Any Cummins R2.8L diesel repowers? (3 Viewers)

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6BT is a great engine for a truck.
4bt is a great engine for a frito lay van.


Neither are great IMO in a Land Cruiser. I wouldn’t touch an R2.8 in an 80.


I love them in trucks. My moms dodge with the 5.9 is an awesome tow machine.

Have you driven a breadvan with a 4bt? (Because they're f'ing awful!)

Have you driven an 80 with a 12 valve? (Because they're incredible!)
 
Have you driven a breadvan with a 4bt? (Because they're f'ing awful!)

Have you driven an 80 with a 12 valve? (Because they're incredible!)
Yes. That’s why I said the 4bt belongs in a breadvan.

Not an 80 with a 12v, but I owned a 12v single cab and grew up with 12v and 24v driving from my parents. I’ve talked with a couple of people with 6BTs in 80s firsthand and they didn’t like them. Sold them.

I don’t doubt it’s good in there and it’s not my money, but the Toyotas are designed to go into an 80 and can be built up nicely and reliably. The 6BT swap is just the same as an LS in terms of what you need to do to get it in there.
 
Yes. That’s why I said the 4bt belongs in a breadvan.

Not an 80 with a 12v, but I owned a 12v single cab and grew up with 12v and 24v driving from my parents. I’ve talked with a couple of people with 6BTs in 80s firsthand and they didn’t like them. Sold them.

I don’t doubt it’s good in there and it’s not my money, but the Toyotas are designed to go into an 80 and can be built up nicely and reliably. The 6BT swap is just the same as an LS in terms of what you need to do to get it in there.
Good posts in this thread. Didn't consider parts in the US for the 1HD-FTE but it makes sense. Bummer, sounds like the best option. 12V would be ok but sorry, I'm buying that it's only 950 fully built minus trans. 1100, yeah. Either way, too much. Not sure if the OM606 would be a good match either as it's hard to get in the US, parts probably the same. So time for a LS, rebuild the 4.5 or find a Duramax 6.6. Maybe I'll pull the LLY out of my 2005 3500 with 40,000 miles, it's just sitting in the shop out of the sun waiting for me to return. Scratch pulling my LLY. Wonder what a Duramax is pulling for price? Ok, LS or rework the 4.5. Guess that'll have to do.
 
Yes. That’s why I said the 4bt belongs in a breadvan.

Not an 80 with a 12v, but I owned a 12v single cab and grew up with 12v and 24v driving from my parents. I’ve talked with a couple of people with 6BTs in 80s firsthand and they didn’t like them. Sold them.

I don’t doubt it’s good in there and it’s not my money, but the Toyotas are designed to go into an 80 and can be built up nicely and reliably. The 6BT swap is just the same as an LS in terms of what you need to do to get it in there.

Curious, I've heard plenty of cruiser owners hating the 4BT swaps. They will shake your teeth out. I totally get that.

But everyone i've ever talked to with a 6BT swap loves them....
 
Good posts in this thread. Didn't consider parts in the US for the 1HD-FTE but it makes sense. Bummer, sounds like the best option. 12V would be ok but sorry, I'm buying that it's only 950 fully built minus trans. 1100, yeah. Either way, too much. Not sure if the OM606 would be a good match either as it's hard to get in the US, parts probably the same. So time for a LS, rebuild the 4.5 or find a Duramax 6.6. Maybe I'll pull the LLY out of my 2005 3500 with 40,000 miles, it's just sitting in the shop out of the sun waiting for me to return. Scratch pulling my LLY. Wonder what a Duramax is pulling for price? Ok, LS or rework the 4.5. Guess that'll have to do.



Multiple videos showing 12 valve weighs around 950. I have crane scales and floor scales. I can do one too if needed.

My 97 gained 200 lbs going from stock 1fz to a 97 12 valve.
 
Curious, I've heard plenty of cruiser owners hating the 4BT swaps. They will shake your teeth out. I totally get that.

But everyone i've ever talked to with a 6BT swap loves them....

Agreed. They are a popular swap. There are hundreds of completed 5.9 Cummins 80 swaps. Half a dozen within an hour of where I live. I know two different guys who each have two of them.

One of those guys built one and his wife took it from him and sold her new 600hp Range Rover SVR. So he built a second for himself.

I know a guy with a collection of supercars. His favorite vehicle to drive and the one he drives all the time is a 12 valve 80 series. He says it's not the fastest, but it's the funnest to drive because it just shouldn't be as fast as it is when you lay into it.
 
