Solid Axle Swap BS Thread

I was just wondering about that! I think it would actually look cool in bare metal.

That's awesome.

They really have quality products. Very good company and customer service.

 

Yessir very happy with the service so far. Wish some of it was on sale but oh well.

 

Short version at bottom:
First post in the big-boy thread. Been doing some sas research lately but I have some questions and looking for advice. Got an 04 w/ midtravel, arb locker up front and a marlin taco box 4.7. On 33” mtr’s right now and pretty happy with the trucks capability for moderate wheeling and long drives.

I’ve blown up a short shaft in my front diff, snapped a front spindle, and my LCA tabs are toast so alignments are FUBAR.

I wanna run a solid front axle so I can fit a 35 or 37, and have stronger front end components.

My buddy will be selling his high pinion mini axle with upgraded birfs/shafts/knuckles/arb locker and stuff. If I was to throw that axle under my truck (probably leaf sprung), what would be the best way of doing it. My t/case is driver drop and mini axle is passenger. I read somewhere you can flip the axle with some modifications, or I could swap t-cases, but then I probably wouldn’t be able to use my taco box.



tl;dr: I wanna sas my taco for expo/wheeling, and fit a 35 or 37. Would a fully built HP mini axle be a good idea, or is the driver/pass flip not worth it? Would it be smarter to swap t-cases, or flip the axle? Probably going with leafs.

Sorry for the essay, thanks for all advice.

 

Taco box as in the Marlin crawl box? I flipped a cruiser axle and while it was a cool project, I would just put in a pax drop tcase if I did it again. I did it because I would not have been able to get what I wanted for the lefty If I were to sell it to offset the cost of building a mini truck case. As for the axle, it would work but they are too narrow, I would look for an axle out of an fj60 or 62, they are wider, as a bonus you get a 9.5" diff and you can use the mini truck knuckles and outer axle components if you snag that axle from your friend. Check out my build thread for more info on that axle and my swap.

Edit just saw you have a crawl box. You can get an mc07 adapter and hang a mini truck case off that, it's what I did with the lefty.

 

The answer is in the highlighted sections above.

For its intended use, I would keep the rig the way it is. Just rebuild the IFS....it will be cheaper and less of a headache than doing a SAS. Also IFS will be way more comfortable for expo than a straight axle with leaf springs.

With minor body modifications you can squeeze 35"s with your IFS and if you don't drive like a maniac it can survive well.

 

It sounds like he wants to swap for the same reason I did which is the ifs just gets worn out.

 

Understandable. But I think you were doing a good amount of rock crawling and hard core wheeling with your rig before you did the SAS

Based on what the guy said a SAS seems unnecessary.

 

He has dual cases and a front locker so I'm guessing it does more than the typical TW expo wheeling.. driving to a Vista on a gravel road, popping the RTT and snapping some pics of the camp fire and driving home.

 

No kiddin' man. I never really understood that culture. Oh well, I suppose people have fun in different ways.

 

Myself and @ToyRyd04 did the swaps with a mini truck axle. It works as long as you do ifs hubs and taco brakes and small spacers. Read our builds and will give you a better idea.

 

Thank you lol. Yes I wheel, but I’m not very satisfied with 33’s and midtravel.

 

I’ll check them out. My buddy already has ifs hubs/taco brakes but no spacers on it. Thanks

 

I hear ya. I hit the wall of what ifs and 33s were capable of and coupled with components wearing out I did the swap. I considered keeping it IFS with a hydro steering rack, but obviously went a different direction. It is crazy what kind of trails you can do in these trucks on 33s with a crawler.

 

With a first gen you can make a mini axle work width wise with ifs hubs, but like @slander mentioned a FJ60 axle would be better, they’re about 58-59” WMS and with IFS hubs a better match width wise for your rear axle. Even better would be a 80 front axle, issue with that will be steering, unless you run links or SUA leafs.

 

You can find and build those 60 series axles for so cheap! They don't have the fj80 cruiser 70% markup on parts lol.

 

Agree, depends on what part of the country you are in but their more likely to show up in the you pull it yards. And the birfs/shafts/knuckles are the same as mini stuff so there’s lots of aftermarket support and parts options. With the FROR tacoma brake kit you can run your stock brakes or upgrade to tundra, 4th gen 4R/GX470, or 5th gen/GX460 brakes.

 

She's wide now.

 

She's back on all fours!

Looks great man. It seems like the rear is a bit narrower now. Wheel spacers??

 

Moved the 1.25" spacers from the front to the rear so the rear is almost 64". Little narrow compared to the front but plan is to throw a 9" in the rear once I get the funds again.

 

It’s for when he goes to Baja like everyone on IG does .



Jk one of my favorite 1st gens for sure.