Malek's 02 DC 4x4 - L3X0TA - 1UZFE + Manual Swap

Long time lurker here at TW. I figured it's time I take things a little more seriously so here we are. I will fill this in as time goes along.

2002 DC 4x4 TRD

As of Dec 2024 (First start video 1UZ-FE swap):



As of Oct 2020:


MODS:

Drivetrain:

Current:

• 4.0L 1UZ-FE VVT-i V8 Here
• R150F 5 Speed Manual

Previous:

• 3.4L 5VZ-FE V6
• R150F 5 Speed Manual (Swap)
• 2nd Gen (Black) TRD Supercharger

Suspension:

• OME Nitrochargers w/882 springs
• OME Nitrochargers w/Dakars and AAL
• OME Greasable Shackles
• SPC Upper Control Arms

Wheels/Tires:

• First Set
  • Stock 16" Toyota Tacoma Alloys
  • Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs 265/75r16
• Second Set
  • Stock 16" Toyota Tacoma Alloys
  • Cooper Adventurer ATs 265/75r16
• Third Set
  • Stock 16" Toyota 4Runner Alloys
  • Pro Comp Xtreme MT2s 285/75r16

Exterior:

• Custom Rooftop Tent Rack
• Hutch Prospector 2 Rooftop Tent
• Softtopper
• Bed Mounted S-Tracks
• Rhino Lined Bed
• ARE Color matched Topper (Not installed)

Interior:

• Pormido Integrated Mirror/Dashcam/Reverse Cam
• Color Matched Weathertech Mats
• RAM Mount X-Grip Phone Mount

Armor/Recovery:

• ARB Front Bumper
• Badlands Apex Winch

Misc:

• Grey Wire Mod
• Remote Rear Diff Breather
• ARB On-Board Air Compressor
• 3.3Gal WaterPort
• Extended Rear Brake Line
• Shortened Tailpipe

Future:

• Sliders
• Who knows

 

First things first, I took care of some overdue SC maintenance. You could definitely hear the lobes making good contact when spinning the pulley by hand.

So, I went ahead and ordered a "full rebuild" kit and some rear needle bearings.




(Just moved to a new house so don't mind the dirty garage floor and 2x4s. I'll be getting a proper bench soon)
As I suspected, you can see the wear marks on the lobes near the rear. Changed those rear bearings and cleaned off the gunk on the lobes. To my surprise though, the nosecone looked and felt exceptional so I opted not to rebuild it. I changed out the coupler and added new oil.


Feels much smoother and has a much "zippier" supercharger sound now. Very happy with the results. Nosecone rebuild will be put off until later.

 

Preparing for my upcoming Joshua Tree Trip, I thought I'd take on the truck bed bed project. I mean, the goal of camping is to make it feel like you're not camping, right?? My original plan was to build a raised sleeping platform but after reading reviews of people quickly hating the coffin style sleeping area, I changed my plan.

Quick trip to Home Depot and picked up:

• 4'x8' Plywood
• 2 2'x6'x3" Future Foam pads
• 6'x6' Indoor/Outdoor Carpet
• Staple gun and staples
• 4 3" Hinges

Initial mocking up/cutting:


I end up using 2 hinges per side to help fight wood warping:


Finished product. It's been raining the past few days in LA so it's staying inside for now:


I haven't tried sleeping on it yet but I think it will do the trick just fine. It's nothing fancy by any means, the most expensive part of this project was the foam itself. I'll let you know how well it works next month!

Update: Surprisingly comfortable! It's been over a year now in the back of the truck and it has held up well.

 

Subscribed nice to see local

Don't see hose old skool celica any more. I had blitz type03 wheels on my old sc300 single turbo back in the day

Hope to meet you in person

 

I appreciate it brother!

Before I got this Tacoma (this is my 4th Taco btw), I was intending to build a single turbo IS300. But then I realized it would soon be much faster than the Celica and I didn't want that haha

I'm a bit more active in the Celica groups around here but I'm sure I'll be heading out with some group adventures the more this is built up a little more. Looking forward to getting out with the Cali crew!

 

Are you really making boost if you don't have a gauge..?

