I'm buying Cebby's old front and rear 4.88 diffs from his auto trans 2nd gen 4Runner and plan on installing them into my manual trans 2nd gen 4Runner (currently w/4.56s).

Is there any difference between the carriers that I should be aware of or any reason that this swap won't work.

Also, I have an ARB in my rear diff right now that I want to have installed with the 4.88s. Does it make more sense to swap the 4.88s into my 4.56 carrier or just remove the ARB from my diff and install it into Cebby old diff.

Finally, can you pull the gears out of the rear diff, re-install the empty carrier, disconnect the rear driveshaft and use the front diff in 4wheel drive to drive the truck while the ARB is being swapped from the 4.56 diff to the 4.88 diff?

Bill

 

They should be the same, unless one is from a 4 cyl and the other from a V6.


You'll have to pull them both apart, so I doubt it really matters. Which diff has newer bearings?


Sounds feasible. I've used front wheel drive for about 2 weeks before, but I had a complete rear end installed.

 

Bill - I'll ask for you

How are the rear axles held in place? If the 3rd (or the guts of it) are missing, will the axles pull walk out of the axle tubes?

Those 3rds were pulled at about 130K or so.

3 point yo motor.

 

Bill -

I don't know if this will work, but I have the 4 cyl 3rd in an 85 SA in my garage which I'll be parting with (looking for HP 3rd for it). If it will work for you to keep your axles in check, you are welcome to borrow it.

 

I drove a couple miles on asphalt in front wheel drive once. Nothing fast, just surface streets with lots of stop signs. I really felt the difference in the way it handled. It felt like it wanted to wander randomly, especially when on the gas. My guess is the front suspension brackets flex a lot under acceleration, especially since I don't have an aftermarket brace. Driving on the freeway might be kinda scary, but I didn't get it up to freeway speeds.

 

Do NOT drive with out a carrier in the rear end. The axle relies on two mounting points, essentially. At the axletube end, and where the axle goes into the diff. Think of it like a seesaw....if both ends are stable, it goes no where. but take the balance off one end, the whole thing moves around. If it was a full floating rear end, no problem as the weight of the vehicle is supported by the bearing. But on your stock semi-floating rear end, the weight is supported by the axle.

 

DeathCougar,

I figured I would need to leave the carrier in place but can I take the gears out of the rear carrier and then close it back up (wait a minute.. I was thinking that the "carrier" was the differential case, but now I'm thinking its the part that holds the ring and pinion???) I haven't looked at my shop manual yet so I don't have a good picture in my head of how the rear axle shafts terminate inside the diff. Are you saying don't drive without the gears in place or can I take the ARB/4.56 gears out and put the carrier back in the case empty Seems to me that the gears must be a part of keeping the rear axle in balance.

I'm just trying to figure out a way to swap my ARB into the new 4.88 diff without leaving my truck at the shop all day because the shop is in central PA and I'm in Western PA.

 

Bill - if you disconnect the rear driveshaft, the 4 cyl 3rd I have might work. Not sure on the axle spline count.

 

Yea, I'm looking into the compatibility of doing that. BeaterToyota mentioned that there are differences btw the 4 and 6 cylinder diffs so it might not fit.

 

there are no differences in spline count on the axles. you can use any IFS rear axle (86-95) The difference in the carriers is the design of the case, as well as the size of the pinion gears. People often swap their 4cyl in place of v6 diffs, as the axles are the exact same. (btw when I say axle, i mean the axle only..the backing plates differ between truck and 4runner, but that wont matter since you are using your axles.)

 

I don't recommend swaping the 4banger carrier in the v6, the V6 carrier is stronger than the 4banger ones.

 

We're just talking temporarily with no driveshaft installed. I don't care if it gets blown up either...

 

I'm only considering swaping in the 4cylinder carrier as a temporary solution (hopefully only a week or so). That way I can remove my entire rear diff w/ARB locker and 4.56s and send that away to the shop with a different V6 carrier with 4.88s and have the shop swap the ARB from my diff into 4.88 diff, then ship it back to me. All the while I can still drive my truck back and forth to work.

Who knows, if the shop can do the swap in one day, I may just take a day off work and drive the three hours to Harrisburg and wait around while its being done and then drive back home.