3rd member and front differential swap

New to the forum and thanks for having me. My son has owned a 98’ for several years and I recently joined the club with one of my own. Have a question about swapping differentials for gear change. Donor is a 96 code bo3a (4.10) and the recipient is a 98 code bo2a (3.58) I assume the 3rd member is a straight swap on back and the front as well, only front is from an actuated differential and non lockout hub and going into a truck with lockout type hubs, what needs done to make it work with the locking hubs? TIA

 

As long as you match front and back together, you're good to keep and use 4x4.

3rd member itself won't matter; it's only at the hub end that the cv axles and after are different and not a concern in your setup.

 

If your truck is a non-ADD truck and the donor front diff is from an ADD truck you’ll have to remove the stub shaft.

 

Not familiar with ADD vs non-ADD, can you explain? I assume it something to do with the actuated differential? Here’s donor front

 

That's ADD, vacuum actuator is located on the right side

 

Auto Disconnecting Differential - ie not manual disconnecting hubs. You have an ADD diff pictured there as you can see the vacuum unit on the diff tube that will disconnect from the clamshell of the diff. There is a stub shaft in the clamshell that will not work and needs to be removed if you have a non-ADD truck with manual hubs from the factory.

 

This.

I misread thinking he was only replacing the 3rd member on both front and back.

 

Watch the first 5 min or so here

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bOOxfDFUFsA

This was his less successful attempt he referred to in the video (if the link doesn't take you to the right time like it should, it's around 30:25)

https://youtu.be/w_gPiDvh9v4?t=1826

Alternatively you could keep the ADD assembly and lock it in the engaged position like this, but it would be less of a professional regear that way.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...or-the-1st-gen-tacoma-3rd-gen-4runner.460180/

 

Thanks for all the knowledge, just like to keep the front as is existing in the recipient truck which is non-add with manual lockout hubs

 

New here, hope you dont mind me jumping in, I have a 1995 Tacoma with ADD front diff, looking to swap it out with a manual locking hub diff, what CV shafts do I need for this and is there any issues since that connector wont be plugged in on the manual diff? Thanks for any help.

 

Extra work for nothing.

You'll need - manual hub assemblies, manual hub cv axles, replacing your spindles or pressing in new wheel hubs to your spindles, manually clamping your ADD so it is "always engaged" or replace it with the manual diff tube assembly, and that's it.

 

So basically, even tho this manual diff I can get is free, Im better off finding an ADD diff to swap in? Problem is mine is hot, just looking to swap it with a good used one. I already used the rear diff out of the same truck so I know the gear ratio would be the same. Another problem is, I dont know what gear ratio it even is. Where can you find out what gear ratio a diff is? Im used to my chevy that has RPO codes in the glove box but neither of these toyotas have em.

 

Spin it, count the number rotations

And I guess I don't understand where you're coming from why you would switch add to manual, or to another add...what do you mean hot? Ran it without gear oil?

 

Budget is the reason. Dont wanna throw a ton of money into this truck. Its got over 400k miles on original engine and trans. Would like to get the 4wd going so its usable. I forgot the S in that word, the front diff is shot is what I meant.