timdawg

How many different manual hub conversion kit manufacturers are there for 3rd generation 4Runner.

I know that Downey has one, I went to Warn website but couldn't find anything. Just wanted to do some comparison and research before settling on the Downey setup which is sort of pricey.

Furthermore, what is the transfer case ratio of a 1999 to 2000 4Runner with the V6. Does anyone make a lower ratio say 4:1 or 5:1

Thanks

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Hub conversion kits for a 3rd gen 4Runner

You can collect the parts and make your own
www.sonoransteel.com

or

Off-Road Solutions

Both pretty easily findable with a "search" or

D-Squared

Another piece of ancient history, I'm afraid... Downey having followed ORS into the aftermarket graveyard.

At the present, there isn't really a valid solution. I've got a guy at Aisin telling me they're committed to picking up this ball, enabling conversion from ADD hubs to manual lockout Aisins. I'll keep you posted.

team_gforce

not much you can do about the stock chain drive t-case. there are add-on crawler boxes you can get, or there is the "lefty" made by inchworm and marlin crawler which uses a retro fitted gear drive t-case from the earlier model pickups/4runners. with the crawler boxes you essentially get a dual case setup, where as with the lefty you get the 4.7 or 5:1 low range options. with the lefty you probly have less overall modifications.

CrunchyTaco

Yal do realize that the original question was posted back in 2007, right? I hope he has found one by now!

D-Squared

Oops...

D-Squared

I've been told so many times that Tacoma ADD IFS front-ends can't be lifted above 2", that I was beginning to think this "conventional wisdom" was something etched in stone. I know there's something wrong with me that I just can't take anything for granted. Maybe it's just that I love it when the conventional wisdom falls on its face and bleeds.

Ya just gotta tear into the guts of one to see what a stupid piece of quasi-engineering that inboard CV-wannabe joint really is. OK, so the ADD system isn't very economical to run, the pointless rotation of both front half-shafts without the transfer case engaged both wearing out the mechanicals prematurely and sapping gas-mileage. So why does swapping Tacoma shafts for Tundra shafts suddenly allow ADD front-ends to travel 13" on long-travel conversions? Pretty simple math, huh...

So the two long-travel conversion vendors (who will remain nameless) will both be happy to sell you a pair of upper and lower control arms requiring over-the-top remote-reservoir racing shocks and fiberglass fenders, and sell you custom-modified (about an hour's labor involved in trimming about three-inches of aluminum from the inner shield, on a $450 OEM axle assembly) $900 tundra shafts... all to raise your Tacoma high enough to clear even the baby rocks... OUCH!!

Sure, you have the option of a solid-axle conversion, but I happen to like the look and ride of the IFS... I think it's a well-engineered design, that really shines when you catch air in the desert at speed!

What other options do the Tacoma guys have, anyway... trade em in on a Tundra? I don't think so, Tim...

Take heart ye Tacoma purists. RCV Performance, Love's Park, Illinois, will rebuild your OEM axles, gutting the outboard CV and rebuilding it with 4340 Chromoly internals, replacing the fragile inboard tripod joint with another "true CV" to match the outboard one, and an upgraded center shaft. It's about $600 per axle, and you've got to supply them with a working OEM core. So you've got to buy one either new or from the boneyard, and send it to RCV for the rebuild. When it comes back, you replace one of your own, then repeat the process with your other OEM axle. Then you'll be here posting your third for sale, so someone else can do the same! Kinda like paying it forward, huh...

Here's the link to that page... https://www.rcvperformance.com/store...27ce268053d5ce

Of course, once built you can upgrade your now-indestructible axles to long-travel by simply swapping out the center-shafts for 3.5" longer 4340 shafts at your leisure for a fraction of the cost of the (decidedly weaker) "modified" Tundra axles.

This opens up a world of options, including Camburg's Stage I front-end upgrade, installing just UCA's and new coil-overs, for about half the price, and adding length to the axles in whatever increments you like, an inch at a time until you're happy with the performance. I'm seriously considering about half the normal extension, or 1.75" per side, as the travel on the Stage I kit is a reported 10.5". More Tacoma-like, and less width than the LT suspension.

Gentlemen, you are now Free to Jack!

In order to keep this post consistent with the thread, the custom outboard CV rebuild ALSO means you can order a spline configuration compatible with a retrofit spindle and hub combination to accept... you guessed it, a set of Aisin manual lockout hubs! Yes, there is life after Off-Road Solutions.

On a more personal note, the '03 Tacoma project truck has gone through a cosmetic Phase I, with the installation of the BedRug liner and the painfully-acquired LeBra Tonneau, and a new set of Nitto Dune Grapplers.

The BedRug was surprisingly easy to install over the spray-in liner that came with the truck. The components zip together very easily, the instructions for velcro-attaching all the various strips of adhesive ridiculously easy to follow. The completed shell is pushed into place, and beginning with the floor, a little rubbing alcohol on the rag super-cleans the bed, allowing the adhesive to bond once the paper strips are removed. A couple words as a post-script on the BedRug: one is, the bulkhead component is meant to come all the way up to within about a quarter-inch of the top of the bulkhead, so be sure the floor component is pushed all the way forward before you start, or the tailgate won't close properly. Two, if you don't get it perfectly placed on the install, walk away from it until tomorrow, when the adhesive has dried really well... the liner will pull away from the velcro strips, making it too easy to reposition it correctly for perfect alignment.

