diff flange and driveshaft matching issue?
 

Hi all,
I just read the following line from another post:

"One is to drop the rear driveshaft where it attaches to the rear end via the 4 bolts (always match-mark the two flanges to ensure you put them back in the same position... "

I've already removed my 2000 4Runner rear end by disconnecting the DS from the flange. Actually, I had a mechanic who is a relative get the nuts off, as I could only get 1 loosened. I didn't know it was important to mark the flange and drive shaft to reattach it the same way.

It would seem to me that 4 bolts attaching the driveshaft to the diff flange are simply 4 bolts, and a quarter/half/three quarter turn should make no difference. Besides, if you're replacing the entire rear end, which I'm trying to do anyway, there's no "original" connection to match at the end, right? So why would this be important? I panicked when I read that line in the other post, and I don't understand the importance.

Thanks for any explanation at all.

im in the same boat when I took my drive shafts of to replace the center bearing I didn't mark the shafts either

Who said it was important? Some random person on the internet? :roll:

Ive never bothered marking mine, don't see a need for it. If you separate the slip yolk from the d-shaft then you need to mark it.

Daahhh...TOYOTA says it is...for one(check your FSM).
:domo:

But, it's still a pretty ridiculous notion IMO. Probably based on pure psuedo-scientific nonsensical conjecture...at best. IOW, if it ever did make a difference to use/not use matchmarks...those results would be about as random/highly unlikely as any. Because it makes no sense in ANY WAY(that I can imagine) that it ever would/could.

Bottom line: Yeah...it's a bunch of BS. I don't care what Toyota(or anybody else) says about it either. And as many times as I've removed/installed my driveshafts(countless)...I never have...and it hasn't made a bit of difference!:nono:

Thanks for info. As for "who said it", I saw it on a post here in YT:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116/clunk-rear-200121/

It appears to be in a reply copied/pasted from another site:

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forum...kes-depressed/

In any event, I'm thinking it can't be critical since, as I said originally, there's nothing to match up if you're actually replacing the entire rear end: since the pinion teeth have to be identical because there's a different number of teeth than on the pinion gear, the drive shaft can't realistically be paired up to a specific rotation of the diff.

On a slightly different note, does anyone know if a 4x2 rear end is 100% compatible with a 4x4 rear end, assuming that the gear ratio is identical? The pictures of the rear axle assemblies look the same to me, but I don't know if the control arm attachments are in exactly the same spot or could be off by a few inches or something weird.

The reason I ask is because I'm considering looking at 4x2 rear ends as a replacement for my 4x4 and thought maybe opening up the range of years previous to the 3rd gen. might help me.

Once again, any thoughts/comments are appreciated.