Hey localboi86,
Pretty cool stuff. The 3.4 is a proper 6-cylinder Truck engine attempt by Toyota. Toyota 6cyls initially had a bad rap because of the outgoing 3.0-liter the 3.4 replaced, but I don't like passing too much blame on the 3.0 as it was just a stroked Camry engine trying to cover a needed gap, namely Nissan kicking Toyota's butt in the mid 80s. Nissan came out with a throttle body injected 3.0-liter 6cyl in 1986 (the VG30i) and left Toyota scrambling for answers. They slapped a Turbo onto the good old faithful 2.4-liter 22R-E 4cyl which didn't do so well, so two years later in 1988 they came out with the only SOHC 6cyl I think they've ever made and tossed it in their trucks. It wasn't until the T100 came out when Toyota introduced the quad cam 3.4 to the tune of 40 more TQ and HP in a larger displacement package that takes up less room under the hood. Read vastly more efficient. If you search Google for turbocharged 3.4s you'll find stock internals can handle upwards to 400 HP. Pretty impressive for an engine that was never intended to see any boost.
Going back to why your buddies convinced you to get a Toyota in the first place, I'd like to quickly share what makes these things so much fun. Back in the 70s it was common to find CJs and FJ40s with Chevy 283 V8 swaps. Many Toyota Land Cruiser grills carried the Chevrolet badge and even custom "Chevota" emblems were made. Ford 289 swaps were around and Danny Warden - one of the original LC enthusiasts - really liked swapping in Pontiac V6s and even offered conversion parts to complete the job.
Then in 1979 Toyota introduced a 4WD version of their little wimpy pickup (called a Hilux in foreign markets), complete with a 96 horsepower 2.2-liter carbureted 4-banger. Back then people would either swap in a V6 Buick 225 or 231, or they'd get teased by stalling their 4-banger over and over at the high altitudes and steep climbs, having to get winched by a "real truck".
Marlin bought his red 1980 longbed September 17, 1983, but despite being a big-time Chevy guy, decided to stick with the 4cyl and did all sorts of stuff from Webber carburetors to hybrid 2.2-liter cylinder heads atop later-model 2.4-liter engine blocks. It wasn't until April of 1994 when he increased torque through gear multiplication instead of larger, heavier, less efficient 6- and 8-cyl carbureted engines. The rest as they say is history!
Take a look at this example of what the Marlin Crawler Transfer Case can do for a Toyota Truck. This is my 1981 short bed with a 4-cylinder engine and 37" MTR tires. It's final drive ratio was originally 37:1, but now with a Marlin Crawler it's new "Crawl Ratio" has become 511:1. In this video my engine is idling in 2WD at 800 RPM with no one in the cab. When you take the small amount of torque my 4-cylinder makes at idle with the throttle fully closed (what, 10 ft-lbs?) and multiply it by 511, take away a small percent for parasitic losses and the result is more torque than what the tires of a V10 Dodge Viper sees at full throttle and peak power in 1st gear. Pretty stink'n amazing, this Marlin Crawler thing
Marlin's red 1980 from my previous post boasts a Crawl Ratio in excess of 1,000 to 1, which is about ten times more torque at a closed-throttle-idle than even a 16-cylinder quad-turbo Bugatti Veryon engine at full tilt. This is seriously impressive beyond words.
So now we can use our light weight, small & compact Toyota trucks and completely dominate the off road world of larger more powerful 6- and 8-cylinder engines. We are exchanging wheel speed for torque, which is why Marlin created the term "Rock Crawling", but short of desert racing, this is what off roading is about in the first place: Going slow and getting to camp in one piece, taking your time and enjoying all of God's nature. And then, whenever you don't need to Crawl, when you don't need extra torque and extra traction, you simply shift out of the Marlin Crawler which reverts the truck back to it's 100% stock gearing. My same 511:1 1981 truck on 37" tires makes 20 MPG as it cruises the highways at 65 MPH.
Of course having a 6-cylinder yourself only makes the Marlin Crawler that much more impressive. However I feel there is a LOT to be said about doing the impossible with a little 4-cylinder, especially in today's world of corrupt power-hungry politicians threatening to take away public lands:
The Marlin Crawler is the epitome of Treading Lightly.
Regards,
BigMike