I had no idea how much it was making anyways so I took a few hours to throw this on. Quick pull on the on-ramp steady at right around 6psi.

https://youtu.be/6l1Wx-t4baM

 

Before:


After:


This was a swap I've always wanted to do. I loved the 5VZ/R150f combo in my old Taco but what really sparked it was getting stranded in Anaheim, after a mediocre date. I thought the starter gear had stripped and didn't want to rip into it at 9pm on a Tuesday in a parking garage 30mi from home. That tow truck cost hurt. See below for what really left me stranded.

Parts List
Rebuilt R150f Transmission,
Trans Mount,
Transfer Case,
Front Drive Shaft,
and Complete Rear Drive Shaft: $600
Exedy Clutch Kit: $217
Flywheel and Clutch Cover Bolts: $17
Longer Transmission Mount/Starter Bolts 3x M12-1.25x115mm and 1x M10-1.25x115mm: $14
Tundra Manual Shifter and J-shifter with Bases: $75
Brake and Clutch Pedal Assembly: $28
Master Cylinder: $42
Slave Cylinder: $25
New OEM Hydraulic Lines/Mounts/Bolts shipped: $77
Transmission and Transfer Case Oil: $44
Crush Washers: $5

Total Spent so far: ~ $1100
Sale price of Auto transmission, Transfer case, and Drive shafts: 500

A lot of my research came from @SafetyDang and Tacoma4Life. So shoutout to them. I'll post a few pictures of my adventures below.

The extension masterpiece in order to reach the top two transmission bolts


New Flywheel installed.


Vs. The old flexplate, sparking this entire swap. (Replace the flex plate or trans swap while I already had the auto out. No brainer to me )


Clutch and Cover Installed. I took it apart twice just to make sure I put it in the right way lol


Alright, now for this part. Hardest part of the swap by far. Installing the new transmission. I messed around trying to install it with a motorcycle jack for 2 hours until I gave up. I lowered the Trans/TC onto the cradle I made (for safety) with ratchet straps from frame rail to frame rail and brought my regular jack out. THIS MADE THINGS SO MUCH EASIER. It's almost like that flat spot the jack is on was designed for it Any ways, I lifted it off the strap cradle, lined it up and it slid on the engine like butter. It worked beautifully. I was very suspicious. (Picture was taken after I mounted the cross brace)


Some Drive shaft measurements:


Front Drive shaft: Left is Auto and Right is manual


Front section of rear drive shaft: Left is Auto and Right is manual


That's all for now. I'll be updating my wiring workarounds. I plan to continue using the auto ecu and wiring some resistors for the solenoid/temp sensor connectors to get rid of the CEL. The 5spd really wakes up the supercharged 5VZ now.

 

Welcome to the club sir. Pretty easy right?

 

Honestly, yeah. I mean, it’s on the list of things I’d rather not do again lol but it wasn’t that bad. That auto is a pig and the billion connectors to it was a pain.

Also, just realized you’re from Anaheim. Sorry for cursing your city! I was at The Rinks that night. First time I’ve ever been to Anaheim too lol

 

It's been about a week and the transmission is working flawlessly. However, I've been driving around with a CEL blaring in my face and a duct taped hole in my trans tunnel. Trans tunnel first.

Here is the Tundra boot frame. As you can see, it doesn't cover much. One mount hole lined up on the right side so I used it.


Some CAD: Cardboard Aided Design


Few more bolts after this and no more duct tape



Time to tackle the check engine lights. Figured I'd get the easy ones out of the way first: Shift solenoid and a trans temp sensor. P/N switch code will come later when I wire the reverse lights and clutch switch.

Here's the codes it pulled after the first week:



After doing some simple circuits math, V=IR, and hoping the ecu just looks for some kind of resistance I decided to go with (3) 470 Ohm 1 Watt resistors for the shift solenoids and a (1) 820 Ohm 1/2 Watt resistor for the oil temp sensor.



I ended up using the protoboard for the shift solenoid resistors and wiring the temp sensor resistor inline at the ECU. Solder, shrink wrap, plastic wrap, and then electrical tape is what I did to protect the other wires around it. Just remember to cut and connect the wires at the actual temp sensor connector.



I tried pulling the pins out of the connector but wasn't able to so I just cut them. Cleaner install if you can pull the pins.





This used to be (I think) a turbo timer and whatever else. I found it unhooked behind the dash of my GT-Four and since I don't throw anything car related away, I've repurposed it to be my fake auto transmission.



