'88 FJ62 6BT swap

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FLNewt

FLNewt

Joined
May 22, 2012
Threads
25
Messages
270
Hi all, picked up my first Land Cruiser yesterday, an '88 62 out of Asheville, NC. The body is decent, with a little rust over the drivers wheel-well and some on the lift gate.

I purchased a running '89 W250 with a cummins with the intentions of swapping the cummins into a cruiser then selling what's left of the dodge to make some cash back as well.

On the trailer headed south.
0702121348copy.jpg


A few questions for all you Cruiser guru's.
One, I know I need a lift for oil pan clearance on the cummins, but is an SOA the only way to go? If so, can I get away with just welding brackets and mounting the leafs (of course addressing the steering issue too), thus allowing me to get it on the road soon?

Also, what's a good AUTO trans to put behind this motor? The dodge has an A727 which is a 3 speed. However, the dodge tops out at about 70mph in its current state with 3.08 gears, so I can't imagine what the 3 speed would do with the Toyota's 3.73's. I have a turbo350 with transfer case I can use, though I can't find an adapter for it, nor can I find one for a 700R4.

Can't wait to have the diesel sitting between the fenders!
 
Looking forward to more updates! Have you considered an H55f tranny?
 
Haggis said:
Looking forward to more updates! Have you considered an H55f tranny?
Click to expand...

I have, I just don't know if I can get an adapter for it. Do you know if that's possible?
 
You are going to want a beefy tranny. If you are going to spend any time on the hwy you are going to want an overdrive. I'd be looking for NV4500 manual stuff or bigger autos like an Allison. My 4L80 has been doing great behind my 4bt and would do fine behind a 6bt if you weren't going to turn it up. The dodge autos seem to hold up fine once they get some better internals. Don't even consider turbo350s or 700r4s.

What's the intended purpose for you rig?
 
Big question is what are you doing with it? Daily driving? Freeway stuff? Trail only?

Diesels have a different torque/HP range than a gas motor. With the 4.10 gears and 3500 rpm redline, you will get nowhere with a three speed tranny. Hell even a 4spd isn't going to give you much speed. I would say a 5spd manual to get the best of all worlds.
 
Firephil said:
Big question is what are you doing with it? Daily driving? Freeway stuff? Trail only?

Diesels have a different torque/HP range than a gas motor. With the 4.10 gears and 3500 rpm redline, you will get nowhere with a three speed tranny. Hell even a 4spd isn't going to give you much speed. I would say a 5spd manual to get the best of all worlds.
Click to expand...

The answer to that question is pretty important.

The stock motor only fuels to around 2600 rpm, so unless you decide to run some big tires you will not be going anywhere fast. I would spend some time and decide what your final tire size and gearing will be.
A 5 speed manual like the NV4500 will hold up to even some major power upgrades but at that point the toyota axles will be blowing up.
If you plan on wheeling I would suggest using the dodge axles.
 
FLNewt said:
I purchased a running '89 W250 with a cummins with the intentions of swapping the cummins into a cruiser then selling what's left of the dodge to make some cash back as well.


A few questions for all you Cruiser guru's.
One, I know I need a lift for oil pan clearance on the cummins, but is an SOA the only way to go? If so, can I get away with just welding brackets and mounting the leafs (of course addressing the steering issue too), thus allowing me to get it on the road soon?

I think you might be able to swing it with a lot of SUA lift, but just welding some brackets to increase your height is not the best way to go. I would suggest doing a SOA conversion, the 6BT isn't much longer than the 2F but it is taller. and an SOA easily solves all the clearance problems.

Also, what's a good AUTO trans to put behind this motor? The dodge has an A727 which is a 3 speed. However, the dodge tops out at about 70mph in its current state with 3.08 gears, so I can't imagine what the 3 speed would do with the Toyota's 3.73's. I have a turbo350 with transfer case I can use, though I can't find an adapter for it, nor can I find one for a 700R4.

The trans depends a lot on your power goals for the motor, if you will be turning up the power on the motor any stock trans will not be happy behind it. But at stock levels you will have more options but will need to redesign if you ever increase the power.

Can't wait to have the diesel sitting between the fenders!
Click to expand...

A diesel between the rails does look good. 0608122101.jpg
0608122101.jpg
 
boots4 said:
What's the intended purpose for you rig?
Click to expand...

