Tacoma engine Swap possible

Holley makes it very easy for wiring in V8 engine swaps with their wiring harnesses , ECU's and Digital dashboards

 

Holley has very easy to read / understand assembly manuals for their wiring harnesses and ECU's . Also their wiring , ea wire is labeled for easy identification

 

Has anyone heard of someone dropping the 270hp 5th Gen 4Runner motor in one of our trucks?

 

From what I understand there is no examples of a 3rd gen engine swap yet of any kind. Only a few 2nd gen Tacoma swaps

 

The easiest (relatively) all Toyota swap will be the 301 hp 4.6l 1UR-FE from the GX460.

 

Atm only v6. Watch Meso’s build thread. I think he’s doing a 2jz (last gen Toyota Supra)

 

except this of course

 

1uz in my 2018. Been hectic trying to source stuff but I’m hoping to have it driving by spring next year

 

Well I’m a terrible influencer, I have a YouTube that I used to try to be active on but life just gets in the way. I’d say on here or Instagram would be where you can find progress. All the same username.

 

LS swap with a Holley Terminator X wire harness and their Terminator ECU . then use one of Holley's Terminator digital dash boards

Wiring these kits into a vehicle is very simple and will take two weekends to complete

 

@WavesOnline maybe you should be on the lookout for the new turbo charged 3.5L in the new Tundra. Find one smashed in the rear. Might be a little easier to fit and wire. You may have to move the turbos to a more friendly location under the truck though. Just a thought.

 

I did a 5.0L swap into a 1991 Ford Explorer 20 years ago. Full EFI and as factory integrated as I could do it. The only system that was eliminated was the A/C.

Was it cool, I thought so... a first gen Explorer with a 5½ custom lift sitting on 32×10.50 Radial Superswampers, with the burble of a 5.0L Mustang. The thing certainly hauled when the loud peddle was pressed to the floor.

There were a few things I learned from that project.

1. Power isn't everything. I found that it was now a tire spinning monster when four wheeling. I did more trail damage than trail driving. It was too much power... too much torque. Gears may have helped.

2. Integration is a lot of work. For example, to make the tach work, I peeled apart a tach from a V8 equipt F-series truck and placed it into the dash cluster of the Explorer. That was a lot of searching for a tach that would work with the V8 engine and look factory in the Explorer. Then there was the wiring... I spent weeks wiring a 1993 Cougar 5.0L engine harness so that it would plug seamlessly into the Explorer body. Talk about mind numbing, eye straining work, pouring over schematics and then matching up 2 different vehicle harnesses to work together.

3. Fuel economy is a pipe dream... the original vehicle was a heavy pig... adding the V8 did not improve that. If you want to improve economy then lose weight... don't add it.

Now, have I thought of a V8 in my truck... look at my user name... of course I have. I would look at the 4.7L 2UZ-FE engine. It already fits the 4Runner chassis which is similar to the Tacoma chassis. After 2004, you can get VVT-i. The power is decent and the engines are reliable. If I did consider it, I would want to retain my manual transmission though. The other reason to consider this engine is because of the CAN system... since the 4Runner and Tacoma are on a similar chassis, it makes sense to me that the chance of better integration would be possible. The CAN system may speak the same language. Of course this is all hypothetical until someone. ( maybe me someday... ) does a swap. Until then... it's all pipe dreams.

And just a side note, I am completely happy with my 2GR-FKS engine. It does everything I want it to, and hope to get over 300,000kms out of it.

 

Been thinking about this myself too. If I keep the truck forever I might be tempted to get a spare junkyard 3.5 and build it up, using a stand alone efi system and turbo. Or say screw it and wedge my extra 429 in it. They used to have a swap kit to put 385 series big block in a ranger, so it just might fit lol. Some slight trimming and assembly required. Be a blast driving a tacoma hearing the sound of a 12.5-1 big block at 7000 rpms. Where are those eco-boost rangers at?