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I know this is a little premature(truck not on the road yet), but I have a stock 1.8 2WD 79 luv. What is the easiest way to convert it to 4WD? I have heard many diferent things.. are there any front & rear axles that I can put under it without cutting down the axles? One more question.... Is there a bigger 4cyl engine/trany combo that can handle slightly larger than stock tires?

Thanks

the thing about 4x4 conversions is that you can pretty much let your imagination be your limit

i think the best swap candidates for a luv would be to use '79-85 toyota 4wd pickup axles('79-97 out of north america). since they were made for a mini truck that is similar in size to the luv(maybe a little larger) they should fit fine. they have a 55" WMS, are sprung over and use 30 spline, 1.3" axle shafts. they use an 8" drop out style third member, front and rear are interchangeable...toyota used the 8" from the mid 70s to 1995 to 4x4 trucks and they are still used in 4runner rear axles to this day. available gear ratios are 3.90, 4.10, 4.30, 4.38, 4.56, and a rare oddball 4.88. aftermarket you can get 4.88, 5.29 and 5.71 gears.

the real weak point is the birfield cv joints in the front axle. toyota used a closed knuckle with a birfield(it's like a fwd car cv joint) instead of using u-joints in the front. this can be fixed by using stronger heat treated birfs that can be had for around $50 each if you send in your cores.

i think the biggest issue is steering. you can probably use the luv box and get hy-steer or crossover arms for the toyota axle, since toys came from the factory with a mediocre push-pull system from the factory like an old ford or chevy. you could also probably use a toyota box from an '86 or later 4wd truck or a toyota 2wd box(these are all crossover), or something like a saginaw box. you're gonna have to get a custom sized drag link for what you're doing though, but it shouldn't be too expensive. marlin is a very respected toyota vendor, he'll set you up with the steering you'll need

as for engines, there's all kinds of choices. if you want to keep it isuzu, there's the 2.3 and 2.6 4 cyl engines. the toyota 20R(2.2l) and 22R(2.4l) are very good little torquey motors. you could also spring for a chevy 4.3 swap, from what i've seen they fit nicely in smaller truck engine bays and have lots of power.

any other questions, just feel free to ask [/url]

will the toyota parts work if he wants to install a small block v8 into his 4x4?

The toyota parts mentioned will work, but not without some mods. The solid front axle would need to be welded in at the correct height and angle, etc. the steering system would require some creative reworking, and no doubt there would be some sort of driveshaft involvement.