2WD to 4x4 2nd Gen Tacoma

What do you do when your 2WD 2nd Gen Tacoma gets a new frame?  Naturally you call your favorite offroad shop and have them swap in a 4x4 setup!  

The customer tracked down the parts and had just about everything set and ready to go for the swap.  He went with a manual shift transfer case out of an FJ cruiser and wanted us to put it in his truck and make it look like a factory option.  Challenge accepted!

Dropping in the IFS setup and converting to 4x4 with the hubs and all the other needed goodies was no big deal.  The real challenge came with making the transfer case work.

The first step was pulling out the interior so we could get to the floor and cut a hole in the transmission tunnel.  Then came the real fun.  We had to modify the shift handle so that it would both fit clear the automatic shifter housing and locate itself nicely inside the change holder that we cut out of the center console.  The goal here was to make it look like you could get a 2nd gen Taco with a manual shift transfer case.  

We think it turned out pretty good!  Why didn't Toyota do this from the factory?  See the shifter in action on INSTAGRAM