If a truck has IFS does that automatically mean that the rear axle is 3" wider - even if the truck is a late model year 1985 w/ IFS?

I am wondering about this as I have a chance to swap an axle out of what the owners told me was a 1987 however after I checked the VIN plate and it says JUL of 1985 and the hood sticker says 1986.

Thanks!

John

 

Yes

Any/all IFS rigs had the wider rear end.

July of 85, as long as it is IFS, it is an 86.

 

What he said x2

 

Cool. Aside from the wider axle, are the rear drums interchangeable? It looked like the backing plate of the drums were a bit bent.

Can I swap the ones off my '85 SFA rear axle for the "86's"?

Thanks for the quick responses!

John

 

No. The 85 used 10" brakes, the 86 IFS used 11" brakes. Nothing about the two axles is the same.

 

Ok, thanks for the help! I will see if they can be bent back rather than changed!

If I get this thing I will have to post some shots. The guy is asking $200 for the whole truck (no title, just a parts truck!)

John

 

Well, considering the 85 is a 8" and ok, why is the 86+ 3" wider axle put on if the 7.5" diff on them is weaker? Is it really weaker?

I am just trying to get info together to decide what to do before I consider this 'upgrade'. I have heard of people doing this a lot yet not ever know the REASONS to swap them. Is it simply because the wider axle will be more stable?

Thanks!

John

 

ifs rigs have 8" diff rears like pre 85 rear and front diffs.. ifs fronts are 7.5" and are not interchangeable. if you swap rear you may want to get some wheels spacers for your fronts since your rear tire will stick out 1 1/2" more on each side.

 

Everywhere I was seeing the rear on this particualr 4x4 keept saying it was a 7.5" rear axle. I thought all toyota trucks & 4 runners were 8" rears, however the info is was seeing out there on the web indicated something different.

Here is the info off the engine compartment:

RN55L - MDCA
8A1F081 F302W52

John

 

is your truck a 2WD??

 

yeah, 2wd is probably the 7.5" diff.

The only reason the axle is wider at all is because the IFS front end is wider than the SFA.

 

Our 85 truck is aug 85 and it is "narrow" rear and SFA

Son just bought a 95 rear truck axle for the wider stance ($150 complete 4 cyl diff)

 

The truck it's on is a 4x4 IFS. However after careful examination, the brake cylinders are off and the dust shield for the backing plate is the only thing bent. Truck was a 1986 Xtrcab 4x4 LB - I was just trying to decod the engine compartment plate (see post prior to this) and where I checked said 7.5" w/ 3.7x ratio. It had a 5 spd so I hve to believe it was a 4.10 ratio.

I got it all in the garage and I was planning on robbing the IFS spindle hubs and rear axle. I just didn't want to 'redo' the axle if it was not a 8" rear end.

Thanks for the help. Check the code I posted above and tell me what you think!

John

 

If it's a 4wd rear it's 8". The diff's are all interchangable. The IFS front is the only 7.5" ring on 4x4's that I'm aware of. I believe the 2wd trucks have 5 lug instead of 6 so as long as it has 6 it's an 8" I "think".

 

8A1 is your paint code
FO81 is the interior code
F302 is your axle code
W52 is your trans code.

F302 is 3.73 ratio...but that was never available in the 4x4 config.

You said your rig is an 86 4x4 right?!?!

Was the cab perhaps swapped out prevously? The W52 is a 4x2 trans. The only options they had for 4x4 trannys in 1986 were W56, G52, and R151F.

All 4x4 of that generation are 8" ring gear rear ends. The only thing that was bigger was the Fj60, which was an 8.8" ring. 2WD used a 7.5" ring gear.

 

basically, what I am saying is that someone swapped a 4x2 cab onto the 4x4 frame, perhaps from previous damage. Meanwhile, they did not swap the info plates, thus you have a 4x2 cab on a 4x4 frame/running gear.

The only option they had (stock) for 4x4's in 1986, were 4.10, and 4.30. 4.30 were RARE and usually found in the autos only.

 

200 for the whole truck is cheap

 

It's very possible that the cab was a transplant. The VIN on the Frame looks like it was a non-factory weld on job so that may explain that!

I bought the truck for that and set a side what I wanted to use and then began selling off the other stuff. I have made like $250 profit from my $200 initial investment!

The tranny (I originally bought it for this) ended up not being good. You could only move the shift lever into 1st and 2nd, however it wouldn't go into 3rd, 4th, 5th or Reverse. So I sold that with the transfer for $150! LOL Guy knew it wasn't shifting right.

I will probably keep the rear axle and the front IFS hubs to do the conversion on my Runner. I just wasn't sure of the need to go through the whole process right away of adding the widening of the Axle and front end.

John