Anyone swapped in a R150F behind a 3RZ?

I've searched a number of places, including Pirate, Marlin, and TTORA, and while there is a lot of talk and folks who have put some variant behind a 3RZ, I can't find information about anyone doing in in a 1st gen Tacoma who has given clear details on the bellhousing and specific R150F variant they used. Does anyone here have experience with it they could share with me?

Specifically, I'd like to know which R150F--pre-Taco or Tacoma vintage--that you can mate up with the 2nd gen 2TR bellhousing to bolt up to the 3RZ. If I understand correctly what I've read, pre-Taco R150Fs have a shorter input shaft while the Tacoma variety R150Fs have a longer input shaft. Also if I read correctly, the 2TR mates up perfectly with one of those shaft lengths... But I can't find a definitive answer on which one. I'd also be interested in knowing if there is a difference in crossmember locations which would require some fabrication to get the transmission mount to sit in the proper place.

I am planning my 4wd/manual swap in my 2003 3RZ double cab. I'd prefer to use the R150F versus the W59. I imagine the rewiring is agnostic of the selection of R150F or W59. However, if anyone has insight into that, I'm all ears.

Thank you much for any help provided.

 

Why do you want the r150? It is a little beefier, but is it really worth the extra cost?

 

I assume I can find either the R150 of W59 for about the same cost. And given that, because it's beefier.

Further, in the searching I've done so far, I've seen more R150s available for sale. I suppose if I got a rebuild from Marlin or another route like that, I'd spend 10% or so more for the R150. Unless I get some feedback otherwise, I wouldn't be opposed to paying 10% more to get the R150.

 

The w series transmissions have been in Toyotas since the 80s. They are plenty strong.

However, if you can determine which r150 you need, I assume the Tacoma version, you would be good to go.

 

Therein lies the rub... I'm not sure which R150 I need. Which has the input spline length that matches the 2TR bellhousing?

Looking briefly at your engine swap thread, it said you swapped in a W59 in yours pre-V8. Do you have a thread on that? What was your experience with that? And did you have to fab up another transmission mount?

 

I assume your truck is a 3rz/ auto/ 4x4 correct? If so, then yiu had the same drive train as me starting out. Yours was more advanced, but the same.

There was a thread on TTORA that I was a part of way back in like 2010 where a group of use swapped to manual transmissions. @safteydang was the leader. That thread has a load of info, but is really cluttered with random chit chat... I'll see if I can find it...

I needed up building a "shelf" on the front of my stick cross member because the manual was shorter than the auto by about one cross member width. The v6 guys where lucky, there's was in the same spot. The difference is the 4 cylinder is longer than a v6 and thus, pushes the transmission back.

The v6 guys acted like the manual unleashed there v6 and said stuff like, "it feels so much stronger".. for me there was not difference.. besides having full control over what gear I was in, vs the constant gear hunting on the auto..

The w series is a smaller framed transmission than the r series. It's probably at least 50lbs lighter.

Mosk22rte on TTORA made a really nice wiring spreadsheet that identifies the wires needed to remove or change to make things work.

Going from an auto to manual is not really hard. The most aggravating part is mounting the clutch pedal since you have to drill 3 holes in your firewall to mount the clutch master.

 

3rz/2tr bell housing /96+ r150 info

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/13...0f-prepare-read.html#/topics/153811?_k=7jm4bq

 

Safteydang's thread on TTORA.

 

There are a few turbo builds on custom tacos, at least one of which did that particular swap among others, all with great write ups. Think the user name was Kurt.

 

COMAtized99 et al., thanks for the info... Very helpful. My truck is indeed 3RZ/auto/4x2 (I assume you meant 4x2 since the DC's didn't come 4x4 with the 3RZ).

I spent some time reading toritochis' and Childrenof Boden's builds on T4R, which I had not read previously. I had read both SafetyDang's and Toyota4Life's (TTORA) builds previously. COB's build was perhaps the most relevant to my question, as he used an R150F behind his 3RZ. He used the 2TR bell and ended up having to take about 30mm off the input shaft of his R150F to make it work with the 2TR bell. That's the most definitive operating experience I've seen about the compatability of the R150F/2TR bell/3RZ. Sounds like no R150F unit has the correct length input shaft to use with the 2TR bellhousing. That said, from that info and reading somewhere on a Celica forum which I can't put my finger on just now, the shaft is 32mm too long. So, I suppose if I'm bent on using the R150F, I could get a 32mm spacer made and it'll all work. Maybe I could even get someone to 3D print a spacer... that would be high-tech. Obviously, I could just use a W59 and not worry about a spacer.

Decisions to be made here, but all this reading has made me itching to get this swap going. I had a 95 pre-taco before this Taco (and an FJ80 in between) and it was manual. I miss my manual transmission badly.

 

I asked safety dang the other day, and he told me his buddy used a 1990 r150 behind his 3rz.

Will the 05+ r150 and trade not work with the 3rz? There is a problem 96 r150 and trade for sale in the 1st gen f/s section.

I didn't realize that the 4cyl DC where all prerunners...

 

Post 16 here seems to point to 96+ r150s work with the 2tr bell housing

 

Post 16?

It looked like, from the reading, a 1990 R150F would have too short of an input shaft. I might should PM Safety Dang and ask him for more details or see if he can get me in touch with his friend. At some point, I probably should just get my hands on these different components and start taking dimensions.

Is the R150F you speak for sale the one with the bad first gear? I've seen that. There's a guy an hour from me who has an R150F in a '04 DC with 125k still in the truck I can pick up, and even drive it to make sure it's okay before he pulls it out. That's what I'll probably do if I can confirm this work. Probably ought to get his drive shaft while I'm at it...

 

This is the pre 96 transmission I was talking about.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/pre-95-r150f-with-transfer-case.424692/

 

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/13-performance/179433-performance-clutch-experiences-needed-4.html

 

According to this thread you need a 5vz r150, and need to shorten the input my 1". I was really thinking there was a plug and play option...

 

Yeah I was looking for the same thing. Looks like there is no such option with out a decent amount of customization

 

this research thread topic has mention of 'Variants' of the R150F

...so totally confused now

 

Yes, there are variants. IIRC it’s mostly due to the truck to Tacoma and 2nd gen to 3rd gen 4Runner transition. It’s been a while since I didn’t all the investigating above, so forgive me if I’m misremembering.

What is it you’re up to? Why do you need to get un-confused?

 

long story short...

had an issue with the pilot bearing scorching the input shaft tip
there was a rebuilt R150F in stock at Yota1, had that shipped a very long distance and installed where the truck ended up at far away from home
the R150F came from a 2002 put into a 1997

there was a noticeable difference between the two
1) the fuel mileage significantly tanked. 50 to 60 miles per tank in the winter and about 20 miles per tank in the summer under normal operation which is mostly freeway speeds. I measured the difference of RPMs to be between 250 and 500 from what it was before
2) the noise level increased, the '97 R150F was Definitely not as loud and whiny at 70mph as this 2002 rebuilt has been

somewhere i found mention of different parts inside the 2002 that are not in the 1997 R150F but i have not been able to verify this because i still need parts diagrams for a 2002 to doublecheck the internal parts against each other