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My dream project... turbo diesel Toyota

Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
Just wanted to share this idea with you folks. I want to build a truck that get's great mileage, is very driveable and inexpensive to operate. I would like to build it well enough that I could replace my Tacoma with it.

With the rising price of fuel, it would be great to have a vehicle that didn't get more expensive to operate, each time oil demand went up. I loved my old Dodge w/ the Cummins & it got great mileage considering the truck it was in. So, with that in mind, here's the outline of my dream truck.

- 3rd Gen Toyota 4x4 truck, extended cab. Gut the drivetrain and chop out the IFS. (Here's the body style I'm taking about...)

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- Swap the engine for a Cummins 4BT (lil' brother to the Cummins 5.9 in Dodges). It's a 4 cyl diesel, weighs about 450-500 lbs and can make 250hp & 500ft/lbs in marine trim. Stock, older engines make about 110hp & 300ft/lbs (Motor can get 20+ MPG, I'd think in a light rig like a Toy PU, it would be mid to high 20's, especially with the overdrive.)

- NV4500 transmission, Chevy NP241 T-Case.

- Ford Dana 44 front & Ford 9 inch rear. Full width, 65" wide. Stock 3.55 gears, to keep the RPM's low.


The engine needs a bit of clearance between the axle & oil pan, so 3-4" springs should do the job. A set of 33 or 35" tires should make it look about right. A pop-up camper in the bed would make it a roadtrip rig. Toss on an ARB Bull Bar bumper, a snorkle and a Warn winch and it would be ready for anything.

I'd love to be able to make bio-diesel at home, run my dream rig on it and be able to tell the oil companys where to stick it. :cool:

Anywho, I want to make this a reality. Anyone know of a 4BT or a clean, 3rd Gen Toyota PU for sale??
 
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I Lean

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
Have you talked to Andre? (dieslcruisrhead) He could probably give you some pointers, I'm pretty sure that's a 4BT in his Cruiser.
 
Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
I Lean said:
Have you talked to Andre? (dieslcruisrhead) He could probably give you some pointers, I'm pretty sure that's a 4BT in his Cruiser.
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I haven't talked to him, but I've been reading up on his site. He's a 4BT swap & bio-diesel guru, there's a ton of info on there.

Andres site- http://cruisers.shoumatoffmedia.com/4bt.html

I also learned that Proffitts Cruisers in Delta, CO has done numerous 4BT swaps. Delta is about 35 min from me, so I might have to see how they can help.


The Proffitts Cruisers 4BT conversion site- http://www.proffittscruisers.com/diesel/cummins/index.html



So far, it seems like it's a bit hard to find a 4BT engine. I haven't looked really hard, but they're kinda rare.
 
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sibeta

Registered User
Location
St. George
they arent that hard to find, I see them all over the internet. The problem is that people want a ton of money for them. People that have them know that they are a good motor and want a ton of money. I looked into buying one a while back for a project and i was able to locate a whole bunch all over the place, mostly back east. There are usually a few on eGay.
 
Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
sibeta said:
they arent that hard to find, I see them all over the internet. The problem is that people want a ton of money for them. People that have them know that they are a good motor and want a ton of money. I looked into buying one a while back for a project and i was able to locate a whole bunch all over the place, mostly back east. There are usually a few on eGay.
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I've seen them around, perhaps I should have said 'hard to find... for a good price'. They seem to go for $2500-3000, which is a lot of money for a used, 4 cyl that makes 100hp. :D

There's currently one on EBay, but there are a few Box Trucks up for auction here in CO that have 4BT's, I just don't have $4k sitting around.
 
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dieslcruisrhead

Registered User
Location
Park City & Heber City Utah
I've thought long and hard about this too, in both a mini truck and another cruiser.. the 4BT is actually bigger than you think, weighs close to 800 lbs (crazy uh, but makes sense considering the Dodge is 1300!), and NV4500 and Chevy 241 is great but all big and bulky, too big IMO for a mini truck. But I am building this next cruiser to have a 4BT, NV5600, and built dana 300 so that answers that...

