2wd to 4wd conversion

[Brignola85]

I know it's been brought up before, but I can't seem to find the thread. If anyone has a link to either the argument page or a thread in which it's already been done please post it here.

On to the reason I am asking....
A friend of mine works at a local salvage yard, tonight he called me about a 2000 t4r ltd that had been rolled and totaled. It's very nearly still in one piece... (suspension and drivetrain) After a little discussion, and persuading, he's agreed to sell the whole rig to me for $700, plus $50 and gas to drop it off at my place.

My issues...
1) my 2000 runner is the 2.7L 5 speed, not the v6
2) I do not have a ton of experience, nor do I have any knowledgable friends responsible enough to depend on for help
3) I'm lacking a variety of tools

The positive...
1) my t4r is not my dd (I have a 11' wrx for that)
2) I have room in my 2 car garage
3) time is not a factor, I'd love to gain the experience involved in undertaking such a steep project.

Mind you, this is just a feeler for now.. Please keep your flaming at a minimum.

 

[JohnsD90]

I would say no, it would be a good idea if the motor was the same and then if the year was the same, but considering your lack of expierence, i would not reccomend this to you, a mechicanically inclined member gave up on the V6 + 4x4 swap due to it being too big a *****, but he did not give up on the 4x4 swap.

 

[4-Ripcord]

Yeah.. just go buy one thats already 4x4. Sounds like this project is way to advanced.

You will lose the 5-speed also. The entire drivetrain would need to be swapped meaning you would inherit an automatic, and that's a step in the wrong direction.

Did you already agree and pay for the wrecked one?

 

[Brignola85]

Would the v6 fit directly into mine? If I could get that bugger running...

 

[4-Ripcord]

nope

 

[Brignola85]

No, I have not agreed to anything. As for just buying a 4x4... I've been trying.

 

[Brignola85]

Well I guess that idea got smothered rather quickly...
I'll go look at the rig tomorrow to see if it's worth parting out.

 

[Elton H]

yea be easier to just get one thats 4wd

 

[cj80cruiser]

Well I guess that idea got smothered rather quickly...
I'll go look at the rig tomorrow to see if it's worth parting out.

Not necessarily. Sounds like a 700 dollar toy. Cut it up and put a roll cage in it. Do a solid axle swap later.

 

[Pikeman]

CJ80 has a good idea about making it a serious rig and toy. The engine swap is doable, 4wd conversion doable. Pain in the butt with lots of work to swap over engine harness and everything else to get it to work. There was a guy Colorado chapter TTORA that did a major swap. extra cab to a regular cab along with the 2.7 to 3..4 swap. 00 regular cab. Take a look at his build thread and you will get a small idea of how hard it will be. Also on that same site they have lots of 2wd-4wd write ups. Most of the people that have done it said they wished they had just bought the 4wd and avoided the hassles.

 

[Singtoe]

I am going to pay the devils advocate and say yes. Go for it.

But only if the frame on the roll over is not tweaked.

I would unbolt the 2wd body and bolt it on to the 4wd frame.

Then I would undo the wire harness, ecm, dash cluster and swap them over.

No real fabrication or jerry rigging to do as everything will bolt up.

You can sell the old motor and tranny to recoup some cost.
The old body and chassis can be sold for scrap - $9.75 per hundred.
Anything left over - Tires, wheels, regulators, alternator, compressor blah blah all has some value to it.

 

[Nelsonmd]

I am going to pay the devils advocate and say yes. Go for it.

But only if the frame on the roll over is not tweaked.

I would unbolt the 2wd body and bolt it on to the 4wd frame.

Then I would undo the wire harness, ecm, dash cluster and swap them over.

No real fabrication or jerry rigging to do as everything will bolt up.

You can sell the old motor and tranny to recoup some cost.
The old body and chassis can be sold for scrap - $9.75 per hundred.
Anything left over - Tires, wheels, regulators, alternator, compressor blah blah all has some value to it.

You know, I actually agree with Singtoe here. If this is seriously something that you are interested in learning about, and are ok with it taking a long time (and costing more than you expect), then this could be a great project to learn on.

Swapping the body would be a great one to document and write-up as well if you choose to go that route, which I think is a great idea as well.

