Rear Axle Swap

Im lifting my 97 5 lug (Diff is not E-locker) and I had an idea and I need to know if it'll work, (I do not have access to the tools needed to knock axle perches, weld them, or install new gears) rather than buying a spring over axle conversion kit, buying new gears, paying a shop to install the gears, and then paying to have a shop knock my axle perches then reweld them could I just simply swap in an axle from a 1st gen pre runner or 4wd with the desired gears as long as it doesnt have an E-locker? Everything I have read says that the axles should be the same width and have the perches in the right location but nobody has directly addressed this, and in addition i am concerned about the drive shaft bolting up to the new differential. Does anyone have any experience with anything like this??