But if I had that truck, I would 1) SFAS in teh front as indicated. Probably do a VW 1.9 TDI engine. It is detuned by VW but still powers even the Jetta wagons etc really well. 4500lb Jetta or Passat wagon easily 5th gear up parleys at 90+ if you want. and that is at 97 hp. You can tune easily up to 130 hp so that is what I'd do. Pull the electronics (easiest route) and put in the Bosch VE pump, so it is literally a 1 wire engine, like the Cummins. Then use ACME's VW to Toyota adapter ring. Keep your 5 speed or whatever and keep the Toy t-case. Then you keep all the Toy PU awesome gearing options and strength etc. Basically it will be like a balzy V6 or something like that in the end.

Or, you could build.. Little known fact but the 23 spline NV4500 ("Dodge Standard Duty" model) allows for a 88-89 Dodge NP241 (which built in slip yoke eliminator), and still pass side drop. My setup is 4BT/NV4500/Dodge SD NP241. I saw one of these NP241s in P'N'P a little while back...

So my $.02 on it. But for all I know this combo might actually fit in a pickup very well. It would power the living **** out of it of course :)

Andre
 
Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
Thanks for jumping in Andre! I didn't realize a 4BT was that heavy! I thought I read 450-500lbs, but 800!! :eek:

I considered the VW, but with the low stock power I didn't consider it for long. After looking a little deeper into it, they seem to make plenty of power with a few mods. 250ft/lbs isn't hard to reach, which isn't much compared to a 4BT, but it would do the job just fine. Seems like there's plenty of aftermarket support, considering you can adapt a VW TDI to a Toyota 5 speed. Plus, not having to lift it, do a SAS and all that makes the process much cheaper/easier.

I'm going to keep looking into the VW engine for now... the 4BT would have a much higher 'bitchen' factor though.... :D
 
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Milner

Milner

formerly "rckcrlr"
Location
Hiding behind a camera
There's an old Mercedes diesel in my backyard;) I know nothing about it, except it has been sitting in a wood trailer for the 7 years I have lived there....I think it is a5 cyl:confused:
 
Hickey

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
Location
Grantsville, Utah
When I worked at Frito, some of the step vans had the 4bt in them. They got as high as 24 MPG in those big shoe boxes. I brokedown in Kanab once and got to talking to the local diesel shop guy. He had bought an old Frito step van and put the 4BT into his 91 Chevy. Said he was getting 31 MPG.

As far as 3rd gen toys... did you look at that one for sale in Boise with the front end damage? It was on her a while back for $900.
 
Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
Hickey said:
When I worked at Frito, some of the step vans had the 4bt in them. They got as high as 24 MPG in those big shoe boxes. I brokedown in Kanab once and got to talking to the local diesel shop guy. He had bought an old Frito step van and put the 4BT into his 91 Chevy. Said he was getting 31 MPG.

As far as 3rd gen toys... did you look at that one for sale in Boise with the front end damage? It was on her a while back for $900.
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Have any contacts over at Frito Lay still... perhaps a mechanic or someone in charge of the fleet?

Got a link to that truck? I don't remember seeing it.
 
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dieslcruisrhead

Registered User
Location
Park City & Heber City Utah
Greg said:
Thanks for jumping in Andre! I didn't realize a 4BT was that heavy! I thought I read 450-500lbs, but 800!! :eek:

I considered the VW, but with the low stock power I didn't consider it for long. After looking a little deeper into it, they seem to make plenty of power with a few mods. 250ft/lbs isn't hard to reach, which isn't much compared to a 4BT, but it would do the job just fine. Seems like there's plenty of aftermarket support, considering you can adapt a VW TDI to a Toyota 5 speed. Plus, not having to lift it, do a SAS and all that makes the process much cheaper/easier.

I'm going to keep looking into the VW engine for now... the 4BT would have a much higher 'bitchen' factor though.... :D
Click to expand...

250 ft/lbs especially out of a diesel would knock the socks off that rig. the 4BT is about 250 ft/lbs out of the box and same thing... :)
 
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dieslcruisrhead

Registered User
Location
Park City & Heber City Utah
I don't they can sell them direct anymore. Believe me I tried. A ton of them just went on dovebid.com... There is another one coming up, but all but one are in the central /east coast. Might be the last of them. I love diesels but honestly $2500 or even $3000 versus a gasser just isn't worth it when you can get a good fuel injected V6 or V8 for as low as $1500. Even to me :rolleyes:
 
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grntaco

Registered User
You could pick up a hi-lux front half off of Ebay for 2,000-3,500. I was thinking of doing that since everything would be there to swap it over even a front axle and steering to put on the truck.
 
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