Zanderback

I crashed my taco and broke the driver's side lower control arm. The CV boot ripped and the axle came out of its housing on the diff. side. Now one of the race thingys is gone. I got a LCA, sway-bar link, and axle assembly from a salvage yard, but it came off a '97 taco (mine's a '98) that apparently did not have auto diff. (mine does). Can I do a straight swap, or do I need to disassemble the new one and just get the parts I need? What's the difference b/w auto and manual diff. anyway? I mean, besides the fact that you have to get out of the truck and lock in the hubs, what's the difference mechanically? Is it in the hubs or the differential...what's the deal?

ecchamberlin

Lets try to clear up the terminology so we are talking about the same parts.

You are using auto diff and I think you mean ADD or automatic hubs. Yes?

Manual dif is Manual hubs.

If that is what you mean. THe CV axles are not the same between the auto and manual hub models. The manual hub axles will have a splined outer end and your auto hub cv's are threaded for a big nut that holds everything together.

However and someone correct me if I am wrong but you can use a ADD auto hub style cv from a taco or a runner for the years listed in this section of thread 95.5-2004 Taco and 96-2002 4Runner. As long as they have ADD hubs and most do you should be able to use a cv from one of these.

Lots of us go to junk yards and find really badly used ones and use the used ones for core charges at auto parts stores to get new cv axles. This way you got a cheap core from the junk yard and then have a new shaft with a free replacement warantee.

If you buy one from a junk yard and use your broken one to buy 2 new ones then you fix your rig and have a spare on hand for trail repairs.

They come in really handy!!!!!!!!!!!!

ecchamberlin

In fact if you look at that pic the broken end (right) is the outer end (hub end). You can see it has the nut threaded on it. The other (left) end is the outer end. Ona manual hub cv both ends will look sort of like the left end

Zanderback

OK. Mine isn't broke like that one in the picture. My inner (left) boot ripped, and the shaft came out of it. Please forgive my lack of knowledge on the subject, but there's what I call a tri-knuckle exposed, with rings on each stub which I'm calling races. When I pulled the parts from the truck, the axle, rotor, and spindle? all came off together, and I can't figure out how to get them apart. I'm thinking I'll just get the race I need and a new boot and go back w/ that and the new control arm.