Meshy911

So after a lot of reading and scouring the web I found that having a 2wd Automatic is, in the long run, pretty much pointless to upgrade for offroad use as 4wd will be needed at some point.

So after more reading and scoruing of the web I decided that my 98 4runner LTD would pretty much live in the city. I did a lot of looking around and realized that I didn't want to drop my truck to 3 inches off the ground and put 24"s and spinners on it - not my style, I did however come to the conclusion I wanted A LOT OF POWER my farther suggested I turn her into a sleeper. Well to be quite frank I only have a fundamental Idea of what exactly a sleeper is because there's a lot of different opinions and definitions to describe it. Secondly I know that I want to be able to go offroad with her at some point, and by offroad I mean drive down that horribly neglected desert road to a bonfire or up that old logging road to go fishing.

Long story short, I want to make my truck look like a stock 4runner (or close to it) but have it be able to pull up to a stoplight next to a fast car and kick its butt.

Now I know these may seem like pipe dreams or like I don't know what I'm talking about(which I'm a beginner through and through) but thats why I came here to ask you all this.

If I wanted to make my truck into a sleeper, what do I have to decided to make her capable of (IE 12 second quarter mile, or super gas efficient, or Horsepower beast etc etc etc) and once that is figured out where would I start on modifications to turn her into whatever is decided?

I hope that this doesn't look like I'm just trying to take the easy route for information as my searches only bring up relatively vague answers to my questions, and as a complete noob, I don't know where else to ask.

-Hunter

justin_4runner

ok first off is it a v6 or 4 cly? really with each of these motor options wont really let it be a a sleeper. to do so i would need to get a Toyota supra turbo-ed motor and put that in. could also get a locker or limited slip in the rear to help get around on the dirt roads, just a couple ideas.

pkt1213

iTrader: (1)

well build the truck I want and let me know any problems. I want to do an LS series motor and a tremec TKO behind it. Hope to start on this next summer.

87 Deathtrap

Don't underestimate the capabilities of a Toyota. I drove a 1995 2wd auto 4runner for years that would go places that friends were afraid to go with 4wd. Granted, it will never be a rockcrawler, but mine handled tons of fishing and camping trips with no complaints. From the factory these trucks have great ground clearance and suspension, all they need is a good driver. Toyota obviously has a lot of confidence in their 2wd trucks as well, otherwise my Tacoma Prerunner would not have come from the factory with a TRD Offroad decal and e-locker.
As far as power, good luck! If you have the 3.slo it's just not gonna happen with that engine. If you want a 12 second car, I would start with a different platform or at least a plan for an engine swap and many drivetrain upgrades.

Meshy911

Its a 3.4l V6

I figured if I wanted it to be a sleeper I would have to do an engine swap.

I just don't know what exactly I want to do with her since she won't be living the offroad lifestyle?


I'm not saying that I'm not open to taking her offroading or even making modifications to facilitate more of that. I just feel like to run with guys around here Id have to go with a rock crawler or not go at all you know?

I'm open to all suggestions right now.

87 Deathtrap

3.4L...sweet! Compared to the 22re in my 4runner, you already have a horsepower beast! For a little inspiration, check this out. It's a 2wd 4runner with 4wd running gear. It looks pretty awesome.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/w.../#post50403280

Meshy911

So he took his 2wd and geared it up for offroading and he's good to go?

my question would be then how well can he keep up with everyone, cause of course once I start I'm going to want to go out onto the trails and whatnot but I don't want to be 'that guy' who can only make it halfway or holds everyone back.

According to my dad (Whose got 45 years of car and truck experience and the good kind not the changing the fluids kind and calling it experience) He says that if I set up my truck for offroading I would be fine anywhere I went even in places where some say I need 4wd as long as I had the driver experience to deal with it.

Doing what he did with his 2wd would be awesome in my book as long as I would be capable of keeping up you know?

And if It is capable (I'm sure it is just from looking at it but I don't have the experience to know) where do I start to go down that path? What do I have to change or modify or work on to get to that?

Also, he took his 2wd and turned it into a 4wd if I'm not mistaken correct?

87 Deathtrap

That truck is actually converted to 4wd. You can see the cv joints in a couple of those pics, I didn't see that at first. Just saying that you could build a beefy 2wd that could get you where you want to go, just depends on where you want to go. You're not going to run Moab in it, for some situations you do need 4wd. But it would work fine for camping, etc.

Check this thread out: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f120...mation-121264/

algranger

Locking the rear is your only chance at making a 2wd half decent off road.

You could go with a selectable locker (meaning you can lock or unlock it when desired) there are airlockers which are actuated by compressed air or there are e-lockers which are electronically actuated. Google those two.. you will learn a lot.

An autolocker (aka ratcheting locker or lunchbox locker) is a little cheaper but will take a little more meat off of your tires

A welded diff will eat the hell out of your tires but will cost almost nothing.



As far as power you could add a supercharger (maybe a moderate increase in power) or swap it. There is a HUGE list of motors that are relatively easy to swap into a toyota.
4.3 vortech chevy v6
350sb chevy v-8
7mge or 7mgte inline six from a toyota supra (i did this swap on my rig)

There are a lot more that i've heard of.

I like my 7mge its got torque and revvs out high. Most of its balls are at high rpm's which sounds like what you're after.
mine is naturally aspirated but you can go with twin turbo if so desired.

Meshy911

sweet! thanks you guys I appreciate it. I guess I'll start looking for a new engine

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

The magazine/advertizement thing that 4wd part sends out had an article about 2.5 years ago. They took a 2wd tacoma and made it 4wd. They used Dana axles, an Advance Adaptor's kit to mate the tranny to an atlas or stak t-case. Put 37's under it. The article said they had less than $7000 total into the rig. The truck was a beast and fully capable. They had less into than I do with my 4rnr. This might be the route I take next time.

