Zollman65

I'm not sure if I'm in the wrong section of this forum or not so let me know if I am. But I'm resurrecting my dads old 1978 sr5 its a long bed with a 20r engine in it. It is 2 wheel drive with ifs. I'm wanting to ultimately turn this into a 4x4 and lift it a bit. I want to get into this passion but I'm not sure where to start. I have no idea how 4x4 conversions work or what I'm going to need also I'm not sure where to start with lifting exactly. will a 20r even work for a 4x4?

What we've dont already:
After sitting in black berrys for the past 18 uears I decided I wanted to fix it up.
We pulled the fuel tank out expecting to see the inside completed covered in rust when we were surprised with just some stale fuel some water and some varnish on the walls. So that coating on the inside of the tank did it's job. We also checked the oil level it's good. We bottle fed the engine to see if it would run and it did. We opened up the carb and it is virtually spotless. We also did a compression test and the findings are as fallows:
Cylinder 1: 175 psi
Cylinder 2: 175 psi
Cylinder 3: 175 psi
Cylinder 4: 180 psi

Considering that this little truck has 121000 miles on it I feel like the compression is fairly good. So if anyone has any suggestions or comments on anything about this I would love to hear it.

We cleaned the inside of the fuel tank out to get the varnish out. And we're either going to buying a carb kit for the carb or buy a webber is it worth it?


I am being very optimistic about this thing I have tons of ideas that I think about every day so I'm going to list them and tell me what you think.

-cummins Diesel engine
-Chevy engine
-Rino lining the bed
-Rino lining the inside of the cab
-fabricating a new dash (the current one has some splits in it)
-converting it into a 4x4 with a solid front axle.
-suspension and body lift. What would be better?
-fabricating new bumpers
-putting a deep straight pipe on it
- converting it into a street legal crawler

So what would I need I've heard of people using Chevy parts on these toyotas
What Chevy parts would I need what engine would be best? is mine okay? Links or answers would be so helpful.
Thank you.



Also I tried looking for threads about my truck but I'm having a hard time finding anyone whos workin on anything older then a 1980 sr5

Here's a picture of it before and after I pressure washed it.

dsal_86Yota

Those old Yotas a sweet. If your gonna go c***y I would go dana 44s front and rear. By cummins do you mean a 4BT?
On the dash you can fix it. I fixed mine with some bondo and then fresh paint. If you wanna rhino line it you could just get the duplicolor bed armor kit.

redbayredneck

If the 20r runs, I'd keep it for a while. Use a Toyota front axle under it, and it will keep the tires tucked in the body for the most part (Some states don't allow the tires to stick out too far, full size axles can be a problem if you don't want to cut and narrow them.)

Also, suspension is always the best kind of lift imo. Whenever you do the solid axle up front it should lift it some, just lift the back to match.

Zollman65

Thanks for the idea on the Dana's what all do I need to convert my 2wheel drive to a 4wheel drive? Do you need any special adapters for the Dana's? And yes that's what I ment by the cummins do you think that would be to powerful for the differentials? Im just thanking ahead if i wanted to put it in down the road im just wanting to get started for now. That's a good idea so I'm not paying so much for the real Rino liner.
Thank you, dsal_86Yota

I'm pretty sure in oregon they don't have a problem with the wheels stockig out past the fenders there's quite a few trucks like that here. But I do think I'm going to keep the 20 r for a while.
Again though what components do I need for the drive line to lift it and what suspension components do I need to lift it?
Thank you redbayredneck

What about my compression results how do those sound? I Baught a weber carb I Baught the wk746-38 it's supposed to be a higher performance carb. I still need to order a fuel pump and strainer for the fuel tank but I'm probably going to do that tomorrow.

Thank you.

lmc

Sweet truck. Those compression numbers should be good, you can verify by searching for the spec for 20r's.

As stated above, I'd keep the 20r if it's running -- these trucks are more about gear reduction than power. Although more power is always good too, but I'd start with the other things first.

At this point, keep doing your research and plan out exactly what you want to do. Changes midway through are expensive and can kill motivation. For the 4WD conversion you'll need things like front axle, transfer case, steering components, suspension, etc. You'll have to do some fabrication to get it done. Sometimes have a complete donor truck for all the parts makes things easier.

You can use yota axles for (a little more) simplicity. If you want to go to the darkside and rock out on tons, check out pirate4x4.com. Plenty of resources there for toyotas on tons. While toyota axles can be built to handle 37's, anything larger you'll want to go with the brute strength of tons.

dsal_86Yota

If you wanna put a Cummins in it you'd better go Dana 60 cause of torque. Dana 44s would work but if you gonna put the Cummins in I'd go safe and go 60s. Especially if you put power upgrades .
For a 2 to 4 wheel swap you'll need front axle, rear axle(matching gear ratio)leaf springs, power steering box(from 4x4) transfer case, steel welder grinder jacks and a understanding wife/gf haha

lmc

Amen.