LS Swapped ❤️ L33 ❤️ Tremec TKX ❤️ TrueTrac ❤️ in a Reg cab 5 lug

Hey Guys,

First and Foremost I don’t have a clue about making a “BUILD TREAD”!! Out of all the vehicles I have modified I have never done this because most my mods are Trial and Error Mostly Errors a lot of errors‼️

There will be a lot Editing too…

Newest Edit‼️ I’m deleting the videos from **** because of what happened when I took the truck to a shop that the engine builder recommended! The oil pressure dropped down to 9 lbs and I heard the valves rattling and trust me that noise will get your attention in less than a heartbeat‼️ They have had the truck for weeks just fixing the issues!! The wiring is a MESS and many of the things **** did are not up to code, my code that is.
I knew there were issues before even getting to the Freeway for the trip home. As I heard the engine pinging going slowly down a dirt road that just had days of rain.
This whole thing is now becoming a nightmare. **** asked me why I didn’t come back to tell him about the issue/s. Because I just wanted to get the HELL out of there. Plus it was his property in the middle of nowhere TX. It would have turned into a big fight so I just left! **** even said he “Heard the “Noise” But he told me he thought it was the transmission! I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed but Jesus Christ I could tell the $600 tune that was just done was COMPLETE TRASH‼️


Here’s a short video for the start of the LS swap. Sorry it’s been deleted…

 

From The Magnuson 2TR that made 218 whp @ 6k on premium w/ water & meth.

To This below that we are estimating at more than 325 whp plus on regular pump gas.

 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so this will be mainly a picture tread. I purchased the Base Reg. cab 5 lug truck on 2/22/21 w/ 27,291 miles. I installed the factory cruise control switch on the steering column, the 3 way split wire behind the airbag and the cancellation switch on the clutch pedal. Then drove the truck from NC to AZ just a week after the big freeze that hit all the way into S. TX. This freeze delay my purchasing the truck by a week. I then did some maintenance, change most of the fluids and power washed the undercarriage & engine bay. I then started tearing the interior out to install sound deader on the cab back and the inter and outer doors, new 2012 + dark gray factory carpet, OEM center console, Toyota FRS seats.
An alarm system w/ remote door locks, (Jeremy ask if I wanted remote start) small clean stereo system w/ a backup camera and bypassed the TMS was done by @Man of Steel TRD. Anyone in AZ or willing to drive to Gilbert, AZ. Jeremy is an AWESOME installer‼️ Solders, wraps the wires in Tesla tape and heat shrinks his wiring. I can’t say enough about him plus his pricing is MORE than fair, down right cheap considering the quality of his work‼️ I really think he enjoys the challenge and takes great pride in doing an awesome job. Thanks Jeremy Oh, and has a damn cute daughter. Jeremy you better polish that shotgun and if you don’t have you better get one…

Here’s some pictures of the Mods below. Any questions please ask I will try my best to answer.

The day I picked her up below. She only had AC & PS but she was clean and the right AZ color…

Pulling the interior out to install sound deader on the cab back and inter & outer doors, new 2012+ dark gray factory carpet, new seatbelt buckles & latches on newly web seatbelts for the new FRS bucket seats. The seatbelt latches are different from the bench to the buckets.

I had a piece of 6061 .250” wall 1x2 and .200” of flat plate welded together and powder coated flat black yes it’s flat black believe it or not. I then rivnuted this to the back panel for the self powered sub to mount to. No it’s not a 12” sub that vibrates the rear license plate. But it is really clean plus my music comes from the tailpipe. lol..

FRS seats are mounted flat on Planted seat brackets. I also installed yellow driving and a small set of backup lights flush in the rear bumper, a ScanGuage, Innovative AF & Boost gauges in a CravenSpeed mount, auto dimming mirror w/ temp., MESO interior lights, intermittent wipers, Leather steering wheel & knob, new RedLine leather shift boot, center console cover and side armrests covers in perforated leather with contrasting stitching. I’m going to later install a new perforated RedLine steering wheel cover.

Little out of sequence, switches for lights, alarm and control for Snow water/meth system for Magnuson. Oh, and trays are for spare change and as you can see I’m flat broke.

