Rear Diff Locking a Regular Cab 2nd Gen?

Hello anyone reading!
I have owned a 2006 regular cab 4x4 with a 5-speed for almost 2 years now and I'm looking at installing an ARB Air Locker and On-Board Air system. I know the installation process is the same for pretty much every Tacoma but I am mainly looking for cost estimates and ironing out all the details before spending my money on the actual equipment. I am open to other suggestions on locker options if they exist, however, I would avoid a lunchbox locker considering this is a daily driver and I want to reduce tire wear/lockups when not needed.

The biggest concern I have:
1. I cannot find a legitimate answer on whether my ring gear is the same gearing/ratio as traditional XC and DC models. I know there is variation between model trims but can't find a solid answer.

2. Does it matter what ring gear I have if I am not regearing since the ARB kit uses the factory ring gear?

3. Is this a job I should hire a professional to do it or do it myself in my garage with almost every tool I need? How much would a job like this take if I'm only putting in a rear locker?

4. While my car is sluggish on the highway is it worth it to do a regear while I have the diff out? I only run 33s and on the trail, I have all the torque I'd ever need especially in 4Low.

Thanks for anyone who responds, I just can't anyone else who's locked a regular cab poverty spec taco.

 

Your diff should be the 8.4 open diff. There’s basically that one and the 8.0 that is in the factory e-locker rear diffs. Removing and reinstalling the entire diff is pretty straightforward. What can be tricky is installing the actual ARB unit into the diff. IIRC, you need to have new bearings pressed onto each side and your shim spacing may not be exactly the same since the ARB unit replaces the stock carrier. So it’s a lot of trial and error getting it correct and knowing how the teeth should interface with each other to know it’s correct.

If you have the money, I’d Regear as well at the same time. You can have ECGS build you diffs to mail to you and you send yours back after swapping them out.

 

It’s been a few years and I can’t recall the technical details, but I would recommend regearing while your in there. I went with 4.88s, and it was a major improvement. I’m only on 31s, but it is much more pleasant to drive on the highway, especially hauling any kind of weight. RPMs runs a bit high, but for me it was worth the trade off. I have around 50k on my gears and rear Detroit Trutrac.

 

I think the 2.7 4WD and PreRunner trucks had 4.10 gears from the factory.
Remember that when you regear the rear, you need to regear the front too.

 

put the rear axles on stands, put the truck in neutral, mark 12 o'clock on your drive flange and 12 o'clock on your tire. Count how many rotations of the driveshaft(by hand) it takes to rotate your tire one entire revolution. That's the ratio.

 

You can also just look at the code on the door tag to figure out the ratio, but as @TnShooter said, they should have 4.10's in all the 2nd gen 4cyl trucks

 

Wait...there are 4 cylinders with 4WD? I thought the 4WD was limited to 6 cylinders

 

Nope. Regular cab only got a 2.7.

 

4.0 Reg Cab would be insanely sic! I saw one guy on here a couple years ago that did the swap.

 

My dream one day is to swap in either a Hilux diesel or a 2jz motor, there's even a lot of space for a turbo if I wanted to keep the 2.7. The regear comes down to if I am committing to 35s next time I get tires. I don't mind my taco being slow given I really have to try to speed in it, simply keeps me out of trouble. One of the biggest reasons I got the regular cab is I rarely see any on the road that is 4x4 and modified. I wanted the most bare-bones 4x4 I could get while keeping the Toyota reliability. Hell before I modified the tires and suspension I was getting close to 30mpg on the highway, now it's more like 15mpg.

 

Yeah I totally get that. Regular cabs are badass. Especially the simple manual everything models.
I used to have a 3rz that I turbo’d about 4-5 years ago. I had 4.88’s w/33’s on it. That truck was fun everywhere on and off road. I still got about 19mpg with that set up.
I’m not sure how the ecu’s on the 2nd gens work, but on the first gen I was able to run oem 01-04 injectors on the stock tuning at 8psi with no issues and dyno’d about 225hp at the wheels.

 

I've locked and on board air'd my '11 RC, but I had it geared at the same time so I let the pros do it.
Stock is 4.10, I went 4.88 with 33s and it's perfect to me. It was pretty scary trying to pass slow ass trucks on one lane highways with 4.10s. Gearing differences between models should not matter if you're only installing a locker.
Re-gearing brings the price up quite a bit because the labor on the front.

I went TJM for locker and compressor vs ARB and am happy with the performance, they're a bit cheaper than ARB and have had zero issues. Air is mounted under-hood per their recommendation.

 

Hello all!

Finally after years of waiting (honestly forgot about the thread) I purchased a 3rd member swap from ECGS.

Stuck with my 4.10 gearing, opting for some performance enhancements in the future or swapping my transfer case. Ended up getting an ARB air locker and the smaller compressor.

I custom made a bracket for the compressor in CAD and put some extra work into it to make it stand out (though it’s under the hood).

Installed everything my self in on a Saturday with one extra hand to bleed the brakes.

I am a few hundred miles in and couldn’t be happier with the locker and my wiring job getting the switches operating.

Nice to finally have some luxuries in my base Tacoma!