Diesel Power Conversion (1 Viewer)

[Mudder92]

Hello all. I'm a diehard Land Cruiser lover. I'm currently in the process of purchasing my 6th LC. It's a 1996 4.5l. Factory lockers and in very nice condition. It has about 290k miles on it and has no real problems. My question or more maybe a goal of mine is to convert it over to a diesel powered rig.
I've never been much of a diesel enthusiast, but times are changing as am I.
So, my question; what is a good diesel that I can convert to? I want durability obviously. I also want to be able to make a lot more power.
I'm not rich at all. I'm a 100% disabled Veteran and live off of my retirement from the Navy. So any thoughts, help, comments, complaints, etc etc, please forward them on to me.
It's not a time sensitive issue as the current 4.5L runs just fine. I want to do the swap though. I'll probably rebuild and crate the 4.5L.
So, as far as availability of the engine, parts and upgradability, what would you consider installing in your own Land Cruiser?
Thanks for all input.
Stand on it son, and keep it muddy...
B.F. III
Wilm,NC

 

[HDJdreams]

As can be seen by my username, I wish I had a diesel 80. There is NO cheap path to a diesel swap.

The most common diesel swap seems to be the 6bt. It sounds like the company making the adapters is flaky on delivery. I just sold my Cummins CRD 05 Ram at my wife’s insistence because it was too loud to have conversation, and it’s way quieter than the mechanical Cummins typically used in swaps. Also the 6bt motor at 1200 lbs weighs twice what the stock I6 weighs and the gave the Ram front end problems, even though the components are huge compared to FJ80.

Why do you want a diesel? I just picked up a 96 with 380k miles, still blissfully chugging along. The stock I6 has durability.

The cost of the swap will buy a LOT of gas. I gave up on the swap idea and will be buying the upcoming turbo kit and an auxiliary fuel tank.

 

[Pascoscout]

At one time there was a company making adapters to mate a 4DB2T Isuzu diesel with the Toyota tranny but I can't find them online now. Want to say it was Allmaras Machine out of Oregon. The 4 cy diesel would net a bit more economy but would not have the power of the 6BT.

If you've got $9k to spend cummins has their new 4cy diesel crate engine.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

Some of us are swapping the Mercedes OM606 engines, some are working on the OM648 and 613, the most common is a 6BT or 4BT; but as mentioned the company is flaky and has a not so great track record. I too am 100, but IU not PT. Thanks for your service. As for others, you're left with 1,maybe 2 OM617 swaps...would advise against, then the is the stock Toyota HD/HZ motors and the rest are Chevy 6.2 and 6.5's a handful of Isuzu 4bd1/2T and there is even a Mitsubishi 4 banger on here. The thing with all of the domestic diesels is their weight and power ability. The Cummins is the winner with respect to power mods in domestic iron, the Mercedes inline 6's are pretty easy to get power out of but can be spendy since there isn't much out there yet for turbo sizing etc... to find the best configuration in an 80 series. The Mercedes diesels are also a weight savings over the stock 1fz-fe. All said and done. There is no cheap way around a swap of any sort. I will pose this to you ,however, a buddy of mine did a 24valve 6BT into his cruiser for a few thousand. He found a motor home that had been wrecked and pulled the 24 valve, transmission and all the wiring for the two and used them. The only 24 valve Cummins cruiser I've heard of personally though im sure they're out there. If you can get a 24valve 6BT and transmission with all the wiring I'm sure you could figure out how to adapt it over...he did and he was just a coastie.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

At one time there was a company making adapters to mate a 4DB2T Isuzu diesel with the Toyota tranny but I can't find them online now. Want to say it was Allmaras Machine out of Oregon. The 4 cy diesel would net a bit more economy but would not have the power of the 6BT.

If you've got $9k to spend cummins has their new 4cy diesel crate engine.

Almaras/ Dustin/ Duiser Same guy who makes the 6BT/4BT kits everyone complains about constantly. Until they finally get all their parts....if they do.

 

[Douglas S]

The most common swap and the most straightforward swap is going to be to one of the 3 mechanically injected diesel engines available from the factory - 1HZ, 1HD-T, 1HD-FT with the latter two preferred over the 1HZ. These engines and the transmissions attached to them bolt into the 80 chassis (with the correct combination of factory parts) and will be the easiest to integrate. The downside is initial cost to purchase the engine and related parts.

 

[Pascoscout]

I see a lot of people having issues with Allmaras. My personal experience was good. I bought the 4DB2T to chevy adapter and it showed up pretty quickly, maybe a week after he said it would. That was 4 or 5 years ago though.

 

[DIESELJEEP]

It can be done cheapish,I swapped the drivetrain from a 1990 w250 into my landcruiser.No expensive adapters,just had to replace/relocate my fuel tank to the rear because of driveshaft interference with the centered tcase.Now I have a diesel landcruiser that is easy to get parts for and can be worked on by most any mechanic

 

[Dork]

I'm going to be the token "its probably easier and cheaper to just sell your current rig and get a cruiser that's already diesel" guy in this thread.

 

[SHREDwagon]

It's not a time sensitive issue as the current 4.5L runs just fine. I want to do the swap though. I'll probably rebuild and crate the 4.5L.
So, as far as availability of the engine, parts and upgradability, what would you consider installing in your own Land Cruiser?

Cheapest, depending on maintenance required is going to be buying an HDJ81. Second would be a Cummins 2.8 Crate. Best (subjective) would be an HD-FT. Considering $/HP and fuel econ though, hard to beat a Vortec.

 

[VETTE60]

My .02 based on experience; I've done the swap with the 4BD2T. I have done numerous swaps and honestly it was cool but still a lot of fab work, one-off parts and time. lots of custom parts. it was not cheap, and I didn't charge myself labor... my next swap will be an LS GM motor. I wouldn't do the diesel again. the GM swap is far easier with more readily available parts and less headache. I have done several. Also honestly unless you swap in a new ISB cummins motor then your rig will sound like a John Deer tractor, which was cool for a little while but gets old...