Is there a better way to find the gear ratio's in the diff's than pulling the carrier and counting teeth? Could it be in the part numbers?
It need's to accurate, I'm going to go in search of front and rear elect. lockers, but I want to stay with the same gearing.
Would it be a stretch to replace the entire diff from a late model 4Runner rather than just the carrier?
Anybody on the board tried this?

Looking forward to the input.

Fred

 

You can read the ID label on your door and decipher the axle codes there. Check out the 4runner FAQ on the main page for more info and a link. Alternatively, you can jack up the rear end and turn the tires and count how many times the driveshaft rotates. Rotate the tires at least 10 times and divide the driveshaft rotations by the tire rotations.

I think it would be easier to replace the 3rd member rather than replace the entire axle. www.inchwormgear.com sells third members with the locker and the necessary modifications.

Steve

 

Thanks RH150

I went through the FAQ's earlier and somehow missed it, probably got sidetracked dreamin of other mods.
There was more info in that link than I got calling the 4 dealers in town combined! Looks like I'm on my way to at least 4.30's if I 'm gonna go up in tire size (probably lower yet).
Now for the search to find a wrecked '90something with lockers.

Thanks again,

 

If you're going up to 31s or bigger, I'd go for 4.88s. Most V6, auto tranny, 31"tire, 2nd gens came with 4.88s from the factory.

If you're going to turn it into a rockcrawler, then I'd go lower yet. Steve schaeffer really likes his 3rd gen now that he went to 5.2?s.

Steve

 

My '90 'runner came with 31s from the factory and has 4.56 gearing. I've heard that for rockcrawling it's much easier to just change the Xfer case ratio than the diffs.

I'm upping to 33s soon so I'll report back on the power loss issues and go from there.

Regards,

Warren

 

I swapped diffs to get lower gears . The front was $90 or $95, I forget. There are a lot of bolts and my knuckles were a little bloody but its basicly a unbolt the ond one and bolt in the new one. Here is a pic of what has to come out and go in.

Front diff swap

 

What gearing did you come from?/go to?

What vehicle are the new gears out of?

Warren

 

Just read your link which answers part of my question.

I guess I want to know, which Toyota had 4.88s or 5.29s?

Thanks,

Warren