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See the thread linked in my signature for my version of the 4WD swap. If you find a wrecked parts truck and have some welding skills and space, it is totally doable. It is not easy if you are trying to go OEM style without a parts vehicle nearby. You can also go the solid-axle front route (with manual hubs) and avoid wiring but really bump up the fabrication requirements. Wiring specifics and difficulty change by year.

-Charlie

I'm actually gonna disagree with that entirely. I didn't do any welding or custom wiring. This swap was completely bolt on for me and I retained the factory crossmember location and 2wd bracket that's used to support the transmission.

I'm curious if you could add some detail on what you wired up? All the electrical connections were plug and play for me (granted I deleted ADD and went with manual locking hubs).

Also to address the time frame that this took, I'd say it can be done in two weekends with no down time on the truck (this was a daily for me as well). There's a lot of details and I will try my best to cover everything and break it down in my youtube video but the basics of it is you will be swapping your transmission or using your current trans, but converting it to mate with the t-case, however either way the trans will have to come out. This can be done in one weekend assuming everything goes to plan lol. Once the trans is swapped (or modified and reinstalled) you can drive it in 2wd indefinitely until you have time to install the front diff and the rest of the front end components and that only took me about a day and a half, but could easily be done in one full day.

I know people who have done this swap in the past have cut their old crossmember out and moved it forward or used a trail gear skid plate to replace the factory mount but I was able to bypass this with some creative use of the crossmember and 2wd bracket. Again, I will show how I was able to pull this off in my youtube video.

I will crawl under there and take some pics to share on here soon.

Also another note, I did not have a donor vehicle and I was able to source all the parts including interior trim pieces through local junkyards, ebay and facebook market place. Aside from the manual hubs you couldn't tell this was ever a 2wd truck in the first place. I think with how many wrecked rigs that are out there now, you really don't need a donor truck to make this happen, although it would make your life a lot easier.

Interesting choice to keep the 2WD crossmember and mount. The 4WD one is a bit beefier, FYI (not the crossmember, the mount). Also, your 2WD crossmember doesn't line up with any off-the-shelf skid plates, so that could be an issue for some. It is still helpful to do some welding for the shifter hole to get all the weld nuts in the right place for the 4WD shifter assembly.

The electrical is 100% due to ADD, though if you want a 4WD indicator on the dash you need to wire that up. The plugs are there under the dash for the ADD Relay, but the engine bay wiring (driver's side fender and engine harness) need the wires added. This is all assuming you are putting in a j-shift case, of course.

There are technically different tunings for the ABS system and the auto trans shift points, so the 4WD parts there can possibly help. I still use my 2WD parts for both of those since I use a '97 as the parts truck for my '99.

-Charlie

That's really good information. For the mount I did use the 4wd mount as the 2wd mount would not bolt up to the transmission. I used the factory bracket from the 2wd as it bridges the gap of where the 4wd crossmember would sit. I am actually moving to a Trail gear skid/ crossmember. I had to shim the 2wd bracket as originally it was rubbing on the frame and causing some vibration. I got it to sit right however it is sitting just high enough that when I load the truck up with weight and the body mounts compress, the trans rubs the frame and causes an ever so slight vibration at idle. Its really hard to notice and I could shim the mount more to alleviate it, but I figure its a good time to upgrade to the big beefy trail gear crossmember.

Its also funny you mention the shifter assembly nuts as I just drilled holes and used self tapping screws along with some high qualify rubber sound deading to insulate the threads and cover the shifter hole (Me and gramps went to town with the grinder lmao). I didn't think to weld the nuts in place before.

I was planning on wiring the dash light and I'm playing with the idea of installing the center locking diff t-case in the future....just gotta figure out how to wire in the 4x4 control module into the dash.

As far as abs goes, my light is on and im using the hubs/ bearings from a 1st gen tacoma since I went with the manual hubs. Im wondering if its an issue with the sensor since I had a shop press in and assemble my spindles. I saw your right up on this before hand (very informative btw) and swapped in a 96 auto from an SR5 into my 99 Limited and its been running smooth as butter.

The tone rings are probably missing on the hubs in the front...

-Charlie

Why in the world would you convert a 2wd to a 4? Didn't the factory make 4wd from the factory?
Why not just find a 4wd?
Seems like a ton of work for nothing.

This is three old thread, why are we re-hashing stupidity?

My 4Runner was free and my parts truck was $300. How much did you pay for your 4WD?

-Charlie

I Know of a guy that do it then sale the converted rigs off. Mostly the 2wd were really plentiful in the south and rust free clean. So He converts them then sales them off. Lives in the northeast here I believe.

I really cant say its for nothing. If there is a market for it and people are buying them. That would be up to the owners and their choice. Many of people had done 2wd to 4wd conversions because it was a lot cheaper then buying factory 4wd.

This is no different then people converting automatics 4 runners to manuals. As
with only 3% of the factory made manuals from 1996 to 2000 and the rest being automatics. I can see people doing either if they wish.

People need to realize the rust belt is now out of 3rd gens. Unless they were taken care of or brought in from a non rust area. The rust free ones and ones with good frames bring decent money at least around here. There is only a handful around here now in my area. The rest are all gone. With more and more gone every year.

Haha, you're a bucket of sunshine aren't you. It's like others have said it just makes sense. A clean 4x4 3rd gen in 2024 is gonna cost you a pretty penny especially if you live in the mountains, and the 2wd version is everywhere for cheap.

I got mine for with 140k on the clock in mint condition for 3500 and I did the whole swap with half brand new parts and half used parts with only 140k on them for less then 2k. My total cost for this truck is about 5k with a rebuilt front end. You cant find a clean 4x4 3rd gen with that kind of milage in my area for less then 10k and most want 15-20. Plus I liked my rig and didn't want to start over with a new one.

Besides, the amount of work is nothing compared to an SAS, but I assume you would call that pointless too cause why not just buy a jeep right? XD

At the end of the day it makes sense, its not too much work and it can be a fun project if you enjoy working on cars. If you don't like wrenching on cars then you shouldn't buy a 25 year old car in the first place.

Good guess, but I made sure to check that they were installed properly (you can see them through the ABS port on the spindle). I'm thinking its an issue with the ABS sensor itself.

I stand corrected, there is a need for more mental health hospitals in America.

$7500. Right Now probably have $12k in it, but the money is relative. If you've got it then it's not a factor.

Do you know what a socket is? Lmao what you’re saying makes no sense anyways. It’s not all about the money some people enjoy building something and being able to call it their own. If you have ever worked on your truck before or done a project by yourself then you would understand this.

Besides if money is no object why do you even have this truck ? 12k is considered a cheap vehicle today so why don’t you go buy a new TRD 4Runner off the lot. I mean money is relative right?

You see, there’s always a good reason to work on your own car…