So I’ve guess we’ve found out on a forum, everyone has different opinions :rofl:


That said I would be amazed if there are 100s of 6BT swapped 80s. Granted I’ve not been researching or in the swap game but that seems high.


Rebuilding a 1fz will be cheaper than a 6BT swap, or any swap unless you have a free donor truck and do all fab work yourself.
 
I swear I thought this guy was at 500kg. Glad you mentioned it and I went back and found his video. So I guess I have to back off, eat a plate of crow and reconsider this. Wonder if I was thinking ISB. Ok, he said he thinks they pulled 100kg off the engine and then weighed it. It was his comment on wiki stating 499kg was maybe what I was going with but the scale clearly shows 410kg. Now I have to wonder what the total install weight would be like with a 6L90 trans installed compared to the stock engine and trans. Sure it's heavier than the Toyota 1HD-FTE but 200 lbs less than what I was thinking. Now I need to search Cummins to 6L90 adapters which I think I've seen before. And look at final gear ratios to keep in the 2000rpm range at 80 mph with 35's. Think there was a comment made on Facebook where the 4.10s worked better than going to 4.88's. Maybe just do the 3.1:1 TC mod and call it a day. Thanks for clarifying this. 18:58 minutes to get to the weight.
 
Maybe you rarely see them for sale, believing that indicates a small number when in actuality there's just a lot of satisfied owners?

Whatever semantics. I’m just saying I would think you would see a whole lot more if the numbers are in the 100s regardless because f them being happy with it. There aren’t that many 80s for sale in relation to normal cars.

How many on mud? 20? 30? So that means 200 or more are in the wild not on mud?


Either way they work and are an option. I just said in my opinion, if I had to choose, my and only my decision I wouldn’t put a 6BT in, if I could choose what I wanted for just my rig.
 
Whatever semantics. I’m just saying I would think you would see a whole lot more if the numbers are in the 100s regardless because f them being happy with it. There aren’t that many 80s for sale in relation to normal cars.

How many on mud? 20? 30? So that means 200 or more are in the wild not on mud?


Either way they work and are an option. I just said in my opinion, if I had to choose, my and only my decision I wouldn’t put a 6BT in, if I could choose what I wanted for just my rig.

You know, I read your reply wrong. I read "I doubt they're good" when you actually said "I don't doubt they're good".

I will work on my reading comprehension lol!

I'm picky about how things work. I like a Cummins in an 80 a lot. But that said, it does need to be done to a reasonable standard. You can cut corners or pay a bunch of money to a clueless shop and get trash. It is definitely possible to have a poor result with a 5.9 in an 80 series. I'm working on dialing in the recipes for stick and auto 5.9 or even 6.7 80 series swaps and I hope you will get a chance to ride in one in the future and form your own first hand opinion.
 
Either swap a chevy v8 or a 6bt if you live in America..... it's an obvious conclusion based on parts and tech availability. Break down in rural America while traveling with a toyota diesel or r2.8 and goodluck finding someone to work on it.

Why would you be breaking down with a Toyota diesel? Good engines run until they wear out and you can see that happening with plenty of warning.

In decades of diesel ownership the only problems I've ever had on the road have been electrical and hoses.
 
I think if I lived where you do I would share your perspective about swapping in a Toyota diesel.

Here in USA the Dodge Cummins engines are extremely common. Dodge pickups are notoriously junky. They are plentiful with bad transmissions, electrical failures and ratted out from 300k miles of work duty with a Cummins that still runs good.

There are 1000:1 5.9 Cummins engines to Isuzu 4BD1T's where I am. It is very hard to find a 4BD1T here. Broken 4BD2T's are easy to find though. Those must not be as reliable as the earlier Isuzus demand a large premium these days.

The 5.9 Cummins doesn't make really aggressive power that breaks parts. The 80 series transfercase and axles have no trouble handling 5.9 Cummins power long term.

For me, it's about investing in an engine that's very well supported anywhere I take my 80 series. An engine with excellent efficiency and reliability and an entire, mature industry devoted to performance parts and tuning.

That doesn't exist in the USA for Toyota diesels. As a cruiser shop in the USA I could see recommending a 1HD-FT because I'd have a captive customer. Nobody knows anything about them here. Our diesel shops speak Duramax 6.6, Powerstroke 7.3, 6.0, 6.4, 6.7, International DT360, DT466 and of coarse Cummins.

