yeah, they said that the labor to install new ring and pinion gears and lockers would be around $400-450. Then I would have to buy the parts ($150 for each of the gear sets and $300-350 for each of the lockers). All that adds up to $1300-1400 or I could just buy setup ones for around $750 a piece with lockrights from marlin. Anyone have any ideas on how I can save some money in this whole process? Or where I might be able to find a cheaper third that's already setup?

 

The 3rds from marlin or Trailgear are the way to go. As you've already realized the parts alone will come real close to them, and you'll get a brand new carrier and still have your stockers as spares.


The guy is definitely wrong about the carriers. They'll bolt right in if you have the know how to do so.

I would say though that if you can go ahead and spring for the Detroit locker. It will be worth it in the end.

 

hey ovrrdrive, just curious what kind of gas mileage you get and what kind of highway speeds can you get?

 

my runner has 5.71s with 35s (not by choice) but you would never believe a 22re could hop like it does. mind you it is only driven to, from and on trails. but it does get better gas mileage than my v6/32s/auto/4.88s..

 

Obviously, they only do Jeeps (the Dana axles have different carriers for different ranges of gears).

Find a shop that does Toyota diffs.

You should pay about $200/axle if you take the diff/thirds to them.

 

The guy that said you need a new carrier might be thinking of the '05 plus tacoma front differential. That is the only Toyota Diff that I can think of that needs a new carrier when doing a numerical higher gear swap.

 

My acceleration and gas mileage are the same as when the truck was on stock tires with stock gears. The 36" tire/5.29 combo puts the gearing back exactly the same as stock. I'm sure there's probably some parasitic loss due to the weight of the tires but I haven't noticed a dive in gas mileage, but then again I haven't clocked it either.

As for highway speeds, I need all new ball joints and tie rods right now so when I get above about 65 the ride is squirrely enough to get me to back down a little, but the truck is capable of running up just as high as it did stock. Iroks aren't really meant to be high speed tires though so at least for now I'm content with 65.

 

It really all boils down to personal preference really.... I've got 33X12.50's with 4.10's and a stock 22R right now and it can be a little sluggish, but can still haul-ass pretty good if I wanted too. I do notice a small delay in throttle response off-road, but that may also be an engine-related issue. I've been thinking about stepping up gears, but I'll deal with a little sluggishness to keep my 16MPG... the same applies to you just in an overall larger scenario...

 

Here ya go:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116/pics-my-new-4runner-35s-118169/