Two piece StopTech brakes installed. I can now do nose wheelies, worth every cent! Best Mod!

Brakes behind 19x8 forged Ray Wheels w/ 235/50-19 rubber. The rears are 19x8.5 w/ 245/50-19 have extended wheel studs front and back. The rear gear is a 3.73 with a TrueTrac for traction. With the LS the rear gear is going back to the stock 3.31 and TrueTrac. Ken does nothing but Toyota gears‼️

Next was/is the suspension mods. I feel this was the second best mod behind the StopTech’s.
DIY coil-overs, I used the spring perch / mounts from SOS and machined the bottom inside of the mounts out .250” & deep .500” then powder coated. To keep mounts from moving into the treads on the shock body. Front coil-over unloaded. The bottom coil-over installed with DJM upper control arms. *Note* Just installing the UCA lowered the front just over an inch, had to adjust the shocks back up. Also used a .125” x 1.1/8” x 2.25” piece of aluminum bent at a 45 at the end to hold the brake line and a .125” thick washer to center the bottom of the coil-over/double adjustable Viking coil-over/treaded shock. The Viking shock/s are not as wide as the factory front shock at the bottom.

The rear consists of Viking double adjustable shocks, 6 lug rear springs w/ extruded aluminum block/s powder coated. On the right / passenger is a 2” the left / driver is a 1.75” to help the Taco lean. I then had the DJM bolt in notches fully welded in by @snowsk8air2 he’s an incredible welder as you can see from the pictures! He also welded the brackets to the rear diff. for the X-runner rear sway bar! This gentleman is located on the E side of Flagstaff and his work is incredible and more than fairly priced!! Actually considering the quality of work it’s down right cheap!!! Another Tacoma World member that’s just amazing... I feel lucky to be a member here!

I will get into the power details later…

 

Ok,
Now for the power mods. A few days after I got back from driving the truck home I called the old GM of LC Engineering and told him what I had just purchased. The first words out of his mouth was “Don’t touch it I want it!” I told him sorry Wes but dream on you can’t have it, it’s mine! He then said you know we are developing a Magnuson supercharger system for the 2TR? I told him yes. He then asked if I would be interested in letting LCE install the system in the truck? I said sure, he said don’t charge anything on the truck because we want to do a baseline Dyno run before and after on the Dyno. He then made an appointment for the truck to do a baseline run at a shop in Scottsdale. I would post the name of the shop but I don’t think their Dyno is setup correctly. Because it gave a Dyno to the rear wheels as much as the engine is rated for from the crank / flywheel.
A few weeks later I drove the truck to Lake Havasu City to LCE to have the Supercharger installed. I then received a text about a week later with a video of the first engine startup. Then a few minutes later a call from Wes. He said that they were going to have the truck flatbed to the shop in Scottsdale the first of the week.

 

This company tried and tried and tried to tune the Magnuson on the stock computer but it was never right. It would hesitate, stumble and ping. This was later fixed…
Before I purchase the 07 Reg. cab we had an 15 SR-5 Access cab with the 2TR & a manual that I installed a POS URD Rotrex supercharger. I started reading about ALL the issues the Rotrex had and I couldn’t remove and sell it fast enough. The compressor will SELF DESTRUCT all by itself. Please do your research before buying a POS Rotrex‼️
The POS below photo…

Anyway back to the Magnuson. I wasn’t really happy with the HP delivery of the Magnuson so I talk to the tuner and some others and they all said that being the Magnuson doesn’t have an intercooler I should install a Water Meth system. So I purchased a Snow Water Meth #3 system with braided stainless lines. Now my .02 cents is piece together a system because much of the kit parts are not going to be used if you want it to fit nicely. So wanting to continue to look like it might have come from the factory with the supercharger I looked for a way to install the water meth system that was mostly hidden. I tried a few ways and finally decided to install it where it ended up. I made mistakes along the way by leaving out some parts the over priced kit didn’t come with!! Grrr…
Bottom of the washer tank and vent on the top to hold the maximum amount of fluid. Almost a gallon & half.


