mtsumedi

My truck:
1993 4Runner V6 Auto 4x4 128k miles on truck. 132k miles on engine (don't ask).

Love it.

My camper:
1999 Coleman Bayside

Empty weight: 2800lbs
Figure in passenger, dog, gear, food, bass hunter, trolling motor, extra battery, etc, etc, etc and I am pretty far north of that 3500lbs towing capacity.

I have installed a decent sized tranny cooler, stiffer springs, and new shocks to help make up for the weight. It tows okay, slow but okay. The torque converter likes to do it's own thing from time to time (lock/unlock) and it kinda limits me to about 50mph. This is in SW Florida where it is about as flat as you can get. I don't want to think about what would happen if I took this thing up north any.

I think my tranny is on its way out. I have been thinking heavily about doing a 5.0 HO Ford 302 swap w/ a AOD transmission. Ford parts are CHEAP and can be found anywhere for close to nothing. I like the nice things my truck has like AC, cruise control, etc and do not want to lose that.

Does anyone have any insight to this? To put it all in perspective, I want more power for towing in general. I off road my truck occasionally and don't really plan to lift it or put huge tires on it.

This is my rig:

CoedNaked

Before anyone else says it - go 3.4. Install headers and an exhaust for your install and have a custom crossover made to bring your exhaust over to the left sideand add even more pep to it as 3500 pounds will give leave a 3.4 even with some work cut out for it but it'll do a much better job with that kinda weight. That will give the 3.4 some pep as well, plus if you find a complete donor truck you can use the 3.4 auto tranny.

bruizer

Better yet,,,,,,,,,,sell your rig and visit the local Toyota dealer,,,,great incentives for year end models. Do I sound like a salesman?

thook

I certainly understand why you'd want to go with the Ford motor, but you'll have to do a lot, much more so than the 3.4 suggestion, to get the Ford to work for you. The transmission/transfer case set up are totally different than a Ford tran/tc (driveline to differential alignment), which you'd have to go with if you ran the Ford motor. Partly because of the EFI system and auto trans., but also there's no adaption that I'm aware of to fit a Yota transmission to the Ford motor.

pepsibluefloat

http://www.northwestoffroad.com/part...eadapters.html
For adapters for ford 302 and motor mounts too

but i'd go with the t18, t19, or NP435

Im thinking of doing the same conversion with a 302+NP435 mainly for towing as well.

you may need to look into a suspension lift first, i dont know. Im going to SAS mine first anyway so i havent really looked into how the motor fits with IFS

Tim_Snapple76

sell it before your tranny goes or convert to a 3.4 engine and tranny. towing and 3.0 dont really even belong in the same sentence, but like many of us, we use what we have to get us by. if your gonna tow much at all i'd definitely look into maybe a tundra or something along those lines. good luck! tim.

keithguts

how long have you been towing with this rig?

thook

Holy shiitakes....there is one. Hmmm....I'll have to see if there's one for Ford's inline six. Good motor, too.

stormin94

Come on people this is a Toyota site, we don't need to put FORD motors in our Yota's.If you swap in a Ford motor, your Yota might leave ya stranded .... Remember, FORD backwards is Driver Returns On Foot.... JK...But seriously, from what I have read, a 3.4 swap has less compromises, and is loads more simple. If you tow too much, yer 3.0's gonna be one hurtin unit.

mtsumedi

Not too long. Why?


Here's the funny thing about Ford. They make great engines, trannies, and rear ends. That's why companies like Moser Engineering make kits to put the Ford rears into Chevy cars. The thing where Ford falls short is everything else like power windows, door lock actuators, cheap interior materials, ect.

I just didn't figure the 3.4 made enough power to tow like aI would want. I don't know that supercharging it would help from all of the constant heat it would create being boosted a lot of the time.

ewong

I dont know much about towing.
But that looks like a big camper.

Id get a Tundra 4Door...

leebee

one thing no one has mentioned, make sure your o/d is off for towing. that will help with the tranny hunting for the right gear. you are going on vacation, take it easy unless there is a honey waiting for you at the end of your drive!!

lee

stormin94

WOW!!! That burn was worse than herpes...well, I was half right anyway. But kudos on the wicked FORD burn(you got me too though)

mtsumedi

Well, the verdict is in and I'm doing the 5.0 swap.

Ford parts are so cheap and easy to find that it is silly. I know where I can go and pluck 5.0 motors all day long for $100 a pop and AOD trannies for even less. Hell, I even have a guy local giving me an AOD tranny. I will end up buying the adapter for the AOD to Toy transfer case and some other conversion parts.

It will take plenty of time and lots of research but the amount of money shouldn't be very bad at all.

Wish me luck.

EDIT: Selling my running 3VZ-E and other parts will probably pay for most of the swap.

CoedNaked

Too bad. Oh well - you get what you pay for.

Corbit

Sounds cool . Good power at a cheap price. I had a 86 GT 5.0 , the thing ate tires and gas. You'll have to do a full write up for this one . I'm not a Ford fan but I'm sure the power to weight should be very good.

CJM

Everyone and I mean everyone knows 1 important fact here: Despite toyotas being well built, there is no one single better engine produced ever than the chevy smallblock.

Ford motors are not reliable, my 5.0 in my work van is not doing so hot hauling 1800lbs of stuff, the 350 van with a 5.8L has a lowerend rattle..Hey but the chevy van is beat the piss outta with the 5.7L vortec but damn that engine purrs with almost 300k!

You wanna swap, chevy 350 smallblock is the only way to go besides a yota engine. To tow what you want you need more power and a bigger truck for it to be more stable to handle the load. I would really look into a Tundra if you wanna stay yota or get a chevy pickup, ford is fine too but be warned you need a 3/4 ton!

Rcross

In my opinion the 3.0 is a decent engine but coupled with the auto seriously limits its towing ability. My 3vze and 5sp with 226k miles does surprisingly well towing. Just recently I had to recover my father-in-laws truck, and it pulled it very well considering my stock gearing and oversized tires.

This thread has the story and a couple pics.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f5/n...ow-rig-121281/

Bumpin' Yota

Ohhhh need someone to take pics? What tranny is behind your current 3vze?

Save the Gen III and Gen IV GM smallblocks, oh and the LT5, oh and the 2jz-gte, oh and the cummins ISB....

mtsumedi

I have A LOT of Ford support in my area. My best friend did Turbo Coupe 2.3L Turbo swap in a '71 Pinto for his race car and wired up EFI and all himself. The car is rediculously fast with a very minimal amount of money in it and he can daily drive it to work and back w/ good gas mileage. Being that there are so many Fox body Mustangs and other Ford 302 vehicles left on the road, I think the drivetrain will be okay. I think any engine is capable of running quite a long time as long as it is taken care of.

I love my 4Runner and just do not want to get rid of it. I'm not trying to haul a major load here, just something a little heavier than what the stock 4Runner is made for. I am beefing up what I feel is the weakest link as far as power goes with something that is a little more ballsy. The trailer has it's own electric brakes so I don't have to really worry about that.

You probably speak with very little knowledge and even less experience.

You pay for what you get? How about a week after I bought my 4Runner, I hydrolock it and have to find another motor to swap in. 3VZ-E's were expensive ($1500+) and I ended up getting a deal from a guy who was rearended in his 1992 4Runner with the same (somewhat) engine. $900 is what it costed me, then I had to pull that motor as well.

Say I hydrolock a 5.0? $106 long block (including tax), $40 gas, and about two days work will get me back on the road again. It took well over 2 days for me to even locate a 3VZ-E in SW Florida.