jakerudy

My '91 Dodge truck was falling apart around it's engine and I was getting tired of chasing vacuum leaks on an underpowered gas engine so started looking for a way to stuff a 6BT in an '85 Land Cruiser.

I'm going to try to post pictures but sometimes have problems with it due to the sites charging for pictures anymore.

jakerudy

jakerudy

jakerudy

20+ mpg and more power than I'll ever need.

Oz_Ram

Nice job Jake I have an '85 Landcruiser with the Toyota 12HT engine which is a great engine but no comparison to the Cummins power-wise!

jakerudy

I would not have hesitated to use a Toyota diesel if I had one but parts are harder to find in my area. Almost did a Chevy 350 or LS but prefer diesel and had the 12V in a truck my grandparents bought new so I know the history. Also around here 5.9 Cummins parts are about as easy to get as Chevy 350 parts.

My 12V has under 200k on it and has never been abused so should have a lot of life left in it.

Oz_Ram

Even over here, where Landcruisers are very popular, it is getting harder to find parts for the older ones. Most consumables (belts, radiator hoses etc) are only available aftermarket now, other parts I have to get from auto wreckers.

I see you have fitted the NV4500 behind it, a wise move as I don't think the Toyota box would handle the Cummins torque.

patdaly

Super clean install, looks like a factory job! I guess I never knew the 80's land cruisers were as big as they are.

jakerudy

Advance Adaptors makes the adaptor from the NV4500 to the Cruiser transfer case. My donor truck had the Getrag 5sp but there isn't an adaptor for it and the NV4500 is superior anyway. The rest of the running gear is original.

jakerudy

The original 2F is a big engine for the power (or lack of) that it makes. It is basically a copy of the old Chevy straight 6 so length of the Cummins is not the problem for fit but height is. I didn't want quite as much lift but it was required to clear the oil pan. It also has 2 extra springs up front for the heavier Cummins.

jakerudy

I don't want to deceive anyone - the install was done by a Land Cruiser specialty shop. I do most repairs on my own but this was beyond my expertise.

Had a wrecked '84 FJ60 that I bought for parts, my '85 FJ60 owned for 20 years, '91 Dodge 3/4 ton (falling apart), and 2 NV4500's. Why not make the rig I wanted for years out of this mess?

Oz_Ram

The old Cruiser diffs are pretty rugged (I think they are 9.5"), the TC is OK, its biggest problem was stripping the input shaft spline.

jakerudy

The running gear should be sturdy enough for my needs. My off roading is farm work, hunting, and fishing. My goal with this conversion was to get a reliable daily driver that I could take just about anywhere and save my '01 Dodge for hauling. The prices of new diesel trucks make my conversion seem cheap.

I'm sure with this engine I could break something but you can tear up anything if you try hard enough. It's a great rig and does draw a lot of attention.

jakerudy

The Cruiser is over 30k miles with the 6BT and runs great. Only problems have been a plugged fuel filter (my fault) and a weak battery that I was able to boost charge enough to start it. Other than that it is just hop in and go anywhere you need.

It is loud by modern standards but for my money you can't beat the simple reliability. It gets over 20 mpg with mixed driving which where I live is more off road than most 4x4s ever see.

Oz_Ram

Great news on the reliability of the conversion! May it give you many more trouble-free miles