Taco-tdi

storx

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Location
Earth!!
TDI
2009 Jetta CR140, 2010 Corvette Z06
I am wanting to replace my 1995 dodge cummins pickup as it was in a wreck a few years ago and its been nothing but a money pit ever since.. I also hate how its an single cab and would love to own an mid size diesel pickup as i own rental propertys and require something to tow around large objects ofton... doors, plants, mulch, wood, drywall

Target trucks are
4DR Ford Ranger
4DR Toyota Tacome

Engine:
ALH - simplicity and seem to be fairly easy to find. Parts are pretty cheap to mod these and build them reliable...

Can i get some advice on which one is better compared to the other. I am not well knowledge on either one and people experience would be my best bet i think on this.
 

storx

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Location
Earth!!
TDI
2009 Jetta CR140, 2010 Corvette Z06
I am driving 45 mins tomorrow to go check out this truck. It has an blown headgasket possible timing belt/chain the owner said. What are things i should look for that makes it a bad donor?? price $3800

 
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SuperAdellic

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2008
Location
Beaufort, SC
TDI
None
I am not aware of any 4dr rangers on the US market. Maybe in Canada or Mexico??? I know the S10/Sonoma/Canyon/Colorado, Frontier, Dakota, and Tacoma came in 4dr.
In regards to the Tacoma 4dr trucks:
Downside: they only came in automatic, they tend to be more expensive than the others I listed, most of the problems that I have read about are type of use or abuse related. Then again, there's always a lemon in every lot.
Upside: very well supported in the aftermarket, swaps have already been done in Tacomas, the TRD package with the locker is worth some extra money if you can find a truck with it. I'm sure sites like http://www.ttora.com will be able to tell you a lot more specifics on the particular issues to look out for. Good luck and I'm jealous. I've wanted a diesel Tacoma for a long time, especially after driving diesel 4Runners and Prados in Japan.
 

jimbote

Certified Volkswagen Nut
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Location
spiral arm, milky way (aka central NC)
TDI
Tacoma 4x4 converted to TDI
I am driving 45 mins tomorrow to go check out this truck. It has an blown headgasket possible timing belt/chain the owner said. What are things i should look for that makes it a bad donor?? price $3800

That is a killer deal !!! If you don't I will ;).... It would be a fairly straightforward swap to manual, but an auto tacoma would be nice... Check for frame rust by poking around with a screwdriver ... Frame rot was a problem on some rust belt tacomas, other than that this seems like a very good price
 
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storx

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Location
Earth!!
TDI
2009 Jetta CR140, 2010 Corvette Z06
im about to drive up now to look at it..

I was talking with an friend lastnight and he said that the dsg has become so abundant on vortex and junkyards that they are coming down in price because people are swaping them to manuals in there car. He owns an VW BUG that has an Yamaha R1 engine and because of the winter season he adopted an creative AWD system to it thats not really usefull for drag racing but its enough to get out of snow easy...

He purchased an aluminum hydraulic pump and attached it to the engine with an bracked and attached to the engine so its spins as the engine is driven. He fabed up old VW FWD hub assemblys to the front of the bug and attached tiny aluminum hydraulic pumps in the axle shaft areas on the hubs. These small produce only 10hp of hydraulic power so when they are not gripping the fluid is bypassed.

We were talking about the idea of installing an TDI/DSG combo in the car longitude. Then run an custom axle from the drivers side of the transmission to the rear axle. Then run the passenger side output to the front axle.

The other option we were tossing around was to attach an hydraulic pump on both transmission outputs and then install hydraulic motors on both axles to drive them hydraulic..

We are no expert on hydraulics and we understand that is you spring a leak that you cant go anywhere.. well this can be protected by running the hydraulic lines inside some tubular metal pipe for protection. I wanna get some feedback from everything to see what you guys would think about this.
 

FredS

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2009
Location
AZ
TDI
01 Golf GL 5spd, 00 NB 5spd, 94 Toyota-01ALH
Yeah, if that truck was anywhere near me, I'd be on it too. Jim, is that auto standalone controlled? The idea does sound interesting, but converting to a manual would be hard to resist.
 

Hollis16

New member
Joined
Oct 4, 2012
Location
Hudson, OH
TDI
hoping for an 02 Jetta
That's a fantastic deal on that truck. Swap the timing belt and sell it for a 10K profit! :p engines are non-interference. :D

I want to swap a TDI into my taco, but I don't think my 3RZ will ever die.....:)
 

jimbote

Certified Volkswagen Nut
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Location
spiral arm, milky way (aka central NC)
TDI
Tacoma 4x4 converted to TDI
the biggest issue with running a TDI/DSG longitudinally in the truck is you will be way undergeared essentially you will be in low range all the time to the tune of 3.?? to 1, where you ideally need to be 1 to 1 or overdrive @ highway speeds ....neat idea btw and would make a great rockcrawler ;)
 

jimbote

Certified Volkswagen Nut
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Location
spiral arm, milky way (aka central NC)
TDI
Tacoma 4x4 converted to TDI
Dang!!...hate to hear that....whenever I see a deal like that I send an email/message that I will take it for price asked no matter what....foot's in the door and refusal is still possible ;)....next time man!!...hopefully it won't be long before another pops up :)
 

storx

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Location
Earth!!
TDI
2009 Jetta CR140, 2010 Corvette Z06
I did offer upfront... They just I guess didn't believe me
 

KITEWAGON

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Location
Seacoast, NH
TDI
2014 Touareg Exec, 2014 JSW
I am not aware of any 4dr rangers on the US market. Maybe in Canada or Mexico???
It depends on how you define 4-dr. There are extended cab versions with rear doors that open just like the extended tacos. Unfortunately mine truck doesn't have those doors. I didn't think it would matter to me, but it is such a pain to retrieve stuff from behind the seats that I wish I had a door. 3-door would be enough.
 

SuperAdellic

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2008
Location
Beaufort, SC
TDI
None
It depends on how you define 4-dr. There are extended cab versions with rear doors that open just like the extended tacos. Unfortunately mine truck doesn't have those doors. I didn't think it would matter to me, but it is such a pain to retrieve stuff from behind the seats that I wish I had a door. 3-door would be enough.
I believe the OP is looking for four full doors, not an extended cab with clamshell doors. I'm probably wrong though.
 
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