To me it appears as one rigid piece supported by two arms that are bolted to the cross member (picture attached below). These arms are lowered by spacers. In order to rotate the "front" section, the unit should have a pivot i.e. a third attachment point. I'll try to see if that is indeed true.

The two attachment points seem to have a "tapered" spacing (evident in the very 1st picture in the beginning of this thread). So extending it would maintain that angle, but still lower the whole unit.

 

but again, Rishi ... why does it matter? you do not have a lift kit, and the one you say you plan on getting is only 3" ... so are you listening as we are all telling you that you will NOT NEED A DIFF. DROP ???

 

I'm not doing a diff drop at all, but can't wait to see how you achieved it. I just hope my 4runner is not an "initial" model of a 4th gen !

 

i don't think it works that way!

 

Why don't you get the diff drop to see how it works? Instead of fighting about it...just do it!

 

Didn't quite follow.

 

Agreed

 

Like you said, wait til someone does it. Then ask questions later or just copy what they did.

Bob

 

well, if he's not going to listen to what people are saying, then yeah, he should get one and install it and see for himself.

 

A few people already have done it ... like I said, I ran one for awhile before getting the SAWs. And I'm sitting here telling him that yes, it works, but is useless ...

 

Discussion seems to get heated. I'm not doing any diff drop now so let's not discuss about it any more. But can someone explain how to overcome that "clearance" issue with some good reasoning? May be r0cky can explain.

 

there's no clearance issue to overcome with the diff drop. only the front two mounting arms of the differential lower. that half inch clearance in the back is irrelevent.

 

calrockx is correct - there is no clearance issue.

 

this has got to be one of the funniest threads to read when you're super tired Just had to subscribe but not participating in the nonsense.

 

btw sometimes it's easier to PM eachother rather than post pad like crazy! (just had to give my 2 cents worth since I think I need more posts)

 

Or even not super tired, its like watching someone argue with a 3 year old. Good fun. Im sure in a day or 2 another thread about the exact same topic will pop up.

 

someone should start a poll about this.

 

calrockx, i think that was coming next anyway!

 

Lots of obnoxious opinons and just yes/no answers, even from "senior contributors," but no explaination, except for one guy who talked about the "rotation" effect. As some of you guys are rather intolerable to newbies, I'd vote for a "beginner's Offroad" section.

 

the logic behind adding a diff drop is to offset the extreme angles of the cv's that are associated when lifting a vehicle. this is not specific to any one vehicle but in general.

our 4th gens comes with a generous cv angle that gives us the ability to lift the truck w/o worrying much about the cv angles so adding diff drops makes it virtually useless unless you just want to waste money.

as for how this diff drop works is by dropping the front of the diff down (think of it pivoting from the rear of the front diff. rotate the damn diff forward and down and you will give the cv axles a better angle than what it was before. as for the axles since it's pivoting from the rear of the front diff where the axles hit, that part does not move much. get it? so no need to worry about the axles hitting since the rear DOES NOT MOVE. easiest way is to literally drop those two bolts on the diff and see what happens.

actually just get a lift first and then re-evaluate whether or not you need diff drops. the likelihood that you do is SLIM since I don't know of anyone running them.

asking is a good thing but sometimes asking too much is can be bad. searching for answers is the best method. if it hasn't been done then it's probably because it doesn't need to be. pm some of the senior guys and see what they say before you ask the foot in mouth questions. the 4th gen has been around long enough that most of the experiments has been conducted so...

good luck