Marlin Crawler's New Rock Crawling Long Travel IFS Suspension System (#RCLT)

I dont think there will be many on that either.

 

That's what I'm after and what the OPs truck has. Its an elockerless 8.7 if I understand correctly. I much rather have an ARB

 

From everything I have read that is correct. I didn't realize the OP truck was a manual

I haven't found any locally for less than the tundy 10.5. At that point it's a coin toss for ground clearance vs. more strength. The tundy 10.5 you can get the same gear ratios as the tacoma. Would just have to re-drill for the 6 lug which could be problematic.

 

If I was gonna go through that much effort I have a disc braked 14-bolt in my garage with 4.88s and an ARB on the shelf. I just dont think its worth the hassle and I don't think the Tundra rear diff would be much better. Most guys are on 35s or MAYBE 37s. A 10.5 center is gonna hang low with those tires. At least the 14-bolt can be shaved.

I'm thinking the 3rd gen diff may be the best compromise . But who knows till I do it. Once I start parting out my other Tacoma I probably will try.

 

Very good points!

 

That's very close to 9" Ford territory.

 

Thats my thought. But in what should be a pretty much straight bolt in.

Anyone have an idea of what a 2nd gen Elocker rear diff with 4.88s is worth? Trying to account for money I can recoupe.

 

Just looked at ECGS. A 8.75 3rd with 4.88s and a ARB is $1735 shipped. Plus another $1K for the diff. Not bad considering a semifloat Dana 60 swap is over $6k

Do the manual trans 4 cylinder 3rd gens also have the 8.75 rear ends?

 

The diff and gears are worth a few hundred, axle housing not much, if you can get someone to take it.

A tundy front diff and Ford 9" on the back would be strong as hell.

 

Yeah but at that point you're so far into the fabrication side that anything is really an option. Swapping a for 9 would be no harder than a 60 or 14 bolt or tundra 10.5.

For the front is anyone actually breaking the 8" clamshell? I have yet to see anyone break an OEM 2nd Gen CV let along the clamshell or gears. I know the extension tube where the ADD is has been a proven weak spot, but an FJC extension tube can fix that.

Has anyone done a Tundra front diff swap?

 

Do you have any info showing how much stronger the 8.7 is than the 8.4? I don't think I'm questioning that its stronger but how much stronger. Also as of now, no one makes chromo shafts for that axle. In the end, all of this is relative to weight, power and driver mod but I think collectively we're all just searching for an upgrade from a factory 8.4 which a strong locker, chromo shafts and truss housing is significantly stronger than factory and I would think would be stronger than a 8.7 with a locker.

 

Custom axles sound like a big deal but that's what any extended axle you buy is. Think of how strong a RCV axle for a 9.5 would be. You would never break those things. You would buy one pair for $2500 and be done.

 

For real? Now you have

 

FJC front differentials are stronger than Tacoma/4R fronts?

Also I have yet to see a Tundra Clamshell in a Tacoma.

the OD of the 3rd Gen Ring is 8.75" the OD of the 8.4 rear is 8" that's the only indication it's truly stronger, oh and the shafts are I believe 1 spline more and slightly larger. However some of the bearings inside the 3rd Gen Diff are smaller than the standard 8" Diff.

 

I haven't personally seen anyone break an 8" clamshell. I have seen numerous oem cv axles break, including myself breaking one, but all of them have been the outer bearings/cage break, never been a shaft. With RCV axles and the front locked, I would imagine a ring and pinion is breaking before an axle (assuming you've beefed up your tie rods because those are def bending first). But even then, at that point it's more likely to be driver error. I haven't seen much evidence to lead me to believe that the front diff is a weak point but most people don't have stronger components surrounding it to be able to push its limits.

Ultimately its the reason why I just put 5.29s and a Harrop in my 8" front instead of continuing to pursue the 9.5". I would still like to do the 9.5 because it would truly be a "not worried about shit" situation but like I said, no one has proven to me the 8" isnt already that without having stronger everything around it and wheeling it like a rock bouncer.

Oh and the only Tacoma I've seen with the 9.5 front are the Actic trucks. That's what originally got me researching it when I first saw one of those trucks and that it was factory IFS.

 

Time to max out the credit card

 

There's a few guys up here who've blown front 8" diffs, but always with a front locker. Usually they also take out a CV. IMO it's possible enough that I'm not going to lock my front, I'll just get out and winch...

Not wheeling like a rock bouncer is a good first step to avoiding this

 

Just a question of how much the parts cost, I'm not sure if the tundra would be less exoensexp, but I suspect it will be.

2nd Gen CVs are really easy to blow, at least on the rocks and shit we have in PA, if we take 15 trucks out odds are good at least one CV is going to fail.

 

That's really not a very high failure rate. If 15 people get together to wheel, at least 3 are probably gonna do something retarded. If of them only one blows a CV, that's not too bad. I know you said "at least" but you get my point.

Personally I've seen a bunch of 1st Gen CVs break and several 2nd Gen rear diffs brake, but have yet to witness the 2nd Gen CV pop. I wonder if most of the failures are with OEM or autoparts store specials.

I think it really boils down to two factors:
-What do you want the truck to do
-What are you willing to spend (time and money)

For what I wanna do, which is trail ride I think I'm already in a sweet spot. If this kit comes in below what I'm expecting I still might consider it though. I like to stress the truck and myself as little as possible. Making things easy for us both (big tires, crawl box and not doing retarded shit) keeps that stress down.

 

Absolutely agree.

Interestingly, I've never seen a second gen rear fail...