According to an old thread here; my truck (1993 Toyota Pickup SR5 4x4 v6 auto) was built in Japan and has 4.875 gearing?! Is that common or am I reading the chart wrong?
http://www.off-road.com/trucks-4x4/t...ion-18588.html

 

figured it out 4.88, ha

 

How did you come to that conclusion? Not being sarcastic. Just want to make sure you got it right. Those charts can confuse a pro sometimes and aren't always right.

 

G144 code is V6 rearend with 4.88 gears. keep in mind that while the front can be swapped out to any other R&P, you can NOT do the same with the rear. the rear has a special third member housing that allows for a thinner ring gear. because its thinner, no other gearsets will fir in it. the upside is that if you ever need to upgrade, the G144 diff(as long as its in good kit) is worth a small fortune.

also, this is the toyota axle info bible.
http://home.4x4wire.com/erik/diffs/

 

The whole axle code chart thing is bugging me. I've got to be missing something. I have an 02 4Runner 4WD with the same axle code as my 00 4Runner parts truck with E-locker. I looked at several axle code charts and they kept coming up equal. I knew that locking diff was a lower geared third so I jacked them both up side by side, wrapped tape around the drive shafts and did the old wheel roll over test. My 02 had 3.90 gears and the 00 had 4.30 gears. I suspected that was the case but really thought the 02 would have 4.10s. Had to swap both front and rear end to get my locker into the 02. So, if anybody is looking at this and knows, please fill me in on what I missed on the door jam tags that would have told me the true ratio.

 

The letter (G) is the axle, in this case its an 8" for a V6/Turbo. The middle two numbers (14) is the gear ratio, in this case 4.875 or 4.88 and the last number (4) is the number of pinions gears. Can I swap the Third member out for a Toyota e-locker third from a different year or is that impossible?

 

Remme - you can swap out your third for an e-locked diff, however it is not just plug and play. You have to do some modifications to axle the housing, grind it out in one area and weld it up in another area to be about to get a shoulder for a stud. Not exactly a cake walk, but plenty of people have done it.