4.3 v6 in my 4runner?

[Tooele4Runner]

I have heard of a few people doing this. I have a doner 4.3 and I was wondering how hard it would be to put in my 85 4runner. I think that I would try to keep the 4.3 fuel injection. I was also wondering about the transmission & Tcase. Will they hold up? If they won't I was thinking about a 465 tranny and a ? Tcase. If anyone has done this let me know. Thanks, Scott.

[ToyRunner1]

The t-case will be fine. What year 4.3? A W56 will hold up to a stock V8 for a while, but would eventually need to be replaced. If it's a later year 4.3, the HO ones, the stock trans will be very iffy. An SM465 is a good trans, but no over drive. If you can find an NV4500 that is the best of both worlds. Granny gear with OD. I personally like the auto. Advance Adapters sells all the adapters that you'd need, but they're not cheap. As far as the wiring goes, I don't know if there is anyone that makes a direct "bolt in" harness, but it's not too hard if you know what you're doing.

[Cody]

yea, its not a bad set up, but stay with a newer one. The 700R-4 is a good option for everyday use. It's a simple conversion either way, but if I were going to do it all over, I'd go with a small block.

[Tooele4Runner]

The t-case will be fine. What year 4.3? A W56 will hold up to a stock V8 for a while, but would eventually need to be replaced. If it's a later year 4.3, the HO ones, the stock trans will be very iffy. An SM465 is a good trans, but no over drive. If you can find an NV4500 that is the best of both worlds. Granny gear with OD. I personally like the auto. Advance Adapters sells all the adapters that you'd need, but they're not cheap. As far as the wiring goes, I don't know if there is anyone that makes a direct "bolt in" harness, but it's not too hard if you know what you're doing.

What came with the 4500? The reason that I was thinking about the 465 is that I already have one. The 4500 would be nicer (overdrive :) ). I do want to stick with a standard transmission what ever I do.

[ToyRunner1]

I am by no means an expert on the 4500, but this is what I (think) I know. They came in 3/4 ton or larger pickups. My understanding is that the Dodge one is the better choice due to a lower granny. I believe it's in the 6 to 1 range. They are very heavy, but so is the 465. AA makes all kinds of adapters for them, so that shouldn't be an issue. Too bad you're not closer, I'd let you drive my 4Runner. I bet you'd like having the auto off road :D I'm planning on being in the area around Christmas, but won't be bringing my 4Runner. I should have my Jeep though. I have family in Clinton/Roy area. Is that anywhere near Tooele?

[marvin82]

Ok-
NV4500 there are two versions, the early GM version has the 6.34:1 granny however it was only there for two years ('93-94 I believe) then they went to 5.80 or so. This is the granny that all of the dodge NV4500's have. IF you are wanting to swap a nv4500 in you toy, you will need a GM version for AA conversion to work, they do (or at least did not) make an adapter for the dodge tranny. If you have a dodge tranny you would need to replace the inputa and output shaft on the tranny. The adpter is OH MY GOD expensive and you will need two. One for the transfercase and one for the bellhousing. I have been through this...... there are two bellhousings depending upon which year tranny you have as well. The NV4500 is a great tranny from 1 tons, long and HEAVY, I believe it is about 100# dry and longer than the sm420. You also have to cut the output shaft off about 4 inches for clearance. (I was taking it easy and it took me about 5 hours because I didn't want it to get too hot. Now that I have said all of that, do I think it will be worth it. Hell yeah! There is just a lot to look into before jumping into the NV4500 swap. The good thing with the mini's and the 4runners is that we have more room to work with. With my 4.3, nv4500, dual trnasfercases my front and rear drive line are going to be within 4" of eachother. I am hoping to only need one spare drive line.
:beer:
Hope this helps.

[Tooele4Runner]

So the Toyota transfer case will be stong enough? Also how expensive are the adapters? The GM version won't bolt up to a 4.3?

[marvin82]

I have seen the toy t-case hold up to a mildly driven v-8. IF you try hard enough you could probably break it with the 4 banger. If you use commoon sense you should be fine!

[ToyRunner1]

I snapped a 700R4 case in half and did no damage to my transfer, and it's even the weaker V6 model. I also took out a set of V6 R&P without any damage to the transfer. I'm running more engine than most V8s, so you should be fine.

[NavyDood]

ToyRunner1.... How did you manage to do that to the 700r4?

Tooele4runner.... As for the toy t-case, you should have no problems especially if you upgrade to the 23-spline shaft. If you run a 700r4 behind the 4.3 (which is what I am in work on right now), order the 700r4 to toy t-case with the 23-spline output and order a 23-spline input for the toy-tcase. This setup should be 99% bullet proof.

[ToyRunner1]

ToyRunner1.... How did you manage to do that to the 700r4?
Well, there was this Mustang GT that wanted to play, and then there was this little red guy on my shoulder :o Anyways, when I hit second gear it actually cracked the case in half. According to Grand National gurus, the factory specs were extremely low for "EPA" issues. Since then I've tuned it down some and added a much lower RPM torque converter to bring it more in line with the wheeling aspect. It wasn't built as a "ricer", so I don't really care how fast off the line it is. It's still not a slouch, but not in the league it used to be. Now if there was just something I could do about the 8mpg :eek:

[sinwagn]

If any one is looking for a 4.3 P.M. me for info.. :yes: