Okay I got lucky today and found the complete frame and drive train
(no Body) of a 97-00 4Runner. I cannot tell which exactly it is but I know it not a 96 because it has 10 body mounts and the 96 only had 8.

The coolest part is that is has the factory E-Locker rear. All of the wire harness connections are in good shape but there is no ECU or wires after locker wire harness.

So my questions:
1. Can the rear axle gear ratio be figured out with the VIN on the frame(which I have)?

2. How much of the wiring is in an 01 for the dash button?

3. Are there any issues with just swapping the entire rear axle (brakes, 4 link arms)?

4. Junk yard owner's first offer was $600 for the entire rear axle and all link bars and track bar/springs. I was thiking about counter offering $450. Does this sound reasonable?

5. I know lots of YTer's have done this swap to 96-00's but has anyone actually done it to a 2001 or 2002?

THis could be a really good deal if I can work through these questions with the wealth of knowledge here on the boards.

THanks for any info you have on this!

 

1. yes (http://sonoransteel.com/Toyota_axle_codes.html)

the rest...i dunno. normally i would say its ok to swap the entire axle (a few have done this already) but i dont know if the VSC system comes into play for you. and usually just the locking third members will go for 400-450...600 isnt too bad for the whole axle (assuming you can use it). or buy the axle, use the locker stuff (third and housing) and try to sell off the extra parts.

 

subscribing....

 

Eric,
Things to consider:
The VSC and TRAC systems use the ABS sensors to operate. I would poke around and see if the body harness connectors are different. If they are, you'll have to sort through the wiring diagrams and get the pinouts right otherwise your ABS, Trac and VSC won't function and your dash will be illuminated light a christmas tree with error lights.

You'll be able to get the e-locker to work regardless of whether or not the wiring is in place. You can use the factory ECU and switch and follow the wiring diagram I illustrated in this e-locker retrofit article. I think the TRAC and VSC systems will be fine because with the diff locked there will be no differentiation, therefore, there should be no ABS pulsing in the rear.

Hope this helps,
Ken

 

if i were you, i wouldnt bother trying to do the entire axle. the stuff with the abs sensors and VSC would shy me away. i bet if you just got the locking third member and the housing and swapped those out, that would be the easiest.

 

Thanks for the info. I will keep plugging away for more answers but right now it looks like this is biting off a bit more than I am interested in. If I do not get it though I will absolutely post the source of this deal and help someone else get it. Too good of a deal to let go.
I have searched and found next to nothing about this swap with the 01/02's. May just pony up some $$$ and go with a Detroit soft Locker. Not giving up yet though....

 

Not sure I understand the "housing" part of your post. I can see the third member but what do you mean by housing? I take that as the axle itself.

 

well, a lot of the time people will just buy the third and have to modify the housing (you know the whole retro fit thing).

but since you have an entire e-locker axle in front of you, you can probably just buy the third and the axle minus the shafts/brakes/all that junk. i was just assuming you could transfer your brakes and stuff to the locker axle... but, as you said, we don't know anyone that has actually done this so you can't be sure...

now that i think about it....just doing the regular retro fit ( http://sonoransteel.com/phong/retrof...ic_locker.html ) would probably be less hassle...

 

Yeah thats what I am starting to think also. If I didn't rush off and buy a 01 I could literally swap the entire rear axle. Would be a really quick deal.

I guess I could get the third and let someone else take the axle who is planning on doing the swap and already has a third. THat way they wouldn't have to mod their axle housing.

I will check my gear ratio code to see what gears I have (probably 4:10's). I think that the lowest ratio e-lockers came with are 4:30's. IMO gears are a pro shop only thing to get them perfect. So that is another expense to consider.

 

The complete Axle will swap over easier than doing a third swap, just check that your axle has ABS sensors and same with the donor setup. the links, mounts are all identical. Simply disconnect the e-brake, flex brake line( a good time to go stanless braided), drive shaft, panhard bar, two upper, two lower links and ABS sensors.

This should only take a few hours to do the complete swap with hand tools. Adding the wiring and e-locker computer will take a bit longer.

 

Hey Bruce
Long time no see.

I was just reading the swap how to link and I guess the lockers did come with 4:10's in some cases. Very interesting! I need to figure out what gears are in that thing. My wife has a TRD Taco so I should be able to test it out my unplugging hers and plugging this one into her harness to see if it actuates.

 

Just checked my gear codes and I have 3.909's. Holy *&%^^*! That is why I get such good gas milage. No way that this e-locker third has those. So that would mean re gearing the front also.

 

just get the front diff from the 4runner in the junk yard and swap them both.

 

I thought of that also however;
The donor vehicle was in a front passenger side accident that trashed that rim and looks like it also broke the cv shaft and upper a-arm. So I am very leary of trusting that the front diff was not dammaged in the crash also.

 

It may be a little expensive, but when I considered doing this mod, thats what most people reccoemnded, was to swap in the axle in the back, and re-gear up front with a set from Richmond Gear. I have like 2 or 3 posts about it in my Locker for Daily driver mod thread. I still would like to do this. I was thinking about only puttin in the third, the axle modify seems a little tricky, but its better than not having the ABS or VSC or TRAC not work. (I have a switch for that) I would swap in the third, and re-gear up front, if yuor running 3.9s with tires that are larger than came on the truck, it wouldnt be bad to re-gear anyhow. By the way, do you know the ratio in the back? By the way, shipping that body lift today.

 

I don't know the ratio in the back of the donor vehicle(frame). I may go back today and jack it up and count rotations. The way I understand it is if you spin a wheel one full rotation (marked ) and count the rotations of the rear drive shaft it will give you a whole number value for the gears. 10 full rotations will be more acurate
(43 rotations=4.3 gears).

My Runner came with 265/70R16's so that means the gears are actually 4:10. Infact when I bought it the factory tires Goodyears were still on it at 78,000 miles and the wear was perfect!

Cool about shipping the BL today. Thanks I am really looking forward to installing it. Let me know the tracking info when you get a chance please.

 

4.10 is common. My e-locked SR5 5-speed has 4.10. 4.30 is also very common in automatic Limiteds with the e-locker.

Just FYI--the ring and pinions will swap between your non-elocking 3rd and the locking one--I've done it; the gears are the same.

I say swap the housings. If there are any differences in the ABS setups, I would think you could swap them from your old housing to the new one.

 

So did any 4Rs have the 4.88 with e-locker?

 

no. 4.10, 4.30, or 4.56

 

Just my two cents. First, I thought that the e-locker and non e-locker housings were different. I remember seeing a write-up that required relocating a stud and involved some grinding. Second I didn't think that the VSC system came out until the redesign in 03. I might be wrong on that. But I am not sure why the two housings could not just be swapped. I also remember a write up that included all the part numbers for the wiring harness and the computer to run the locker.