Yeah it’d be nice to not need to remove the exhaust, I’ve never touched mine so I know removing some of those bolts are going to be tough.

I’ll be installing the Marlin Crawler HD clutch kit.

Yeah I have the ‘99 M/T 5VZ 4x4 California Spec ECU, it has the same exact pinout as the Auto ECU so it’s plug and play.

What a great build thread, I've spent the last couple mornings reading through it while having coffee. @Tyler James Inc you do the kind of work I shoot for. Doing it right and as the factory would (or should) have done it.

I had been looking for some projects for my supercharged 2002 4WD 4Runner and have been reading up on a 5spd manual swap. My "thought" was that it would give a bit more sporty driving experience, but reading up on yours it sounded like you felt the auto actually had more zip? That's surprising.

I've had two 3.4L Tacomas over the years (a 1997 and a 2000 TRD) that were manual trans, but it's been so long I've forgotten what they were like compared to the auto in the 4Runner.

I shot you a PM with some questions, but wanted to comment on your thread as well. Nice work.

If the 5spd swap isn't more zippy than the auto or if it can't be completed and have everything 100% work as factory (abs, vsc, 4wd, no dash lights on that should be off or off that should be on) I'd have to pass and look for another project. Thoughts?

That’s incredibly kind of you to say, @Speedy . Thanks so much for the compliments.

At first, I did feel like the auto was more zippy. I think the way the TQ magic works, it gives it a more zip. I actually really liked the auto.

That being said, I love shifting. After being used to the manual, I now feel like it’s very zippy and fun to drive. I’m on “37’s” now with 4.10 gearing, and- although I do plan on going to 5.29 gears- it still gets up and goes just fine. I say it all the time, but I really do drive my 4Runner pretty hard. I’m not trying to claim it’s some kind of race car that I’m beating ‘Vettes with, but it’s really not a dog(to me).

You gotta learn to wrap the engine RPM up more with the manual. I’m used to manual cars that have good torque down low- the 3.4l does not. When I first did the swap, I was driving it like my manual cars, and that’s why it seemed doggy. Surprisingly, I still get 14-15MPG on the 37” KO2s, and I think that’s damn good for how I drive. I think it runs more efficiently at higher RPMs, because I’ve tried “babying” it to get better MPG, and it’s never improved my results.

As far as the manual swap in an 01/02- I will reply to your PM, but I do not currently know of a solution to do the swap without losing ABS and traction control.

I didn’t have a CEL on before I swapped the Ford tank in, so I passed Oregon emission testing without issue. That being said, I’m not quite sure why. I believe ‘03/04 Tacos have ABS, so I would think that the ECU would be looking for the ABS, and see it missing- causing a code/CEL. I know that Tacoma’s didn’t have the traction control stuff, so you wouldn’t be able to retain the functionality of that. I took the bulbs out of my cluster that were associated with VSC. It’s been so long since I’ve been balls deep into this, so I’m a little fuzzy on the ins and outs of the whole ABS thing. I have no ABS, but I’m not 100% certain you couldn’t make your ABS functional with some wiring creativity and Tacoma ABS parts.

For some reason, I seem to remember something about not being able to make the Tacoma ABS work though.

Maybe I’m remembering wrong- maybe Tacomas didn’t have ABS at all.

Thanks for the insight. You're getting to be like me with the upgrades/changes. I've been doing them over the years and have literally forgotten how/what I did on some of them it's been so long.

Thanks for the insight. Bummer on traction control. With the SC/Meth setup it's saved my butt a few times on slick streets when I'm driving like I shouldn't have been for the conditions.

Wait ,What 37's did i miss something???

"You gotta learn to wrap the engine RPM up more with the manual. I’m used to manual cars that have good torque down low- the 3.4l does not. When I first did the swap, I was driving it like my manual cars, and that’s why it seemed doggy. Surprisingly, I still get 14-15MPG on the 37” KO2s, and I think that’s damn good for how I drive. I think it runs more efficiently at higher RPMs, because I’ve tried “babying” it to get better MPG, and it’s never improved my results."

This. I would say I'm equally as hard on my (non-SC) manual and I have never thought it was a dog. And I agree you need the revs to use the power. Without looking I can say all the power is above 3,000. I get 17.5+ MPG every time. (33" MT's)

Trying to piece this together on my 2001 5spd swapped 4runner too. If you still see this... can you please clarify the following?

1. Clutch Start SW disallows the vehicle from starting unless the clutch is depressed - correct?

2. Clutch Start Cancel: I will splice yellow/green into the same connector II1 as the clutch start SW; and the same for green into black/white at position 9 of II1.

3. Regarding Cruise Cancel SW: Do you meant that I am to splice in my black/yellow wire from my pedal into the black/yellow at pos 20 of II4? And to splice in the white/red? That sounds like what you mean, just want to be sure.

Can't express how much I appreciate your detailed research and documentation of this job!