAPTDASH

It is not for my 85 truck. It is for my 85 4Runner which has a automatic.

Agentwho

I'm not a 100% but I think you can swap from auto to mtx without many probs. As long as its a 22re then it should bolt up to the engine fine and I think the rear crossmember/tranny mount is the same. It wouldn't suprise me if the hole for the shifters was the same. Are you getting a mtx ecu or staying with the auto? I think I read somewhere that you can use an auto ecu if you trick it into thinking its in neutral. I would just double check on the computer stuff then slap it on into the truck.

Good luck to ya hoss

CAPTDASH

HMMM, I didn't even know anything about an ECU. I guess that is another obstacle to deal with. I will check it out. Thanks.

By the way, how do you you trick the auto ecu? Does some Manual Chanting work, or should I have an excorcism performed?

Agentwho

Na nothing so involved, just pop it in the microwave for a couple of mins and that will take care of the computer for ya lol

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

No the tranny tunnel holes are NOT the same auto to manual.

Auto to manual swap has been done hundreds of times and documented here dozens.
You have to have all the clutch parts, drill firewall, swap clusters, bypass neutral safety, etc

It's a lot of work if done right.

:wabbit2: