2nd Gen Tacoma 4.6 V8 1UR-FE and GX powertrain Swap

Ever seen the Hoonicorn? Can always undo front shaft; 8 bolts and you’re RWD

 

Thank you for your support.

Correct, it will be awd with a locking transfer case 4x4 at the push of a button.

 

Giggity

 

This is very true. Denis I have a set of whitelines on hand i'll donate if you want em.

 

Sounds like a worthwhile design improvement. It appears to be an essential change that you caught at an opportune time. Your plan has proven itself but your ability to adapt, respond, and innovate while effectively and seamlessly executing because of your experience and "trade skills" fabricating and integrating is freaking amazing! And please don't think I'm underestimating your electromechanical skills required to design and build a new product from a "bag of parts" and a schematic. As an engineer sir, you have more than earned my respect.

Although I was a "late to the game admirer of the 2nd Gen Tacoma, I had no ideas the early models had frame failures. One question, you were going to set the radiator and fan in place to determine how everything fit between the firewall and the radiator. I assume that you paved your path forward? Is it forward with a lot of other significant concerns and risk of changes or do you think it will or could be smooth sailing (except for your already noted concern with integrating and dressing up the dash) in the cabin and under the hood?

Also, aside from adding a V8 to a Tacoma, you are doing a number of VERY cool and worthwhile things that rely on how things fit and line up between the tail shaft of your automatic trans and at least your rear differential. I'm going to ask this next question admitting that I don't know much about 4 or all-wheel drive from the inside out. Any increase in the amount of risk of having to make significant and innovative changes in this kinda first phase? Do you see to your plan coming together nicely for this phase?

I saw the V8 and the weight differential of the donor car as a huge and worthwhile change to the Tacoma. Retrofitting the AWD from the Lexus into your Tacoma wasn't bad either! Adding the Tacoma version of "big brakes" from, I think a Lexus almost seemed like child's play after what you will already have accomplished. But I also believe the brakes are critical as well. If you are still on track and merge the Tacoma with the wire harness from the GX (or vice versa) I think you should take an intermission bow. When you finish the whole project, I also think tacomaworld.com as a group should recognize the scope and execution of your accomplishments and objectives. As I think everyone of your following fans would agree, this post intermission final act is going to be amazing.

 

Again thanks for your support. I really get a lot of motivation to keep moving forward with all the positive energy on here. To answer your first question, before I took anything apart on both trucks the measurements from the firewall to the radiator core support were within an inch so I feel pretty confident the radiator and exhaust headers will clear.

A big challenge I see right now is to wire up the climate control system. The lexus controls and modules are significantly more complex and different. I think I may pull the wires out of the Tacoma harness that pertain to the climate and wire up independently from the lexus harness.

The stereo wires also look to be more complex but the verdict is still out on those.

The additional risk I see is the condition of the frame on this truck, there is more rust repair I need to commit time to which is slowing down my build. The frame is not to a point where it needs to be scrapped but mitigation and some reinforcement is required to prevent it from getting worse. I will document on here also when the time comes.

Other auxiliary electrical features like keyless door handle sensors, auto dimming rear view mirror, and clearance sonar will all add time to the build. The door wiring harness on all four doors need to be wired in.

 

I know this is a bit different but when I saw the listing it reminded me of this thread.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1994-toyota-4x4-pickup-28/

Good luck with the build, very exciting to watch your progress.

 

Was that Taco from WA or from another state?

 

It was in Chicago 2005-2008 and the rest was Washington. Most of the frame is in pretty good shape. The mid section by the gas tank will need some de-scaling/possible repair. I will clean it up once I get there.

 

Thanks! Three winters was plenty, it looks like.

We bought a four year old car from the east coast many years ago and it had some crust in it already.

The climate here is so good for vehicles. I did WoolWax this year for the first time since the state is stupidly using salt on the roads. Idiots . . .

 

Yeah good call on doing that I plan on doing that also once I get the frame cleaned up

 

Cheers!

It took no time to do and used very little for hamming it on there.

 

Such a cool build and my dream would be for a 3rd gen with the 4.6. These little Toyota V8's are nearly indestructible.

 

Love the jack stands !!

 

Haha thanks, those are actually there as a extra fail-safe. It is actually sitting on 3 ton jack stands. I like to be extra safe, I have a family to look after.

 

I got all the wiring off of the dash. Also I discovered that all of the speaker wires run to this amp that is under the passenger seat. I ordered a 5 channel amp which I will mount under the passenger seat in the tacoma. This will be ever convenient to wire all the door speakers and one 12 inch sub. I will just have to find a positive power wire that powered the LCD screen on the lexus to power the stereo.

 

This was a great read thus far, will no doubt be a great build. Subbed for sure.

 

I am pretty impressed with the quality of these raptor series lower skids although they didn't come with any hardware. The skids bolt on through existing holes with the exception of one hole that needs to be drilled out to a 3/8" size. Also I decided to use the GX lowers, they do have bigger camber bolts so I don't recommend doing this unless you are going to change/upgrade your alignment tabs. I am using my gx arms because the bushings/ball joints are in good shape. These skids have a tab for mounting the secondary shock on them. I will also fabricate the other side that is welded on to the arm. I am still waiting on the firewall insulator part for about 2 months now. Toyota said it should be shipping soon. In the meantime I decided to work on putting together the front suspension. I will update you guys tomorrow.

 

Also I have been thinking that the pink and yellow harness will need to go through the bottom of the cab after the rear doors because they wire up the rear doors. On the GX it appears these two harnesses run on the inside of the cab. The gx is wired for door step lights which is cool, I will definitely wire those up. There is a fuel pump ECU adjacent to the fuel tank, that will be critical to wire up.

 

Looking a bit more civilized now that the front suspension is on, those are JBA tacoma arms but everything else is Lexus. The lexus shocks are just temporary, I need to repark the truck.