This Forbidden Tacoma Diesel Is The Truck You Want, But Toyota Won't Build!

Believe me, I struggle to understand why some people spend this amount of money on a diesel conversion.
But like may people have said, some people just love Tacomas and diesels and this company provides that niche. They have quite a waiting list.
As Ron said in the video, the actual install process is not that difficult: reroute trans and power steering lines, drop fuel tank and mod the fuel pump, widen the fuel-filler hole, fab new motor mounts (that fit in the original frame mount positions), drop in diesel engine and trans, manipulate A/C lines (TiG welding), lengthen or shorten the drive shafts, exhaust manipulation (with diesel cats), and little mods here and there to make it look pretty and fit nicely.

What none of you understand (those who like the swap and those who hate it) is the time and money spent in the R&D of the wiring. For all intents and purposes, Diesel Toys makes this a factory swap. No CEL, every button and dial works as intended. This is different for literally every vehicle. A 2012 tacoma SR5 is different than a TDR OR. The harness alone takes the owner literally 2 weeks to complete to achieve perfect operation. It's not plug n play by any means.

Diesel Toys has done Tacomas, FJ's, 4Runners, Land Cruisers, a 1967 Land Cruiser, and Sequoias. Two of the Tacomas have been 3rd gen.

How do I know this? The owner Todd is one of my oldest friends and I do installs and removals for him all the time. Ron's SR5 in that video - most of the general mechanics were done by me. Todd handles all the wiring and welding - that's above my pay grade. If I was out wheeling in a diesel or a gasser and broke down and couldn't figure it out, Todd is the dude I would call or want with me. He's one of those dudes and a really good guy. We all know a guy like that (hopefully).

Now, all that said, I drive a gasser 2017 TRD OR. I don't want a diesel - even though I could do it at cost. Many of you are correct about first time diesel owners - they don't understand the maintenance. Kind of like a person who can finally afford a nice BMW or Land Cruiser and doesn't realize that proper maintenance costs to keep the vehicle in proper shape.
Also correct about diesel douchebags who praise diesel and knock gassers at all cost. Its hilarious sometimes. Todd isn't one of those guys, I assure you.

Todd and I both wonder why some of the vehicles we get are being swapped! We get some pretty beat up Toyotas! But if the owner wants to pay the cost, which Todd is vastly clear about up front, we do the work and do it VERY well. There is no shortage of work and yes, the majority are people with a nice expendable income.
Buying a Hilux and having it adapted to American safety standards and having it shipped would definitely be more expensive than one of Diesel Toys' common swaps. Figure this - if you bought a used 2012 Tacoma with 200k miles for $10000, but was kept in great condition, slap on a new suspension and fix or replace the worn out bits, swap in a diesel drive train with 15k miles for $28-30k and you've basically got a very new diesel Tacoma for right about $40k. That's what most people do.


So, I agree in many points with the haters and the supporters. Like I said, I'm not a diesel guy, Todd is just an old friend and I like helping him in the shop. The work he does is pretty amazing.

 

my DEF truck has a rear howl and the AC sounds like Darth Vader, I just don't like the erratic 6 speed auto, took it too the dealer and told me it was normal what should I do now?

 

buy $40,000 Tacoma pay additional $30,000 to convert to Diesel = close to $100,000 Diesel Tacoma =

 

I couldn't agree more with this. DEF, DPF, DOC, SCR, EGR, all these wonderful additions found on modern diesel engines are stacked with, destroy the once legendary longevity they once had. These components fail regularly and require constant maintenance. Toyota is doing it right by avoiding a modern EPA regulated diesel engine.

 

Had a 99 Ford F-250 Super Duty diesel 7.3 turbo and will never own a diesel again. Way to much maintenance and the noise .

 

Agreed - The owner and I both feel that way, but we give customers what they want. And there is a market for it, believe me. We sure as hell aren't going to turn down business! If someone brought in a brand new $50k TRD Pro and wanted a swap, we'd do the swap no questions asked. Do we think that's kinda crazy? Yes, but we'll do it. And we have a lot of fun doing it.

I also said most people buy or already have older Toyotas in decent condition with 200K+ on the gas engine and convert them spending about $40k for the whole vehicle. That is the most common swap we do. You end up with an older body Tacoma that can be fixed up for relatively cheap with a very low mileage diesel engine. Which makes a lot of sense - IF you want a diesel Tacoma. That is something people overlook when they say how crazy the cost is.

 

Soyboys Rise Up!

 

so what happens to all the brand new engines and transmissions and parts that are taken out of a perfectly good running gasoline engine truck?

 

We either sell them and apply the cost to the swap or the owner takes them and sells them personally. Most of them are old (180k+ miles) and really not worth it for anyone unless they want to spend the time and/or money doing an overhaul for another 20k-50k miles.

We've actually trashed a few that we couldn't get rid of.

 

maybe you can post up when your going to trash the parts im sure someone on this site could use them or even pay you for them

 

"I thought my DEF tank was an aux. fuel tank, plz halp!!"

 

A DEF tank is not an aux fuel tank. If you put anything other than DEF into it, the engine will code out and shutdown. There is a level sensor and a quality sensor in there. If you run below a certain level, the engine will code, then derate and finally shutdown. It is nanny monitored for people that want to bypass it.

 

I forgot to quote https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...toyota-wont-build.636398/page-7#post-21925805 , just was adding another example

 

r/woooosh

 

Hahahaha, man you can’t add all this up then when it doesn’t come out as high as you needed it to to make fun of people just round 70k to 100k

 

Why? No you; him.

 

In the video the owner said he bought the sr5 tacoma for around 28.5k and the conversion cost another 30k so he was in around 60k for a diesel taco... still pretty steep and no warranties. Thats a good chunk of change, but compared to other crap others spend money on I don't think this is too crazy. I see people spending way more than that on app games for their phones... thats insanity.

 

Actually I’m good, but you do you...