Which rear end for an upgrade?

I toasted my 8" diff earlier this week, again. It's got roughly 16K miles on Nitro 4.88 gears. I don't know the extent of the damage yet because I'm too bummed to pull it, but it's all bad! I tax the drivetrain a lot running 37" tires and I drive a little aggressive at times so I want to spend my money on a rebuild wisely. Should I rebuild it or look at going all out and spend my cash on a better rear? Maybe a diamond housing, Ford 9", ect? Not sure what to do here or what options are out there, what are some of you guys using?

 

mid 90s land cruiser 9.5" rear end FTW!

 

I'm running a diamond stuffed with a 9.5" LC chunk. It ended up being a lot cheaper than an equivalent 9" full floater, but a little more heavy. It's hard to beat the Rock Jock 60 for strength, and you can get them bolt in ready and reuse your stock brakes. The big question is what is your budget? Are you looking for a complete axle or piece it together yourself? Do you need better braking performance? Do you need an E-brake? Selectable locker? What is your timeline like?

 

This. All day long. It is pure beast and purpose built for your taco.

 

that is truck porn right there

 

That will do!
I need it to be streetable and like the idea of continuing to run an e-locker. The LC center would allow me to do so. Because of the weight of the tires, rear disc brakes would be the way to go. I'd like to be into it for $3K or less, but I don't know if that's possible? I would like to buy a complete set up for a quick turn around and get back on the road.
What brake setup did you use here, full or semi float axles?

 

Rock jocks!!

 

I don't know that I would run an E-locker in a custom axle. I don't know about you, but I had terrible reliability with mine. Seemed like every time I really needed it, it didn't work. Also stripped out an axle because of a hung up E-locker. An ARB would be a much better, and stronger choice. I have a detroit in mine because I just want it to work, no buttons to mash. It is interesting on the street until you get used to it (coast around sharp corners and the tires don't squall). Mine is a full floater, but you can of course get a semi float too. The disk brakes are off the front of an 04 tacoma. I bought mine complete minus s

 

Those are great points, glad I asked, thanks for the help! I could live with a Detroit locker, just wouldn't want the wife to drive the truck, which is fine. Did you delete the abs? What prop valve are you using?
I'll call diamond today and maybe also check out the rock jock, but it seems more expensive and probably overkill for my use.

 

Can you post the info they give you after you call them? I'd be interested in the answers to your questions as well. I'm planning a rear end upgrade for next year.

 

Deleted abs years ago. Using a wilwood prop valve.

 

Are you destroying the gears, or some other component in the rear end? Got to make sure they are setup up properly, and that you do a break-in on them before you really start hammering on them.

 

I also follow break in procedures to a T. Usually the ring gear teeth come apart somewhere in the 25-30K mile range, but the last one broke a side gear which took out the splines on an axle shaft, and gnarfed a driveshaft when it locked up at speed. I had something like $2800 in replacement parts in my 8" over roughly 100,000 miles. A good axle will save you money in the long run. At least that's what I told my wife.

 

^^ That is surprising. Toyota 8" is pretty well known for taking abuse.

 

Behind a 22R on 33's, I completely agree. Behind a 4.0 in a heavy, almost full sized pickup on 37's... not so much. Shoot, my buddy has an 85 yota with a built 302 in it on 35's and his 8" holds up fine, even doing burnouts and stupid shit. Vehicle weight has a lot to do with it.

 

Agreed, I think the tire weight really kills it too and the torque with the 4.88's is surprising really. The truck drives great and accelerates well with these gears, it's just too much of a load. This setup only had around 16K miles on it.
It's done! I drove it 30' towards my shop from the house tonight and just letting off the clutch, it went. I chunked into the garage and might pull the 3rd tomorrow. Unfortunately I didn't have time to call Diamond before they closed, but will be on the phone with them in the morning.

 

I'm leaning toward the rock jock 60, but the wait time is 6-7 weeks. Diamond says 4 weeks, but many guys on the MC site are reporting 6-8.
I'll be ordering something in two weeks. I'm super bummed about dumping over $4K into it right now and it going towards a SAS, but it will awesome knowing I can rely on the upgrade diff.

 

You won't regret it. I did 170 miles in the dirt today. It was awesome not having to baby it for fear of popping another diff.

 

Big thank you to Ryan and Jon at AllPro for answering all my questions. I finally decided on a Currie 9" with 35 spine axles, ARB, 4.88 gears, 1" wider than the factory housing. After my savings account recovers, I'll upgrade to disc brakes too. Ordered it yesterday!

 

Hi. I'm thinking the on the same path as you, 9" Currie with 35 splines axles. Does your axle retain the original brakes, ABS and rear wheel bearings? Do you need a driveshaft modification (new u-joint) at the back?