2017 diesel conversions

I would personally choose gas over a modern diesel as well for some of those reasons

 

OK, but it's still a poor choice for the Tacoma, especially a 3rd gen Tacoma (The engine alone weights 750+ lbs). 105 HP in my daily driver truck that I take off-road? That's sounds absolutely awful. I bet it won't be so cheap to install and get running well in a new Taco truck. And depending upon what state he's in and if they do smog testing he'll never be able to install an engine that's older than the vehicle in the truck; at least not if he wants to register it.

 

mainly the fuel economy and hauling that may come from it

 

https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/cto/d/weatherford-2017-toyota-tacoma-limited/6942233317.html

 

I'm no expedition guy. But I really wouldn't care either way if I were driving around the world, IF the diesel weren't infested with all the restrictions you find in the US. The beautiful 70-series in Australia, Hilux in Africa. I wouldn't hesitate to take all over the world. Then again, I wouldn't hesitate to take the Tacoma around the world, either. And definitely would be my choice for the Americas.

 

OP a lot of good info here in this site: https://dieseltoys.com/tacoma-diesel-conversions

best of luck, it is not cheap but as they say you get what you pay for

 

+1 on what these two already said

 

Finding someone to pay $80k for a Tacoma would keep me up at night.
Spending $120k on a truck only to ask $80k would be worse.
Why is it selling so soon?

 

About 5 years ago I went to Nicaragua for a weeks vacation. Beautiful place, but between the police shaking us down and the two earthquakes and tsunami evacuations, I probably won’t return.
The highlight was getting an almost new Toyota 4dr pickup with a diesel and manual transmission to drive around. The slow speed torque was amazing and we went up a pretty steep rutted road at one point that had me at walking pace, but with great control.
Never got on an interstate, but the few good roads with light traffic it ran out of breath at 50mph or so. I’d never want that anyplace in the US, might as well get an old Land Rover to go that slow.
It had steel wheels, crank windows, no ABS, no airbags, and was pretty much as basic as possible, non-US market vehicle.

 

Do they already have that product out? Anybody have videos of them driving before vs. after?

 

I think the cummins 2.8 would be the best bet as far fitment and performance. Even with that said I would wait for somebody to developed a plug and play kit. I dont really get the 4bt motor. They are crazy heavy and the fitment isn't much better than just stuffing a 6bt 5.9 cummins in the engine bay. As others mentioned Swapping the motor in a modern vehicle will be a huge headache as far as making the rest of the trucks electronics work.
If I were to do it I'd buy the cheapest 4cyl 3rd gen I could find and swap the entire drivetrain. I think a SAS would be necessary as the front crossmember would be in the way of the engine. Why you're at it build a custom dash for your gauges since none of the OEM stuff is going to work anyway. On second thought it'd be easier to build a diesel powered tube chasis truggy with a tacoma skin.

Or if you just want something fun and cheap buy an 70s - 80s era toyota pickup and swap a mercedes OM617.

 

Hardest part is making it fit, I would try and retrofit the gauges to aftermarket if it couldn't be easily adapted. Standalone ECU, the lighting and all that has nothing to do with the mechanical part.

I've helped on a handful of LS1 swaps in my racer days, 350z with a LS3 along with my own Rx7 that was LS swapped.

Anything is possible, especially if you are handy with a welder and some fab.

 

Not to mention more aggressively jamming up against the Theseus Paradox.

 

But you could kill a water buffalo with a sharpened stick and render the fat into bio-diesel to run your Mad-Max diesel Tacoma. or something.
If I had a few 10's of thousands $$ to play with (and had a hard-on for a Taco-diesel) I'd pay coyotes to smuggle a Hilux in.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...harger-and-twin-turbo-systems.566390/page-147

Literally Mat JUST posted the numbers today. Looks very good.

 

It is doable, just the time alone in removing the ECU, and associated wiring , and either making a custom standalone wire harness, or purchasing one will be a huge feat/expense... if you have the tools, the technical expertise I'd say go for it, otherwise i'd say just import a hilux front clip, and graft everything together...much easier, and cheaper to get that than any other options..

 

nope

 

The R2.8 from Cummins is a poor choice. I looked into it, to drop in my 87’ 4x4 Toyota Pickup. It’s honestly a crap engine compared to the legendary 6BT/4BT, mainly because they were mechanical, and they were USA made. The R2.8 is not, and has thinner cylinder walls from what I read, and would come nowhere close to the 1,000,000 mile reliability like the 4/6BTs.

Your better off keeping what you have, and just regear if you want that extra torque, or get the marlin crawler transfer case for the low ration gears.

The R2.8 alone is $9k before any conversion adapter plates to mount your transmission to that engine, plus the fuel system, etc. It would definitely be an easier install
Than a 4/6BT, and a heck of a lot lighter, but the payoff on that engine would take a ridiculous amount of time, and if you live in Commifornia, good luck getting it smogged.

Here’s the build thread on the R2.8 Toyota Pickup Swap
https://www.repowerowners.com/forum/r2-8-r3-8-builds/40-beta-r2-8-toyota-pickup-named-repowertoy

 

Ran out of money, would be my bet.

Imagine the fool that bought an 80k tacoma, then tried to warranty some issue at 10,000 miles. Like how could the dealer NOT say "LOL-GTFO"?

 

I assume you must know how to completely re wire a truck electronics, have thorough knowledge of high pressure diesel fuel systems and know how to completely rebuild motors?