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4.11 AWD Dual Range in Legacy!


Gloyale
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Get ready to drool.

 

So, I was waiting to get this all finished and driving to post any pics. Well here ya go.

 

First pics of the internals. Here is the 4.11 AWD pinion shaft, and the EA D/R main shaft, positioned in the D/R case.

DSCN2576.jpg

 

Here is the AWD tailsection mated to the Case. DSCN2600.jpg

 

And finally, installed in the car (with adapter plate) and our home made Hi/Lo linkage.

DSCN2657.jpg

DSCN2658.jpg

DSCN2665.jpg

DSCN2666.jpg

 

Let me tell you. This is the best thing ever. Dual range AWD while retaining the 4.11 gears. It makes hill climbing and mud bogging so much easier on the clutch.

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which low range did you use?

 

very cool. I love the low range shifter. my next setup will be something like that. although not for an offroad rig so I'll be sticking to a 3.9. just EJ AWD and D/R.

 

We used the standard GL 1.59 reduction.

 

If you want to stick to 3.9, you will need a 3.9 EJ or FT4wd tranny for you're pinion shaft donor.

 

Can't use the GL 3.9 pinion shaft with the AWD

 

Anyhow, here is the new car in Low range, screwing around in my buddy back yard (an old wrecking yard) We hadn't dug the hole yet;)

 

th_DSCN2670.jpg

Edited by Gloyale
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so you used all the gears from the EA duel range case and just put them on the 4.11 AWD shaft ?

 

good job ! i was going to get around to doing somthing like that , but i wanted to have the 4x4 lock so its not AWD , but there is no 4.11 pinion with the proper end for the locking center diff out of an RX that i have seen .

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so you used all the gears from the EA duel range case and just put them on the 4.11 AWD shaft ?

 

 

No. The EA gear won't press onto the EJ lower, because of the diameter.

 

The upper shaft is a complete EA D/R main shaft.

 

The lower is a complete EJ AWD pinion.

 

The key is that while the final drive is different, the gear set ratios are the same as EA on this particular transmission.

 

There was also a bit of grinding for clearance of the 4.11 with the D/R collar. Also we had to use all of the EJ shift collars, the EJ selector rod, and the EJ reverse lockout arm. Also you have to use the EJ speedometer driven gear.

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So from what I am reading' date='

 

The EA gear set will not fit onto the EJ pinion shaft.

 

Will the EJ upper gears fit onto the EA upper shaft?

 

BW[/quote']

 

yes, and no. 3rd thru 5th will press on. But the upper gears of 1st and 2nd are a cast part of the shaft. From what I gather, 2nd gear would be the one that can vary on different EJ transmissions. I used an early legacy 5spd donor, which happened to have excact matching gear ratios, so the EA upper shaft interchanged perfectly.

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So dose this mean you could use the ring and pinion shaft out of a 4.44 final drive EJ trans but still keep the locking center diff so we can have some real off road gears.

 

EVERYTHING I've heard over the years from various sources (with the exception of post #14 of this thread) say that the pinion shaft must match the center diff. putting 4.111s and 4.444s in an EA D/R case isn't news. but every time I've heard of it, it's been with an EJ VLSD center diff.

 

in fact, I think there were pictures of it not too long ago (but probably saved to the old image gallery....so no longer hosted online) comparing an EA 5MT FT4WD pinion to an EJ 5MT AWD pinion, and the EA one was about 3 inches longer.

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So..........

 

something was not compatible.

 

tranny ran fine for about 500 miles and a few wheelin trips, then BANG!

 

Second gear completely stripped out. no teeth at all left on the upper shaft.

 

So......now to figure out what went wrong. I am unsure if it is an inherant problem with the conversion, or something done wrong during assembly. Or possibly just 2 worn gearsets mated won't be happy, and next time I'll have to start with new gearsets to break in properly with eachother. IDK

 

 

I still hold hope that this conversion is possible, but there is something goin on with the way the two different 2nd gearsets mate.

 

Anyone else trying this conversion be forewarned. I would love to see it done. I just thought sharing this was prudent.

 

experiment at you're own risk.

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ya the gear brakeage with a miss match was my consern we use to go through lots EA high low ranges that we started to put miss mached gear sets together and the first thing to brake in the rebuilt case was the mixed gears eg. reverce or first or second since they are non removable from the shaft .

 

we had good luck with crio treating new gear sets in 2.5 RS trannys when we turboed them they held the power but almost always broke 2nd gear un treated , proper case retorqe and sequence is also nessary to gear life .

 

its still amazing that they hold the power and tire size and abuse they were not desined for as long as they do :)

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So..........

 

something was not compatible.

 

tranny ran fine for about 500 miles and a few wheelin trips, then BANG!

 

Second gear completely stripped out. no teeth at all left on the upper shaft.

 

So......now to figure out what went wrong. I am unsure if it is an inherant problem with the conversion, or something done wrong during assembly. Or possibly just 2 worn gearsets mated won't be happy, and next time I'll have to start with new gearsets to break in properly with eachother. IDK

 

 

I still hold hope that this conversion is possible, but there is something goin on with the way the two different 2nd gearsets mate.

 

Anyone else trying this conversion be forewarned. I would love to see it done. I just thought sharing this was prudent.

 

experiment at you're own risk.

dang

i will be trying this but i will be using the FT4WD gears & the 3.7 ratio

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So Gloyale, did the 4.11 crown wheel clear then 1.59 low range gears alright? I've heard the crownwheel needs machining but don't know if that is true.

 

Pitty to hear about the gears. Were all the bearings held in with their little pins?

 

I would recommend maybe pressing the gears off the EJ's output shaft and putting the EA's gears that came from the same box as the input shaft onto the EJ's shaft. Maybe this would solve the "mis-matched" gear problem? They aren't hard to press on and off if you have a press like I do.

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So Gloyale, did the 4.11 crown wheel clear then 1.59 low range gears alright? I've heard the crownwheel needs machining but don't know if that is true.

 

We did infact have to grind off the outer corner of the ringgear(crownwheel)

 

Pitty to hear about the gears. Were all the bearings held in with their little pins?

 

Yes all the bearings were properly in place and held with pins.

 

 

Problem is, the EJ pinion shaft is a larger diameter, so the EA gearset won't fit onto the EJ pinion shaft, not from what I can tell.

 

We are considering having the DR section of the upper shaft cut and welded onto an EJ uppershaft. Gonna have it done at a place that restores catterpillar bearing seats and such. They have crazy robotic shaft welders.

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