Picking up this '80 tomorrow, few ?'s

[fdizz]

So I just sold my 81 to buy a newer Toyota, then this thing comes along. Not too many as straight as this so I'm picking it up. 1980, Guy that owns it is a body guy and has owned it since '97, Rebuilt 20r (less than 500 miles ago), 10 over, header 2 1/4 exhaust, Rebuilt 4 speed, new paint, both diffs gone through and OME lift with air bags in the rear for heavy loads. I want to use the truck to drive my quad down to Oregon this summer to the dunes, about 250 miles one way on i5. It has 35's with stock gears though. If I put in 4:88s with the 4 speed be ok cruising on the freeway at 65? Dude says it cruises fine at 70 but im having a hard time believing that with a 20r and 4 speed.. Thanks for any info.

[daniresch]

hello from oregon

With a 20r, 35s, 4speed and stock gears i can believe it can cruse at 70mph on the flats. But hauling on I5 going to the dunes you will be struggling. It does however look like a very well kept 80. 4.88s will help, don't expect a huge change tho. even 5.29s you'll be working up all those hills

Good luck

[toyodaaddict]

nice clean first gen!   id suggest  switching to a w56 trans and go with 5.29's thats a much better/comfortable setup in my opinion. thats what i did with my 80. 4.88 isnt enough gear for a road driven toy on 35"+ tires 

[fdizz]

How hard was it to put the w56 in?

[fdizz]

He wants 4k. I could drive it till the trans gives i spose then swap, Is that what clean first gens go for these days?

[toyodaaddict]

How hard was it to put the w56 in?

the w56 bolts right up to the engine. the crossmember needs to be moved back a few inches this can be done easily with u bolts over the frame or buy a HD crossmember from budbuilt he makes one for this swap.the hang up is you will need new drive lines.your truck appears to be a long bed so i believe you can use stock shafts from a 84-88 long bed truck. those shafts will also be a good upgrade compared to the weaker 79-83 shafts. so yeah the swap is super simple.

[fdizz]

I couldnt use the stock 20r transfer case thats on it though could I?

[toyodaaddict]

I couldnt use the stock 20r transfer case thats on it though could I?

yes i believe you can, some of the real old cases had a wierd extra spline thing going on, if youve got one of those it can still be used. you just have to grind down that little bit of spline. the info on that should be easy to track down. youll want to make sure to get a top shift w56. do you have any interest in dual cases?

[fdizz]

No duals, This thing will strictly be a pavement pounder since its so nice. Just hauling my quad to the dunes and house chores. Prolly going to order a marlin trans after I ware out the 4 speed which w56 do I want?

[toyodaaddict]

i dont know the pros and cons of the different years of w56, u would probably want to talk to the guys at marlin about that. there all good and there probably equal when marlins done with em. the most important thing in my mind is do you want top shift or forward shift. to use your case youll want top shift

[fdizz]

Thanks for all the help bud.

[Cheesemaker]

All the W series would work just fine.  IIRC the W56C had the metal bearing retaining plate, vs aluminum. 

I've seen that truck on CL.  If I had $$ I'd get it.   And as for the 70 mph on the hwy, you can thank the Weber for that.  I loved my Weber in my old Nissan.  Kick ass power on the hwy.  And great MPG too!

[Snowtoy]

As clean as it is $4k is a fair price.

5.29's will be the correct choice for the 35's, and the 5-spd trans will be a better choice for overall fuel economy. 

[helipilot77]

I used the gear speed calculator that I made. It is on the forum here somewhere if you do a search. I worked up two scenarios for you so you could compare them. The first one is with the 4 speed transmission and 4.88 gears. The second is with a W56 and 5.29's. The numbers under RPM are wheel RPM at a given engine RPM next to them is the vehicle speed. Hope this helps. Seems like a great deal on of the cleanest first gens around.



So you can see in the first scenario at 70 mph you would be in fourth gear your engine would be at about 3200 RPM. In the second scenario in 5th gear your engine would be turning at 3000 RPM or if you shifted down into 4th your engine would go up to 3500 RPM. Just depends on where your powerband and maximum efficiency is.

[chris514scott]

If you do get a new trans just cut out the cross member and run a FROR crossmember.  Much easier to install

[zerostar2410]

how hard is it to install the FROR crossmember? im looking to do a G series trans swap.

http://frontrangeoffroadfab.com/nfoscomm/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=31&osCsid=2db21e9ec451d743f378b75c61b99cd8

[84t0y]

I would find an l52 since you most likely already have a top shift case it would be a direct swap, the w series is longer and requires moving the transmission cross member, and the g series has a forward shift case I believe.