I had a wild idea while i was on 4wheel parts earlier. The new 4runners and the late model lexus' have 8" diffs on the IFS. It is my understanding that these would have 30 spline CV axles? correct? how hard do you think it would be to put the 8" and 30 splines in a 1st gen, supposing the parts could be found. I know its not as good as SAS, but if it was cheaper it would be great. This would be awesome for the wheeling I usually do.

 

the only problem with your idea is that the newer front diffs are drivers side drop, not passenger like your first gen, and even if they are a 8" (never heard of a 8" ifs diff) i doubt that the CV joints are 30 spline

 

they make an ARB locker for it. and its in the Four Wheeler on the trail lex. I didnt think about it being on the other side, id like to look at it and see if it could be done.

 

The front diff you speak of is a clamsheel type unit also not a 3rd member style. It would be a mess to try to fit it. Not impossible, but expenisve and not really worth the $$$

I think it would be better to custom fit a 8" rear axle (86-96) and build off of that.

 

how hard do u think it would be to do the rear axle for a front instead of the 84-85 front. Cause the rear from an 86-95 would be 3 inches wider on the axle shafts than the 84-85 front.

 

Well are you talking about doing a SAS with a rear axle, cuz that is a no go, because the rear has no steering.

If you are talking about cutting it down for an IFS center, it shouldn't matter cuz you're going to have to chop more than the 3 inch difference. Custom innards too. I know some of the old rock crawlers did it with ford 9 inch center sections.

 

begs the question- why?
If the IFS is good for you, the diff is not prone to breakage. If you are getting really into hard wheeling you will break IFS components LONG before the diff becomes the weak link. Anything you might want to add to the 7.5" diff is available for it (LSDs, lockers, airlockers) So why even bother trying to fit in anything else?

 

i was thinking more along the line of are there 30 spline CVs for the IFS?

 

seriously, the thing you're most likely to break is the outer CV joint itself, not anything inside the diff... the spline count on the shaft isn't the problem, it's having wheel spin (also inferring a full droop to lift the wheel in the first place) and then making sudden contact w/ a good amount of traction. this leads to outer CV joint failure almost immediately (read: GRENADE). that's the weak link, not the diff or the shaft.

 

then forget about the diff.....i dont really care about that. BUT if there were 30 spline CVs for the IFS that were relativley cheap, would that not be a good thing to have, if SAS was not an option?

 

yes it would probably be stronger but like everyone else is saying the splines aren't the weak point the actual shaft or the cv joint is so there wou;dn't be really any gain to doing it

 

Scott @ RockStomper did it with a 9"... had many $$$$$$ into it.
There was a guy with a 2nd gen that did it with an 8" so he could run an ARB. Same thing - many $$$$...

 

that slipped my mind when i said it....I have seriously considerd the long travel IFS suspension, that ive seen around, but i am pretty sure that this is significantly wider than the stock set up. and if the front is stickin way out from under the fenderwells and the rear is still the same that would look absolutley retarded. correct me if im wrong on how that works.....