Just got my new Downey catalog. This is what they have on page 57. I am thinking about ordering this kit, if they ever get one in stock. The price I wrote down is for the kit without hubs.

 

Looks good but give them a little time to see that your going to need new bearings as well. The other thing is seperateing the outter CV and the center shaft is quite difficult.

Sometimes impossible. They will work the bugs out, just give them some time.

 

So a junkyard swap would be cheaper?

 

Yes it would be.

 

Cheaper than the downey swapage?

 

MUCH cheaper than the downey swap, though trucks/4Runners with ABS will have to use their Tone ring, abs spindle, and abs sensor, with the manual hub center from the taco and locking hubs. Trucks without ABS will have a direct swap and only have to change spindles, axles, and put hubs on the setup.

 

OK, I would like to know how much for these parts including the Aisin hubs for my non ABS equipped ADD 4Runner. Thank you.

 

I just got the whole assembly from DeathCougar, it arrived today. Once I get some time I'll teardown the spindles and get the parts ready to install on my rig. This may not happen til next year, since I'm quite happy with my current set-up, but I'd like to have the option to unlock my hubs for DD. Since I run Tundra axles, I'll need to tear them down as well and get a few extra's for spares..

As for cost, I paid $450 + shipping for the complete spindle, hubs and axles.

 

Man you '96-up guys have it hard for swapping to manual hubs. All us '95-below guys have to do is unbolt our ADD flanges and bolt on the manual hubs and disable the ADD actualtor if we want.

 

Rub it in why don't you...

It was a PITA and $ but it's worth it.

Although, if you want to compare suspension designs though, I think we have you beat

I paid $400 + $40 shipping, so in the same ball park.

 

let me know if i'm rite or not. all you need to do this swap is everything from the balljoints out and the front cv axle shafts?

theres a local yard here where i live that just got a 97 tacoma in with aisin. it's not mine they are to expensive to buy to new. i get my trucks threw the local papers or a couple yards will sell me the 80's trucks they don't want with.

i could get the stuff if it's still there and if anybody wants it.

 

from downey's site...on one hand, i like their catalog because it has attitude . on the other hand, attitude can also mean hype...here's the ad, with opposing attitude .

...and, i dont have to get out in the snowstorm, cold, heat, hail, mud, etc to engage the 4wd . you on the other hand get to roast/freeze/soak/etc. hopefully this makes you feel more hardcore, because there must be some tradeoff for wet shorts and dirty hands when you didnt need/want them.bull˟˟˟˟bull˟˟˟˟tru if you lift the ifs by increasing the control arm angle, but only then, otherwise the load on the cv joints and front diff is negligable in 2wdonly on lift. travel wont change unless you uniball the uca, and you wont escape the wear issue offroad, where youre much more likely to damage the front drivetrain through (ab)use, particularly with the high lift angles a guy's tempted to run with this kit. if your travel already puts the cvs in danger, this wont help...theyre still flexing...so? waitasec, lemme say that again...so? show of hands, who has ADD and is downright damn certain they need manual hubs? if you cant think of a good technical reason, you probably dont need them, because they dont do anything theyre advertised to do, except allow someone to go from stevie stocker to BDT in the time it takes to crank your coilover's adjusting collar from stock to a busted ball joint, without ripping a cv boot or spinning the cv joints all the time. if all you want is lift without cv issues, a drop bracket is better.cant argue with that, but it sounds like we have a connection with a scrap yard full of trucks from those same japanese manufacturers "you pay less to us, and pick up the rest of the cost on your own, including the time spent without your truck when you realize you have to order new bearings, which will happen just after your old bearings catastrophically self-destruct while being pressed out."better not have any cv buzz, since they wont be spinning. you wont get any better mileage, believe it or not the drag from the front drivetrain is so minimal you wont notice a thing. you will however be able to lift until you sever your tres, without tearing a cv boot. wheeeeee. that ad sounds like it's written for the stevie stocker who doesnt want to admit he's still a stevie stocker.

