I recently purchased a 1989 4x4 pickup from one of my buddies for $200, it has a blown head gasket and 3rd gear in the tranny is shot, but other than that it is a pretty solid truck. I am in the process of pulling the motor to rebuild it and i also obviously need to do something with the tranny which leads me to my question. How strong is this tranny(I believe it is a W56), i will be running the 22re with some performance upgrades, it will also get a SAS with 35's and will be used primarely for off-roading, will it stand up to this type of use? I guess the other thing I have found I could do is swap in the v6 tranny(R150f), do you think this would be an important upgrade to a dedicated off-road yota? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

your stock tranny will be plenty strong for offroading as long as your not crazy running a 350 and 44's.

i would just rebuild it and leave it!

later
wade

 

from what i've figured out..... the v6 tranny is a good bit stronger than the w56. the downfalls are that without a couple of good priced adapters you cant use the bulletproof t-case of the 4cyl with the r150f and i think you would have to get new driveshafts. don't know if the r150f will mate up to the 22re. now i'm no expert yet. this is what i've learned cause i'm figuring out what i need to do to change my 22re over to the chevy 4.3 with as little major modification as possible. feel free add or correct me if i'm wrong

 

I run an 84 toyota Truck
22re Engine
85 Front axle with the Aussie Locker
86 Rear axle with a Full Detroit
4.56 gears
Dual T-cases w/stock gears in both
W56 Transmission
35x12.50 MTR's

It works GREAT and I've had no problems!
Could be used as a DD if I could afford the gas

 

Thank's for the reply's everyone. It sounds like the W56 is a descent tranny and that it will hold up to off-road abuse so I should probably just rebuild it. Does anyone know if the R150F will bolt up to a 22re without some adapters? I know I will need one to adapt my 4cyl T-case to the tranny along with the 23spline output shaft but what about mating it to the motor? This also brings up a question about my T-case, can I upgrade to the 23spline output shaft If I decide to run the W56 tranny? Oh and I found a R150F near where I live, its out of a '95 4runner V6 with 35k miles on it and they are asking $550 for it, does that sound like a reasonable price? Thanks

 

I suggest that you forget about the 150 Tranny. There is no reason to use it. Besides, it would take an adapter to do so. Upgrade to the 23 spline output on the w56. You won't need any adapters unless you plan to run Dual Cases.

Side note: I "believe" if you REALLY wanted to run the v6 tranny that you can use a Turbo Bellhousing with the R150 trans to mate it to the 22re. Again, this is what I hear.

 

Thanks for the info Dogdenii, It sounds like the w56 is plentty strong so I will just have that rebuilt and reuse it, should be cheaper that way. What do I need to upgrade to the 23 spline output on the w56 and is this something I should have the tranny shop do while they are rebuilding it?