Solid Axle Swap BS Thread

We have tons of these trucks come to our shops and I rarely see Ford bearings go bad. Just gotta maintain. I Prolly replace 50 Chevy bearings to every 1 Ford bearing

 

Don't know much about these axles but my brother sure has his complaints about the bearings in his 44 and he's only running 37s. Think he's replaced them 4 times in the past 3 years.

 

They set-up the 3rd member improper when they sent it to you are you saying? I have some TG parts and some work well, some don't. As for the axle, I don't own one, never will, heard real complaints many times, either way your axle is working good, good to hear

 

Isn't the FJ case the same exact thing as the previous generation Tacoma? J shift and all.

Speaking of TG, I have their front bumper (which I'll probably sell) and t-case skid. The t-case skid is stout and I'm very happy with it. The front bumper isn't bad but I plan to build something with a small stinger after I swap the truck. Not a fan of anything else Trail Gear

 

I just replaced my 44 bearings after 2 years. They were destroyed, mainly because mud seeped past the seals and ruined them They are cheap anyway, $10 a bearing haha. Does he have a jeep 44?

 

So many double posts by me haha

But, no the Fj case is more similar to the 2nd gen case, but it's not electronic. Though honestly I don't know enough about it to answer 100% correctly.. I know for sure it's not the same as 1st gen tacoma cases (minus J shift, that is the same)

 

Yes sir the pinion was eating up the carrier for my ARB locker. Sounded horrible! I was pulling out a full size ford and trailer in the sand and for sure thought I blew up my front end.

 

Lol that's the exact same thing that happened to my brothers. Yes sir.

 

D44's don't like 37's all that much. I had the same setup on my last Taco and it ate wheel bearings constantly. So, D60 this time

And I haven't heard of too many unit bearings failing. I would run one but I came across my KP60 first so that's what I got and I'm happy because I enjoy keeping up on maintenance myself. Remember, unit bearings were meant for full size trucks so they'd be just fine under our midsize trucks.

 

This

 

The fj case is basically a top shift taco case. The major difference is the shift rails on the tacos case come out the back of the case and the shift motor mounts there, the fj of course doesn't have rails coming out the back. Should be a direct swap, i think the big hurtle was making the 4wd light work.

 

Full size axles are awesome. Once he gets his truck rock ready he's gonna use 60s all the way around.

 

Now, I'm assuming its pretty critical to plate the frame or reinforce it with foam when doing a 3/4 ton axle swap?

 

Foam? Never heard of that, but yes plate it, shock mounts/coilover mounts can/will tear off a stock frame

 

Usually you chop all the IFS bracketry off, grind the frame smooth, weld plates on all sides and you're good to go. This is what I plan to do, I had problems with the frame cracking on my previous Taco. I'm not taking any chances this time.. Reinforce the frame with foam? WTF?

 

You can inject foam into the frame after you box it. They make really strong reinforcement foams for all kinds of structural and automotive applications

 

I work in a shop and we service to large farms one runs chevs and on runs fords i change them both at the same rate.. but when chevy makes a unibearing solid axle we start using to swap be sure and bring it up untill then realize the FORD Unibearing uses vacume to pull in a hub that draws dirt past the seal and kills a bearing. note first design has way less failures and i doubt he would use the vac on a swap but you never know.

Yes cheap and not hard to do new Gen ford unibearing cost last time we billed one out was just under $450 that doesnt include the $50 vac seal..

plate and adding plate to the entire frame between link/spring mounts front to rear. makes one tough frame.

 

sounds like a rust bucket nightmare to me.

 

It maintains the flexibility of the steel but adds strength

 

This, even if foam does work I think its a little overkill. A plated boxed frame is plenty strong.