Just a little background info before I ask the question.....

Just had a "new" used engine installed in my 88 4Runner.

Bought from what I thought was a reliable source....

Had a friend do the work at his shop and he did it in three days as a favor for me.

I completely resealed the engine, installed a new water pump, timing belt and tensioners.

Well after all this work was done, the engine has a knock in it.....

So my question.....

I know it is possible, but has anyone replaced the rod bearings while the engine is still in the truck.
I have a 4 inch lift on the truck, so I can get the oil pan off and get to all the rod caps...
A few words of advice would help me get this done. I just need to get this thing to run for a short time while I rebuild a new motor to install at a later date.

 

I checked my rod bearings while the engine was still in the truck (4" lift as well). If the bearing is bad enough, the cap will wiggle worse than the others. They can be replaced as well, but when I found mine, I knew that the crank needed machining. The problem with this method is knowing exactly what size bearing to replace the old one with. A standard size one might do the same thing.