5.3ls into 96 Tacoma

Hello, I have a 96 Tacoma sas with a full exo cage on 37s and my stock 2.7l 3rz blew a rod bearing and keeps blowing em. For starters it was gutless as hell and I found a 5.3l ls for cheap with ecm and harness and all accessories, how hard is it to swap a 5.3l ls vortec into my 96 Tacoma 5spd?

 

They'll tell you "anything is possible with enough know how and $$$"

 

Best to switch it to auto, then stand alone ecu, custom exhaust, custom drive shaft, custom rad/cooling, custom power steering, custom harness. Big bucks, big time.

 

Far easier to swap your cab and bed onto a Chevy Running gear !!

Now if you drive slower then My Mom at 70 years of age The Toyota drive train might hold up .

We kinda know you can`t keep your foot out of it

 

I thought the whole point of rock crawlers was to break them?

 

Look up Timmy The Toolman on youtube. He has a series of videos showing him swapping out a 3.4 with a 2uz. Its not a vortec and you dont have a 3.4 but you’ll get the idea. It takes a lot but imo worth it

 

Wow,

It is quite a bit of work to swap a small block LS 5.3 Chevy into a first generation Tacoma. The first thing you might want to do before you start doing surgery is take a look at the width clearances of a 3.4 liter V6 in a first generation Tacoma. This will give you an idea of what a wider engine is going to look like in your engine compartment. A 5.3 LS engine is going to be even wider than a Toyota 3.4 so you will have an even bigger beast to make fit than a 3.4 Toyota engine. Remember, first generation Tacomas are small trucks without a lot of width so the engine compartment is not ideal for housing a small block Chevy LS series V8. This does not mean it can't be done, but it is certainly not a Sunday afternoon job. The small block V8s before the LS series were not as physically big as the LS series V8s so you might want to look at the older Chevy V8s if you want a little easier project.

Good Luck,
Paul

 

It will cost you a lot of money, but can be done,

This guy has a full setup with 13 videos with a turbo on the 5.3

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XRGbSvDzgsU

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qUXcs4Y38Ew

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq2JLabSQw4