Topic: fj-40 w/ 4.3 v6 t-case help plz

[carsluT]

so i have a 98' zr2 blazer that was freshly rolled over. bought the blazer at auction to remove the motor and tranny to use in my fj-40. i have a 77' fj-40 and plan to do this swap and reuse the stock t-case, but i wonder would i better off changing to the mini truck style t-case? at this time i hope to just put in the v6 and get every thing working. but later down the road i am looking at a duel t-case set up and that makes me wonder if i would be better off buying the stuff to use the land cruiser t-case w/ this motor and tranny or better off changing to the mini truck style t-case? does anyone have a suggestion as to which way would be better then the other?

thanks

[cruzila]

If you use the mini case you will change the rear axle too, it is centered output.

[carsluT [OP]]

I don’t really care if I have to regear my axels I will probably have to do that anyhow. I am mostly looking to find out if I will be able, and if it is a smart idea to use the stock cruiser t-case and add a 2nd what ever t-case later of if will be better of going w/ a mini truck case now and adding a 2nd one later. I am not very up on all the options and how they will work out in the area of the duel t-case. And I guess I am also worried how this will all work w/ a Chevy automatic tranny. I mean having that I will have to adapt the Chevy tranny to the toy t-case then adapt to a 2nd toy case and so on. Seems like a lot of adapters. And I don’t want to have to buy an adapter more then once due to the fact I went the wrong direction on the first t-case. Does this make any sense?

[yotafreak]

Just some additional input. I've had an FJ-40 and a 86' 4-Runner. Go with the later mini-truck 4-cyl case. There is more support out there for them (i.e gearing,adapters,availability) and going to dual cases down the road is a breeze (except for the short wheelbase of an FJ-40.) If your worried about strength I know many toyota truck's and 4-runner's out there with v-8's who have had no problems. Try to get the 23-spline turbo t-case if possible( bigger bearings.) The  LC cases are way noisier too! The only downfall is you have to get a rear axle with a centered diff (the LC is offset to pass side.) You can try to find a way early (55' I think) LC axle but I would go with a Ford 9", there cheap,strong, and have a removable third like a Toyota. If you want to stick with Toyota get an IFS rear axle. Just my $.02

[yotafreak]

A few more things I forgot to mention on my last post. LC transfer case is something like 1.98 to 1 and a 4 cyl t-case is 2.28 to 1 easily changed to 4.0,4.7, or 5.0 to 1. Talk to Marlin! This is a better option with your short wheelbase. Dual cases are gonna make your rear driveshaft super short! Remember also that at crawl speeds an automatic will almost double your ratio anyway.