New to FJ40 Scene

[FloridaLife]

That's pretty sweet! I'm about to search for it. I beat it's cheap too. Just kidding!

WOW! I just looked it up. I may have to roll with the OEM cluster for a while and upgrade to the Dakota later after my wife forgets a little bit about how much money I've spent on this. Plus I've got to have the transmission in her RAV4 replaced, and the transmission shop said it's $8k.

Anyone want to buy a kidney???

Or an ear? My wife says I don't listen anyway.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

Plus I've got to have the transmission in her RAV4 replaced, and the transmission shop said it's $8k.

That sucks! What year of Rav4?

I have a 2011 Tahoe that the transmission decided it had enough, shops quoted $6k to rebuild it, on a vehicle that isn't worth $6k with a good transmission. Hopefully i can find someone who wants it for a donor vehicle for an engine swap.

Wound up with a 2025 Rav4 now.

 

[FloridaLife]

That sucks! What year of Rav4?

I have a 2011 Tahoe that the transmission decided it had enough, shops quoted $6k to rebuild it, on a vehicle that isn't worth $6k with a good transmission. Hopefully i can find someone who wants it for a donor vehicle for an engine swap.

Wound up with a 2025 Rav4 now.

It is a 2018 and I just bought it for her in December.

So for now she's still driving the 22 year old Toyota Sienna with about a quarter of a million miles on it. Old faithful.

 

[FloridaLife]

More color..... I'm trying not to get excited yet, but it is difficult:

 

[knuckle47]

At work we had an Isuzu W3500 NPR that needed a new trans at $12,000. Fortunately we were able to use warranty coverage after jumping through a few dozen hoops. 58,000 miles. We replaced one ourselves a few years back to save a few bucks but with the ECU’s controlling everything, if any numbers or sensors are not matched up..it throws error codes by the dozen. What’s worse is the truck is out of service 60+ days waiting for the trans to show up from wherever and then a dealer “squeezing “ it into a service schedule…

 

[FloridaLife]

Anyone know where I can get some good coil covers for the 5.3 LS (LM7)? I found some at a decent price on Summit but they only get 2 stars on the review, and buyers said they still had to grind or modify them a little. I'd like to do something like this owner did with "TOYOTA" down each coil cover. I think it looks great! And, I want to do something other than the plastic intake cover with Vortec on it. Check out these coil covers in this short video:

 

[nabbasi]

Th Dakota Digital is expensive, but worth the $$$ since you're going to need additional gauges with the sway anyway.

I have one on a non-swapped rig, and it’s amazing.

 

[fireflyr]

Th Dakota Digital is expensive, but worth the $$$ since you're going to need additional gauges with the sway anyway.

I have one on a non-swapped rig, and it’s amazing.

Agreed. Tying in all of the inputs from the engine harness, transmission harness, VSS, neutral safety switch and brake switch in one junction really simplifies things. I started with a new 14 circuit wiring harness just because the original chassis harness was toast. Took a bit to figure out how 3 separate harnesses (LS engine loom, chassis loom and Dakota) fit together but the Dakota Digital junction box organized it all. Trying to tie everything into an old brittle OE harness would be a nightmare. All together, I think I had about $2k into the BP LS and 4L60e harness, the new chassis harness and the DD stuff. Everything works together perfectly.

 

[knuckle47]

Since I know nothing about an LS swap. Is it possible you buy plain generic covers and attach the TOYOTA badge from the front screen of the radiator on each one….that’s really what this looks like to an uninformed me

 

[FloridaLife]

Since I know nothing about an LS swap. Is it possible you buy plain generic covers and attach the TOYOTA badge from the front screen of the radiator on each one….that’s really what this looks like to an uninformed me

That's what it looks like to me too. Someone got some coil covers and then put the Toyota on them, and I think it looks really good. If I can get some good coil covers at a decent price. I found some plain ones at Summit, but they don't get good reviews and the buyers say that they still had to grind on them or modify them for them to work.

 

[FloridaLife]

If anyone is interested, I stumbled across these this morning:

FJ40 and FJ45 Laser Cut Keychain

 

[FloridaLife]

Just curious, is anyone out there ever put the legendary 2JZ twin turbo into an FJ40? Or has anyone seen one done? There would certainly be plenty of room.

 

[Tigerstripe40]

Just curious, is anyone out there ever put the legendary 2JZ twin turbo into an FJ40? Or has anyone seen one done? There would certainly be plenty of room.

It has been done. But it's not popular.
TL;DR: Let the go-fast kids keep them.

Longer answer:
I looked into this nearly 20 years ago, and there's a reason it's not common. 1st the 2JZ-GTE Twin Turbo was only offered in the US in 1 application, and not in all of those cars sold. So, those cars are very sought after, and getting a donor vehicle would be expensive. If you get one from overseas to save costs (and to keep from getting run out of town by an angry mob armed with torches and pitchforks for destroying a highly collectable car) that can save costs, but you're rolling the dice on a motor you've not seen run or done a compression test on.

2nd: For a stock TT 2JZ-GTE with manual transmission to be in the powerband while offroading, you need a LOT of gear reduction. In a SWB vehicle there are not a lot of options for that without having to stretch the wheelbase and swap the rear axle. You can mitigate this by using an Automatic (ZF8HP-75 comes to mind).

