Replacement Drivetrain?

[rocmoc]

Still working on this darn roof so have not had a chance to work on the Trooper. SOOOO, I have had time to think about the upcoming repair OR should I replace the drivetrain with something with a lot more horsepower? IF you were going to replace the entire drivetrain, what would you replace it with, Honda, Subaru, ?? Also an Automatic trans would share be nice in the rocks like Moab!

Also Lenny or Kinarf, did one of you guys have a chance to calc the drive ratio on the diff when you had it a part? If a person was going to replace the drivetrain, it would be important to come close to the final output ratio of the existing trans.

Too quiet on here so something to chew on.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[brostar]

Roc, if you are thinking of replacing the drivetrain and instilling a auto tranny, why not go the whole hog and replace the motor too. It would be a lot easier but would cost more. I'm not a fan of autos in a 4x4 but if that was the case or not, it would have to be a Subaru. Someone's got to do it one day.

If you muck around in the shed with that in mind you could end up with something like this.

But the engine would be in the back and have better off road ability.

Just a thought.

Cheers Mike.

[rocmoc]

Yes I met the WHOLE thing, motor & trans. We now in the Trooper have a car front wheel drive setup turned sideways. I had a similar setup in my SpecRacer Ford only the front wheel drive setup was installed in the rear for better handling. There are much more powerful stock engine & trans combs and would not cost more than a turbo. After reading the turbo thread, it would cost LESS!

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[brostar]

OMG, your right. On ebay there is a good range of motors at a good price. If you have already done a suspension upgrade, the extra weight of a bigger block will be OK. The Subaru's are AWD so will have to run through a transfer box I guess. What to watch out for is size, you know, will it go in the gap without to much dramas lining up the drive shafts (will that make the donor engine to high or low) and the wiring. Not a bad option at all.

Cheers Mike.

[brostar]

Roc, just thinking further with a donor engine & tranny for the Trooper and found out a Subaru engine could possible be to wide. That is a Boxer engine anyway. Although you do get a pretty good balanced engine and a low centre of gravity, at the end of the day she's a fat engine and the plugs are down low which can't be that great for river crossings. I have however come up with another possible engine. The wife's car is a Toyota Gita which I think you call it a Lexus IS300 over there which has a fantastic engine in it and it light. The bonus is, it is a AWD & the tranny is a 5 speed auto tiptronic (the best of both worlds). You would still need the transfer box I would think but I've done a quick measure up and yep she would go in with maybe the Rad. moved up onto the cargo bed. The max power is a crazy 220PS (217 BHP or 162 kw) @5800 rpm. That's more than enough from this lite aluminium block which has a power to weight fig. of 143 bhp/ton in the car. Don't get me wrong, I think the Trooper's powerplant is fine but it's fear to say, "it's got me licking my lips". The Lexus engine is the 2JZ-GE and here is what I mean and is for sale on ebay USA now for $1k. with an uncut wire harness, ECU and the Tranny.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/99-Lexus-SC...45#ht_806wt_938

Cheers Mike.

[mouser58]

Here's an idea I saw on Youtube. A guy took a Honda front wheel drive and put it in a homemade tube buggy. He stuck it in sideways and used one side of the output shaft to the front diff and the other side to the rear diff. You would have to figure out a way to lock the tranny up so, it wouldn't shift from front to back under load like front wheel drives shift from one side to another.

[rocmoc]

Here's an idea I saw on Youtube. A guy took a Honda front wheel drive and put it in a homemade tube buggy. He stuck it in sideways and used one side of the output shaft to the front diff and the other side to the rear diff. You would have to figure out a way to lock the tranny up so, it wouldn't shift from front to back under load like front wheel drives shift from one side to another.

Good point, how to lock the tranny? Forgot about this little problem.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[mouser58]

The daughter has totalled her Saturn Ion twice and I have out it back together both times. If and when I get her another car, I will have a donor motor and drivetrain for something. Pipe buggys with old VW engines are big here in W.Va so I will pick me up a chassis and build something in a couple years from now.

[4x4x454]

A Honda engine and tranny would be a good choice. Lots of aftermarket parts available and they also sell some sort of a posi unit for them.

[ksimpsy]

Yeah and if a guy did get a car engine in it you could keep the accessory drive together and rig up power steering and use the A/C compressor as a air pump for flat tires and such. a honda engine seems like a good choice especially an inline 4 cyl should be an easy squeeze.

There seems to be lots of stores on ebay that sell motors. you can look through all the pics and see what on looks like it will work like this one http://cgi.ebay.ca/89-94-MAZDA-MX3-AUTOZAM...34.c0.m14.l1262

Its a Mazda but it has the same layout as the trooper

[rocmoc]

One problem is you really need a complete crashed car for the computer, wires & misc. parts. Roof on the house is complete, a little business trip for a week and finally will be able to do some work on the Trooper. I will have to make a decision by then.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[rocmoc]

Been giving it some thought, I will repair the existing trans. I already have too many projects to be adding another large one. Also my calcs are that it would take between $1500 - $2000 to do the change over even if you were able to purchase a complete wrecked car for aprox $900. Again, too many existing projects calling out for the dollars. Something to do in the future! I do believe at this point since I don't play in the sand that often, I would rather have an auto trans for rock crawling. Boy am I getting lazy in my old age. There was a time I would not even considered a auto in anything. Now almost everything I have is an auto.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico/New Mexico

[Hammerdn]

Might want to check this out for an Automatic Transmission

www.gasgoo.com/traderoom/cheryacteco/product-detail/LSQLN/Transmission-QR019-CHA-2-0L

[Big'n]

Alright guys, I've been thinking about this for a year now and I think I'm going to try a 2000 model pontiac grand am 6cyl auto swap into my trooper. The grand am I used to own had an electrical switch that locked up both front wheels for traction when needed, I think this will give me the power I want and solve the issue of needing a transfer box. I think I might start this project in the fall of this year or next, I have too many irons in the fire right now but I believe this is the answer to an engine swap with more power and auto tranny.

[Kinarfi]

Go for it, and keep us informed, I like the idea of all wheel drive or locked in 4X4 at the touch of a switch.