rmz

Hi guys,

I'm going to rebuild the engine and probably swap out the trans of a 95 runner 3.0, 4x4.

What I'm trying to decide is whether it would be easier to just remove the body off of the frame and do everything I need to do rather than removing the engine and trans out of the body.

Any one have experience taking the body off the frame? Is it easily removed?

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Also: where's the cheapest place to get an engine rebuild kit???

86tuning

No.

stick or auto?

Take the engine out of the truck, it's not that hard.

Why are you overhauling it?

iamsuperbleeder

I've found it's easier to remove my spare tire if I remove my bed



















just mess'n with ya bro... I seem to be in that kinda mood tonight for some reason...



Welcome to the forums man!

rmz

I am getting the truck for free. The girlfriend's dad blew a head gasket and still drove it for some time after, so the engine took a beating. I'm going to at least do head gaskets, but I don't want to find out that a bearing is bad after I do all that. Rebuild kits are only a couple hundred, and I have everything I need to do the job efficiently.

The trans wasn't shifting right (I only saw it for a few mins), and I suspect a new one may be in order.

I'm thinking that if I'm going to do both of those jobs, it might be easier to just take the body off the frame and simultaneously deal with any rust/damage and coat everything to make it last.

86tuning:
I have removed engines from cars before, and I know it's not all that hard, but thanks for your encouragement. I am wondering how it compares to removing the body though. It's an auto btw (my next thread will be asking if a manual is compatible without too many mods).

I've taken the bed/cab off a pickup before and it wasn't that bad, I just haven't done it on one of these... and this is a 4runner, not a pickup... much different? (side note: I wonder how hard it would be to turn it into a pickup... can't be that bad...?????)

lastly: where's the cheapest place to get a head and/or engine rebuild kit for this car?

95RunnerSR5

the search tool is your friend. it will answer everything you need to know about swapping in a manual and where to get rebuild kits.

Cyberman

It's worth it, if you need to work on the frame, or the underbody. A little easier if it were a pickup though.

iamsuperbleeder

I'm not too sure that I'd feel safe under that...

well, not any safer than I did under this contraption to devised to SAS a Taco, lmao











Surprisingly, it's was actually sturdy!


Well, I dunno if it was REAL sturdy...

but the SAS was completed successfuly anyway

a4runnerfreak

That musta been built by some edmacated rednecks!!!!!!

iamsuperbleeder

you better believe it!

Cyberman

I never actually worked underneath my setup. I just rolled the frame out from underneath and worked on it in the other bay.

InternetRoadkill

The body is not that hard to remove. The hard part is finding a way to lift it high enough to clear the engine. You need to lift it about 4 feet. It makes working on the engine and tranny way easier.

If you have a way to lift the body, I'd say the amount of work to remove the body is actually less than trying to pick the engine and tranny with the body in place. Keep in mind the body weighs in excess of 1000lbs.

Cyberman

This is a pretty foolproof setup for moving the body around. Of course, you need to make sure you don't get fools to help!