Diggity

I don't know about the flange fitting, but I do know that you may need to do a little grinding on your diff to stuff that V6 ring gear in there. It's really not much, maybe a quarter inch.

When you pull your third you will see a groove in the diff for the ring gear, the V6 ring gear is thicker than on the 4banger, so you'll have to take an angle grinder to it. Don't go nuts, you'll just need to take a little bit off.

You'll figure it out, it's not hard, but I just thought I'd pass along a helpful nugget of information.

SpecialScottie

No ones put factory 4.88s in a 4cyl truck or runner?

toyota-erik

I guess its possible that some are 1 piece although I've never seen one

Wardamneagle

Factory 4.88 diffs aren't easy to find and you need to find two of them. I can imagine that poses a problem for most with people.

The diffs will fit, trust me. Just find two of them and buy the gaskets for the diffs. You can then lay the gasket on your axle and see if you have to do any grinding. I just installed two TRD elockers in my 1985 and had to do quite a bit of grinding. It isn't difficult but you have to be patient. I'm pretty sure the drive shafts will bolt up but I'm not positive. The TRD elocker diff flanges worked on my 1985 and they are based on a V6 carrier housing.

Good luck.

SpecialScottie

Thanks Wardamneagle. I was also thinking about going the TRD elocker route.
DId you wire them up or use the cable opperation?

The factory 4.88s only came in 4runners from 90-93 correct? Were they in the 2wd also?

scottd

I have a V6 diff in the rear of my '79 pickup. I took the flange off of my old diff and put it on the V6 diff. I know for a fact that the V6 diff has a crush sleeve. Here is what I did:
1. measure torque required to start gears turning on V6 diff before removing flange.
2. Install 79 flange on V6 diff and leave nut a little loose. Then slowly torque the pinion nut a little bit at a time (just a small fraction of a rotation on the nut each time).
3. Between intervals of tightening the pinion nut, stop to check the torque required to start the gears turning and compare to original number from step 1.
4. Keep tightening the pinion nut a little at a time until you have arrived at the original torque value.
5. Whatever you do, do NOT overshoot the original torque value because at that point you will have crushed the crush sleeve and put too much preload on the pinion bearing.

I'm not saying that this is the "correct" way to do this, but I saw this procedure described in a manual and it seemed to work ok for me.

As for what vehicles came with 4.88 diffs from the factory, any 95 or earlier truck or 4-Runner that had an automatic transmission and came with 31" tires from the factory should have them. Not sure if that includes 2wd.

grant526

Interesting theory. But I would rather not deal with the flange and replacing the crush sleeve. It's easier to unbolt the driveshaft from the flange, slide it up slip-yoke and mark it (to assure you have it aligned correctly for balance when reinstalling). Then remove the lover part of the shaft. Match it up to the flange on the diff that's still sitting on the bench. If it matches up. Your in perfect shape! If not, rotate it 30 or 45 degrees, mark your holes and drill the new holes that match your driveshaft. Simple and relatively quick!

Then you ready to install the new diff. Be it now or later. Just make sure to reassemble the driveshaft in the same orientation as before.

And as a side note. If you remove a driveshaft from a vehicle and plan on reinstalling it on the same diff, index (make an alignment mark) on both the flange and the driveshaft.

SpecialScottie

Thanks guys. I cant wait to get this done.
Can anyone confirm which years the 4.88s came out of? 2wd too?

Wardamneagle

No way would I use one of those silly Downey cables. They are wired with an FZJ80 elocker ECU and switch....took me a while to figure out the wiring but it's fantastic. The only disadvantage to this route is you cannot lock just the front. It's either rear or both but that's fine by me.

Pics...

SpecialScottie

Wow that looks awsome man
Are you running 4.11s?

SpecialScottie

Would it matter if the v6 4.88s were ABS?

Wardamneagle

No, they are 4.56. You can buy the TRD elockers in 4.10, 4.30 or 4.56. It's kind of nice to have everything set up from the factory with a 1 year warranty. Unfortunately the Hi-pinion elockers (93 to 97 FZJ80 models) only come from the factory in 4.10. Otherwise I would have gone hi-pinion in the front.

No elockers, to my knowledge, were or are available in 4.88.

scottd

It doesn't matter if the V6 3rd is ABS (mine is). There is just a small hole on top of the housing where the ABS sensor goes that you will need to plug (I used a freeze plug).

BigO

That is a sweet set-up! Sorry to hi-jack, but I have two questions.

1) So does that system use two of the same "e-locker ECU" that the Tacomas and 4-Runners use, or is it a single "e-locker ECU" that operates both diffs?
2) And do you happen to have the part numbers for that "dual" e-locker switch and ECU, or what years FZJ80 to enter for a parts search?

I am getting ready to retrofit an e-locker in the rear of my '85, and I will be installing a hi-pinion e-locker in the front some time in the next year or two. I would rather use the set-up you have, than to have two individual switches from a Tacoma or 4-Runner.

Oatmeal

That procedure works fine.....handy if you have to replace a pinion seal Factory 4.88 thirds can't be regeared to a different ratio because, the pinion offset is slightly different from other 8" (4cyl and V6) diffs and will only accommodate factory 4.88 (expensive!) gearsets......something to think about if you're planning to go to a bigger tire later on. Here: http://home.4x4wire.com/erik/diffs/ And by the way, I activate my front e-locker with a controller I built (using a schematic from Marlin's website) that uses two normaly open/closed relays and a DPST toggle switch and an LED to indicate locked.....it was easy (and cheap!) to put together and has never failed me. Just make sure to run the small vent tube up high enough to keep water out! ---------Hans

Wardamneagle

It only uses one ECU. The 80 series landcruiser ECU's control two elockers. You can use any FZJ80 elocker ECU and switch from (I think) '93 through '97. The switch and the ECU do not have to be from the same year. You need to get the pigtails for both (with a few inches of wire) or it's going to be very difficult to wire. This ECU will control either a hi-pinion or a TRD elocker. I used an elocker ECU and switch out of a '97, I think.

Here is my write-up on the wiring involved:

http://forum.ih8mud.com/79-95-toyota...cu-switch.html