People that take things out of context and mis-quote people make me laugh...

LOL anyway, that's NOT what I said and DEFINITELY not what I meant. What I MEANT by that is if it's JUST to reduce wear, then I don't see the point. If it's solely (or mostly) for the ability to isolate a broken shaft on the trail, then I totally see the point and I'm sure that after changing ONLY ONE on the trail then I'd WANT to go manual as well. I don't have a locker up front, so hubs wouldn't help me anyway EXCEPT to reduce wear and to improve mileage slightly, so for MY PURPOSES, they are not something I have on my to-do list.

Not trying to be an ass here, just clarifying my point and my reasoning while I'm scratching my head wondering why Brian is wanting to do this before he has a rear locker, much less a front one. Like Jim said, that money should be spent FIRST on other stuff, then on the hub conversion. There's some logic to that order that is hard to argue with.

 

It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be when I drove it last week. I got about 14 MPG's for ~100 miles of almost ALL highway driving at ~75 MPH.

 

sorry, I assumed that's what you meant.

 

That's cool...just want to keep things straight.

 

Swapping spindles really shouldn't be that big of a deal and if I'm going to do it, I want to do it right and keep the ABS for now. The bigger 13" brakes would be a nice upgrade as well and I don't see any reason why they would interfere with the steelies. I'll just see if I can pick it all up at a boneyard.


I get about 14 mpg now, so it isn't too terribly bad and can only get better.


I'm just looking at getting all this done all at once (lockers, gears, manual hubs) so I only have maybe one week of down time and I want to know what I'm getting into as far as cost. If it is going to sit for the gearing and lockers, might as well use the sit time to get stuff done.

 

All at once? Still dreaming of hitting the LOTTO, heh? Actually, it doesn't have to sit for the gearing, since you can pick up a cheap set of housings and have your new gears installed in them, then swap the front diff and rear third. That would give you MAYBE a day of down time. The manual hub swap is going to definitely throw a kink in that and add several days to the job for sure.

At least you're planning ahead...

 

BamaChem says: Wow. $1200 to know that you won't wear out CV's that are $80/side with a lifetime warranty... but I just don't see the justification for $1200. I don't see the justification for $900 either.

For clarity, that is what I was responding too. I my opinion, this is one of those things that people often write off as worthless and too expensive without seeing the gain. If it is worthless, than it is too expensive.

I know you have them too Steve. I just mentioned Jim having them this way based on doing what you are outlining rather than you using the ORS kit and swapping to better parts later.

Brian, one week down to get it all done? Good luck with that.

 

Full Float VS Semi Float.


I will not be stuck on a trail broke down. You can drive a manual hub 4Runner not only with the axles removed, but the entire front diff as well. If you drive an ADD 4Runner with the outter CV removed you will destroy the bearing within the first few hundred feet. To me that is worth it as well as the extra strength. Just another "invisable" non-cool mod.


Pass on it if semi-float works for you. Just that simple.


Stock axles are strong, Chromoly axles are stronger.

 

I thought the invisible mods were cool

-Casey

 

That's why I wrote: "...anyway, that's NOT what I said and DEFINITELY not what I meant..." and then I clarified my statement. I didn't edit the previous post because I wanted you to SEE that I clarified what I was talking about. If it were ONLY for wear, then it's a dumb idea. If it's to isolate a broken axle WHEN YOUR LOCKED UP FRONT, then it's a great idea.

Anyway, no harm done.

 

I don't see a problem with one week. he'll more than likely have a shop do the gear and locker installs and concentrate on the hub swap himself.


Brian, I have a front housing if you want to make an offer on it.

 

So I know this thread is old...if I have a Tacoma with ADD, rather than a 4runner, and I want (someday) to convert to manual hubs, is the process somewhat simpler for me, in that there is less labor because I don't have ABS to start with, and, I imagine, my rotors are probably the same size as on a reg cab taoma?

Its late here, if this questions makes no sense, I apologize

 

It will be the same amount of work and you will need the same parts.

The exception being if you have the smaller brakes and find junk with good bearings and the smaller brakes.

The real factor is of the "junk" still has good unbent backing plates.

 

Thanks steve, I guess the trick is just to keep an eye out for one thats been smacked in the rear (recently). No big hurry, just one more thing for me to think about for the future.