I know there are a lot of threads out regarding engine swaps, but I couldn't find any information concerning desert/prerunner trucks. I have a caged long travel 92 extra cab with the 3.0 and 5 spd. The engine was rebuilt about 30k miles ago. At that time I added a cam, headers to a magnaflow turndown, a aftermarket throttle body, and a K&N Intake system. I was wondering what would be the best swap for my truck that would give a great deal of power without overloading the front end of the truck with too much weight. Ideally, by the time I swap motors, I'll be running most of the cooling systems such as auxillary fans and an aluminum radiator @ the rear of the truck to help balance the weight. At first the Chevy 350 swap caught my eye, specifically like an Camaro based LS1 engine because it is made of alumnium, but the LT1 iron block woudl do as well. I was just wondering how the reliable these engines would be under grueling desert toture in comparison to, lets say, a Toyota V8 or a superchared 3.4? I know toyota engines are legendary for staying alive, but I just need more oomf then my 3.0 is giving me, and I am afraid that forced induction through the 3.4 may give me more trouble than it is worth. On the other hand, I bet the 3.4 is a great deal cheaper and easier to swap, not to mention it is probably a crap load lighter. So I was wondering if anyone had an imput or advice. I just don't want to end up caking the front of my truck into the ground when I ineviatably get airborne. Right now I am still a little hesitant and I only have the 3.0 The truck as of now, is set up for prerunning, but soon I'm hoping to start altering it to be more race oriented. So yeah sorry that I am rambling on, I am just stuck at a major crossroad, and I don't want to make the wrong decision and end up regretting it later (not to mention be down a couple of grand ) So yeah any wise words are appreciated...hell even stupid ones too

 

2jzge ?

 

2jz-gte!

(or an LS1)

 

If you're considering a V8 have a look at Cebby's swap: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f161/1uzfe-swap-into-2nd-gen-4runner-54771/

Also more on engine swaps in the Fab Shop folder:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f88/

 

3.4 all the way! We just put one in that race truck that I showed you pics of about a week ago. It isn't that hard to swap a 3.4 into a 3.0, the engines are almost identical mounting wise. You can use a 3.0 5 speed tranny in the 3.4 too. You just have to get an engine that had a 5 speed already in it because the early 3.4s had 2 different crankshafts for the automatic and stick. Basicly an engine out of a auto didn't have a spot to put a pilot bearing in the crank to make it a stick shift. To the best of my knowlege 2000+ 3.4s had a universal crank so you could make it a stick or automatic. Your best bet for an engine is to buy a wrecked T-100. You need to use the T-100 oil pan anyway. IMO, Offroad Soloutions is way too much money for a plug and play wiring harnass. I have seen totaled toyota tacomas and t-100s go for as low as 1200 for the whole truck, then you can have the wiring harnass, engine, trans and since you live in CA. all the SMOG crap like evap canisters is you want it to be street legal. ORS will cost you a whole lot more than that. I don't recommend running a S/C 3.4 for prerunning and that's from personal experence. Even with the URD system and 7th injector they will still run too lean and go on a meltdown.

 

Supra swap?!?! I think it's the 5zhesomething or other. Get the ford intercooler for it and get full boost at 2500rpms!! Muhahahaha No joke, just wish I can find the link to the guy who did it on his runner, maybe on pirate?

 

If your plan is to eventualy race it don't use forced induction. MDR will allow it, but if you ever want to race it in Mexico (for example) with SCORE, that is against the rules. So the Baja 500 and 1000 are a no go. If you only want to run MDR only than that's another story. SCORE rules state that the vehicle must have an engine made by the manufactuer of the body that the vehicle is representing. So that means no Chevy engines in anything other than Chevys etc. No forced induction is allowd either.

 

I would vote for (in oreder of awesomeness)

1) Corvette LS1 (plenty of power possibility there)
2) 1UZ-FE (lots of power, very light, aftermarket available)
3) 5.0 Mustang (Easy to work on, lots of aftermarket)
4) 7MGTE (Seems like a good choice, but I would prefer the V-8's)

 

With the URD fuel kit you can adjust the A/F to anything you want it to be. If you want to run super rich like 9 or 10 you can do that. Don't know why you would want to that rich though.

So Edge is this a 2WD or 4WD truck you have?

 

All it takes is WB and a proper tune. Like mt_goat said, you can dump as much fuel as you want in (especially if you have an O2 signal conditioner / AFR Seonsor Calibrtator to avoid closed loop difficulties). It's quite easy for me to tune my engine to 12:1 if I want to (and in Open Loop it is tuned to 12:1 right now).

 

7mge or 7mgte... I plan on putting a 7mgte in my truck really soon. Visit supracharged.com for more info on Supra swaps.

 

I would definitely swap in teh 3.4 V6. It' snot a difficult swap with your truck. I think even your engine mounts can be reused. I believe it is teh same block as the 3.0

They produce a good amount of power and the supercharged ones I've ridden in are awesome. Plus the weight should be the same so no handling surprises for you.

 

Wow thanks for all the advice. By the way mt goat, my truck was a 4x4 but the transfer case, front diff, and axles were removed to save weight and also so there was less stuff to break

I had a supra with a 7MGE, and I would imagine the 7MGTE would be could too, but as many people were saying, I don't know how much I can trust a turbo'd motor out there such as 7MGTE or the 2JZGTE (which is an awesome motor by the way). And I understand that SCORE won't let me race unless I have a toyota motor in the thing, but now I am just thinking about making this one into a play truck and getting involved with another truck as a race truck.

I love the idea of the LS1, but I wonder how difficult it would be to with in the engine bay when I have the radiator and other cooling systems moved to the rear of the truck. I am also worried about how much it weighs in comparison to the V6. How hard is it to smog the LS1 when it is in my yota anyway, cause I still want my truck to be street legal.

As far as the 3.4, I do like the simplicity of the swap and also the price, but I was looking for around 250-300 hp out of my truck. It may sound like a lot, but if I choose to merely have it as a play truck, then the more the merrier right? I have heard about the 3.4's melting down when they are boosted and run hard out in the desert, so I am kinda worried about that too.

Again thanks for all the help, but I am still in need of some guidance. Please anything is appreciated

 

13b rotary less weight than the v8's

 

How about the 2JZ-GE? Still has about 280 hp, maybe get a Stroker kit for it if you want some more power out of it.

 

I thought the 2JZGE had 220 hp, or at least the one in my friends 93 supra did. And I don't know about the rotary engines, I heard they were a lot more trouble than they were worth. But then again that is just what I heard, I could be totally wrong too.

 

I thought the 2JZ-GE had 225hp from the factory and the 2JZ-GTE has 320hp. I think 280 is a bit generous.

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking....

Anyway the two engines that seem most promising for me are the 3.4 and the LS1, I have seen a lot of 3.4's swapped, but no LS1's. I have heard of the Chevy 350 based motors being swapped all the way up to the LT1. but I have been told that he LS1 uses an entirely different mounting system than its older 350 sister engines. It would be sweet to have tha kind of an engine, but I was hoping that there would be at least some kind of mounting kit for the LS1. I know there are some for the Chevy 350, but I was leaning more towards the aluminum based LS1 over the heavier iron LT1... I wonder what the actual weight difference is anyway. If anyone knows any places that offer conversion kits or anything, your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

i've worked on many buggies with 13bt, they are pretty strong motors and can last if taken care of just stay away from the 13b rew's it can get too pricey with those

 

I dunno, I just haven't been to found of rotary engines since I had a run in with an FD3S Rx7. Not to mention, I dunno if my car will smog here in cali with one of those bad boys under the hood.