Differential locker swap from a 97 4runner to a 2000 Tacoma

Hello I am new to the forum. Thought I would join to get other opions and some info on the situation at hand. My brother has a 97 4runner limited that had a locking differential that comes stock. Soon he will be getting rid of it cuase its got a bad frame. Before he does that tho I would like to have the OEM locker out of his and put it in my 2000 Tacoma. I have found that the wire harness on my Tacoma already has a lead to plug in the switch for the rear locker. Other then that i have no clue how i could install it. Not only would I want to put the locker in my rear diff on my Tacoma but when im done the 4runner will still need to be able to drive down the road fine.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

I'm not sure about cross compatibility between those years, but I'm just about to do the same thing. I was able to find a factory rear locker from the same year truck as mine.

 

Lots of wiring diagrams in the grey wire mod portion of the sticky threads. I didnt have to conserve the harness from the doner truck so I took the switch 4x4 ECU respective pigtails (cut the harness) and dif and made my own harness to make it work. This probably won't work for you because of the 4 runner still needing to work. The complete harness swap is going to be a huge project if you want the 4runner to be fully functional in the end.

 

Of you don't have an elocker now. You'll need a Tacoma elocker diff housing. It's not a bolt in swap. 4runners use 4 link suspension that year a believe. So 4runner housing wont swap to a Tacoma.

 

I completely forgot about the 4link...

 

Won’t work. You need an e-locker axle housing. You can’t install an e-locker differential into a non e-locker housing without extensive modification.

 

For some of us !!

It is not all that hard in a technical way to swap axle Housings between 4 link and leaf springs just lots of work and time .

When the correct housing can most often be found with a little looking much easier now with the internet .

More often it comes down to because I can rather then any practical reason

 

FWIW I was able to find an entire elocked rear end for $450 on FB marketplace.

 

Thanks for the info guys

 

Just get an ARB air locker.

The TRD lockers are cool, but the ARBs engage easier, and you can get one that will swap right in to your housing. Plus, if you're a 4x4, you don't have to worry about trying to get one with the same gearing as your front