More than likely you have heard 2Lo mentioned on occasion. And depending on how your rig is set up and how you drive it, it just may be a worthwhile change to make to your rig. For the new guys 2Lo means putting your rig into low range without engaging 4WD. Yes it is possible but you do have to make a minor mod to do so.
The most important question is should you? All depends on what your are using in your front axle. If you run a non selectable locker in the front axle this mod is virtually a requirement, especially when you do not want to lose the advantage of low range but still need to make a sharp turn. I have to admit I didn’t believe the guys when they said that you can’t make a sharp turn with a locker engaged in the front axle…. until I had mine and tried to make a turn. Honestly thought something was wrong with my steering so you can believe your buddies when they tell you a locked rig will not make sharp turns.
Since open diffs don’t have the steering difficulties associated with lockers I am not sure I would make this mod if I was not running a locker in the front axle. Using a selectable locker also eliminates to need to make this change. Unlocking the front diff restores the ability of my rig to make sharp turns when I need to. But depending on how you drive your rig you just might find this mod quite useful. All I can say is to drive your rig and if you frequently find yourself wishing you had 2Lo then by all means make the change.
-Making the Change-
Now that you have that Aussie locker or Lockrite in the front axle its time to make the change so you can make sharp turns. Once you make this change you may not believe it was that easy. The first thing you need to do is locate the bracket that prevents moving the t-case lever directly to the right. It’s not hard to find just look at the side of your tranny and on the t-case pivot you should find a bracket just like the one in the pic, but chances are yours won’t be Detroit Diesel green….
The easiest way to get 2Lo is to remove the bracket on the side of your tranny. Removing this bracket has no effect on how your t-case shifts between 2Hi, 4Hi, 4 Lo or Neutral, it just adds the ability to go to 2Lo. You will also find you can skip between 4Lo and 2Lo, no need to go back through the pattern. Skipping from 2Hi to 2Lo is also option. The pattern has now become a square compared to the L it used to be.
It also doesn’t weaken anything, Even without the bracket the t-case pivot is very strong, even overbuilt. I removed the bracket in my rig almost two years ago and even after a run through Rubicon there have been no strange side effects.
-Accessing the Bracket-
Lucky for me when I made the change I didn’t have the body on my rig, Access was right there in front of me. If your rig is in one piece I would sure try to remove things without pulling the carpet and the tranny floor pan as this can be a major pain in the tookus. But you just may have to anyway to get to that bolt on the top cover.
The bracket is held on with two fasteners, one bolt on top (that also holds the top cover on the case) and the nut that holds the t-case lever to the tranny. Pull these two and the bracket comes right off. Just make sure you reinstall the two fasteners once you remove the bracket. On the pivot you may or may not need to add a washer to make up for the thickness of the bracket to ensure the proper tension is still on the pivot.
The other option is to modify the bracket by cutting off the part that keeps the lever from moving into 2Lo. If you look in the picture with my finger you can see just where I cut off this bracket. Then you can just reinstall the bracket if that makes you more comfortable. It works either way so use the one you are most comfortable with.
So you made the mod and you still can’t shift into 2Lo. More than likely there could be some extra rubber or sheetmetal in the way. But even this is an easy fix. Pull the boot off the floor and try to move the shifter. If it moves no problem you may need to remove some excess material on the inner boot. Or if you notice that it hits the sheetmetal, just trim the floor panel to clear and make sure to remove enough material so that when the rig is flexing off road it doesn’t push the lever out of your chosen gear.
Believe it or not that is all there is to it. I can’t say just why Toyota didn’t give us this option but lots of people have made this simple change. No fabrication or fancy parts to install, just the simple removal of a part to make a much needed change for some folks.