Either way, a functioning wrecked 4runner for $700 is a steal. You can't let that thing rot in the yard. You could easily make that back parting it out. Probably even without the engine/tranny you could make it back.

 

[TOY2G]

Do not be too quick to listen to the people saying NO on here. As many of us know Drive shafts, CV, Diffs, Knuckles, and many other 4x4 parts can be changed quite easily at home in your drive. The price is right and the education you will gain is priceless.

you have a 5speed, adding 4x4 to a 5speed is the more simple swap, the running gear will bolt in no problem (Front diff, CVs, Knuckle, struts, drive shaft. Things you need to consider are this, you will need a 5 speed adaptor for the donor t-case, the front drive shaft from the donor will be a bit too long, and you may need to have your rear drive shaft modded(length), and lastly you need to make sure the front Diff gears match your rear gears (not likely)..

the other small items you should be able to grab from the donor, center consol, shifters, 4x4 sensor (for dash light)

having a 5speed you will not have an ECM to mess with on the transmission.

I have done 4 4x4 swaps on Toyotas, 1 on a 1999 Tacoma, 1 on a 91 truck, one on my Silver 2003 4Runner, and one on a Lexus LS400 (see my album)

Take your time, use your resources (dealer, T4R, friends with Toyotas, exc) and hide it from the wife.

Bottom line is, it can be done, the 4runner you are looking at is a good price, if it becomes to much for you, part it out and keep yours the way it is. IMO the risk is worth the reward.

 

[theizzardking]

i feel like to do this right and not end in a mess you are lacking a few key things a good shop full of tools and the experience to pull it off in clean and functional way, i've been building and restoring cars since i was 16 but in no way do i think i could pull that off and have it be worth a dam, i mean yeah sure i could totally do all of the swaps and make it work, but work well is what you really want. But then again i nor does anyone on this board have any idea of what you are capable of or not capable of, you need to decide that, but the fact that your asking this question tells me you're kind of new to this whole thing, conventional wisdom on this question is to just buy a 4x4 and go from there, this 2wd to 4wd question gets asked on every off road forum for every vehicle ever made and the answer is almost always the same "just buy a 4wd"
so just take that as a general rule of thumb, if you think your capable of throwing conventional wisdom to the wind and truly think you can pull this off then go for it, i never want to stop anyone from working on thier rig and doing what they want with it and really $700 isn't bad, but keep in mind also you'll be alot more into it by the time you get to the point you realize your fubar'd and give up on it. so the loss is going to be quite a bit more then $700.

at the very least your going to need a good shop full of air tools,hoists,welder and a bunch of other stuff most average wrenchers don't keep kicking around their garage.

again buddy, do want you want, who am i to tell you ****, just want to make sure you have a good idea of the scale of what your taking on, it will be a lot of work, swapping just the body,ecu's and such as other explained is the easier way to go but keep in mind in order to do that you have to buy yet another rolling chassis and go from there which ='s more $$$, again bottom line if you, if , you fail your going to be out more then $700.....

good luck man and if you go for it post up, we wanna see the build thread!:keyboard:

 

[C C]

As most people have said it's a lot of work and you'll most likely be in over your head on this one, but if you do decide to buy it and part it out let me know

 

[Martinjmpr]

Should you or shouldn't you?

I think the answer depends on what your objective is.

If your objective is to embark on a project, to have a hobby, to learn something and to take on a difficult task, and you have the understanding that you will probably spend twice as much money and take 3x as much time as you think, then go for it.

OTOH, if your objective is simply to have a 4x4, for less than the cost of a conversion you could:

1. Sell your 4x2 (you said you have a DD so it's not like you need to get something else right away)
2. Spend your time searching Autotrader and CL for a nice 3rd gen 4x4 (there are hundreds of them in the Mountain West, and we don't have rust issues here.)
3. When you find the right one, fly out and then pick it up and drive home.

Doing all of the above will be way less expensive and way less time consuming and the result is that you will have a factory 4x4, not a jury-rigged frankenstein monster of a vehicle.

But, as I said, if your objective is to have a project or a hobby, then I'd say the body swap might be a good way to go.

 

[ghawthorne16]

2wd to 4wd

I have a 2006 4runner. I understand that the conversion from 2wd to 4wd requires a lot of adjustment to the undercarage, does anyone know what parts I would need (how much $$) and where I would go to find them?