Here is the deal. I have a 87 4runner 22re/5spd with mismatched diff gears (5.71 rear, 4.10 front) not 4wd right now. The rear has a locker. It's a project, but I dont have much money to throw at it right now. I also have a 94 truck 3vze/auto almost stock, except a slight lift and 32x11.5 bfg mt's. It's all open and its slower than #*&#. So the question is:

Can I swap the rear axle housing and third and brakes from one truck to the other all at once? Or is this a no-go because one is a v6 and the other a 4cyl? If so, would it then be possible to swap only the locker?

I plan on getting rid of the 5.71s out of the 4runner at some point anyway and going to 5.29s with spools. I wheel the truck often, and a locker would help out a lot, plus anything to save money right now would be good too. It would be nice to get a little more out of the daily driver, even if it's just some added traction.

 

If i remember right it is possible to swap to a v6 3rd as long as you switch everything else over too, but don't quote me on that. I know there was a thread on here last month with a compatability question, and im pretty sure that was the answer

 

for the rear, yes you can swap the whole housing, or just the locker, or just the third. The front will be depend on whether both trucks have the same set up, such as both have manual hubs stock, or add stock. If they are different, you will have to swap the third, and the axles.

 

I only want to swap the rear. No SAS yet on the truck

but if I can, I might just swap the whole thing, because stock gears, 32s, a 3vze, and an auto make me sad when I drive. not sure which would be the easier/cheaper/least time consuming method.

 

The difference will be in the driveshaft where it bolts to the companion flange. I put a 4cyl rear axle (complete) on my V6 by using the pinion flange from my V6 3rd member. That was the best way to do that swap. If you were to do the opposite, put a V6 axle behind a 4cyl, you could do that or just drill new holes in the larger V6 flange to match the 4cyl driveshaft. The 4cyl flange is to small to accomodate new holes for a V6 driveshaft, so no reverse procedure there. The V6 driveshaft's beefier.

Also, you can get new flanges that are drilled to accept any toyota driveshaft and fit the 3rd member or the transfer case.

One more note, the brake shoes are larger on a 4Runner, so take that into consideration if you are swapping an entire axle from a truck. In that case you could keep the axle shafts that have the better brakes attached, on whichever vehicle needs them. They can be unbolted and swapped between the V6 or 4cyl axles, no trouble. Or, swap just the shoes and drums, whichever seems like less work to you.

 

How involved is swapping the flanges? Maybe it would be easiest to swap the diffs and flanges than the entire axle and brakes and things.

 

You might want to find out what gear ratio it has. It could be a 4.30 or 4.88.