More than 10 years ago I bought NWORs "replacement" rear springs. What a mistake. They were SO stiff! They barely flexed! They jacked up the rear of the truck at least 2" (at one point, I hauled 900 lbs. of fertilizer and the truck sat dead level). NWOR assumes most Toyota 4x4 owners carry nearly half a ton around all the time.

Also, one of the grease pads was inaccessable because of the bottom overload leaf. It couldn't be greased. I phoned NWOR to ask what to do and the guy on the phone spoke to me as if I was f*****g idiot and said there's a special 90 degree adapter from NAPA to grease that pad but didn't know the part number. WTF. I lived with these stiff springs until I finally had enough and pulled out a leaf on each side. That helped with the height and ride but just a few years after that, the passenger's side snapped two leaves and the driver's side one -- taking out the shock absorber (the break was right at the point where the leaf swung sideways and punched a hole in the shock).

Back on topic, I also ordered NWOR's front diff breather kits for IFS diffs. What a joke. It was an Aeroquip 90 degree pipe fitting, some braded hose, and a K&N breather with bracket. the NPT pipe threads were incompatable with the metric thread on the IFS diff breather so it wouldn't thread in. To install this "kit", one has to remove the diff to tap the cover for the NPT pipe thread! I phoned NWOR again and one of Darwin's finest suggested I undo the engine mounts and lift the engine. "It's only two bolts," he said, in a tone to suggest I was the f*****g idiot, most certainly not him. Go to the local hardware store and get yourself your own "kit" for a few dollars.

A few other confidence-killing things: browsing NWOR's website, there's no email, there're no prices, there's no shopping-cart-based web-store and there're no downloadable PDFs or anything. Customers need to print out a form, FAX it (yes, FAX!) to "them" and if lucky, customers will get a "quote." It's 2011! I almost never see their ads in magazines nor do I see their products tested or reviewed with any regularity (at least not from any of the major magazines or periodicals).

Sorry for semi-hijacking the thread but I am interested in converting my ADD front diff to to a standard IFS diff with manual hubs so if anyone has that stuff, PM me.

 

Pardon me. But I couldn't discern that by your statements/inquirries. So I answered the questions that you REALLY were asking, which DO NOT regard the housing BTW(housings are irrelavent to these differential setup kits as they ALL work in ANY housing, it's THE DIFFERENCE IN THE CARRIERS that matters as far as which kit to use).

These specific questions right here...in case you forgot...
Recap...

1. Carrier bearing journals/Carrier bearings.
2. It has "stronger"/bigger carrier bearings.
3. A Supra 7.5" LSD will work in ANY 7.5" housing. You just need to determine if it has 45mm or 50mm carrier bearing journals and use the correct setup kit(V6/Turbo = 45mm, 4 cyl. = 50mm).
4. The ADD housing is not stronger IN ANY WAY. The needle bearings are to prevent excessive wear caused by the CONSTANT turning of the side gears inherent to the ADD sytem. These bearings are NOT NEEDED for any purpose on a non-ADD system, where such excessive wear is not typically going to be present(unlocked hubs = side gears not turning). Though they may extend the life of the passenger side axle/stub shaft seal by preventing some side to side movement of said shaft when used in a non-ADD system(and/or POSSIBLY extend THE LIFE of the side/spider gears, BUT NOT STRENGTHEN THEM). But that benefit also comes with a loss of axle/stub shaft strength, which is a pretty lopsided deal if you ask me. I'll take more shaft strength over not having to change a $5 seal more often ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!

 

Thanks truckmike and xxxtreme22r for the input on NWOR. One must be careful of the dangers of assumption of honesty and good business on the world wide web. Appreciate it.