3rd: To rebuilt a TT 2JZ-GTE to get it in the powerband you'd want for offroading, you're changing quite a lot of stuff out, so you might as well start with something clapped out you can get cheap. But pricing out quality rebuild kits showed that this isn't cheap, and most of those rebuild kits are for people chasing top end power, not low end grunt, so you're going to need, at the very least, cu$$tom cam$$$ and to spec different turbos (I'd swap t compound turbos, rather than twin).

4th: The 'Big Brother' to the 2JZ=GTE is the 1FZ-FE and those swaps have been done as well, but after rebuilding the motor, adding a turbo, and doing all of the tuning etc, you've spent more than doing an LS swap for less power, and the domestic availability of those motors is dwindling.

5th: There are other swaps that can achieve the same or better results than a 2JZ-GTE for a fraction of the cost that would be better used for offroading.
LS
2UZ
M57
1HD-(F)T(E)
1FZ-FE
OM606

Thank you for coming to my TedX talk.

 

[FloridaLife]

It has been done. But it's not popular.
TL;DR: Let the go-fast kids keep them.

Longer answer:
I looked into this nearly 20 years ago, and there's a reason it's not common. 1st the 2JZ-GTE Twin Turbo was only offered in the US in 1 application, and not in all of those cars sold. So, those cars are very sought after, and getting a donor vehicle would be expensive. If you get one from overseas to save costs (and to keep from getting run out of town by an angry mob armed with torches and pitchforks for destroying a highly collectable car) that can save costs, but you're rolling the dice on a motor you've not seen run or done a compression test on.

2nd: For a stock TT 2JZ-GTE with manual transmission to be in the powerband while offroading, you need a LOT of gear reduction. In a SWB vehicle there are not a lot of options for that without having to stretch the wheelbase and swap the rear axle. You can mitigate this by using an Automatic (ZF8HP-75 comes to mind).

3rd: To rebuilt a TT 2JZ-GTE to get it in the powerband you'd want for offroading, you're changing quite a lot of stuff out, so you might as well start with something clapped out you can get cheap. But pricing out quality rebuild kits showed that this isn't cheap, and most of those rebuild kits are for people chasing top end power, not low end grunt, so you're going to need, at the very least, cu$$tom cam$$$ and to spec different turbos (I'd swap t compound turbos, rather than twin).

4th: The 'Big Brother' to the 2JZ=GTE is the 1FZ-FE and those swaps have been done as well, but after rebuilding the motor, adding a turbo, and doing all of the tuning etc, you've spent more than doing an LS swap for less power, and the domestic availability of those motors is dwindling.

5th: There are other swaps that can achieve the same or better results than a 2JZ-GTE for a fraction of the cost that would be better used for offroading.
LS
2UZ
M57
1HD-(F)T(E)
1FZ-FE
OM606

Thank you for coming to my TedX talk.

Good points. I was just curious if anyone had done it. You are definitely right about the power band, AND about the "getting run out of town by an angry mob armed with torches and pitchforks".

 

[FloridaLife]

Thinking more and more about the Dakota Digital RTX instrument cluster that @Jdc1 recommended got my wife and I to wondering... Will the original instrument cluster even work with an LS swap? I would think that things like the speedometer operated off of a spinning cable, but the speed would be sent via a sensor and wiring I would think. @Jdc1 and @cruisermatt and any other guys that have an LS & 4L60E swapped FJ40, is running the original cluster even possible???

My wife says I should bite the bullet and do the Dakota Digital. I still have a kidney for sale if anyone wants it.

 

[charliemeyer007]

If you throw enough money at a problem, a solution can usually be found. Off the shelf today is worth 2 in the future, maybe more. We aren't getting any younger, so if you have the funds and more importantly the Mrs. approval, you should act now and solve one more piece of the puzzle.

 

[FloridaLife]

If you throw enough money at a problem, a solution can usually be found. Off the shelf today is worth 2 in the future, maybe more. We aren't getting any younger, so if you have the funds and more importantly the Mrs. approval, you should act now and solve one more piece of the puzzle.

Well... The funds are NOT in the bank. Period. But, however, I could sell some things to come up with the funds.

 

[nabbasi]

Well... The funds are NOT in the bank. Period. But, however, I could sell some things to come up with the funds.

you should give Dakota digital a call and ask about it. They’ll give you a rough idea of what works well, current lead time (I ordered on August 3, 2023 and didn’t receive until February 2024), answer questions on specifics, etc. I learned that you can customize the face a bit (higher speedo, for example).

You can try to get your cluster working while you wait!

 

[FloridaLife]

you should give Dakota digital a call and ask about it. They’ll give you a rough idea of what works well, current lead time (I ordered on August 3, 2023 and didn’t receive until February 2024), answer questions on specifics, etc. I learned that you can customize the face a bit (higher speedo, for example).

You can try to get your cluster working while you wait!

WOW!!! I hope they aren't backordered THAT long now!

 

[nabbasi]

WOW!!! I hope they aren't backordered THAT long now!

Hopefully not, but this is the disclaimer on cruiser corps

*This product is made to order and drop ships directly from Dakota Digital. It may take 10-12 weeks to build and ship out.*