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The 5 Speed Gear Box Installation

The installation of the 5 speed gear box from a 1987 model FJ60 Land Cruiser wasn't that big of a job. For those interested in doing it them selves, here is what I had to go through.

Background

I was after a taller gear than the 4th gear I was stuck with. At 100 km/h (62 MPH), the engine was doing 3100 RPM. I could have put in the 3.7:1 diffs centres from an earlier model, but I would have lost some of the low gearing that is so nice for off roading.

I found out from a wreckers that the 5 speed gear box from that later models would just bolt onto the current bell housing, so I looked further into it.

Now at 100 km/h the engine is doing a more moderate 2650 RPM. The tinnitus may have been postponed for a few more years now. :-)

Pre Installation

The gear box and transfer case were from a 1987 FJ60 Land Cruiser. I was told that all of the gear boxes basically from 1970 to 1989 had the same bolt pattern onto the bell housing and input shaft (as long as I stayed with petrol model gearboxes; diesel gearboxes may differ), etc, so you can mix and match these up to fit

The top of the gear box is removable. That is the whole top loader/selectors/gear stick. The 60 series Land Cruisers have a shorter gear stick than the 40 series, and it is located further back on the top loader section. I could have left the 60 series gear stick etc. on and cut another hole in the floor to accommodate it, but the lads at the wreckers had the top of a gear box that came from a 1984 5 speed 40 series Land Cruiser lying around. This was swapped over, so the gear stick now comes out of the floor where is should.

Next was the hand brake. On the 40 series, the handbrake is a transmission brake on the rear output shaft of the transfer case; on the 60 series, the handbrake is on the rear wheels. The lads at the wreckers said that the rear output shaft, flange and handbrake assembly could be replaced with earlier bits (these are available from an 83/84 model HJ47) to put the handbrake on the rear of the transfer case as I needed. (I didn't want to have to put hand brakes in my read wheels.) A bit of scavenging and buying and they had the parts, and put them together. Now I have the handbrake on the rear of the transfer case where it should be.

The Installation

The old gear box and transfer case were removed as one item. In my FJ40, the whole transmission tunnel hump on the floor is able to be removed. This really helped. I closed the two front doors, opened the windows fully, and ran a piece of wood through the two open windows. From this piece of wood I was able to use a small hand winch to lower the gear box out. (It's a heavy bugger, you can't lift it easily.)

While the gear box was out, I replaced the clutch, thrust bearing, spigot bearing and rear main oil seal. I also had to cut the chassis rail that runs across just behind the gear box, as the new gear box and transfer case is about 100 mm (4") longer than the original.

The new gear box was lifted into place with the winch, and bolted into place.

The heavy work was done. Now for the fiddley bits.

The handbrake cable was now a little bit short, so I had to re-run it along a more direct path by cutting a new hole in the floor where it passes through the transmission tunnel. The old hole was plugged with piece of aluminium that was bolted into the original bolt holes.

The new transfer case lever is now located about 100 mm (4") further back. A new hole was cut in the transmission tunnel for this, and the old one had a metal plate put over it. I still haven't got around to fitting a new piece is carpet on the floor to hide this.

As the transfer case is now further back, I had to have the drive shafts shortened and lengthened to suit. The rear bolt pattern of the transfer case was the same bolt pattern on the drive shaft flange, as it was from a simular vintage vehicle, but the front was different. This was fixed by getting the drive shaft flange from a later model, and swapping them over on the splined shaft slipper join in the drive shaft.

The speedo cable just bolted up, and works fine.

I took the vehicle to an engineering place, and they MIG welded in a new chassis cross member for me, about 100 mm further back than the original.

The Results

It worked straight away. No problems. There has been an improvement in fuel economy, but I don't know how much because at about the same time I put on the extractors.


Another 5-speed source

Those people who want to buy a heavy duty 5-speed conversion for their Land Cruiser should have a look at the MARK'S FOUR WHEEL DRIVE ADAPTORS page.