Land Cruiser gearing questions- FJ62 manual conversion

[bryan062087]

I'm considering converting my fj62 to manual and have a few questions.

I currently have a h42 four speed transmission sitting in my garage (it was free) and was thinking of swapping that in in place of my a440f auto.

However, my diffs are geared 4.11 and with the h42, 4.11, and 235/85/16's tires I would not have enough top end speed. RPMS would be too high to run a consistent 70-75 MPH.

If I replaced the diffs with 3.73 gears off of an FJ60, that would correct the highway speed issue, but I'm concerned that it would take away too much on the low end. On Ih8mud.com, many people say that 3.7's, 33" tires, and the h42 4 speed is not a good combination to run. They say they have trouble climbing inclines, hill starts, and offroading due to lack of low first gear.

Do any of yall have experience with this?
Would h42, 3.73's, and 7.5r16's (235/85/16's or 32" tires) be a good combination to run for offroading and highway use?

 

[AndrewP]

I've run an H42 with 33s and 3.70 diffs and did not like it. I now run H55f, 33s, and 4.11 and it's perfect.

If I were going to the trouble of converting an FJ62 to manual, I'd pony up the $1500 and get an H55f, which will give you excellent gearing for offroad and on. That way you won't have to change the FJ62s diffs which are already fine spline 4.11s.

The most critical part of the conversion is the pedal bucket. You'll need one of those from a junked FJ60. I have been collecting parts for just this swap for years, and just got the FJ62 to put them in.

 

[cumminscruiser]

Try compairing the gear ratio numbers, add the first and final gear ratios from the transmission thru the diff and that would give you a good idea what the differance would be.

I wish I knew the trans and transfercase ratios but I dont.

 

[Hltoppr]

My FJ40 had that trans with 4.11s....great down low, but no bueno on the highway...55-60mph tops.

What's wrong with the auto?

-H-

 

[ginericLC]

I ran a h42 with 33x9.50s with the stock 2f in my 60. It was fine with the 3.73s. I liked it on the highway. I think the folks who don't like it have really tired motors. When I did this I was running a pretty hot 2F (it was a performance king, all factory just a really special motor) with low miles 92k-102k or so.

http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=264208 has the info you desire on gear ratios.

Eric V.

 

[bryan062087]

What's wrong with the auto?
-H-

My auto is on the way out. Prior owner abused it. It slips unless warmed up and I've overheated a few times.

I have to rebuild my t-case right now, and did not want to bolt it back up to an auto that would die in 10k miles.

Thanks for the link Eric, very helpful.

 

[AndrewP]

I ran a h42 with 33x9.50s with the stock 2f in my 60. It was fine with the 3.73s. I liked it on the highway. I think the folks who don't like it have really tired motors. When I did this I was running a pretty hot 2F (it was a performance king, all factory just a really special motor) with low miles 92k-102k or so.

http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=264208 has the info you desire on gear ratios.

Eric V.

I thought the freeway cruise was fine. What was not fine was getting started from a stop, especially if there was any uphill involved.

that's why the H55f is such a good swap. It has the 5:1 granny low, and the overdrive, so you get to pick your diff gears based on the size of your tires. that's the way it should be.

There is a local guy with an FJ62 that's running an H42 and a toybox. It works quite well, and he has 36 inch tires for a bit of a rubber overdive. The Toybox solves all of the low gear offroad issues.

Considering that new H55f's are selling very cheap(roughly $1500 for a NEW transmission), that is the obvious direction to go with a build like this.

BTW Bryan-I built an H41 out of an H42 with a gearset I got from Mark's offroad. That isn't a hard swap but you still need the gears and the rebuild kit with the bearings(which is $200 right there).

 

[bryan062087]

Yeah, I was also considering an h41 and then using the 3.7 gears. That could work ok, but like you say not sure how much cheaper it would be in the long run when i'd have to buy the gears, the rebuild kit, etc.

