YES: A Taller Fifth Gear Is Possible!
Alright, folks. I've done it: I've swapped the RAV's stock fifth gear and fifth driven gear for matching ones from a Camry.
Proof can be seen in the picture (shows my RAV cruising along at 70mph and 3k RPMs).
Here are some notes to help those who'd like a taller gear:
PARTS LIST
I did the standard 5th gear repair, which most certainly required replacing the selector sleeve, the bearing, the fifth gear, and the hub. In addition, as mentioned, I swapped out the fifth gear and the fifth driven gear with those from the Camry, as mentioned. Finally, I replaced the lock nut on the end of the output shaft of the tranny, which is nestled up against the fifth driven gear and probably should be replaced because it is staked and is made of pretty soft metal.
- 33336-42020: Fifth gear (from Camry)
- 33428-42020: Fifth driven gear (from Camry)
- 33395-42012: Transmission sleeve
- 33393-42010: Transmission hub for synchros
- 90364-28023: Needle bearings for fifth gear
- 00295-01281: FIPG gasket material (a MUST for reinstalling the gasket)
- 90179-20012: Lock nut that snugs up to fifth driven gear
- Total Cost=$390
STEPS
Please follow the fifth gear replacement thread that Hardrocker started way back when (
LINK) for pics and more details.
Also, for pics regarding the removal of the fifth driven gear, please see
this thread, which is accurate EXCEPT that the staked lock nut in my 2002 RAV was NORMALLY threaded (thread requires a login, unfortunately, but for the humor alone, it's worth it!).
- Get car up on jackstands and remove front-right wheel, turning steering wheel to right to make access easier
- Remove splashguard under transmission
- Check that tranny fill plug can be removed without incident; if it can't, you might not want to do this repair!
- Drain tranny fluid from drain plug using 24mm socket (my oil smelled revoltingly old)
- Remove 10 bolts from transmission case; some oil will come out, so be ready
- Remove C clip from end of input shaft (that's the left shaft)
- Remove selector arm by unbolting and pulling off
- Remove hub with harmonic balancer puller (this one should work); most effective way I found to do this was not to tighten the shaft bolt but rather to tighten the three bolts that fit into the hub because this minmizes the turning of the shaft; keep all the guts of the hub together because it's not immediately intuitive how it all fits back, and you'd be much better off keeping it together till you're ready to transfer the guts to the new hub
- Slide off 5th gear; bearings will drop out
- Unstake the lock nut with a screwdriver and a hammer (not necessary if using an air impact gun, which is recommended because that nut is hard to unstake)
- Grab a 30mm socket to remove the locknut that's on the output shaft above the fifth driven gear; this bolt is threaded NORMALLY, so lefty loosey; you may need to lock the car in another gear so the shafts don't turn while you loosen the nut, or have a friend step on the brakes
- Remove the fifth driven gear with a jaws-type puller (one of these should work)
- Oil the new driven gear, then install, hitting it with a mallet and long socket
- Install the lock nut (righty tighty) to 91 ft-lb torque, restaking it when you're done
- Oil new bearings and new fifth gear; install new fifth gear with new bearings underneath
- Transfer synchro guts to new hub; this step might take some time, but it's not really that bad as long as you study what's going on with the clips and the rings; they do have a tendency to pop out if they're not in all the way, so take your time with this step
- Fit the hub on the splines of the shaft, but you'll need to press it on because hitting it with a mallet won't get you far, and it will cause the hub guts to pop out; I used a 12mm, 1.5mm-pitch, 70mm length bolt that WILL fit in the threaded shaft, even if it doesn't seem like it will, along with a deep 1-1/4" socket and spacers as needed to press the hub on as I tightened the bolt; 4 holes on the back of the synchro hub absolutely must line up with 4 holes on fifth gear! The tabs can be guided in to the holes by using a small screwdriver to tap them whichever way you need as you tighten the presser; hub will not fit correctly if tabs are not lined up!
- Fit C-clamp on by lining it up flush with the hub and tapping with a screwdriver
- Slide new selector sleeve on along with selector arm (my old sleeve was trashed, which undoubtedly caused the gear to pop out!); reinstall bolt holding selector arm on
- Clean both sides of case where they meet and where old gasket material was; I used mostly steel wire brush + elbow grease and a tiny bit of solvent
- Once mating surfaces of case are squeaky clean, apply FIPG material liberally to end of case and attach this case back on the end of the transmission, waving goodbye to the fifth gear and wishing it luck on its journey bringing your car places with fewer turns of the engine
- Reinstall all 10 bolts (I cleaned these prior because they were junked up from the old gasket material) and let case sit overnight for gasket material to cure
- Reinstall drain plug with new crush washer if you prefer (36 ft-lb torque, if you can even get a torque wrench in there!)
- Refill tranny using whatever oil you prefer (I used a standard GL-5 because GL-4 was impossible to find in my area and the owners manual says GL-5 is fine); reinstall fill plug with new crush washer if you prefer (36 ft-lb torque)
- Reinstall splash guard
- Take her for a spin and share your experience!!!
I'll tell ya: I'm not mechanically savvy, yet thanks to this forum (and a few other sources of information), I found it straightforward enough to tackle the project on my own. While there were plenty of hiccups, including but not limited to me believing the lock nut was reverse threaded; my 12mm, 1.5mm-pitch bolt not cleanly meshing with the input shaft threads to push back on my hub; my hub not lining up with the aforementioned 4 holes (subsequently dubbed "glory" holes for the feeling you get when you finally line everything up and you can get the clip back on); and not having the appropriate puller to pull the hub off in the first place, this project was fun and completely worth every ounce of effort. I only hope that this beta assists another intrepid, fledgling DIY pseudo-mechanic on his/her quest for a fixed fifth gear and/or a taller fifth gear to lower them RPMs!