2F SM465/Orion Install

My first mistake - whoops! Tons of metal in the gear lube...

* If you have an SM420 and the"extra" bearing in the adapter, you should have Toyota spacer (part number 90201-35070) between the bearings.
* If you have an SM420 and do not have the "extra" bearing, you need to run a spacer. Toyota part number 90560-35082 will work but has been discontinued.
* If you have an SM465, with a 3/4" adapter,you will need a spacer. I stacked two of the stock Toyota spacers (part number 90201-35070).

Based on my personal experience, you need spacers on all three applications. For a stock t-case, the OEM gear is the same outside diameter so, for added insurance, you can run the same spacers mentioned above. The reason this issue came up was because my input gear walked toward the transmission and machined the inside of the case. The Orion gear has shorter splines inside and does not bottom out in the taper like an OEM gear.

The AA style adapter is different than a plate style adapter so I doubt you will need a spacer.

You can see in the picture on the right that the inside of the case has been ground down by the input gear. In this picture you can see how the gear moved forward on the output shaft of the transmission. Click here for an animation of the problem.

The two images below show just how far the gear can float towards the transmission. (Transfer case has been removed so you can see the gear)

Quote from the AA Orion installation guide, "G22 & G29- THRUST WASHERS - The thrust washers are an important and critical area when installing the Orion gears on your Toyota shaft. The first step is to inspect the transfer case output shaft for excessive wear and to make sure the gears fits the shaft. If your shaft is worn excessively, the gear will be a loose fit or will be able to wobble. If this is the case with your shaft, replace it. We do offer replacement shafts. If the shaft is in good shape, then proceed. The end play of the gear on the shaft must be set. The new Orion gears are the same width as a stock gear set. On the early Orions the stock thrust washers were retained and the end play on the gears is what the stock unit had. Unfortunately, in some applications the end play ended up to be close to .030". The factory could have been off or if at some time the output shaft was changed, it could have had different than stock measurements. The shaft and gears should be set at .008"-.012" of end play. We now include two new thrust washers to help set up the transfer case with the correct end play. These thrust washer are stepped. One side has a recess of .015" - .017" and the other side of the washer has a .008" - .010" recess. So by using one side or the other of the washer or using your stock washers, you should be able to get close to the required tolerance."

Very important!! If you have an install guide that was sent with the Orion, throw it away and use the most current guide. This is the most updated one I have:

Orion install guide - updated April 3rd 2006

UPDATE: Orion neutral fix and metal in the lube fix
Orion Threads on ih8mud.com - lots of information Special thanks to Randy & Brian at Advance Adapters and Steve aka Poser at LCR4WD. The Orion Threads link above will take you to the FAQ section and most of the threads started on the Orion. The following is a summery of what all of those threads mentioned.
	My first mistake - whoops! Tons of metal in the gear lube... * If you have an SM420 and the"extra" bearing in the adapter, you should have Toyota spacer (part number 90201-35070) between the bearings. * If you have an SM420 and do not have the "extra" bearing, you need to run a spacer. Toyota part number 90560-35082 will work but has been discontinued. * If you have an SM465, with a 3/4" adapter,you will need a spacer. I stacked two of the stock Toyota spacers (part number 90201-35070). Based on my personal experience, you need spacers on all three applications. For a stock t-case, the OEM gear is the same outside diameter so, for added insurance, you can run the same spacers mentioned above. The reason this issue came up was because my input gear walked toward the transmission and machined the inside of the case. The Orion gear has shorter splines inside and does not bottom out in the taper like an OEM gear. The AA style adapter is different than a plate style adapter so I doubt you will need a spacer.

You can see in the picture on the right that the inside of the case has been ground down by the input gear. In this picture you can see how the gear moved forward on the output shaft of the transmission. Click here for an animation of the problem. The two images below show just how far the gear can float towards the transmission. (Transfer case has been removed so you can see the gear)

