After an accident that I had a while ago I found out that I have a bent axle shaft and I assume that my berrings are also messed up. Generally, people are telling me that I should just pick up a new rear end and swap out the parts that I need.

Mine is a '96 4Runner with ABS and was wondering if I could swap it with any 3rd Generation Rear end? My friend mentioned that the '96 axles may be swappable with 2nd gen 4runners because it was the first year in the new model.

Does anyone know what I need to look for when finding a new axle?

 

any 3rd gen axle shaft will work, just make sure it has abs. Also, if you have a bent shaft you might have a bent housing.

Grab the whole assembly, when you go to get it (brakes, and all), then its just disconnecting the brake line, the ebrake, and 4 bolts. Seriously I could change an axle shaft in 10 minutes easily.

 

In searching around on the internet at car-part.com I noticed that I can get the rear assembly for ~$500 if I'm lucky. Does anyone have any recommendations of where I could get a rear end cheaper?