I'm on the prowl for a 5 speed 7 passenger XL7. Not having much luck finding one. There seems to be lots of automatics out there, many of them in great shape. I'm kind of thinking it may be easier to just bite the bullet, buy an automatic XL7 and then find a wrecked one with a manual and do the swap. If all the parts are there on the donor vehicle, it should be a direct mechanical bolt-in, and an engine wiring harness swap, and that's it, correct?

The other 2 reasons I am thinking this route is 1) most of the manual XL7's I've seen are 5 passenger, so I'd have to track down all the 3rd row parts and install, not a huge deal however; and 2) the auto XL7's come with 5.13:1 diffs, whereas the manuals are 4.62 (unlike all the other Suzuki trucks), so the gearing would already be set up for 31's once the tranny is swapped.

Any other suggestions?

I don't think xl7s came in manual but a standard GV will bolt right up just have to change wires, tranny plugs, ECM, install pedals and clutch slave. the manual should bolt up too the 2.7 ...as the 2.5 are the same blocks

I'm quite sure you're mistaken about the XL7 never coming with a stick.  I have come across the odd (less than 10%) XL7's with a factory 5-speed manual in my search for a new Zuk.

I also did already know that the 2.7 is just a bored out 2.5 V6, but I was under the false impression that since the XL7 uses a beefier rear axle, it also uses a different transmission than the GV. But that's good info to have- there's alot more GV's out there than XL7's so it makes finding a donor for a swap a heck of a lot easier! Except, the ECM calibration would be wrong because it would be for the smaller engine. How do you get around that?

Hey guys

Your in luck im swapping a 2003 over to manual and making a youtube video on the process so subscribe to my channel and vids will be up soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhzzGZd9Vxo

Hey, thanks for the response. I should have updated this thread. In September I found my unicorn-rare 2003 XL7 5-speed with a steel front diff and brought it home. It is just a 5 passenger model though, but there's a thread out there detailing how to add the 3rd row if you can track down all the pieces...

I have a grey 2002 7 seater here im scrapping or i have a tan leather rear seats and tray mounts seat belts. so grey cloth or tan leather for sale cheap