My rear end has been leaking for a while, so this was overdue, but I finally let it run too low on gear oil and completely grenaded it on a long ride home last week. Aside from a few longer drives now and then, I basically use it as a side by side. It has a rotted frame and I can't get a sticker for it, so it's not worth putting much money into.

I need a new rear end.

it's a 2004 tacoma 4x4 v6, not a TRD model.

This sounds strange, but there is a 2000 4runner literally sitting in the woods off a snowmobile trail about a half mile from my house. I checked out the rear end and it appears to be in decent shape. I contacted the land owner to see if I could buy it for cheap.

I need to know if the rear end from the 4runner (also 4x4 and also v6) will fit my tacoma?

I am not great at googling, and after a couple of hours got confused by axle codes and vin numbers. Can anyone tell me based on the two attached photos of the VIN's, if the rear end would be swappable?

Last 4 digits = 7451

 

They have different axle ratios. It would work as long as you never used 4wd, or snag the front diff too and swap. The part of the sticker that is important here is the bottom right where it says A/TM AO4A/A340F on the top pic and B03A/ A340F on the bottom pic. Those are your gear codes.

You can look at the chart here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/oem-gear-ratio-chart.365138/

and see how they are different. If you are taking the diffs and the axle housings you’ll be fine.

 

Looking up that VIN shows it as an 00 Limited. So a V6 automatic trans vehicle.

A04A = 4.30 ratio (those axle codes are a bit of a mess when you go across models, but in 4Runners that what it means).

And generally speaking, on a V6 automatic 4Runner, an A04A means it's a locking differential, the non-locking automatic V6 4Runners got A03A (4.10 ratio) diffs. FWIW, factory locker manual trans V6's got locking A03A diffs (4.10 ratio).

So that's probably a 4.30 locking diff.

Now for some not so great news:
1) A locking differential will not directly fit into a non-locking axle housing without modifications - the opening in the axle housing has a large added notch and a few of the studs/bolt holes are in different spots. They can be modified, however.
2) A 4Runner axle housing will not directly fit into a Tacoma without modifications - the 4Runner is a 4-link coil, and the Tacoma is leaf spring. You'd need to cut off mounts and weld them on.

So you'd be into some modification/fabrication on swapping either the whole axle or the diff into your Tacoma. And as mentioned you'd also need to swap the front diff, and that's a bigger PITA than you'd think by looking at it.

 

Thank you for the replies. It looks like I'll keep looking for now. At least I've learned something.