1uz vs ls (or ls motor vs ls motor)

Not wanting to thread jack the "Adapting a Toyota 5spd (R150f) to an LSx engine" thread, I figured I'd start another.

I'm building a 89-95 toyota hilux 4x4 with lots of travel and a fiberglass body with a street driven trophy truck vibe. It needs decent power so I had been working on an ls swap because it's the easy button for power, weight and aftermarket availability of swap stuff.

That said, I'm a huge toyota fanboy and wouldn't mind staying with one brand for chassis and powerplant.

So lets debate swapping the two. I'd imagine the biggest issue in swapping uz series motors would be management and wiring vs the ease of just buying a painless kit or whatever for the ls. Next, fabbing engine mounts will likely be easier for most for ls motors because of the availability of aftermarket weld your own kits, are these available for the uz? Radiator clearance will not be an issue for me as the rad is going behind the cab, both motors are readily available but low mile 1uzs are thin on the ground

Power- advantage ls

Weight? (I personally would go aluminum block ls)

Aftermarket- advantage ls

Reliability- I'd say uz judging by the ls400 threads on club lexus

Swapability?

What else?

Let the battle begin.....

True LS engines are flippin' expensive.

You can get a dropout truck engine (accessories, wiring, computer, accelerator pedal/module, etc) for $1500-2000. That's for a warrantied engine on a pallet.

No idea for the Toyota engines.

Other than brand loyalty and buy-in cost (depending on how cool an LS you find), I don't see any reason to go with the 1UZ

The UZ can be had in approx 300hp form stock so you aren't giving up much to the truck LS motors. You do have to buy an adapter to put a manual transmission on the Toyota motor but you have to buy an expensive T56 for the LSx motor that probably makes the transmission a wash. If you are sticking with stock toyota or stock LSx there is probably no super compelling argument one way or the other.

I was thinking of using a r15x tranny because it's easy/ I have one and it allows a manual with transfer case, so t56 stuff isn't a problem for me.

If you're happy with 300hp, get the 1uz.

If you want more N/A power, get the LS.

LS will be cheaper to mod by a significant margin. Cams for the 1uz are ~$1600 to give you an idea. Lots of super cool race-spec stuff made in Australia if you get serious, but it's definitely not the easy or cheap option.

Stock the 1uz makes more like 200whp, the later ones with vvti has closer to 300 at the crank.

Looks like the LS is narrower, which may make swapping require less surgery, and would give you more room for exhaust. I also like the simplicity/durability of an OHV engine with a timing chain vs an OHC engine with timing belt.

With scrap the way it is, I wonder if you could hunt down a wrecked 99+ 4x4 truck with a 5 speed for a really cheap powertrain donor.

I'm reading an iron block LS is about the same weight as a 1UZ.

My local craigslist always seems to have a good crop of running ls400s in the sub $1000 range. I've yet to find a running ls donor less than 2k. This link seems to show some possibilities on connecting a 5spd to a 1 or 2 uzfe

4 valve head... or 2???