Vdubin64

Hi guys.. I have a 96 Tacoma 2 wheel drive that's approaching 400k miles..Long story short, the rear end developed a leak, and I procrastinated a bit too long.. It ended up, locking up, I'm sure do to lack of oil (heat).

Anyway, I located and purchased an entire assembly (rear end) out of a 97 Tacoma (for super cheap).. It also was two wheel drive, standard trans and looked identical to what I had in shambles.. The only difference is that the engine was a 2.7 unlike mine being a 2.4 I bought it anyway, figured I'd take a chance.. (Again bought for cheap).. My question... Big deal, or not so much...? My truck is starting to really show its age, and I'm sure won't last too much longer..
Without a major over haul.. Any problems if I just throw the whole thing in.. I couldn't find anything online regarding this question.. My trucks been sitting for a year and I really want to get her going again..

Thanks in advance

scuba

Could have a different gear ratio, but that should affect anything since it's only 2wd.
Go for it.

tantacoma

The 2.7 axle housing should have the spring mounts on top (spring over suspension). But your original 2.4 axle should have the spring mounts on the bottom (spring under suspension). So it will not work for you.

I'm not sure if the 2.7 differential will swap over or not. It may have a different bolt pattern, and the axle shaft diameter/spline-count are likely different.

Vdubin64

I did a visual inspection and both mount "spring under" ... Hope the axles don't differ.. Because, I'll be needing to swap them.. The 2.7 rear end has a bent axle.. I'll be needing to install one of my old axles into it

tantacoma

This does not make sense to me. How certain are you that the donor axle came from a truck with 2.7 motor? It sounds like you have another 2.4 axle.

Vdubin64

Well, after reading some of the replies here, I obviously had to make a phone call, and get some of my questions answered. So, I called my local Toyota dealership, and discussed what my intentions were. Here, is what I was told directly from Toyota. All, first generation Toyota Tacomas 95.5-2000 have an interchangeable rear axle assembly. The technician, stated that when you get into the automatic transmission, aspect of things of course, your going to have a change in the gear ratio. He never mentioned, a different size axle, from the 2.4 to the 2.7 or anything pertaining to it bolting on top, or under the leaf springs. He did say, that the only thing that would make the swap not doable, is if the donor rear end was ABS. My truck is non ABS.. The computer, has the same part number
for the 1997 2.7 as my truck 1996 2.4
Tacomas. I inquired about the gear ratio being different, from the 2.7 to the 2.4. The technician, stated if there was (computer stated no difference) that I would never notice a difference.
It seems that we have a perfect match. Hope this clears the air, for anyone attempting this job in the future.. Now, for some greasy hands

ShouldaWornGloves

Sounds like you got the "Red Dog Dialed". Do the swap and let us know how it goes.