Pirate 4x4 banner

which tranny? l52 or w56?

5K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  toydoctor 
#1 ·
im in the process of swapping a yota drivetrain into my samurai buggy, and i have the choice of using a W56 or L52 tranny, got them both sittin in the garage. im running fj40 axles with the offset rear diff which i know is not ideal since the minitruck transfer case is centered, but i think it should work fine for the time being since the buggy is trail only. now i know that the W56 is the stronger of the two, but it's also 5 inches longer than the L52. the shorter length of the L52 would be a big advantage because it would lessen the angle of my driveshaft, but what i wanna know is how much weaker is it than a W56? this is a pretty lightweight buggy, probably around 2500 pounds total. so what do you guys think, will the length issue be more of an advantage than the strength, or is the L52 really alot weaker than the W56???? thanks in advance for the help:smokin:
 
#3 ·
is the R151 stronger or just desirable for the lower 1st gear? either way, i doubt if i'd be able to find one in my price range/area, i have the L52 and W56 sitting in my garage sooooooooo OUT OF THOSE TWO WHICH IS A BETTER OPTION:flipoff2: thanks for the reply though man
 
#4 ·
I'd definately go L52 in a sammy.

My truck is a 83 at heart, although an 85 xtra cab body on it. I run an L52 of unknown miles, with duals, and 36" swampers. It's lived just fine through 2 years of good abuse.

The gearing is basically identical. The L52 is shorter, the W56 is stronger. Which is your priority? You can get an L52 + dual t-cases in just barely more space than a W56 + 1 t-case..
 
#6 ·
Your best bet would be to use the l52 and sell the w56 for a g series tranny. Then just have you local machine shop bore out the l52 to fit the g-series internals like marlin does. The g series is a pretty strong tranny (mine has 222,000 miles without ever being rebuilt) and when you couple that with the small size of the l series tranny you have one great setup.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top