Texas_Ace

You don't necessarily need a new engine. The 5vz is a very strong and potent engine is built right. The HP record on one is around 1700hp for example.

First you need to define exactly what you want then you can put the parts list together to reach that goal. Without a goal you WILL fail this project.

So what do you want? A drag truck? 12 second 1/4 mile times? 500hp? You need to first pick a goal.

I have also thought and plan to build my truck to be even faster then my supercharger will let me someday when i have more money and finish my 800whp MR2 project.

A turbo setup on the stock 5vz can net you 400hp and 14 second 1/4 mile times without much trouble at all.

Give me an exact goal you would like to reach and i can point you in the right direction to reach it.

If you want to go off-road, just buy a 4wd truck, a stock 4wd truck will be better off road then a modded 2wd and cost less as well.

Meshy911

14 second 1/4 mile times with a turbo setup sounds dandy!

Texas_Ace

Well for that goal you don't even need to open the engine, the stock internals can take that kind of power and even the stock ECU should be ok with some extra fuel (either a 7th injector kit or a meth injection kit, i prefer the meth injection personally).

Before i list out the build sheet a 14 second 1/4 is not that fast really, it is fast for a 4runner but not compared to a real car, stock mustang GT's run 12's now days of the lot and 10's with minor mods.

So about the only things you will be faster then are normal cars/ricers. Any modern sports car will still pull you pretty good.

I have 4wd and that give me the edge off the line, i can usually hold off even the faster cars through 1st gear but they will walk past me after they get traction (mustangs. camaros ect).

In 2wd my traction advantage goes away and i have trouble keeping up at all since we bolt are spinning in 1st gear. That said i am still faster then 90% of the cars out there but that last 10% are the sports cars.

So if you are happy with being faster then most cars then 14 second and ~350whp should make you happy. If you want to be faster then most sports cars, then you would need to run at least 13's and have at least ~400whp+.

The good news is that once you build the motor, getting any power you want is just a matter of picking the right turbo and fuel system.

Meshy911

That would double my stock horsepower, I am more than willing to put in the work to do something that awesome.

Texas_Ace

So you want to go all out and make 400+ whp?

It is just a matter of money, whats your budget?

Meshy911

College student Budget, meaning I'll save any money I get to buy a part. Plus I have a summer job that I start tomorrow so I'll start making bank off of that as well. Pretty much any free money I have will go into my truck.

Texas_Ace

Also means a relatively limited budget.

You should be ware that to do this right could easily get into the $10k range.

There are ways to make it a lot cheaper but at the cost of performance. Also depends on your DIY/welding skills. Most of this stuff will be custom so if you can do that yourself you could save a lot of money there.

Meshy911

Well I'll come away with about $4500 from this summer job after paying for expenses and whatnot and then during the school year I make probably $350-$400 a month and I usually just blow that on women and beer but now that I have the truck I have better things to focus on so I'm willing to work and save to make it happen.

Texas_Ace

Well, it's really up to you on how long and how much you want to spend.

So for a goal of say ~500whp here is a basic list to get you started.

You will need to build the whole bottom end, pistons, rods, 3vz crank, ect.

That should run you about $2-3k depending on how much of the work you do yourself and what the local machine shops charge.

The top end will need upgrading as well, cams, valves, springs, maybe a P&P, should run you about another $2k-3k for that.

You will then need to build your tranny built, a full build would be ideal, that will cost you ~$4k.

So right there you have $10k and don't even have much more power then stock.

Then you need the turbo setup, the custom manifolds will run you about $2k depending on local prices, then you have the turbo(s) at $1300 each.

Then all the fittings and piping for them along with the intercooler setup another $1500.

Then you need the fuel system and ECU, another $3k there.

Then figure another $4k for other random stuff.

Not trying to scare you off but i want you to know what you are getting into, doing it right will cost a lot of money. Don't want you to get started with this project and then have to quit halfway through. or finish and realize you could have just bought a $7k MR2 and been faster then your truck and looked cooler doing it.

If you really want to go fast another car will almost always be faster, cheaper and far easier then building the truck. For under $10k you could have an 11 second MR2 easy. Heck i have my MR2 here that i had around $8k into when it was running 11's.



Now a cheaper more DIY option but not near as bullet proof option is to stick with the stock block and ECU and just bolt a turbo setup to it with a valve body upgrade on the tranny.

It would last for awhile if done right but you would need to plan on something blowing up at some point.

This could be done, considering your motor is in tip top shape, for a lot less.

Use a remote mounted turbo mounted after a set of headers with a comp oiless turbo without an intercooler and a good meth injection kit would cut the cost down a LOT.

The turbo setup would run you about $2k - $2500

the header would be $700, the welding to bolt the turbo to the header would depend on local price and if you could do it yourself or know someone, $500.

The splash shield to protect the turbo from water would have to be fabbed up, $200

A fuel system upgrade would run you $1000

Meth kit $600

Exhaust, $600

Valve body upgrade $750

Mics other stuff to make it work, $1000- $3000

So if you went this way it would end up costing you a lot less but stll about as much as buying a much faster sports car.

Building sleepers is really a project for those that have a lot of money and just want to do something different (or they want to make money at the track), it is not the best way to get a fast car or it would not be a sleeper.

Got to make sure you really want to spend that much time and effort on the 4runner and that you will be happy with the results knowing you could have gone faster for cheaper and looked better doing it by getting another car.

In my case I decided to just mildy mod the 4runner for now and use it as a backup truck when my MR2 was down and then focus on building the MR2. The MR2 is WAY faster and more fun to drive then the 4runner.