wilshire

Compared to other trucks/suv's? Is it the weight or the size? Ground clearance? Something about the suspension? Built tougher? Why do they have such a greater following, than say, Ford Rangers? Does a stock 1990 Toyota Truck go anywhere a stock 1990 Ford Ranger won't? If it does, why?

peow130

The early model toyota pickup 4wd's were built on the basis that they were rugged 4wd trucks meant to outlast and outwheel any other domestic truck.
They're built to handle the rough outback of australia to the barren deserts of africa, and everything else.
They have the dependability of well, a toyota, and the strength of a tank. How many trucks do you see get washed under water and filled with sand and STILL drive?
The entire truck is built tougher. The axles are comparable to dana 60's (the strongest truck axle easily available), and the suspension is just better.

Look at a ranger's front suspension. Dana 35 with I-beams. In stock form, the I-Beams barely give any flex at all. The toyota has more ground clearance, also. Now, i'm not saying rangers are bad trucks, but the trucks are two different animals.

The suspension systems are totally different. I don't think rangers ever came with solid front axles, and the IFS is total garbage.

yotaman85

indeed, older toyota trucks are built for one reason, durability. as a side response, the I-beam suspension is the best off road IFS system ever put on a stock truck. it has allot of travel. as for on road the I-beam front suspension is the worst IFS system to ever be put on a stock truck.

peow130

It has TERRIBLE flex for a stock truck that sees the road.

Now, add 6" of length to the beam, drop it down 4 inches, and throw from fiberglass fenders on that ranger, and you got a real dune machine.

desertcamper67

True that, but you'd better upgrade that crappy steering in there before you plan on jumping that beast.

peow130

Or just upgrade to a toyota hehehe

scuba

What makes you think that?

yotaman85

well, owning a 1990 explorer and a 1990 4runner, both with the sway bars removed, the exploder wins when it comes to front end flex. actually as much as i hate fords, that thing could actually wheel. its an eddie bauer and has a limited slip rear, 31" MTZ's and custom bumpers. the only other thing I did was loosen the trailing arm bolts when I went wheeling. my 4runner on the other hand, SR5, 4.88, limited slip rear, 30" BFG A/T's, sway bar is at some recycling plant by now and it will own on the explorer simply because the rear end is much better at putting power to the ground.

yotaman85

and toyota IFS is nothing compared to a dana 60. like comparing apples to fireplaces..

peow130

considering the fact you can throw dirty 30's, chromo axles, and gusset them and run big ol' tires, i'm pretty sure you can compare the two.
while they arent as strong, they're comparable.
I wasn't comparing the toyota IFS to the a D60.
The D60 differential is stronger, no doubt. It's larger and thicker.
But the toyota housing is stronger by design.

scuba

Dirty 30's and chromos are the same thing. Well, sort of. Well, not really but same effect, kind of. Lol.
You're idea of "big ol tires" is what exactly?
A stock 60 is nowhere comparable to a stock Toyota axle. And were talking stock stuff here, not modded axles.
The 60 ring gears are 2" larger, a 60 housing is MASSIVE compared to a Toyota housing, tube OD and ID & the shafts are larger.
A stock 60 could run 38's without issue( that's if whatever drivetrain could turn 38's), a stock Toyota axle would shear ring and pinions and twist axle shaft splines or even break the shaft. I think a beefed up Toyota axle is just barely reaching stock 60 strength, barely.

Again, they aren't comparable in stock form.

yotaman85

well the rear land cruiser housings have been compared in strength with the dana 60, but only in pound for pound comparisons. you can put 42" tires on a D60 and be good but your ground clearance under the axle will blow compared to safely running 39" tires on a LC rear axle. stock to stock the toyota mini rear axle is a great axle and is easily compared to a ford 9", but not a D60...

yotaman85

as for the general topic of the discussion, I just thought of another thing. think of it this way. toyota made 1ton trucks that were rated at more payload then most of todays 1/4ton trucks and they used the same frame on all their models.. along with the ever so unpopular 3VZE..

peow130

Idk why i said dirty 30's.. I meant Marfields..

You're not taking into consideration the fact that these two axles are under two different vehicles.
If you do.. Then you'll see some interesting things.

A stock toyota axle can run 35" tires without many issues.
A stock dodge axle can run 40" tires without many issues.

The toyota is a smaller truck
The dodge is a larger truck.

Scale up the toyota axle... And you can see that in scale, the two axles are comparable. If you take into consideration the fact that a toyota housing is solid all the way through. A dana 60 has pressed in axle tubes.

Scale up the toyota axle and we see an interesting effect. The housing is superior in form to the dana axle.

"big ol' tires" is pretty general You mentioned 40's, those are big ol' tires.

In my original post i probably should have specified what i meant. In an upgraded form, the toyota axles are comparable to dana 60's. But if you account for scale, i'd say the axles are on a pretty even scale.

yotaman85

but scaled up is not fair, we are comparing stock toyota to stock anything else. so you are correct in saying that stock to stock, the toyota axle has allot more strength to push a toyota pickup then a dana 60 has pushing a full size 1ton. I have seen toyota 8" rears running in 6K pound buggies and have no issues.. pretty impressive.

peow130

How is it not fair?
He's the one who mentioned scale lol.
He mentioned that the D60 has a larger R&P and axle tubes. Larger doesnt always mean stronger.

toyomoto

on a side note... the dana 60 axle compared to the yota 8in, the dana weigh's TONS more than a yota! BUT!!! i have abuddy running 37's in the rear with chromoly's and it does just fine when you put anything to it.

toyomoto

and ya, he's got 37's in front to! lol!

mastacox

Sorry guy, a Dana 60 is stronger (of course it is, it's HUGE). Sure, you can put $5K into a Toyota axle and get something that might be approaching the strength of a D60, but a D60 is far cheaper (and a D60 with $5K into it is just ridiculous).

I've got friends that run 40" Krawlers with 200lbs of water in them on D60's with tube buggies; a built Toyota axle would still explode, especially in the stuff they do.

ET

after 95 they started putting exterior plastic on.