in the next few months i will be doing a 5vze swap to my 87 22re 4runner. i pulled a lot of parts off an 88 v6 donor 4runner. i kept the parts i will need fpr the swap, and all the suspension stuff.

recently someone just offered to trade front and back sr5 seats in perfect condition for my complete rear (drum to drum).

i was planning to swap those into my 4runner cause the axle ismeatier, the drums are larger, the diffirential is beefier and the housing is beefier. my questions are:

-would the diff, and housing fit into the 22re axle?
-would the 22re axle be alright for the extra torque and all?

i figure if it is as good, ill just switch the v6 diff and cover into the 22re axle (still in my daily driver), remove tires, switch drums, then put the tires back on.

otherwise i will remove the 22re axle, put in the v6 axle and then just move the tires over.

im gonna replace the front diff with the v6 diff also, but theres less risk of downtime with that, as it is pretty basic.

 

the 22re axle and the v6/22re turbo axle are different. the v6 axle isnt much stronger than the 22re. i guess you never know unless you try.

 

The biggest difference is the axle's width, v6 is wider, and the third member housing is a tiny bit bigger than the housing for the 4cyl axle tube. You could grind down the housing so the third will fit, but if you screw up, it's toast. Unless you are getting a better gear ratio, I would suggest trading the axle. I,ve run and geared both types, and honestly, they didn't perform any different.

 

the big advantage to the V6 diff would be stronger-4 spider gears vs. 2 in the 4 cyl diff.
I thought the width on 86-95 axles were the same WMS-WMS on both the 4 cyl and 6 cyl rear ends..
Toyota Rear Axle Widths:
55" wide, '79-85 4wd trucks/4runners - 6 Lug
58" wide, '86-95 4wd trucks/4runners - 6 Lug

 

just swap your 3rd member.

 

the v6 3rd is a pretty popular swap!

 

Axle widths and spline counts are the same v6 vs 4cyl for leaf sprung rear. The rear end from an 90-95 4runner is coil sprung vs leaf sprung. The coil sprung rears are the ones that are a 1/2" wider. 86-89 4runners were still leaf sprung. 84-85 SFA trucks and 4runners were also narrower by 3 inches.

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/faq/parts/

 

so after some searching and reading of links and reading your advice:
-I've decided to just switch the 3rds. (ie. put the v6 third into my 4cyl axle)

since the axles are the same length (the 85 and earlier ones are shorter)
and
the gear is the same but the v6 will be better able to handle the torque/hp increase
and
lets me put on a new gasket to eliminate slight seepage
and
keeps my daily driver from being out of commission for too long


I know the only downside to this is that the 88 axle is a little beefier, thicker seeming; so in the far future if I ever decided to do any major wheeling I may regret it. but its such a minor thing, that I don't think it will make a difference.

Thank you all, It was very informative!

btw, will not switch the drums, instead will eventually do the disc brakes in the rear once I find some eldorado brakes (with the built in parking brake)