The pump and filter, if you look closely you can see the blue from the fitting at the bottom of the washer tank. Now just an FYI the filter and 90% of the fittings and lines in this picture didn’t come w/ the kit!

Right after the water meth system & the equal length Header was installed (still on the stock exhaust with the cleanup cat removed) and just before I took the truck back to the first turner to have it returned on my dime. Still was not right!

Ok more editing!
After all this I really wasn’t all that happy with the system and Wes had left LCE I had been working with the New GM Steve a very nice guy and we stayed in contact as he would contact me every few weeks. I told him I might pull the system and LS Swap the truck. He said don’t do that because I have another tuner lined up here in Lake Havasu but he’s very busy and needs to get a part to install a Heltech and then tune it. I told him I’m sorry but I’m not spending any more money on this. He said he would take care of everything for now on. He then asked if I could leave the truck with them for a few weeks. I told him sure I dropped off the truck on a Friday afternoon and my wife picked me up on Saturday morning. I stayed in contact with Steve, he was very nice and apologetic that it was taking longer than expected. He then called and said it was done and he thought I would now be very happy. I got a ride from a friend and meet Steve to pickup my truck about mid morning. He had the truck detailed and hired a photographer for some promotion pictures. I talked with Steve as they finished up taking pictures. He told me he had been driving it and was happy with it. Said it ran a lot better and to let him know what I thought. I asked where Gabe was located because I wanted to thank him personally. Gabe’s shop was just a few blocks from LCE so I really didn’t get a chance to stand on it. But I could still tell it was running MUCH better. I see Gabe and tell him Thanks I really appreciate his help. He looks at me and says have you got a chance to really get on it? (Or words to that effect) I told him no I just drove from LCE to here. He told me I wasn’t leaving Lake Havasu until I got on it. Gave me directions to where I could ring it out. So OH MY GOD what a difference!! I felt like I was 16 again! I was ALL smiles when I came back to his shop‼️ Gabe started laughing at me as I was jumping up and down with excitement.

Now after I got back I really wanted to flush the PS system completely and add a magnetic inline transmission filter and a small cooler. I read some have some issues with the PS if pushed hard. There is a tab w/ 8mm nut welded to it from the factory, so I used a piece of aluminum .250” x 1” x approx 4” long flat strap bolted it to the tab and used two small Stainless clamps bolted to the aluminum to hold the cooler firmly. Then cut the factory return cooling tube to attach the lines. Does it work? Truth IDK but it can’t hurt…


I really don’t drive much being my employer won’t let me return to work after a botched knee replacement surgery.
So when gas took a big increase for premium here in the Phoenix area jumped up over $.60 to a $1 and sometimes more per gallon than regular. I’m getting about 21mpg average unless I’m running the engine hard. So when premium jumped this push me to consider doing an LS Swap even more plus they have lots of TQ & HP and run on regular.
I had a transmission I really wanted but it was no longer being manufactured. Then shortly after I get a notification from FleBay there was a NOS Tremec TKO for sale. I read the listing @ about 5:30 AM and the seller said they wouldn’t ship the transmission. I sent them a message saying I pay them directly anyway they wanted payment and all they would have to do is print a UPS shipping label and attach it to the box and I would have UPS pick up the package. Or I would pay an extra $20 if they wanted to drop it off at a UPS store. I ended buying a $2,700 or more New Tremec TKO for a first gen Vette / Camaro and other GM late 50’s and 60’s GM vehicles for just over $1,447 shipped. It came with a shifter that was designed for the early GM vehicles. I purchased a shifter that would work for the truck for $40. I then listed the $400 plus shifter on a Corvette forum for $250 and explained that it came on a new Tremec TKO. One guy massage me asking if I would sell the complete transmission for $2,500. I told him I would but he would need to buy the shipping label and email it to me. The TKX didn’t have the real tall 5th but it was evenly spaced and if I went back to the 3.31 stock rear gear 5th would be close to where I wanted overdrive. I sold the TKO and purchased a new TKX for $2700 or $1643. I then looked & looked & looked on FB for an aluminum 5.3 or maybe a 5.7 but it’s mostly scammers! I found a YouTuber that ran a wrecking yard. For shits & grins I emailed and they had an aluminum 5.3 HO L33. This was GM high performance 5.3 and aluminum at that, it only came in 4x4’s from 2005 to 07. I purchased the L33 and after some shipping mixups I was able to get the engine.