Cummins is familiar here. Even the people that hate Dodge pickups like and respect Cummins. They have a well deserved reputation for being the honey badger of tough engines.

The toyota axles get upgraded for 4wd work with standard engines. If you want to install more torque and weight you're going to have more problems. Unless you never use the torque.

The problem with a cummins 6bt conversion isn't the "cummins 6bt" part. It's the "conversion" part. The standard of work varies from excellent to awful. But never reaches factory engineered levels.
You have a random collection of parts which you'll never keep track of without spreadsheets for spares. If someone with a conversion rocks in for some routine work you may spend hours trying to find out what that hose, fan or engine mount was originally from.
Unless everything has been incredibly well thought out you're going to have an endless run of teething issues ranging from leaks and hoses/belts/wires that won't stay put to chafe-through, breakages and stuff that is forever wrong because it everything would need to be custom to make it fit properly but wasn't due to time/cost reasons.

I've been there myself and I've helped mates through similar things. Even buying a vehicle which has had brake upgrades. WTF are these and where do we buy new rotors/pads? Everything becomes a research project.

The only work a good engine needs in it's lifetime is filters, oil, belts and hoses. None of that is diesel shop maintenance or even past home driveway work.
A crap engine. Yes you're going to forever need parts.
 
Why would you be breaking down with a Toyota diesel? Good engines run until they wear out and you can see that happening with plenty of warning.

In decades of diesel ownership the only problems I've ever had on the road have been electrical and hoses.

What do all the diesel mechanic shops do then? How do they stay in business?
 
OK, I'll bite. Who and Where are the good shops doing Cummins 5.9L and transmission repowers? What sort of ballpark price do they charge assuming the engine and transmission are provided?

I'll also state that I don't want a $100K Series 80 diesel either. Cost has to be reasonable, not cheap though. Secondly, where are the good sources for the engine and transmission ready to install and what should one expect to pay? I'm not talking about a $ 1,500 pull from a salvage yard and $3K worth of parts installed by a plumber but, a reputable remanufacture or low-time pull from a totaled vehicle.

So far, my Googling has proven pretty useless for this sort of repower. While I think the R2.8 motor is a good option for many vehicles, the arguments here for the 5.9L Cummins has me swaying that direction. The Toyota diesels are not really where I want to go either.
 
There are plenty of posters against a Cummmins 5.9 swap but no one has posted as many positive ideas about any other single diesel to swap into an 80. The LS doesn’t count in this thread as it began with questions about a toy engine that burns diesel fuel.

I’m a huge fan of the 5.9 and have been schooled further in this thread about why it’s a great choice for a diesel swap.

No one has posted a better answer other than simply sticking with a Toyota diesel which will have to work considerably harder to keep up with the larger displacement industrial 5.9. Support is a huge factor.
 
OK, I'll bite. Who and Where are the good shops doing Cummins 5.9L and transmission repowers? What sort of ballpark price do they charge assuming the engine and transmission are provided?

I'll also state that I don't want a $100K Series 80 diesel either. Cost has to be reasonable, not cheap though. Secondly, where are the good sources for the engine and transmission ready to install and what should one expect to pay? I'm not talking about a $ 1,500 pull from a salvage yard and $3K worth of parts installed by a plumber but, a reputable remanufacture or low-time pull from a totaled vehicle.

So far, my Googling has proven pretty useless for this sort of repower. While I think the R2.8 motor is a good option for many vehicles, the arguments here for the 5.9L Cummins has me swaying that direction. The Toyota diesels are not really where I want to go either.

Proffits Cruisers would be my first choice if you want a shop to do it.

They have Cummins swaps down pat.

They most likely invented them in the US market. Jeremiah and his team have been doing Cummins swaps easily for 20 years.
 
There are plenty of posters against a Cummmins 5.9 swap but no one has posted as many positive ideas about any other single diesel to swap into an 80. The LS doesn’t count in this thread as it began with questions about a toy engine that burns diesel fuel.

I’m a huge fan of the 5.9 and have been schooled further in this thread about why it’s a great choice for a diesel swap.

No one has posted a better answer other than simply sticking with a Toyota diesel which will have to work considerably harder to keep up with the larger displacement industrial 5.9. Support is a huge factor.

If you spend any time on diesel forums or around the diesel community you’ll hear:
“the doge ram is just another shipping container for a cummins”

There’s really not another diesel platform in the half ton/full ton space that is as widely loved as the 6BT. Huge power potential, huge aftermarket support, incredibly reliable.
 

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