Manual gearbox options

[wraith]

Thought I'd put together the fruits of my research. Most may be well known, but here goes.

In your pursuit of a manual transmission for your Toyota, you have a few current choices. There is the venerable W5x series, now well aged and fetching higher and higher prices. It's not uncommon to be paying $500 or $600 for one. If you need more strength, the go to box is the R154. These command an eye watering $1500+. So what is a tightarse conversionist to do?

If your local wreckers are anything like mine, there are not so many old Celicas and Cressidas as Camrys. However, do cast your eye over the 2wd Hiluxes. Whist the G52's in the older ones are generally considered a poor cousin to the W5x, from about the RZN on, Hiluxes typically got a W59. These have poor gearing for most road cars, but you might find something you like. I've found ebay ads with these listed as "4 bolt shifter" transmissions.

Whist looking at Hiluxes, you may also discover R150s and possibly R155s. Also crap gearing, but it may be worth the price! Handily, these can be recognized by 6 bolts holding the shifter down.

All this is readily found out on Wikipedia, so whats new? Well, the R series boxes are made by Aisin, and they call it the AR-5. Wikipedia has a page for the AR transmission, and talks about GM and Isuzu using this box. 2wd Isuzu boxes are thin on the ground, and most Holdens likewise have other stuff. But we did get the AR-5 here, and it came in the RA Rodeo and Colorado. Specifically, the Alloytec variants. And the ratios are not dreadful (except 3rd maybe).

The really good news is that the Rodeo was worth less than a bucket of chicken new, and the Alloywreck wasn't the most reliable engine ever built. A quick search of ebay for "alloytech" (note bad spelling, reqd) lists a few, with two available for $275! And it's effectively an R154 with triple syncros on 1st and 2nd! And you can get the Solstice / Sky 3rd gear from America for $60USD IIRC. No idea if it fits, though. Oh, and it has a hydraulic release bearing.

Now, it's not all roses. The input shaft is GM, so you'll need a friction plate with a 23 x 26.2mm spline. EDIT- the VS Commodore 3.8 ran a 238mm clutch with a 23 x 26.2mm friction plate. And the output shaft I believe is different. And the shifter may not suit your application. I think the bellhousing may even be a slightly odd depth. You'd have to get one and find out. So if you are just after a manual box for your SC300, maybe go buy the 20 year old R154 for $1500. But if you shoving a 1JZ into your Hilux and want something tougher than a W series, maybe it's food for thought.

[maccac__1590]

the odd r series boxes can be had quite cheep, i was after a r154 for my uzx73 but came acros a r151 from a late 2wd diesel hilux for 450 bucks, despite not so favorable ratios at that price its a easy choice. looking on wiki a r150 from a petrol has a closer gearset so if this one falls apart thats what ill be chasing next haha

[cresslux]

i have a late model R150 ('05+ v6 2wd box) from a hilux and its the only other R15x that ahs the exact same input shaft as an r154, as all the others are shorter.

yeah the ratios are average, but i got it for $50 and a jz bell for $100, had a clutch and flywheel lyinmg around and slapped it on the back of a 1j i got for $500
thats a manual turbo 1jz for under $1k!

can wait to actually put it in the car (mx32 i got for cheap too!) and do some err... "driving"

[Cuzzo]

i wonder what a gear set is worth and if its easier to source and more economical to rebuild a hilux box with r154 gears?

i guess a few broken r154's are bound to come up too.

[dnegative]

Countershaft is around the $650 mark and gears are $250 a pop;
They are all just as expensive/cheap

[cresslux]

^ yep i can get the countershafts a little cheaper, but they still aint cheap!

in theory it could be done, but why bother, you would have to change the whole gear set.
the reason r154's are so expensive is simply because of demand, parts cost the same.

i did however notice later model r150 works with the tripod remote shifter for jzx90 and jzx100, as i have caught out someone trying to palm off an r150 with a remote shifter fitted as an r154!

[Slidin23]

has anyone actually fitted one of the r150 box's to their 1jz's?

im looking into it atm to replace my w series boxes that im breaking every 2 months. looking into a r150. i went to the wrecker and have found a 4 cylinder one for $600. noticed they are the same except the input shaft is short. i believe the v6 box's are the same but longer input shaft? also the other thing that worry's me is the shiftier type. is this easily changed to r154 set up?

i know the shifter's are the same between w58 and r154 but it looks totally different on the hilux box.

i am putting this box into a mx83 Cressida so dont need the extended shiftier housing. although i do use the ma70 rear extension for the w58 box. will i need an extended shiftier housing for a r154

Thanks. Jake

[1gjet]

How did you go with your r150 did you find a solution for the big shifter?

[andrew_mx83]

Just on the r150 input shaft, *some* appear to be interchangeable between boxes. You just have to match up the cluster ratio from another r box with the same gearing. Ie r154 input shaft won't drop into an r150 but a 5vz one should. The shafts aren't crazy expensive either. The 5vz one I ordered was nla so I ended up with an r151 shaft instead but the tooth count is the same so fingers crossed it works. 3vz surfs definitely have the shorter shaft as do tgn16r hilux.
Beware there was a helix angle change in the later gears so I'm not too sure about using the longer '05 shaft mentioned above in an early box.

Also, dyna truck 5th gears fit to improve the OD ratio and are actually taller than the r154

I'll know in a few days when my bits turn up if it acually works but I'm pretty confident this will sort out the short input shaft issue.
The box I'm building atm is a 4wd r150 but I have a 2wd one there I'll probably swap the shaft on as well, assuming it all works and then see if it all bolts up to a 7m or JZ.