That's correct. Toyota first started using forward shifting t/cases in 1984. This is because of a new style transmission (the G-series) which is about 4 inches longer then the predecessor (the L-series). So to get the shift handle for the t/case closer to the trans shifter, they designed forward shifting rods in the '84 t/case.
Then in '85 the EFI was available and now we had the SR5 class and the basic Carb class. The carb trucks came with Bench seats and the SR5 EFI trucks came with buckets. So with the bench seat configuration, the shifter needed to be kept as far forward as possible incase short people drive the truck and need to pull the seat all the way forward. But on the SR5 models, having the bucket seats allowed for a closer placement of the t/case shift lever to the driver, so the Top shift tcase was used.
So that meant that Toyota had to make two different cab designs, one that had a large elongated hole for both the transmission and transfercase handles (carb/bench seat model) and another cab with two holes, one for the trans and one for the t/case shifter (SR5 bucket model).
So in '89 Toyota finally had enough of the two cab designs and just went with one cab design. So all 89+ 4cyl (all EFI) trucks used forward shifting tcases which happened to be in the same location as the V6 model that used a different transfercase.
BigMike