Where are you seeing 1500$ for a h55f?
I can only find around 2k$- Coolcruisers.com, cruiserparts.net, man-a-fre.com

 

[AndrewP]

Yeah, I was also considering an h41 and then using the 3.7 gears. That could work ok, but like you say not sure how much cheaper it would be in the long run when i'd have to buy the gears, the rebuild kit, etc.

Where are you seeing 1500$ for a h55f?
I can only find around 2k$- Coolcruisers.com, cruiserparts.net, man-a-fre.com

Since this is a fairly major conversion, it isn't going to be cheap no matter what you do, so I'd focus on doing it right.

I got my H55f from Dan at American Toyota. He delivered it to me at Cruise Moab, so no shipping! It might have been $1600 or so. Where you spend money is on all the small stuff you need with it and the transfer rebuild kit which is close to $200 itself. In your case you also need a bellhousing, clutch, hydraulic cylinders, rear main seal, pilot bearing, throw out bearing, pedals and the bucket they attach to. There will be more. The point is, you need all that stuff whether you use the 4 speed or the 5 speed, and the 5 speed will be a much more satisfactory truck in the end.

If you want to go cheaper, you could find a low mile automatic and just swap it in. That would be the cheapest route by far. You could also spend more and get a completely rebuilt and upgraded A440 from "Rodney" who builds the high performance versions in Australia. "Euclid" on ih8mud did that and is very happy.

Good luck, it really sucks when the truck is actually broken and you have to make a decision about major upgrades in real time. It's much better to chew on these kind of things for awhile.

Here's a link to the heavy duty Land Cruiser autos. They do have a USA rep, I'm just not sure who it is. Slee had them for awhile.

http://www.automatictransmission.com.au/extreme_a442f.asp

 

[Hltoppr]

I'd second the performance rebuild on the A440F. That's a good transmission, and you wouldn't have to deal with all the other stuff, and expense, of fitting the manual.

CanuckMariner has one of the hot OZ A440s in his 73 series...he liked it very much last time I spoke with him. I'd put $1500 into the auto rebuild personally...

With the H41 and 4.11s, which I have in the Troopy, your final 4th gear is still 1:1, so highway will be pretty limited to 50-60mph based upon RPMs....

Now...I do have a Fairey overdrive (27%) which allows cruising at 70mph.

-H-

 

[bryan062087]

I would be using an h41 with 3.73's not 4.11's. That would give me a lower first and tolerable highway rpms.

I've heard about the Rodney rebuilt a44'fs. I know they are very good, but they are also really expensive (I think more than swapping in an h55f), and also I do not want to keep the auto.

Thanks for the advice.

Does anyone know if the jump from 1st to 2nd will be too big on the h41 using 3.73's?

 

[AndrewP]

The jump will not be too big.

The gears are 3.70. The pinion has 10 teeth and the ring gear has 37 teeth. Lot's of people say 3.73 but they arn't. It doesn't matter though, because I'd stick with the 4.11s-you already own them, they are installed and they are free. If you want, I've got an old front 3.70 I'll trade your for your front 4.11.

Remember an H55f is an H41 in all respects with an overdrive gear added on the back. The internal ratios are slightly different, but 1st is still 4.9:1 and 4th is still 1:1.

 

[Hltoppr]

I second that the jump wouldn't be too big. I can start in second no problemo unloaded.

-H-

 

[bryan062087]

I second that the jump wouldn't be too big. I can start in second no problemo unloaded.

-H-

Do you have 3.70's though? I'm worried about the "distance" between 1st and 2nd gear with the 3.7's


I'm really leaning towards the h41 route if I can find one reasonably cheap. H41, 3.70's, and 32-33" tires. If the second gear issue I'm hearing about is a non issue.

Andrew thanks for your offer, but I think I will hold on to my 4.11's in case I want to swap them in down the road for some reason.

 

[SLOwag]

Where are you seeing 1500$ for a h55f?

Clipped from an IH8MUD post:
Call Toyota of El Cajon in the San Diego area and ask for Cris Wertz, he hooked me up w/ mine for $1700 out the door, new /shifter, seals, cup etc. It was complete and it's the sweetest mod you can make besides an OME lift.

Post up with your results, the 5 speed and 33's are purrfect in my book.