I know everyone hates on the 3.0 but I can get a complete manual trans 4x4 3.0 for cheap with a broken frame. Has it been done? Motor is strong and well maintained with under 100k on it. Is it worth the effort? Thoughts and opinions welcome!

sent from my stupid phone

 

nope not worth it. lots of work......for no real gain. the 3.0 is a boat anchor the r150 is a good tranny and the chain t case on the back is crap. waste of time

 

Dont do it!!!!

 

Yeah, seriously.
About 700 bucks to convert the chain drive to gear drive output for the T-case, probably a set of head gaskets and maybe heads, fresh high-flow exhaust to help prevent the HG issue of the 3.0, tons of headache with wiring, some fab work for the motor and tranny mounts, cutting the floor of your truck up to relocate your shifters, new drivelines, fitment issues, cooling issues, making the gauges work for a first-gen. All for about 22 effective Hp gain, almost no added torque, and 5-7 MPG worse fuel economy.
I would not do this.

I would slap that driveline in a buggy or truggy without a second thought, though.

 

I do understand the hassle. With that being said this will be an off road ride mainly with occasional runs to town on the weekends. And I thought I read somewhere that you could use a different bell housing to run the older style transmission with the v6. And as far as fuel economy goes.... my 22r gets about 10 on 33 inch tires. The truck that I may buy constantly got 18-20 city driving. So that would be a lot better.

sent from my stupid phone

 

If you are going to bother swapping at least do a 3.4 which is a cheap engine and miles ahead of the 3.0
They call it the 3.slow for a reason

 

With that I'm going to be in way more money. I can buy then complete 3.0 truck for 400

sent from my stupid phone

 

I find it hilarious how all of you merely beat down the 3.0 as if you don't know what you're talking about, and you really don't.

The head gasket problem on the 3.0 is caused by one thing. Heat. Sure the Crossover loops around the back of the motor, combine that with cast block, aluminum heads, weak head studs and a composite head gasket. This is the reason why the head gasket blows.

But its been 26 years with that knowledge... ARP makes much stronger head studs, LC engineering has MLS ( multi layer stainless steel ) head gaskets, and Doug Thorley makes headers that deletes the crossover. Combine all three of those and your headgasket ( according to LC engineering ) is considered a "thing of the past"

I own an 88 4Runner with probably one of the OLDEST 3.0s ( #5140 off the boat in 1988, which is the first year for the v6 ) and it just now blew its head gasket. The truck itself has 206k miles. How is that considered an "issue" or a "boat anchor" as some put it? 206k miles and 26 years old. I'd say that's just general maintenance.

With that being said, If you can get the 3.0 for cheap and you want to swap it in to beat the what 80 horse? of the 22r, go for it. you'll be gaining 60 horsepower, and a bit more torque. There's also nothing wrong with the R150 and even used it in the 3.4 v6 later on. There's also nothing wrong with the chain driven transfercase. I've owned multiple Toyotas with it and I've never had an issue. and again, they used it in the later 3.4 v6s, just with a driver drop and not a passenger.

Anyway, Hope this helps.

 

Ty for the words of hope and wisdom! For the price and being able to get everything needed to do the swap I think I'm going to do it this summer!

sent from my stupid phone