1991 Toyota Hilux 4x4 Build

Awesome truck.
What engine?

 

Hello, nice truck, I've got a '91 Hilux too and am wondering if you know the part numbers for the harrop elockers as I'm wanting to install them on my truck as well, thanks!

 

Here is the new 2.5 inch mandrel bent 304 stainless exhaust. It was put together for a diy kit on eBay. I connected it with clamps from summit racing. The turbo is now the only muffler. I routed it under the transmission and changed the exit to the same spot on the USA spec trucks. It gives a little more clearance compared to the stock setup. I was worried about clearance issues with the front-drive shaft and rear leaf springs but there isn't any contact when under flex to the bump stops.

New tires 235/85r16 and 16-inch steel Toyota rims. A tow hitch (same part as USA spec Toyota pickup.) Also removed the rollbar and replaced it with a tonneau cover from the UK.

 

No words for how beautiful your Hilux is. What engine does it have and do you have any thoughts or advice on the commonly available diesels for these trucks and their pros/cons? I know that some of the diesels used in Surfs and other trucks blew head gaskets commonly. I think the 2LT? They couldn't take the turbo boost or something? Anyway, beautiful truck, congratulations.

 

It is the 3L diesel. I never heard of any of any L series blowing a head gasket. The actual heads can crack especially on the early 2l-te. Toyota has an upgraded replacement head that seems to be holding up better. There is alot of preventative things you can do but eventually they will crack and need replaced. I think in most indirect injection diesels the head will be the weak point.

I was looking at South American trucks that come with the 1kz-te until 2004. That is a better engine. Worse economy but better power. Most of the diesel hilux’s up until 2004 had the 5-LE which isnt much different from the 2L or 3L. Same body style and interior as my truck but LHD and IFS. In 2005 they got the much better direct injection 1kd but the body got rounded and more plastic.

 

Added an air to air intercooler. There is no possibility for a front mount without removing a/c. It was a really tight fit without a body lift. The cooler is an aftermarket sw20 with puller fan. The post turbo intake is 2.5”. If i would have went with smaller diameter intake or a 1inch body lift It could have retained the factory air filter. A k&n Apollo fit well and it was a perfect fit to the snorkel.

I’ve saw other builds use this intercooler as a top mount but they needed a pretty large body lift and a hood scoop. I copied the piping and mounting from to a2w setups others posted.

The radiator overflow tank is temporary until I can pick up a better fitting aftermarket one.

 

I just purchased a 92 Hilux ln107. I wanted to ask you, did you install the turbo kit? If you did, was it worth it?

 

Yes, it was an easy self-install but I had a JDM truck and an Australian kit so I had to make some adjustments. They have different airboxes and intakes manifolds. Then I discarded even more of the kit when going to an intercooler.

Here is an expert on the subject. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yl49PAvhDA&ab_channel=BerrimaDieselAustralia

Turbo is absolutely worth it if you'll actually be driving it places. It makes it more liveable on the highway or up steeper grades. If it is just for cars and coffee or offroad I would leave it factory. They definitely over-fuel from the factory so without even touching the injection pump you'll get better fuel economy and power with a turbo installed. Any smoke will go away.

If I had to do it again I would just pick up a turbo manifold already available here like this https://spaturbousa.com/products/sp...ota-diesel-2-8-3-0-3l-5-l-engines-t-25-tmty01 and get a nice modern Garrett turbocharger and fab all the intake piping.

 

I just noticed you are also in PA. Take it up a steep highway in the mountains near you and see if it smokes or is short on power. The extra 20-30% really made a difference for me.

Being a new purchase I would Baseline it and drive as is for awhile. There are so many good mods for it out of usa pickups/4runners.

The LN107 would be perfect for a solid axle swap down the road. I think trail gear sells the rhd kit here. You already have the right steering box in place.

 

My plan is to drive the truck after taking some time to dissect it on my lift and doing any maintenance that it may need. Once I get a feel for it, I'll be deciding which route to take with it. Which part of PA are you from?

 

It showed up today.

 

It looks great. I like the color. So many are gray or a gray repainted to another color. Definitely document what you do to it if you have the time. I'll be following for sure.

 

I'll have to decide what I'm doing to it. It's so clean I might just leave it be. In the mean time, I look forward to seeing more content on yours. Also, I no longer want to hijack your thread.

 

I'm in Johnstown. An hour east of Pittsburgh and a little over an hour south of state college.

I didn't mention it in the thread but the 3L engines can suffer from blow by. So many seem to have it even with low miles. Take your oil cap off and let it set at idle and see if it dances. I used a product called auto-rx in the oil that really reduced it in mine over a few oil changes. It is still present but minimal and not blowing as much oil into the intake. If the cap is really moving when unscrewed at idle or a great deal or an oily mist shoots out when it is removed at idle it is worth a try. It fixed mine.

A lubricitiy diesel addictive seems to help as well. I think Land Cruisers Direct recommends it for injection pump health due to low sulfur diesel used here. Mine seemed to run better after adding that when filling the tank up. It's hard to say for sure because it isn't drastically noticeable.

The ih8mud diesel section has really good info on preventative maintenance. There are a lot of good ideas for improving the cooling system and other preventative maintenance.

 

I took it for a drive and took some time to really analyze it. No blow-by from what I'm seeing and next to no smoke as well. It is an extremely clean running truck. I'm impressed.

 

R151 tail housing and L-engine to R-series bell housing. Tail came from 1986 Turbo pickup and the bell out of a manual 2l-te hilux surf from a wrecker in Canada.

I should be able to pickup R150 locally for next to nothing. I plan to switch out the tail with the R151 and maintain the same 4.5" forward shift to gear driven transfercase in the current G52 Transmission. I want to switch over to 23 spline and dual transfer cases. First step is cleaning up the housings.

I think with intercooling my transmission is living on borrowed time.

Per Marlin Crawler,
Re: transmission strength question
The W-series is about 20% stronger than the G-series: Larger and wider bearings, larger and wider gears. In comparison, the R-series is at least twice as strong as a W-series, probably more.

 

Omg so many wants. Congrats on the JDM Truck.

 

IFS style RHD power steering pump. Someone had many brand new old stock for sale in Chicago. I'm going to move over to high steer at the same time as the drive line mods.

I'm on the lookout for a dual case setup or just the dual case adapter and a top shift case. Advanced adapters has the most reasonable price new. It is an older design and cast aluminum. Hopefully I can find a Marlin crawler, inchworm, or trail gear on the used market.

Trail gear has a RHD high steer kit I have been eyeing up waiting for a sale. I plan to move the axle forward when installing the dual cases. A local driveline shop is going to lengthen the front driveshaft and covert the rear to a solid one piece. I want to be rid of the center support bearing.

I been chasing weird charging issues ever since it arrived from Japan. I finally broke down and ordered a high output internally regulated one. I'm going to change out the timing belt and drive belts at the same time as they been on for over 10 years.

 

Here are some pictures of the axle rebuilds I did in the Spring of 2017 about a year owning the truck. I used marlin rebuild kits for front and rear. What a dirty job.

At this time, I installed the Harrops elockers into third members, old man emu suspension, and stainless extended brake lines. Right now you can pretty much buy the same elockers directly from Eaton without having to ship across the world.

I had to take the rears axles to a shop to get the bearings pressed out. I realize today that i could have just hit them on ground against a block of wood or purchased an ebay toyota bearing press and had the actual tool for less than I was charged.

 

I found some pictures of the day it was delivered in May of 2016. You can see the writing on the windows from the auction in Japan and from the RORO ship. From the auction sheet i was the 2nd

owner. Original owner had it for the first 25 years.