Ok I have been wheeling alot with a friend that has an 86 yota with a detroit in the rear, and it makes me really want a locker myself. I never have been fond of the full-time lockers, just because I dont like the fact that its always on. Anyways, I want to get a factory toyota E-locker. Now, dont tell me to search, I already have searched, and gained alot of information. Now, instead of swapping thirds, I was thinking would I be able to just swap the complete rear axles with a tacoma? Obviously, I would have to make sure the gear ratios are the same front and rear, but aside from that, what is different with a 98-2000 tacoma E-locker axle, and my 1990 V6 8" rear? I mean that would be pretty simple if i just swapped rear axles, everything bolts up, and all I have to do is wire it up.

 

You have "true" 8" diffs, so the elocker will go straight in. Non-TRD TACOMAS have to switch axles because they have 8.4" diffs.

Why incur the extra expense of the whole axle assembly?

I don't know if a Taco axle will work in a '90 Compact Truck. Not sure if the width and suspension mounts are the same.

 

Axle will fit, but it is about 1.5" wider, you'll need to get the brake lines and e-brake cables with it. While the 8" e-locker will fit your housing, there is a little work to do to install it:
- http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/electric_locker/

 

Yeah ok thanks. I already read through all of the articles for the project. I just was wondering instead of going through the trouble of notching the housing, and adding the studs, etc. to do it in my current housing, if the axle straight swapped over with no hassle that would be a better way. I read in some of the articles that they used a plasma cutter, well i dont have access to a plasma, and I have used one but dont have experience with it really. Would a grinder be able to make a clean enough notch?

 

Sure, a grinder would work fine. You could probably drill holes in the corners and then cut in each side and take out the center.

 

Alright... Fast forward in time. I now have a complete rear axle from a 2002 Tacoma 4x4 TRD. This is the rear axle housing, both axle shafts, and the E-locker third. I ended up getting a great deal on the entire rear end, so I just got that. I will be getting Total Chaos up front in the fairly near future, which will widen the front end. Now, my question is do you guys think since I already have the whole rearend, would it be better to just swap the whole rearend under my truck, avoiding the light fabrication to modify my stock housing? This would then make me put longer brake lines and e-brake cable, but widen my rearend a little bit which is gonna be nice since the front will be widened. OR should I just modify my rearend, which would keep everything else the same, but wont widen the rear end. Also, if I went the route of swapping the rearend under, what brake lines and e-brake cables would I use? (Possibly ones from a TRD Xtracab Tacoma?)

 

Are you talking about doing a Long Travel total chaos package? If you are, that will widen your front by a total of 7" so a ??t100?? rear axle may be best. Dunno if t100s were available with an elocker or not.

As far as the brake lines, brake shops can make/order the length you need and as far as your e-brake cable goes, it could be from an extracab or doublecab (same frame/length of e-brake cable)

Hope that helps point you in the right direction.

 

It may look better with the long travel if you use the wider axle. You will probably need to address tire rub issues in the back though as they won't tuck in the fenders anymore. I think you can get fiberglass bed skins or otherwise cut the fenders...

So you've done a 3.4 swap, about to do an axle swap ... you should have just sold it and bought a Taco!

 

Yes I will be going with the Gen 2 Caddy system, which is long travel IFS. And yeah I was wondering about the tire rubbing issues, I might be down to trim the metal a bit, but I am keeping the stock bed (I use the truck for hauling stuff). As for the brake lines, I have a local place that I can get steel braided lines for a reasonable price. So basically, I could just use the tacoma axle, get new brake lines and a tacoma xtracab or double cab e-brake line and thats it... That sounds like the way to go.

Haha yeah I actually was in the market for a 98-2000 tacoma 4x4 5spd V6 TRD, but at the time couldnt afford it, so I bought my truck, but now I already have my truck so im just gonna keep it and mod it. But yeah its basically going to be a Tacoma by the time im done... Haha But also I get to have the bragging rights that my truck is custom, as it is alot of people gained alot of respect for me because of the 3.4 conversion that I did 100% myself.

 

Since you want to utilize the bed you will have a tough time lining the edge of the fiberglass to the steel bed. You might want to thing about rear fender flares and then caging the area leftover. Sounds like a lot of asthetic issues to me.

Best of luck!

 

I meant I dont want fiberglass. I HATE fiberglass. I will be keeping my bed and bedsides. BUT I dont have a problem trimming the steel, as long as it is done with asthetics in mind. As it is, im currently trying to figure out what im going to do about the front fenders when I go long travel, I want to see if there is a way to flare the steel fenders instead of going fiberglass. Also, my neighbor has a mock of the Maxxis chase truck (a ford ranger) and he has the stock steel bedsides, but he flared them out. He cut along them inside, and pulled it out, then braced it. It came out NICE.

 

How much longer would my brake lines need to be if I ran the Tacoma rear end? The axle is 1.5" wider than mine, so that results to .75" on either side, so about an inch longer than stock? Or does travel of the axle also factor in?

 

Also, will the springs be ok considering the axle is wider?

 

Travel of the axle is a major issue you'll have to deal with. Don't be afraid of having a couple more inches than you need since you definitely want a little slack at full droop/twist.

I'm not entirely familiar with your question about your springs so I'll leave that alone.

EDIT: I was referring to your brake line.

 

The reason I wasnt sure about the travel issue is, on my stock axle travel is accounted for, so I am taking the stock setup and moving it .75" out on each side, so im not sure if the travel is much different from stock.I guess 2" longer than stock should be enough though, thats 1.25" slack.

As for the springs, I dont know what the piece that the shocks attach to is called, but it goes under the axle, then you put the U-bolts through it, would that just bolt right up and all is ok with the springs and shocks?