4WD conversion

[lord rigatoni]

Happy Monday everyone,

So I have been thinking about going through with a 4WD conversion on my 2000 SR5 2WD w/ an auto trans. I have been getting really into off-roading in the past year and I want to start hitting some more challenging trails but I am have doubts that the runner will be capable of tackling those trails w/ 2WD.

I wanted to make it easier on myself and just find a 4WD 3rd gen (preferably manual) but in my area people want ridiculous amounts of money for one, and I don’t see that trend going away anytime soon, so the 4WD swap seems like the way to go.

I was just wondering if anyone has any experience doing this swap on a 3rd gen. I know I will need a transfer case, front diff & driveshaft, CVs, parts for the interior and mounting hardware, but if there is anything else I am missing please feel free to correct me. I also might swap in a used manual transmission as well, but anyways any tips or advice regarding the swap would be greatly appreciated. Thank you !

 

[octanejunkie]

This is like deja vu all over again lol

It will be quicker for you to find a 4WD truck than do the conversion on yours unless you have the time and space to find a donor and then all the mods required, clean and refurb parts and do the actual swap - ask me how I know.

I just bought a 99 manual SR5 4WD - look at my sig - after planning the swap for years. It's not impossible, just highly impractical for most - [MENTION=139000]phattyduck[/MENTION] did it, check his build journal.

 

[Kanoe]

add to the parts list a rear drive shaft and you need to find a front diff with the same gearing as your rear.

It'd be easiest if you could score an entire salvage yard 4wd to rob from.

 

[octanejunkie]

add to the parts list a rear drive shaft and you need to find a front diff with the same gearing as your rear.



It'd be easiest if you could score an entire salvage yard 4wd to rob from.

So many things are different on the factory 4WD vs the 2WD, including springs and shocks, the ECM, trans pan and dip stick, shift points, trans cross member, the list goes on

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[JohnMc]

Certainly possible, but not really all that practical. And to the extent other people want too much for their 4WD 3rd gens, yours is worth more now as well, thanks to the rising values. Sell it for more, pay more for a 4WD 4Runner, and enjoy the massive amount of free time you didn't spend messing around with it. You might spend less money as well, depending on where you tried to get all the parts to convert yours over.

If' you're dead set on swapping it, I'd start looking at Copart to buy a complete wrecked donor vehicle. Cheaper than buying each part one by one. And when you're done, sell the wrecked stripped hulk on to a junkyard. Lots of junkyards will send a tow truck by and fetch dead cars and pay on the spot.

 

[blarchitect]

Like those that commented above, it's a fait old amount of time and expense to convert.
Can't you travel to a state where the 4WD prices are not as stupid and drive it home?

 

[phattyduck]

Follow the link in my signature... lots of details there. And you need some skills, time and space to do it all.

-Charlie

 

[fourwd1]

Do you have the mechanical experience and expertise to attempt this?
Do you have all the tools needed? Not just some wrenches and sockets, etc.

The xfr case probably won't mate up to your trans, so you'll need that as well.
If you can't get a donor truck, forget it.

 

[shadow247]

Do you have the mechanical experience and expertise to attempt this?
Do you have all the tools needed? Not just some wrenches and sockets, etc.

The xfr case probably won't mate up to your trans, so you'll need that as well.
If you can't get a donor truck, forget it.

Im going to tell OP to go for it. My buddy Nick converted his 01 SR5 2wd into a 4wd with Jshift and Manual Hubs.

The major obstacle was the trans. He just swapped a couple solenoids and the rear output shaft from a 4x4 trans into his 2wd. He has been wheeling on it and so far its working great.

 

[Swap Guy]

Its not as hard as it seems

here to resurrect this topic lol. This swap is actually a whole lot easier then alot of people make it seem, most things are the same between these trucks and if u have an auto you do not need to swap the ecu.

The shift points on the trans are the same in fact they are the same transmissions all together the only difference is one has a longer output shaft and the other has a adapter plate to bolt up to the t-case. I had them side by side this weekend and they even have the same codes on the the tag.

I'm gonna post in a separate thread a full write up on how to do this the easy way since there's a lot of confusion and misinformation out there. I just finished installing the 4x4 trans and t-case and I retained the factory crossmember and 2wd mount. I only had to make some minor modifications to make it work.

I'll post a full write up soon for anyone who is still interested in this swap.

 

[rdruss]

here to resurrect this topic lol. This swap is actually a whole lot easier then alot of people make it seem, most things are the same between these trucks and if u have an auto you do not need to swap the ecu.

The shift points on the trans are the same in fact they are the same transmissions all together the only difference is one has a longer output shaft and the other has a adapter plate to bolt up to the t-case. I had them side by side this weekend and they even have the same codes on the the tag.

I'm gonna post in a separate thread a full write up on how to do this the easy way since there's a lot of confusion and misinformation out there. I just finished installing the 4x4 trans and t-case and I retained the factory crossmember and 2wd mount. I only had to make some minor modifications to make it work.

I'll post a full write up soon for anyone who is still interested in this swap.

Please do.

 

[blarchitect]

I'll post a full write up soon for anyone who is still interested in this swap.

Subscribed. This sounds interesting. Perhaps create a YT vid?

 

[Swap Guy]

Yea I plan to make a youtube video after thanksgiving. I just finished the front end work this weekend and can finally say I have a fully functional 4wd converted 3rd gen 4runner!

I'm really happy with the way the swap turned out as you cant even tell that it was a 2wd drive truck in the first place. I got the trim piece measurements right the first time lol.

If anyone has any specific questions about this swap let me know I'd be happy to answer them or add them into my video

 

[chadr815]

Yea I plan to make a youtube video after thanksgiving. I just finished the front end work this weekend and can finally say I have a fully functional 4wd converted 3rd gen 4runner!

I'm really happy with the way the swap turned out as you cant even tell that it was a 2wd drive truck in the first place. I got the trim piece measurements right the first time lol.

If anyone has any specific questions about this swap let me know I'd be happy to answer them or add them into my video

Super excited to see how this pans out. Have been wanting to do this for a while. I know everyone says find a 4WD and save the time but I got mine super low mileage and know everything that's been done to it. That can't be bought! About how long in total did it take you to do all of the work? My 3rd gen is my daily.

 

[blarchitect]

Post some teaser pictures please.

 

[AuSeeker]

Yea I plan to make a youtube video after thanksgiving. I just finished the front end work this weekend and can finally say I have a fully functional 4wd converted 3rd gen 4runner!

I'm really happy with the way the swap turned out as you cant even tell that it was a 2wd drive truck in the first place. I got the trim piece measurements right the first time lol.

If anyone has any specific questions about this swap let me know I'd be happy to answer them or add them into my video

I as well as others are excited to see your video on this....BUT keep in mind that on this forum you have to have at least 15 posts to be able to start your on topic, it was done this way to cut down on SPAMMERS, BOTS, etc., here's the rules....

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[phattyduck]

Super excited to see how this pans out. Have been wanting to do this for a while. I know everyone says find a 4WD and save the time but I got mine super low mileage and know everything that's been done to it. That can't be bought! About how long in total did it take you to do all of the work? My 3rd gen is my daily.

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

 

[Swap Guy]

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.

 

[Swap Guy]

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.

 

[phattyduck]

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).

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