More to come…

 

You had dyno comp tune your truck?


Ive had friends who have had nothing but horror story experiences there. One of them was an Audi, who's car idled just like your describing your tacoma ran.

 

Boy can you say that again! All I can say is they tied! I’m just lucky they didn’t hurt the engine!!!
Can you say OVERPRICED & WORTHLESS!?

Oh, after you get your AC plumbed can you please tell me what you had to do? We understand that the GM & Toyota has different ways of operating for the pressure switches? Or something like that?

 

Maybe I still dont understand anything, but Im using the Toyota evaporator, Toyota expansion valve, Toyota condenser(Which has the receiver dryer built in) and a GM R4 compressor. From what I understand, after the system is charged, all I have to do is turn on the ac compressor clutch and the refrigerant should start cooling down the evaporator and making my AC cold.

 

@Pattsy
Please let me know how it works. If I’m not mistaken aren’t you a Lexus tech?

Thanks in advance!

 

Not a tech, no, but I do work at Lexus.

 

For those who want to know what happened to the stock 2TR look here. My apologies for this venting but some never admit when they fuckup reminds of an ex president of the USA.

This guy pulls the perfectly good 2TR w/ 36,109 miles completely apart but the pistons, rods and mains. Then chases every hole to install ARP studs and install a hole in the aluminum upper oil pan. Leaves debris in the engine and gets 800 miles before some of the debris plug the lifters. Then he has the BALLS to say I sold him a bad engine‼️ Plus I sold him the engine for $1,000 less than I was offered from another buyer. But I promised it to this F**king Jack @$$‼️ He told me it was because I used 5w/30 oil in a supercharged engine… But yet he posted pictures of shards of metal or aluminum he pulled out after disabling a second time.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bassackwards-awd-turbo-2tr-fe.492123/page-229
Start at post 4564…



This is after 800 miles after he reassembled the engine and it’s my fault⁉️ BULLSHIT‼️

 

Well as of 9-10-23 the engine mounts are completed and the engine and transmission are in place! The engine and transmission dropped in without cutting the radiator support.

Ok Ok Ok




Tremec TKX shifter location is just about 2.5” back to far. We are probably going to use a piece of 6061 plate. 3/8” x 2” x 3.5” drill two holes at each end use two bolts through the aluminum & through the stiffer on the transmission and two holes where we are going to mount the shifter lever. Going to use the stock Red Line leather boot.

Where the engine is located from the firewall. There’s going to be about 3/8” to 1/2” of clearance from the coil mounts to the firewall on the right / passenger side. The drivers side has a lot more room about 2.5” from what I understand.

Below is the transmission mount to the Tremec TKX.

Engine location.

 

Rotrex blowers are great, it probably wasn’t primed correctly If it seized up. I had one on my Lexus and it was great.

 

Oh, so how is it that Everyone I know who’s owned a Rotrex but just one has had to replace them?
@BassAckwards is the only one I know of who hasn’t had to replace at least one Rotrex blower. Why don’t you check around for the reliability issues with the POS blower.
You can start with @Rola2010 and ask him… Sorry but as far as I’m concerned I wouldn’t take one for free!
This website is full of owners who had issues with Rotrex crap!

Now back to the LS install….

 

subbed, I love lsx swaps.

I think the some of the 5.3's (aluminum blocks with steel heads) had some issues with heads cracking?

 

Thanks, but I don’t know anything about “Aluminum Blocks” with “Cast Iron Heads”!
I know GM made a few All cast iron blocks & heads, mostly iron blocks w/ aluminum heads & all aluminum blocks and heads…. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ All I know is the aluminum block with main caps are half the weight (109 lbs I believe) of the iron block.

 

oops, had that backwards. 5.3 iron blocks with aluminum heads.

 

I think it’s a URD thing, no a rotrex thing. URD sucks.

 

No Both suck‼️