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front and rear 8 inch third interchangable?

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Old 12-12-2009, 11:39 AM
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front and rear 8 inch third interchangable?

There is a guy up here had a solid front axle set up and had a truetrac differential in it. He's selling the third member out of the front and he claims it can be used in the rear differential as well. Just looking for any comments on this as I don't have a clue if this is possible or not. If it was, I wanted to buy it and put the truetrac in the rear of my 1991 pickup. What do you guys think?
Old 12-12-2009, 11:43 AM
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Yes a 4cyl soild axle front 3rd it will fit a 4 cyl rear housing.
Old 12-12-2009, 11:47 AM
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So using the truetrac out of the front has no ill effect? Because in the catalog it lists two different part numbers for the front and the rear for a toyota 8 inch 4 cylinder diff. One for the front and one for the rear.

http://nationaldrivetrain.com/shopsi...ac_toyota.html
Old 12-12-2009, 11:50 AM
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It shouldn't matter. It will work.
Old 12-12-2009, 11:56 AM
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Thanks, that puts my mind at ease. I'll probably be buying it tomorrow and I'll set it up next weekend.
Old 12-12-2009, 12:55 PM
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Just pop the third member off and shuv it in the rear (granted the gearing is the same) otherwise you'll need to take the truetrac out and install it in your rear third member then reinstall the rear ring gear.

Just have to set backlash and best way to do that is with a home-brew spanner tool to turn the adjusting nuts on the carrier.

I have a Truetrac in my front axle now but it lived in my rear axle for the last 4 years! =)
Old 12-12-2009, 01:18 PM
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Yeah i drive on the street 10 months out of the year then the other two are snow so i wanted something a little less aggressive then a lock-rite or a Detroit locker. I would kill for a selectable but its too rich for my blood.

The 3rd member has the same gearing as mine (4.10) but he said it has some chipped teeth so I guess ill be pulling a ring and pinion from mine and Frankensteining a 3rd with the truetrac in it for my rear axle.
Old 12-12-2009, 04:39 PM
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The diffs are the same, it will fit providing the ratios are the same.

BUT The fact that there are different part numbers for the Truetrac make me think that a front Truetrac might be a little different internally than the rear. Email Eaton and find out whether it will be effective in the rear as the torque bias may be applied mostly in one direction.
Old 12-14-2009, 04:38 PM
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tru-trac and housing 100% interchangable 4 cyl and v6 housing dosent matter either. my front 3rd member was ran in my rear axle for 3 years and i swapped it into the front in 08 when i did my sas
Old 12-18-2009, 01:50 AM
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Thanks for the speedy reply's. I passed on the true-trac because I found out that the difference between the front and rear models has to do with how the torque is biased between both wheels. So I'll just hold out for a used E-locker third member to retrofit into the 8 inch and its selectable. We like selectable.
Old 12-18-2009, 04:29 AM
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so let me get this straight the front housing will fit the rear? i have a 90 t4r. this sparks my interest cause then i could run the front diff in the rear which is a 4.56 and swap the rear to the front to buy me some time to find a 4.56 front. someone thought it was a good idea to put a 3.90 ratio in the rear. im talking about the open diffs not the locker.
Old 10-23-2015, 05:11 AM
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I just got an 80' 4x4 the guy I bought it from put I think 529 gears in the rear but never swapped the front so no 4 wheel drive. I use the truck as a commuter, and I don't like the gearing to jerky and horrible gas mileage. could I just put the gears from the rear in the front and the front stock gears back in the rear that way it feels normal I only drive in 2wd anyways? please any info would help, and how easy is this to do over a weekend? im new to this forum also thanks
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