Daily driver. Something I can drive a few hundred miles in at highway speeds and cruise. Tow my boat to the Gulf. No serious off-roading. I may increase the power later, but have no intentions of doing so now.

I am pretty sure I want to go with an auto trans. I've got a manual car, and after driving for a while my knee bothers me. I want something that will be easy on it. Do the NV4500's have a soft clutch?


inkpot - "AFAIK, all FJ 62's had 4.10 gearing, not 3.7. John." Thanks, I though I read somewhere that 60's were 4.10 and 62's are 3.7. Thanks for the info!

boots4 - "You are going to want a beefy tranny." My brother has a 40 with a .30 over 327 that's pretty hot, and the stock 4spd handles the power surprisingly well, so I wondered if the A440f could handle the power. I'll be after something with an overdrive for highway though.

StevoJonesFJ60 - I've been following your thread, and am glad I found it, as it assured me I'll be able to use the dodge axles if I want. If I can find a dodge A518 transmission with case I think I could just run all dodge and make it simple not having to worry about adapting dodge/toyota.

In regards to the SOA lift, isn't all that's necessary to mount the spring on the top of the axle and do high steering? I helped my brother do an SOA on his 40 and if I remember correctly that's all he had to do (I know these are different trucks, but I thought they would be similar enough).
 
If you are set on an auto I would try to find one out of a newer dodge truck. As long as you keep the power levels stock it should be fine, and if you do boost the power, most of them are easily upgraded.

I doubt the a440f would hold up very well to the torque, and the shift points would be way off too.
 
StevoJonesFJ60 said:
If you are set on an auto I would try to find one out of a newer dodge truck.
Click to expand...

I found a guy selling one out of an '03 Dodge 2500, doesn't know the engine code, transfercase is off, but I've got one of those.

Wouldn't wiring be a problem? I'd have to somehow find a way for wiring as I assume it has electronic overdrive engagement/kickdown/other controls.

I'll dig for an NV4500 and see if they're cheap.

I'm really considering just throwing all Dodge drivetrain under the cruiser, engine/trans/axles. It'll drive for now while I find something better for the highway.

Stevo, how did you get the steering hooked up from the 'yota to the dodge axle in front?
 
I am still in the process of working out the steering, but I am just going to adapt the saginaw pump off of the dodge to the hydroboost system and then to the landcruiser steering box. Then pretty much just run a drag link over to the knuckle on the Dana 60.

If you have anything else you need help with let me know, or just post up on my build if you have any questions about what I am working on.
 
Day 1 Progress

Today I worked on pulling the front axle. Got it all unhooked ready to remove, though the shackles that the leaf springs mount to are stubbornly refusing to let go of the leaf springs.

Before dropping axle.
DSC05840.jpg


Does the front drive shaft slide off? The 4 bolts on either end of the front drive shaft are a REAL pain to get out, I only got one.

Looking forward to pulling the rear tomorrow night.
 
StevoJonesFJ60 said:
You swappin the dodge axles in?
Click to expand...

Yea, don't you think that's a little simpler than adapting dodge trans/transfer case to toyota axles? I mean, I'd love to keep the toyota axles, and I really like the wheel/tire combo on the truck, but the dodge axles are already sprung over, giving me the lift with little work, or at least that's the way I figured it.

Unbolted to rear axle tonight, now I've just got to slide the axles out tomorrow. Then comes the motor/trans!
 
FLNewt said:
Yea, don't you think that's a little simpler than adapting dodge trans/transfer case to toyota axles? I mean, I'd love to keep the toyota axles, and I really like the wheel/tire combo on the truck, but the dodge axles are already sprung over, giving me the lift with little work, or at least that's the way I figured it.

Unbolted to rear axle tonight, now I've just got to slide the axles out tomorrow. Then comes the motor/trans!
Click to expand...

Its a little more work but definitely worth it in the end.
 
FLNewt said:
Today I worked on pulling the front axle. Got it all unhooked ready to remove, though the shackles that the leaf springs mount to are stubbornly refusing to let go of the leaf springs.

Before dropping axle.

Does the front drive shaft slide off? The 4 bolts on either end of the front drive shaft are a REAL pain to get out, I only got one.

Looking forward to pulling the rear tomorrow night.
Click to expand...

To break the shaft bolts, I use an old 3ft piece of galvanized fence post over my ratchet for leverage

The shaft will also separate at the slip joint, if you roll the axle out.
 
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