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Norm made a great point with the fact that there have been numerous failures in the OE system, placing extra wear on the input tube in which the TOB slides back and forth. I have seen this time and time again in other makes, but have not researched it much on this platform. I simply don't see it on Tacomas of FJs. Having said that, I don't get a lot of trans/clutch failures in my shop, probably because they are Toyotas and are simply reliable in most ways. This would be a good upgrade for those looking for a solution to a very expensive replacement/repair.
I am the shop owner by the way (you asked), and we do work on most brands (and we are a Toytec dealer and installer, and a tire dealer), but we get good market share of Toyota work. We are ASE Certified and have a good reputation in our small, but ample community, and have customers that drive 200 miles, plus, to have us perform the work. That says something about the quality of work that I count on from my techs and myself. Many of my customers are firemen who absolutely depend on our work. I don't cut corners and will not install parts that aren't proven. I usually try out new products on my own vehicles before recommending to others. Too bad I don't have a manual transmission FJ, huh? Yet! :wink
I only wanted to share my objective opinion for those who feel like they "need" to make this upgrade, when the OE system may never have failure. We spend a lot of money upgrading our FJs and some things just aren't necessary to achieve reliability. As far as the early model differential failures, most can be attributed to over using a drastically heavy platform on the 8" ring & pinion. In stock form they are just about adequate, but load them down with heavy bumpers, oversized (aired down) tires, lots of gear, fridges, roof racks, etc, and the limits can certainly be pushed to the point of failure. Hence the 8.2" in the later models. Most of the failures I've seen with the 8" come from the T100 and early Tundra platforms, which can easily be overloaded to the point of R&P failure. The 8" is simply not designed for heavy abuse in heavier platforms. In mini trucks, they are darn near indestructible.
I am the shop owner by the way (you asked), and we do work on most brands (and we are a Toytec dealer and installer, and a tire dealer), but we get good market share of Toyota work. We are ASE Certified and have a good reputation in our small, but ample community, and have customers that drive 200 miles, plus, to have us perform the work. That says something about the quality of work that I count on from my techs and myself. Many of my customers are firemen who absolutely depend on our work. I don't cut corners and will not install parts that aren't proven. I usually try out new products on my own vehicles before recommending to others. Too bad I don't have a manual transmission FJ, huh? Yet! :wink
I only wanted to share my objective opinion for those who feel like they "need" to make this upgrade, when the OE system may never have failure. We spend a lot of money upgrading our FJs and some things just aren't necessary to achieve reliability. As far as the early model differential failures, most can be attributed to over using a drastically heavy platform on the 8" ring & pinion. In stock form they are just about adequate, but load them down with heavy bumpers, oversized (aired down) tires, lots of gear, fridges, roof racks, etc, and the limits can certainly be pushed to the point of failure. Hence the 8.2" in the later models. Most of the failures I've seen with the 8" come from the T100 and early Tundra platforms, which can easily be overloaded to the point of R&P failure. The 8" is simply not designed for heavy abuse in heavier platforms. In mini trucks, they are darn near indestructible.