The LeBra Tonneau has always been my hands-down favorite. I've had it on five trucks running. Unfortunately, they went tits-up this fall, and they were sold out everywhere. The good news is that BesTop bought out all the tooling and inventory, and is now marketing the exact same tonneaus under the name ZipRail. Their guys told me over the phone that they're due out sometime this month.
Here's the link: http://www.bestop.com/index.php?s=81

As for the Dune Grapplers, the fact that these amazing tires have flames formed into the rubber of the sidewalls extending into the tread pattern aside... I have a story. Coming down through OKC last summer hauling a thousand pounds in the bed of a '95.5 Tacoma, I picked up a shard of metal in the right-rear. Getting up to speed on I35 South, it blew out at about 80mph. I was in the left lane passing a semi when it happened. It took me about half a mile or so to decelerate and get off to the shoulder on the right.

By the time I got stopped and got out, the tread had completely separated from the sidewall, my Mickey Thompson Classic II still suspended six-inches above the pavement, riding on both the inner and outer sidewalls! Holy Sheet, I thought... damned sidewalls were so stout they saved the wheel...

http://www.nittotire.com/#index%2Eti...appler%2Esizes

So much for the Nitto Dune Grapplers. I selected the 285/75/16's to mount to the OEM 16" wheels, the diameter is 32.76, with a width of 11.57, which I calculated would just barely fit into the stock space allotment. Hah! On turning the wheel, the outboard sidewall edge scraped the rear of the wheel wells just above the mudflaps. So, off came the flaps. I had to cut away a small portion of the plastic weather guard to get to the metal ridge that holds the sections of fender together at the back of the wheel well. Using an angle grinder, I took this down to within half an inch of length, as I have done when fitting 33's into my '94 Pickup, after installing the Total Chaos front end.

Now, at full-turn the inner edges of the tires still touch up against the frame on both sides. The two choices are a new set of wheels with backspacing shallower than OEM (15" Mickey Thompsons have only 3.31" backspacing, but the shallowest 16's are backspaced 4.43")... or a pair of 1" wheel spacers to move them out away from the frame. As a temporary solution, until the front-end is upgraded with a new suspension mod, the spacers at $100 the pair, are cost effective and safe enough for driving around on pending the major mod. (NO, I would NOT recommend jumping stuff with them, although I have done so with 3.5" spacers on the back of my '95.5, to compensate for the extended track width of the Total Chaos front-end...)

Meanwhile, this week we'll be swapping out rear drum brakes for GM calipers off an El Dorado (so we can retain the E-brake function), found on eBay for $109 including shipping, stripped, repainted and reconditioned. We're mating them to GM Rotors spun out by the guys at Sky Manufacturing, that should arrive with their caliper brackets any day now.

(The guy I bought the calipers from said he cruises the FL junkyards, and to email him if I needed anything else... so feel free: gnenad@ix.netcom.com )

We're also waiting on our Alpine 7" touchscreen, double-DIN sound system, the IVA-w505 complete with the new 400BT Parrot Bluetooth module (so we can play all the .mp3 files on our 32GB Blackberry Memory Card over the stereo BT capability, besides chatting on the phone in style!), the M300 full-featured navigation module, and an Audiovox xm radio kit. I ordered the Imprint equalizer that (in theory) interfaces with your JBL powered audio system (and whatever you add to it), analyzes the output, custom tuning each output band to achieve something Bose-like. We've got a trick up our sleeve in that regard, having purchased a SUBstage 100 which is going under the passenger seat. It's only 4" high, and puts out sound like the big-boys, without the rattle and hum normally associated with over-amped subwoofers found in a lot of car audio environments... it runs AC, at 150 Watts peak, so we're going to put a 150W synchronous inverter under the driver's seat, hardwired to the battery, driven by a new 150-amp alternator replacing the OEM.

We're a little skeptical regarding the OEM tweeters (kinda weak in everyone's humble opinion), and maybe the front-door midrange's too... but we're not going to upgrade unless in everyone's humble opinion they're holding back otherwise stellar performance from the system, overall.

(the SUBstage 100 link: http://www.soundmatters.com/substage100/ )
(the 150-amp alternator link: http://www.maniacelectricmotors.com/30allal1325.html )

The twin-turbo plans are taking shape. Interestingly, I've run across a couple vendors that claim hardware capable of taking multiple serial data feeds, from multiple senders/sensors, and that can generate a laptop WindowsXP screen of real-time "virtual gauges". I have this recurring fantasy that I can port that output directly from their remote sender module into the USB 2.0 port in the back of this new Alpine unit... putting real-time virtual gauges on my 7" double-DIN video display!

So the project is moving along... no pics yet, not convinced the baby cosmetic upgrades so far are worthy... besides, you'll get to see the Dune Grapplers in place during rear brake conversion later this week! I'll show you the incidental grinding required to make them fit in the front wells as well...

Looking forward to the warm weather, and some serious off-road in the desert!

Doug D.