I haven't been here for awhile, so here is an update on my Cruiser. To answer a few questions first: One, the old Toyota 5 speed was a 83' because the original 82' had the bell housing cast as part of the tranny. Advanced Adapters sells a bell that fits Toyota trannys to Chevy engines. I don't know exactly which model tranny it was, either a W or a G I believe. Two, when the Toyota 5-speed went out both times, it wasn't the case that failed. It was the cluster gears. When they went out it left me with 4th gear only.
The fix for the tranny problems was the New Venture NV4500 5-speed. The one that I located is a early years version that has the Granny gear first and revers. If you thinking of using a NV4500, search the internet about them before you buy! There are various versions of them. Also, mine came from a Chevy 1 ton four by four!
The latest woa's! Now that I have the drive line strengthened enough, I'm blowing out pinions. This is the second time the 82' SR5 axle couldn't handle the extra power. Even driven very conservitively this last time Toyota 8" axles can't handle it. The problem is the third member only supports the pinion on one bearing at the front of the case.
I'm now researching Ford 9" axles. They should handle the power because their pinions are supported by two bearing! One at the same position as the Toyota design and another on the other side of the pinion gear it's self. Yes they have a now out the end of the pinion like the input shaft on your tranny to the engine. This suspends the gear its self between the two bearings. The problem I'm having is inding which Ford trucks used a 6 lug pattern on the axles. I don'w want to have five lug rears and six lug fronts.
