My truck is a Non-add 89 Pick Up 4x4 5 speed 22re IFS. It had 4:10 gears in it.
I went to the local junk yard and got some 4:88's out of a stock ADD 94 4runner v6 auto.

I put the rear 4:88's in and its working great. Last week I finally got time to do the front. I followed all the posts I could find on this forum on how to do swap. I took the ADD tube off the 4runner diff and removed short axle stub like in this pic



I purchased a new seal and installed it. Then put my old non-add tube and axle back in it and installed the diff back in the truck

Now my truck is binding up and wont go anywhere when I put it in 4x4. Its fine with the hubs locked in but as soon as I shift to 4wd hi something binds up. I then have to get out and unlock the hubs before I can shift out of 4x4.

Did I miss something else I was supposed to do? Is the new front diff possibly bad or not compatible with my truck and tranny?

 

And you're 100% sure both the front and rear are 4.88? Because you verified that how?

 

^^^^^^^^^

 

Sounds like either your rear end or front end is a different ratio, i did this same swap in my 87 Toyota and it worked perfectly.

 

I probably should of counted the teeth on them I guess. I figured they would be the same since they both came out of the same 4runner. I watched them pull them. It was a stock untouched looking vehicle that had recently came to the junkyard with 130k on miles on it. Junkyard owner said it had a bad motor. He had not even inventoried it yet. I guess crazier things have happened.

Ill have to jack it up and check the ratio on it this weekend.

Anything else that would cause this?

 

I work at a salvage yard trust me some people will do anything to keep a vehicle rolling down the road. Odds are that the rear has been changed instead of the front.

 

Ah. So I will check it first. Maybe its a 4:56. Its sure not a 4:10. Massive improvement in driving with my 31's when I swapped the rear.

 

Besides the rear is a bit easier to check than the front. The ratios could be one of the following 4.10, 4.30, 4.56 and 4.88. 4.56's with 31's would be nice 4.88's would be overkill in my opinion.

 

Thanks. I will.
The tires measured 32" high with a tape measure and 33's are on my want list so I went with 4:88's (tried to go with lol)

 

I run 4.88's with 285/75r16 and it does great

 

Well today I jacked up one rear wheel and put some tape on the drive shaft. The shaft turned about 4 1/2 times for 2 wheel rotations. Guess it could be a 456. Did the front the same way with the hubs locked it got almost 5 turns. Guess I got owned by some nucklehead that changed the back gear out with 456 and left the front 488 on that 4runner. Its gonna be a pain in the ass finding another 488 lol.

 

you could just buy a new set of 488s for the rear and put them in the third that you took out. and when theyre ready swap out the rear third. at least you can use your truck up till youre ready to do the swap again. you can find gear sets as low as $165.00 on ebay. you might even be able to return the other to the yard for credit when your done. but id keep it for back up myself.

 

Is it difficult to swap ring and pinion? I had read some posts saying you need special tools and training? That's why I did the third swap.

 

its not all that difficult. special tools are great but it can be done with out then. study up on it here in the forums. i use the marking paint and and set the rest by feel. recruit a friend thats done one or have a shop do it for you. you would be surprised at how inexpensive you might be able to get it done , after all your doing the bull work theyre just doing the gears on a bench and givin it back to you for the install. a shop should be able to mesh a set of gears in less than an hour.

 

Proper gear set up is somewhat an art. Some guys say they can do it but have no clue what a good pattern looks like.
take a look at zuk's site gearinstalls.com to see what it take to set up a third.

 

yes, its deffinatly an art. id recommend having a shop do it. most can do the bull work themselves and take just the third to a shop for the gears and save money. it takes a lot of experience to get the feel of them enough to do them with out dial indicators and such.

 

I found that many shops do a worse job than people who take their time and actually make the pattern look nice. Mechanics get paid based on how fast they can slap together one car and get to the next one.

 

Easy way to check the front gear ratio is to wipe off the oil on the ring gear and you should see a "4.9" engraved on it. Hard to see with oil covering it but just a quick way to tell.

 

I would try car-part.com i found a complete one for as low as $100 bucks. just a thought.