i have manual hubs on my tundra, i absolutely love them, i'd do it again, they work great for why i bought them. they dont do anything other than the purpose for which i bought them, in fact they dont do anything they are claimed to provide other than reduce component wear at increased cv angles, and in fact "various" manufacturers will caution you from doing the exact thing i bought them specifically for...so with all those caveats, do you really need manual hubs for your ADD equipped truck? youre not removing any critical weak spots in the ADD setup, youre not improving the performance, all youre doing is giving yourself the ability to *lift* a little more...not *articulate* more, just lift...youre just as, if not more, likely to bust a cv joint running around offroad at 4" of lift at the cv joint (or 3.5" if you have a diff drop).

price difference? that's their business . like other guys said, give 'em time...i just wish i'd known about the junkyard option back when i decided i wanted manual hubs, it would have saved me (realistically) about 500 bucks, more if i had access to a hydraulic press--lack of a press is the #1 reason i had someone else do the work. the rest is easy ...i had everything in pieces in the living room when it arrived, kept messing with it to see how everything fit together, and since then have taken some of it apart for one reason or another. the four-pin socket (big, expensive muther! gotta be, to develop 203ft# at those pins) you can buy online for 50 bucks if you cant find it elsewhere. i looked around to try and rent/borrow one but theyre not common.

manual hubs are a great thing to have. i (ab)use the feature ALLLL the time . interesting how realistically few trails really need 4wd, but require low gear.

-sean

 

Sean,
you make some great points. Another great point is that running 3.5" of lift (described as possible in Downey's catalog) will leave you with ZERO droop. As we all know that makes the truck handle like . There is some "attitude" as you call it (I call it something else )in that catalog for sure!

 

yeah, you absolutely gotta have the uniball upper to run that kind of lift on the IFS. i'm running around 3.5-4" in front and still have plenty of droop, it just tears the hell out of the tres and lbj...noticed you mentioned a potential heim kit for the tre in the other thread, maybe they'll complete a mid travel kit. i wont be able to fit down a few trails if i go LT with 315s.

i got the manuals after my first trip to moab, hearing and seeing the tires skip on the rock, seeing pics of other trucks with busted cv joints and halfshafts from turning hard on slickrock, and decided i didnt want to fab with baling wire and duct tape...2LO is awful handy. i guess it was a lot of money to pay for wheeling in one area since i specifically got them for slickrock style trails and expedition wheeling, but they were awful handy for controlled turning in tight spaces on bare rock. i did have to get used to setting the ebrake before i put the truck in gear, first time i did it, i expected to see the 3rd member arcing away toward the trees. its unfortunate 2LO isnt a benefit they mention and that it's recommended against, imho it's the primary benefit.

-sean

 

The stock 7.5" 26/27 spline front end is the major weakness of these trucks no doubt. We are trying to work on a solution to that here in the near future.

As far as the steering, here is a pic of the kit we are testing, made by ESB Fabrications. It requires drilling the ball-joint mounting hole over to 11/16" and then sleeving it to 5/8". Ideally we would weld a lower tab for the heim to make it double-shear. We will be testing the TC kit as well very soon.

 

Uhm i have the ORS kit.. and milage is BS even if i did, i dont see it...

save gas... pwhahaha... yea right...

 

hey sean, that looks pretty nice. any bump steer? how close is the uniball to the original pivot location?

that kit is on a taco or a 4runner, isnt it? there's a mounting cup/bracket/flange thing on the frame rail i dont recognize.

if there's no bump steer, and you'd like a tester for a tundra...

-sean

 

Sean,

That kit is on our '96 Taco Std. Cab 4x4 4-banger. We just installed the ESB kit and are just getting a chance to develop some impressions. We will also be testing the Total Chaos kit very soon and most likely we'll evaluate the two kits in an article. We are working with Mike (Owner, ESB) to help him improve this design before he finalizes the kit. there is some bump-steer as is though.

 

thats gotta go if possible, to be used on a rig that'll be driven long distances to the trail...the problem with the kit don had going was the bumpsteer. slow, or static, it was fine...hit a bump in the road, and start looking for a ditch.

good luck with it tho, i really hope it works, i'll be getting one if it does work.

 

I got a chance to see the TC steering linkage kit, it still uses the stock joint on the rack, it's similar to the extention sleeve for the LT kit but longer and with a heim joint on the end. Instead of drilling out the steering arm, they produced a tapered sleeve. Also supplied is a bracket to weld on, to make it double sheared. There is no added bumpsteer, since the pivot points are identical to the stock locations.