Topic: L52 swap to G52 1983 4x4 truck?

[oldschool64bus]

So my leaky trans finally gave up a few weeks back on my way to work. Turning off a main road I heard a nice loud BANG and lost 1st 2nd and reverse. 3rd 4th and 5th still work lol. Long story short I picked up a G52 from an 84 4runner for $200. What am I in store for? I swear I read something about the G series are longer overall by 4 inches or so, will my factory crossmember work or do I have to step up to a Budbuilt with the ubolts?

[1985CRAWLER]

yes the factory crossmember wont bolt up anymore, you will also have to change up the drivelines as well and the shifters wont be in the same spot in the cab.

but its worth the swap, G series tranny is stronger than a L52, better yet if you can find a W56 to swap in.

replace the output and input seals on the new tranny before it goes in just for cheap insurance

[toyodaaddict]

X 2 that the swap is worth it, I would encourage anyone with a first gen to go to the newer longer trans, when the time comes. I went dual cases/ w56  at the same time with a budbuilt bud B crossmember. My cousin is running w56/single case and used his stock crossmember with u bolts over the frame. If you go with the g series now, the w56 will be a bolt in swap down the road, so dont worry about that to much.   1985CRAWLER pretty much covered whats required .

[oldschool64bus [OP]]

X 2 that the swap is worth it, I would encourage anyone with a first gen to go to the newer longer trans, when the time comes. I went dual cases/ w56  at the same time with a budbuilt bud B crossmember. My cousin is running w56/single case and used his stock crossmember with u bolts over the frame. If you go with the g series now, the w56 will be a bolt in swap down the road, so dont worry about that to much.   1985CRAWLER pretty much covered whats required .

Do you have any idea what ubolts your cousin used with the stock cross member? I hate to do it but I'm trying to do this on the cheap for now just so I can get my truck back on the road. It's starting to get cold and I don't want to ride my bike to work anymore lol.

[toyodaaddict]

The square stock Toyota ones, I believe. That's what I use. He may have had to elongate some of the holes in the crossmember, Im not sure on that ,but he was able to make it work without to much trouble. Don't feel bad about using u bolts. My BudBuilt Bud B crossmember is designed to use u bolts over the frame and Ive been running it street and trail for about 5-6 years trouble free. 

[oldschool64bus [OP]]

I saw that one of his site, just dont have the money to blow on one

[1985CRAWLER]

good idea as well is to once you have the u-bolts all tight and the crossmember where you want it you can tack weld the ubolts in place so they dont move around on you, my buddy did this after everytime he had to drop the tcase or when the clutch needed to be done the ubolts didnt move out of place plus he wheeled the truck alot and the the crossmember didnt move at all with u bolts tacked in.

just an idea if you go that route

[toyodaaddict]

Alright, I just called my cousin about this and it may not be quite as straight forward as I thought  . I couldnt quite picture what he was talking about. He said he had to flip the crossmember around and make two new mounts, but no welding was required and it was ''real easy''. I dont understand what he meant by ''make two new mounts" . I thought he just slid the crossmember back and dropped u bolts over the frame to mount it. He confirmed that he used stock square u bolts.  Hopefully you can figure it out  .

[oldschool64bus [OP]]

Hmmm. Reading on Budbuilts site it says "1979 through 1983 Pickup, Single Case Crossmember. Also available with a drivetrain lift if you have a body lift or are willing to cut your floor.

Will work with a newer (84-95) 5 speed trans with the addition of 2 ubolts. In this application, you bolt the front holes of the crossmember in the rear holes in the frame, since the transmission is longer. Then a pair of stock rear u bolts ( or equivalent ) can go up over the frame and thru the rear slots of the crossmember."

I wonder if I can do the same with the factory crossmember for now.

[OVRAROK]

I wouldn't see why it wouldn't work

[toyodaaddict]

In this application, you bolt the front holes of the crossmember in the rear holes in the frame, since the transmission is longer. Then a pair of stock rear u bolts ( or equivalent ) can go up over the frame and thru the rear slots of the crossmember."

I wonder if I can do the same with the factory crossmember for now.

I got a look at my cousins setup, this is exactly how he did it, using a stock crossmember. He had me all confused over the phone, in fact I dont think he really remembered how he had done it. Sorry about the confusion

[oldschool64bus [OP]]

Its cool, gotta ask to find out lol.