Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Not much reply on the General Thread so i hope i can generate some replies here. Copied and paste from the above thread.

Hello,
posted this in the general thread to get more feed back coz i'm a technical doofus.
Currently driving a Daihatsu Rocky from Malaysia and would like to upgrade it. It shares quite a lot of common parts with a Toyota like a 3Y engine i was wondering how straightforward would it to upgrade to a 3RZFE 2.7 Prado engine? Would it probably be a plug and play thing or i might need to fabricate an adaptor to mate my gearbox to it?
Another issue is the 3RZFE is an auto unit, so is it still possible to mate it to my Rocky's manual gearbox? I believe i still need to source a clutch, flywheel, pressure plate.
Or would it be easier and better in the interest of offroading to just drop in the whole 3RZFE engine and its autogearbox and make an adaptor to mate it to the Rocky transfercase?

On top of that i would like to change my axles as i cannot source a lower final drive for my Rocky axle. I was considering changing to either Toyota Hilux or LCII (i think it's a Bundera in Oz). Which would be better and why? Which is wider, stronger?
What other guidelines and issues when changing axles my mechanic need to look at? My original rear axle is offset to the right slightly. So would i be better of fitting LC axles as it's offset too? How about driveline issues?
Or should i just run a complete Hilux drivetrain from the autobox, TC and Hilux axle.

Lastly what's your opinion on the toyota factory "electric" lockers? Do they do the job well? I dont understand why some of my mates say they are "weak" and quite vunerable and has disengaging problems.

To sum it up. This is what i thought of doing to the Rocky.
Engine: 3RZFE
Gearbox: Rocky gearbox and TC
Axle: Toy LCII front and rear axles.

Or run 3RZFE, Hilux autobox, Hilux TC and Hilux axles.

Looking forward to your comments.
Cheers
Vic

I think that I responded to your original post but...

I am totally sold on the 3RZ. It has OBDll which covers all operating perameters. An auto tranny is considered the best for rock crawling over here. There are around 6 manual transmissions that will bolt to the W59 bell housing. The G52, G54, W56A, W56B, W56C, W56D are all five speed trannys. The W56D is the strongest which is what I have.

As far as I know you would need to have an adapter made to mate any other engine to Daihatsu. Marks Adapters in Oz might have something but I doublt it. Some of his product line comes from Advanced Adapters and Marlin Crawler here in the US. Neither one of them carry anything for Daihatsu. If you were adept in CAD you could do the calculations and drawings then take it to a machine shop. It would still be very expensive.

What most Toy guys do is to find a wrecked donor vehicle. One that the insurance company has written off with a lot of body damage but the drivetrain is good. You don't care about the body or the frame anyway. Try and find an auction house that sells to salvage yards.

The stock Toy 4cyl rear diff is as strong as a stock Dana 60 axle. Nearly identical axle shaft diameters. The front one needs upgraded axle shafts and birfield joints to get that kind of beef. There are a lot of guys running V-8's with stock Toy 4cyl rear axles. You would need to grind or torch off the old spring perches and weld new ones on to match your springs. I did it and it wasn't too bad. You might also have to rotate the rear diff up. Mine is rotated ~22 degrees. I have to run an extra 1/2 to 1 quart of gear oil to keep the pinion bearing lubricated. I am using CV drive shafts front and rear.

The Toy electric locker is extremely strong. It has an advantage over air lockers in that if the solenoid fails (or any other electronics) you can still engage and disengage it with a screw driver. Some modifications are needed to fit the V-6 electric locker to a 4cyl housing. Locking and unlocking times are reported to be faster than air lockers. The only disadvantage I can think of is that the solenoid is part of the third member and suceptible to rocks.

The rear drive shaft would need to be shorter and the front one made longer. The rear one is reletively cheap as they just cut a section out and reweld and balance.

In conclusion I would look for a wrecked Toyota or Nissan or whatever and use the engine, engine harness, ECU, transmission, transfer case, drive shafts and axles. The reason I chose Toyota is because of the wide range of differential gearing and lockers. Also the availability of parts...cheap.

Good luck

alrighty the allterrain challenge may have 2 modified rockys competing:

mine: diesel rocky driveline, MQ diffs, 4" suspension & 33s
mates: diesel rocky driveline, scat F20 transfer, GQ diffs, 80series coils, 36 TSL

Depending on how handy u are at welding etc, stay with leaves
landcruiser/nissan diffs, spring over and run 35s.
As for engine and driveline im looking into rover 3.9V8-Hilux 5spd-dual
transfers or transfer gears

heres what i wrote in gen tech however its more based on parts available in oz i think. substitute nissan for landcruiser 60/80 and u'll be laughing

Thanks for the feedback Toyhatsu, Spartacus.

I'm sure the 4Y was fitted from the Factory in the Hilux. So possible chance the 3RZE might just bolt on fine. What say u?

So the auto box would be a better bet for off road drivability as over the manual?
Eitherway i'm threading slowly on this for now. I've just thought of building it up to compete in our local competition since the thing is now laying idle. Blew a TC fork due to my stupidity for not tightening the drain plug. Btw i'm from Malaysia.
Kinda feel offended with some of the comment in the General thread dissing the Rocky. ':roll:' If only they've seen some done up ones.

I think if u were offroading in Malaysia u'll be quite proud driving a Rocky. Quite a popular platform as a comp rig after the BJ40. 3 were entered in the recent RainForest Challenge.

Most of the modded rigs run complete LC drivetrains, normaly from the RJ70. I think in Oz its a Bundy. But the engine choice might not be your cup of tea. Most comp cars run 1JZ or 7MGTE Supra engines.
There's quite a handful of them running Volvo C303 axles around and some odd contraption nicknamed "God's Winch" coz they are probably the fastest PTO comp winch fabricated locally in the world. I heard Warn apparently just recently bought the rights.

Hey quick question. Anyone knows strengthwise which is better? A LCII(Bundera) rear axle or a Hilux?
By having the diff pumpkin in the centere a big disadvantage in offroading as opposed to it offset?
Anyone know offhand what is the TC ratio from a Toyota Prado 2.7 litre? Am i right to say they share plenty of drivetrain from the Hilux?

I got this from marks4wd.com
A343F (2.7ltr P & 3.0ltr TD) 4-Speed Automatic
2.804:1
1.531:1
1.000:1
0.753:1
-
2.393:1
4.555:1(2.7ltr) 4.100:1(3.0ltr TD)
1.00/2.566:1 Full-Time

The TC ratio doesnt sound right. Offhand i thought its 2.2:1 and its only the V6 that comes with a chain driven TC with 2.5:1. I didnt know the Prado was a full time 4wd too. Anyone can verify this?

yeah the prados are full time 4WD, Not sure about the early 2.7 petrols though.