As far as install, I just sandwiched it between the ecu and the metal bar running along the underside of the dash.


That's all for now. I'll be driving it around through some drive cycles to see if they come back but the quick test around the block checked out. Nice to see the light off....for now

 

Since I swapped the manual transmission with its transfer case, I lost the 4L and N position switches on the transfer. Yes, I could have just swapped them over but what would that gain me? Instead I used it as an excuse for the grey wire mod.

And because I don't throw anything away, I pulled out an old Toyota wiring harness I had from my 99 Celica GT to GT-Four swap and found a matching pin and wire. Shrink wrapped the Tacoma pin and taped it in the loom.


Clean install


So far no transmission solenoid related engine lights. I haven't completed wiring the P/N position switch so it triggered a light. Suppose that's next on the list.

 

Dude I’m jealous of your manual swap. Well, your entire engine and drive train. My truck was so clean that I couldn’t pass it up, but I’d love to have a manual and god knows I want a supercharger. Feel free to clone my mods. I might just be cloning yours too

 

The prinsu roof rack is money for real, and I just found out they make one that matches up to the Thule topper rail system and sits low on the topper so it matches the cab rack profile.

 

@chuckers your whole truck is money already man! The supercharger/manual combo wakes tf up out of this truck, especially at sea level with 93. And it just crossed 280k lol I really need to update this thread. I've had full OME suspension for a year now. Do you have plans for suspension? Full coilovers with remote resi's I assume??

 

Right now I’m sitting on Bilsteins and Dakar springs, but I had a long talk with an icon tech that’s convinced me to go a different route. I’ll be doing kind of like a hybrid stage 3. Its UCAs with extended travel front coil overs (no resis) and keep my Dakar springs, add a leaf and do 2.5 icons in the back with resis. Just have to save up for a bit or find somebody to buy my Cummins that I’m not trying very hard to sell.. Post more pictures!!!

 

Finished yet?

 

With the swap?? Yep! I couldn't manage the P/N switch codes so I just got a manual ECU and swapped it over. I have about 10k miles on it so far no issues.

 

Joshua Tree, March 2017



The day I finished up my suspension. Just about a year ago.



Sitting pretty in Colorado



Fun times replacing the rearmost

$39 Spicer 5-1510X U-Joint Kit

U-joint and

$100 Spicer 211750-1X Center Bearing Compatible with Select Toyota Models 1995-2021

Driveshaft Center Bearing


And the most recent trip on the Eglin range

 

With a bit of inspiration from @mac33 I decided to build my own rooftop tent bars. Photo dump of the process below along with some camping pictures.

I used 1"x2" tubing that I notched/welded mated to a 2"x3" angle iron using two 1/4" bolts per side to keep bolt size continuity with the bed clamps. I decided not to go with the channels on top just to make the removal process a little bit easier.







Lined the softtopper rails with foam but left cutouts for the bed rack bracket.


Tent mounted with topper up! I swear it's level! The tent cover makes it look uneven!


And with the OG platform.


Some camping adventures with the new RTT:

Blackwater State Forest. After this trip I decided it was time to install the extended rear diff breather. The road into the park was completed flooded.


Took the rainfly off for this trip. Open sky lights and clear skies made for some great stargazing.


Some backyard campin'


Standard camp supplies. I would like to figure out a better mounting solution for the water can. I'm thinking of mounting it to the front of the bed and running that 1/4" water line to somewhere off to the side of the rear bumper...not sure yet.


Yes, that's an LED bicycle light that just so happens to wrap nicely around the rack. Perfect bed light when night time comes around.


Am I an overlander yet? The "alligators" as my gf calls them, fits snuggly between the rack and the softtopper!


I pulled the 3in memory foam from the platform to stuff it into the RTT but unfortunately, the tent wouldn't close with so much thickness. I'll have to get some thinner foam if I want to do that but the 2.5in bed the tent comes with isn't too bad by itself!

Alright, I think that's enough for now!

 

Dude that’s a killer build. I’m doing my manual swap here soon due to pink milkshake. The 5spd really does give the 5vz the life it needs. I can’t imagine the S/C on top of that. Used to have a 98 4runner S/C auto and it was insane how much better it made the 5vz with an auto.