	This picture shows the two spacers added behind the input gear. These are a stock thrust washer that just happened to work for this application. Toyota part number 90201-35070. The assembly can be tightened down against the bearing retainer because all of this rotates together. This picture shows the difference between the OE gear and the new Orion input gear. I am thinking the OE gear didn't have this problem because the splines were longer and that allowed it to engage the splines of the SM465 where they have a larger taper near the transmission.
The gears line up with the spacers under it so nothing changes inside the case by running the spacers. Click here for another picture of how the input gear lines up with the spacers under it. I have put on a few hundred miles and everything cleaned up. No more metal in the gear lube! Making mistakes is part of life but $2,000 mistakes hurt. :D
Orion neutral fix Orion Threads on ih8mud.com - lots of information
	Having a transfer case pop into neutral is not something you want to happen, especially going down hill under engine power. This is what we have learned so far... The Orion transfer cases shipped from Advance Adapters were assembled using some of the parts from the t-case being replaced. Given that most Cruiser t-cases have probably seen over 100,000 miles already, the tolerances were off. From what I have read, the people using new parts had fewer issues. Most users found it only happened in low gear but some have reported that high gear also had a problem.
We tried shimming the shift rail but that did not fix the problem. There were multiple issues and, after a little research, AA offered up a kit. Included in the kit is a new shift rail with deeper detents, a new ball, o-ring, brass set screw(to set tension on the detent spring), a new spring, and two thrust washers with four different thicknesses.Thank you Poser for the pic ---> Just in case you were wondering. You will need to pull the case to add these parts and you WILL need to readjust the bearing pre load. Quote from AA, "The output shaft must have a resistance of 10-20 in./lbs. of torque. If using a fish or pull scale coupled to a brake drum bolt a 10 to 13 pound measurement should be obtained."
Quote from the AA Orion installation guide, "G22 & G29- THRUST WASHERS - The thrust washers are an important and critical area when installing the Orion gears on your Toyota shaft. The first step is to inspect the transfer case output shaft for excessive wear and to make sure the gears fits the shaft. If your shaft is worn excessively, the gear will be a loose fit or will be able to wobble. If this is the case with your shaft, replace it. We do offer replacement shafts. If the shaft is in good shape, then proceed. The end play of the gear on the shaft must be set. The new Orion gears are the same width as a stock gear set. On the early Orions the stock thrust washers were retained and the end play on the gears is what the stock unit had. Unfortunately, in some applications the end play ended up to be close to .030". The factory could have been off or if at some time the output shaft was changed, it could have had different than stock measurements. The shaft and gears should be set at .008"-.012" of end play. We now include two new thrust washers to help set up the transfer case with the correct end play. These thrust washer are stepped. One side has a recess of .015" - .017" and the other side of the washer has a .008" - .010" recess. So by using one side or the other of the washer or using your stock washers, you should be able to get close to the required tolerance." Very important!! If you have an install guide that was sent with the Orion, throw it away and use the most current guide. This is the most updated one I have: Orion install guide - updated April 3rd 2006
	This is my clearances on the high speed gear before the fix. As you can see, I am at .025 This much play allows the gears to chatter and kick the shift collar out of gear and into neutral. By using the new thrust washers included in the kit, I was able to bring those tolerances down to .008 on the high speed gear and .009 on the low speed gear. Pictures below:

	The 2nd part of the kit offered by AA is to machine the high speed gear. I mailed AA my high speed gear to be machined because it had already worn in. Others have reported that the new Orions come with the machined gear. Thank you 1Fine40 for the picture. The reason for the machined gear is to prevent the low speed gear from contacting the shift collar. In Poser's pictures below you can see there were different sizes of shift collars throughout the years. The new one, part number 36235-60011, is on the left.

	The shift collar should be replaced when you build an Orion. This does not come with the Orion or the fix kit from AA. My old collar is on the left and the new one is on the right. If yours isn't worn, you could probably run it. Mine was really bad. Input seal = 90311-42014 Detent Ball = 90360-10003 High-low shift sleeve = 36235-60011 Gasket kit = 04362-60030 (older one with vacuum shifter gaskets. I used it for the 4speed case and all the important parts are in there)
The shift rail is pretty straight forward. AA added a second o-ring and a hole on one end. You can drill and tap your case for a set screw that threads into that hole if you like. I didn't think it was too important so I skipped that step. I don't know if the new Orions are set up for that or not. In theory, they added this so the load wouldn't be focused on the tab and bolt. With the new shift rail, ball, spring, and the brass set screw, it is much harder to shift from High to Low. Added insurance I am guessing so I left all that in even though the fixes listed above are what really corrected the problem.
So far <knock on wood> I haven't had any issues with my Orion popping into neutral and the gear oil is metal free!
Back to page 1 - Orion SM465 write up Take the time and do it right. Don’t rush and you will be happier in the end. Use the downtime to read the two sites that motivated me and made all this possible, www.pirate4x4.com and www.ih8mud.com. Cruiser Gearing Options - Transfer/Tranny/R&P TreerootCO's Power Steering Write-up www.root45.com - FJ45LV home page