toyminator2000

If you are intersted I have a complete IFS front 3rd with 4.88's and a detroit truetrac that I would sell for basically what the truetrac is worth. It literally has less than 20 miles of use. PM me if you are interested.

Junkers88

Not trying to hijack the thread here.


Toy,
How did that tru track work out in the front? I'm trying to decide if I should go ahead and put a locker in ther front before I install the third that I have.

toyminator2000

It worked great its just the guy who used it had the Rancho/Downey Lift kit with cranked up torsion bars to clear 35's and he broke axles a couple of times. It was a v6 truck and a heavy right foot too. All you had to do was tap the brakes to get it to lock up. I think it would work fine as long as you dont have a make of break it attitude.

Junkers88

never mind

Belize Off Road Team

I say, wheels, tires. lower gears, lockers. Snorkel, armor, 2" lift.
That was what i was going to spend my soon to be $2000 but now that i got a 3.4L, it is all going into that. Such as S/C, URD kit, and many MANY other things!

blueyoda

I would recomend 33x10.5 and pound the pinch weld. Amour is a nice touch, when coupled with lockers you can basically take your rig anywhere, if it doesn't clear just drag it across. LOCK IT BEFORE YOU LIFT IT. Lockers will get you much farther.

TomkiRider

whats worng with the ARB air locker? toyminator can u not engage the truetrac if u dont want to in 4x4 or is it when u hit the brakes it locks up?

Fink

Read no more, this is the only advice you need.

Fink

tc

As for gears, TOYOTA thought that 4.56 was the right ratio for 31's with the manual transmission. Extrapolating off that, you get 4.88 for 33's, 5.29 for 35's, 5.71 for 37+

For the automatic, TOYOTA thought the right ratio was 1 step lower, so 4.88 for 31's, 5.29 for 33's, 5.71 for 35's.

89silverpu

You have to be careful going above 4.88's thats when the gears start to get smaller and weaker but if you're really going to be 4wheeling its not the gears in the diffs that make the most difference...its all about tcase gearing and low end torque(which you won't find in a toyota lol) if you had stock gears with a large tire say a 35 but you had dual cases or a single case with 4.7's it wouldn't make a large difference in what gears you had in your diffs.

As to the original question...armor should be at the top of your list you will be more confident and protected and really be able to see what you're truck can do stock. You may find that you don't even have the need for a locker, especially since you said you don't even wheel that much

TomkiRider

K but i can buy the locker with the armor. skid plates $250, rear armor $23, i reallyl like the Bud Built BudLight crossmember on marlin crawler but would it work on mine? it says only 4cyls..., i would like a mralin fornt bumper but would like a locker over that.

89silverpu

Rear armor for $23??? lol what rear bumper are you looking at lol and the crosmember says for 4cyl only for a reason...they use different transfer cases so it would not line up...someone correct me if that statement is wrong lol

as for the front bumper...the stock front bumper after you take the lower valence off provides very good approach angles and is a very high clearance bumper for stock...the rear on the other hand is horrible, the MC rear bumper is very good investment IMO and in my experience with it...

TomkiRider

its 29, no not a rear bumber lol differential here take a look. http://www.trail-gear.com/trail-armor.html

GenXr

Since you already have lift and tires installed, go with the armor and lockers next. From what I can tell from your posts in this thread, you mainly wheel on private property.....I'm guessing mostly mud then? If that's the case go for the lockers first.

It all really depends on how you use your truck and what you value most whether its mods that increase capability or mods that make the truck more attractive in appearance to you. I think folks have given you great advice to make your truck more trail worthy. If you want stuff that is more pleasing to the eye, there are lots of things you could also spend your budget on to enhance the appearance of your truck.

TomkiRider

pretty much the only thing i really care about that looks good is havin wide tires other than that i could care less. ya mostly mud, dirve thru the pond lol. im gettin new tires soon hopefully. like i said b4 im not doin barley any rock crawlin thats y i think a skid plate is all id need in armor.

toyminator2000

There is nothing wrong with the ARB. They are just a bit expensive for someone on a budget. I use one in my truck now but I started out with an open front end until I could save up enough to buy the ARB. The truetrac is a limited slip that transfers power to the tire with the most traction. By design if you tap your brakes the truetrac will equally send power to both wheels. Here is some info on the truetrac.

http://www.eaton.com/EatonCom/Produc.../FAQ/index.htm

89silverpu

Won't need that beefy rear diff armor for mud, you won't need any armor for mud...just a power washer

tc

Tcase gears only help you in 4LOW. Just having 4.7's in a single case often results in TOO low a gearing, especially for mud where you need wheelspeed to clean the tread.

The lower the gearing, the more important a good install is. The ring/pinion set maintains the same strength, it just switches from the ring gear to the pinion gear being the weaker of the two.

blueyoda

Armour for mud is nice if there is a potential of large rocks in the mud like around here. However it is a ROYAL PITA to clean out all of the real estate you take back home with you without taking it all off.

89silverpu

4.7's would be way to low for mud...I was under the impression he was gunna be in the rocks because of the body armor he was talking about getting.