Another 2wd to 4wd swap question

[Longhorn425]

Hey everyone,

Currently have a 2wd 2000 made 4runner.

Love this car so much and have dumped a lot of money and time into it. I don't think I can part with it, so I'm looking to doing the 4*4 swap.

I found a 97 wrecked one nearby me today with a locker. Would anyone know if the wiring is the same for these 2 year vehicles?

 

[MaineRunna]

It is definitely different.

 

[RandyBobandy]

You’re probably better off buying the wrecked one and using parts from yours to repair it

 

[MaineRunna]

I just swapped a 98 body onto my 97 frame and in just one year they changed a ton of the wiring. The 98 ECM would not plug into the 97 engine wiring harness. The 97 ECM would not plug into the 98's dash harness. I had to swap my 97 dash harness into the 98. I then had to de-pin the electrical connectors behind the kick panels so my swapped in 97 dash harness would plug into the 98 body harnesses. They also decided to change the clutch safety switch from the ground side of the starter relay in 97 to the hot side in 98. Rather than swap in my fusebox/ engine compartment harness I rewired the engine compartment fuse box. One more thing, the sun visors on the 97 were screwed directly into the roof with sheetmetal screws and in 98 they went to machine screws with welded on nut inserts in the roof. Found that out after I stripped them. They changed that much in one year. Unless you are capable of reading wiring diagrams and are able to overcome these problems I would not recommend using anything but the exact same year 4Runner.

 

[Longhorn425]

I just swapped a 98 body onto my 97 frame and in just one year they changed a ton of the wiring. The 98 ECM would not plug into the 97 engine wiring harness. The 97 ECM would not plug into the 98's dash harness. I had to swap my 97 dash harness into the 98. I then had to de-pin the electrical connectors behind the kick panels so my swapped in 97 dash harness would plug into the 98 body harnesses. They also decided to change the clutch safety switch from the ground side of the starter relay in 97 to the hot side in 98. Rather than swap in my fusebox/ engine compartment harness I rewired the engine compartment fuse box. One more thing, the sun visors on the 97 were screwed directly into the roof with sheetmetal screws and in 98 they went to machine screws with welded on nut inserts in the roof. Found that out after I stripped them. They changed that much in one year. Unless you are capable of reading wiring diagrams and are able to overcome these problems I would not recommend using anything but the exact same year 4Runner.

Extremely helpful. Thanks so much for your input!

 

[MaineRunna]

Your welcome. Just keep looking for the right one.

 

[phattyduck]

If you buy the whole wrecked truck, you can make it happen. I used a '97 parts truck to 4WD swap my '99.

This is assuming you have an SR5 and the parts truck is SR5 also (dash wiring is significantly different between SR5 and Limited).

The basic idea of the wiring is you pull out the few necessary 4WD wires from the front left (fuse box) loom and the engine loom of the parts truck and add them to your 2WD harness. There will still be soldering involved, but it is about 10 total wires.

If you find a parts truck of the same year, just swap the whole engine and front left harness.

You will want the parts truck for all the little brackets, etc. and for the body/frame parts (cross member and shifter hole)

-Charlie