Oiling

Solid Axle Swap? Read This First

This is the single most common reason people land on this page, and it catches everyone at the same point in the build.

When you fit a solid axle swap kit to a 1995-2004 Tacoma, the stock oil pan hits the new axle. The pan is a front sump; the axle now occupies that space. There is no way around it, and people usually discover it with the axle already under the truck.

Two answers, and they suit different builds:

1. The T100 rear sump conversion

The T100 oil pan kit is the complete job: a rear sump T100 pan, pickup tube and gasket, dipstick with tube, and the freeze plug to blank off the old dipstick hole once the dipstick has moved.

That last part is the detail that makes it a kit rather than a pan — changing the sump means relocating the dipstick, and the old hole has to be sealed.

The T100 pan on its own (OEM 12101-75060) suits you if you already have the other parts. Note the drain plug and gasket are not included.

2. The high capacity pan

The high capacity oil pan clears a solid axle and does considerably more besides:

• Windage tray — keeps the crank out of the oil, which costs real horsepower at rpm
• Trap doors — keep oil sitting at the pickup on side slopes, climbs and descents
• Custom pickup tube, anti-rust coating, drain plug and washer included

For a crawler, the trap doors are the argument. A stock pan lets oil run away from the pickup on a steep angle, and a moment of pickup starvation at the wrong time is how rod bearings die. If your truck spends time nose-up or nose-down, this is the pan.

Building a race engine? The dry sump pan is made custom for each application — talk to us about the system rather than ordering blind.

Standard Pans

Not doing a swap and just need a pan? The standard replacement pan covers 1995-2004 Tacoma and 1995-2000 2.7L 4Runner (OEM 12101-75050).

The Oil Pump

The 3RZ oil pump is serviceable rather than a throwaway assembly, which keeps the cost of doing it properly low.

• Cover and rotor kit — cover, rotors and O-ring seal together. The sensible choice during a rebuild.
• Rotor set — if the cover is good and the rotors are worn.
• Cover (OEM 15115-75020) — replace it after any event that sent debris through the engine. A scored cover face will not hold pump pressure however good the rotors are.
• Oil pump O-ring (OEM 15188-75021).

The eighteen-dollar upgrade worth doing every time

The factory oil pump cover is held on with Phillips screws, and they strip. They are usually tight, usually corroded, and taking them out without an impact driver ruins them.

The Allen head hardware kit replaces them properly. We recommend fitting it every time the cover comes off — there is no reason to put stripped Phillips screws back into an engine you have just rebuilt.

Pickup and Filter Housing

If you are rebuilding and reusing the factory pan, replace the pickup tube. It is cheap insurance: the factory tube collects debris over decades, and transferring that into a fresh engine is not a risk worth taking. The pickup tube gasket (OEM 15147-75020) seals it to the block — without it, oil leaks back into the pan instead of reaching the pump.

The oil filter housing seal kit is two O-rings, and it is worth knowing what a failure there looks like: a leak in this area can contaminate the system and affect oil pressure, as well as making a mess of the engine bay. Replace them any time the housing comes off, and inspect the area as routine maintenance.

Race Oiling

Serious engines often run something other than the factory filter arrangement — multiple filters, an accumulator, a cooler, one-way valves. The oil filter adapter inlet plate blocks off where the factory adapter goes, with a CNC-machined plate and an O-ring seal.

Planning a custom oiling system? Tell us what the engine is for — we have built most versions of this and can tell you what is worth doing.