Topic: Toyota trans behind 4.3L

[Ghettofab88]

How many on here have converted to a 4.3L chevy and kept the stock 5spd manual?  How is it holding up and do you have to baby it to get it to hold up?

I've got a 1988 standard cab, shortbed pickup that I'm looking to make into a 4runner so I can take the family on wheeling trips in the future.  It has the usual stuff, SAS, duals, 35s, rear e-locker and front detroit.  Its got 256K miles on it and both the 22re and w56 are tired and need to be rebuilt.  I want to be able to drive this thing from cali to go exploring in colorado and go over 10,000ft passes without holding up everyone.  Seeing that it'll probably gain 1000lbs in the process of being rebuilt and its intended use I don't believe a rebuilt 22re would be a good choice, and a 3rz would be just keeping up.  So I've started looking at 4.3L chevy swaps.  I'd prefer to keep the truck manual trans even though I know it might be easier to swap in a 4l60e.

I like the way the toyota trannys shift and drive.  I don't want a granny geared trans like an sm420, 465 or nv4500.  I have a T18 in my jeep and its great for crawling, but the wide gear ratios are an issue on the street.

So how well would a W56 do behind a 4.3L?  I know some have done it, but I don't hear very much about them or their longevity.  I could also find an R150 trans and buy the adapter for my duals, but I'd rather not if I'm not gaining much in strength.  How much stronger is an R150 vs a W56?  I know the R151 turbo trans is the shizzle, but I doubt I'd be able to find one.

Thanks,
Kevo

[bigarms23]

im running a 92cpi 4.3 to my stock r150 yota trans and it works fine and i dont baby it did my swap 3yrs ago

[GrandKing]

Have a R150 behind my 4.3L cpi no problems but its in a samurai.

[Centsless]

I have a 93 CPI 4.3 and its mounted to a W56. It works good. If I did it all over again I would put a 700r4 in it. In fact thats a planned project for this winter. They have a great overdrive gear and with stacked cases you will have more gearing than you will ever need. By the time you buy the adaptor, clutch, slave, and master for the W56 you could buy a used 700r4 for the same price. I would keep my eye out for a 4.3 with trani. Almost all of them are mounted to a 700r4. I wheel with a guy that has this combo and he pulls 65+ up to Fordyce on hwy80 fully loaded. If you decide to keep the W56 I will sell you my adaptor, clutch, master, and slave. (less than 1 year old)

[fordh8r]

  I wasn't fortunate enough to have a "W" series tranny in my rig  so when I acquired a complete Chevy truck for my sourced engine, tranny, ECM, wire, wire harness and other goodies, I did some research and compared costs with acquiring a manual tranny that 'might' hold up VS. the  auto tranny (4L60E) that was already fitted to the 4.3 engine along with compared costs for adapters in either case (Manual VS. Auto). It turns out that keeping the Auto trans was economically the better choice (not by a huge margin, but by enough) so I decided to go that route. I figured if the auto held up fine in a full sized truck it should have a relatively easy life in a Toyota. 


  If you haven't acquired parts yet, I would highly recommend buying a complete parts truck to source your parts. That is the only sure way to get everything you will need without having to constantly search for that ONE PIECE you're still missing. Plus you can part it out and make a huge bunch of your money back. I found one for the right price and made all my money back and then some.   8)  Which means I basically got all my sourced parts for free! That gave me the liberty to also upgrade all my T-case parts to 23 spline as well. I will be doing my swap sometime this winter after I get the tranny rebuilt and go through the engine and finish acquiring all the other detailed parts that I will need for my swap. 

  Good luck with your swap! 

[BadnewsBob]

I didn't want to risk the chance of blowing my 5 speed so I sourced a 4.3 and a 4wd turbo 350 both for 600 smackers, Gonna buy the adapter to use my stacked toy cases with a 4.70 in the back. I'll go anywhere my butt hole meter will let me then. I think the 700r4 would be a better choice in your case however seeing as you plan on traveling in it, The overdrive would be great on the highway.
  Have fun and stay insane.

[nvtoyin21]

I got the 93 cpi in mine with the W56 for 6 years now and not a lick of problems. Im not the easest on it at times either. Ive snow wheeled the piss out of it and taken it to the rubicon for 5 years now and tranny still shifts good. This is after my second engine due to too many R,s in the snow if that tells you anything. Ive drained the oil on it twice and check it to make sure Im not developing a prob but so far no metal in tranny.

[Centsless]

In addition to my reply above I have a friend with a 10+ year old DD 4runner with 150,00 miles and he has never had a problem with his W56. I have seen him do brake stands with his locker locked on the asphalt more than once (usually not sober). The W56 traini is way stronger than you would think. I just want to change because I go to the dunes from time to time and a auto would be way better out there.