Well I have been around the for a little bit and have read allot of the build threads in and the beautiful 3rd Gen on this forum. I was talking to Kraze today about build ideas for the Runner and think this would be very nice to have.

A 5speed swap in my 99 limited. Lift it, Aussie Locker up front, and 35's with new gears.

My question is can you keep the Multi Mode T-Case or have to use the one out of a SR5 5speed or do I need to come back from dream land.

Blue

I would see if you can get Marlin of Marlin Crawler on the phone for that. I have seen him turn crazy stupid into crazy bad ass.

I was thinking that in my dreaming also. That taco box is just, well BA.

I've been wanting to covert my limited into a 5speed as well, been waiting to get the pink milkshake so force myself to do it .

My thought was to find a wrecked SR5 5speed 4x4 and have all the stuff i need. I would just like to keep that multi mode t-case. It is nice just to push a button and AWD. I like my limited but just want the 5speed bad. That and do the clutch over ride button also while I'm at it or what ever it is called.

Why do you guys want 5 speeds so bad? It's so much nicer to have an auto on the trail, unless you wheel on the flattest place on earth and never do any hill climbs. If you are a more experienced offroader, you can use a combination of braking while accelerating and let your torque converter do it's job. Ask a lot of the guys on pirate that have been wheeling for years that have made the switch from manual to auto, they'll tell you they'll never go back. The 5 speed is awesome, especially ON the road for the 5 gear and selection of what gear you want can be a plus. But you can also work your auto in a similar way by using the gear selector and the overdrive. It's not 100% the same but it works. An auto with taco box w/ 4.7s (or dual cases) and 4.88 gears will work just as well in low range as any manual.

In all honesty, I just want to have a stick again, I like my truck. It was well taken care of, and I want a project. SO- it is just me thinking about it.

A 2nd Gen SC and the Taco Box would be nice also.

The problem is there is just to much BA stuff out there and I want it all.

Blue

Hey Blue do you have any idea how much a 5speed conversion would be? Like you, that is one of my many dreams for my tuck even though it would be a while for it to actually happen.

Its definitely one of those do it yourself projects. If you have to pay someone the cost would be well. .... prohibitive to say the least.

As Brian said I would do this myself over the winter time. I think to do this and be cost effective you would have to have a donor truck with everything in it. I think that way it would not be as bad on the looking for parts and all.

Blue

I understand where you're coming from; I love my 5 speed, on road and off. If you go for the swap and you're still in SoCal I'd love to help wrench...

I'm in for this too. I think we could swap everything over in a week.

And any trouble shooting, we could just look at mine.

I did a 5 speed swap and it was 100% worth it. I can't fathom driving an automatic 4Runner anymore. My turbo truck is next for a 5 speed swap! I love wheeling with it too, the clutch feels much more natural to me. Weirdest part was learning stick on a truck that I've owned and modded for years!

Unfortunately, there were no manuals available with multimode 4WD. I'm pretty sure it is not a possibility without sourcing a transmission and transfer case combo from a Hilux Surf in Japan.

Swapping in the lever operated 4WD with a 5 speed is easy as pie when it comes to swapping terms. A hell of a lot less involved than figuring out multimode with a manual. I trashed 2 automatic transmissions in my truck before swapping to the 5 speed, and it's hands down 1. more reliable (no pink milkshakes, no external tranny coolers, good for towing) 2. better for the gearing/power control 3. easier to maintain

You'll need:

ECU (5spd, 4x4, same year)
clutch pedal bracket/pedal
clutch master, slave, and hard line
R150F trans/t-case
interior center console trim/shifter boot
inner shifter boot (metal piece with rubber boots)
cluster insert (M/T has no PRND2L) and non-ECT rear window switch piece
transmission crossmember mount
flywheel + 10 new OEM bolts
clutch kit
Front and rear driveshafts

Wiring consists of:

reverse light wires
wiring ADD relay (wires already located in the auto trans harness, just have to wire it to the new trans switches on the sides of the T-case)
clutch switch
clutch start cancel switch
clutch cruise control switch
Neutral safety switch

Might have forgot one or two things, but that's the gist of it

We can practice the clutch install on Ol'Blue's rig and then do it on mine.

Thanks COB for the info, I'm saving that for later if I ever buy a 5th gen hahah

Well soon I will be home and have a large two car garage and a shop to work in so I"m not seeing an issue here. I would still love to have a multi mode 5 speed though. That would be interesting. Guess I need to call Japan and have it imported right.

COB tell me more about this dude. So they have a 5speed Multi Mode in Japan in the Surf?