Solid Axle Swap BS Thread

All very good points and I certainly appreciate the conversation, that’s what I was hoping for!

I have read through the threads you linked and pretty much any thread I could find using the 4WU kit and then some. I still need to actually call 4WU and discuss my plans and see if what I’m wanting to do makes sense with their kit.

My plan has been to get a Chevy D44 and retube it to use wagoneer axles, so that I can get a narrow track and high pinion. As you mentioned, at that point it’s likely the 4WU kit will need modified which defeats the purpose. If going with diamond axles makes the install easier I’m not opposed to that either, as long as I can stay close to stock tacoma width.

 

Prepare for long waits from both. King of the hammers is around the corner and diamond pretty much stops making customer axles unless your a racer.

I’ll stay off my soapbox but just buy your own brackets and go for it. You’ll save a ton of money and to do what you want, you’ll have to modify the 4wu stuff extensively to use on a 44.

Search both companies. Although highly praised, actual users will say other wise. They are both og Toyota companies and get the og backing which is good and bad.

 

My buddy received his hybrid after 4 weeks of paying and he's definitely not a racer. He's your average Joe blow backyard mechanic, lol.

 

That's a lot of work for a d44. Only fords came in high pinion. What's the reason you want a d44, over an fj80? Diamond axles can be made to whatever you want. You just gotta have the monies. The fj80 front is 63.5" and fj60 with the taco brake conversion is 62". IMO the fj80 fits the taco perfectly.

 

Any particular reason you want to stay with the stock tacoma width? Full width is so cool...more stable on the trails, easier to stuff things down there when building the truck, etc.

Also, a Ford D44 might be a better a choice because it is hight pinion. If you still want a narrower width, then you could just narrow it.

 

I have Diamonds at each end… both @ 62” WMS. The front is high pinion and I couldn’t be happier.

 

I wouldn't rule out the fj60/62 axle if you are focused on Tacoma width, plus the 9.5" diff has more beef than the hp 8" anyway. I don't know if you were going to retube it yourself, but flipping a Toyota axle is far easier than retubeing a Dana axle. Also price match a pax drop case swap vs paying a shop to do that axle work.

 

66 to 70 is the magic number for axle width

 

Magic width for what?

 

Trail stability

 

Ride with people who have three links.
Take measurements of what you like or ask them if they have a 3 link calculator plugged in for it.
Next weigh your truck preferably at each tire, if not do the front, the rear, and then the whole thing.
Next figure out what tire size you want.
That is key here, and think about whats the biggest you want. Dont be like shit i only need 35's, and then you see 40's and be like momma didnt raise no bitch.
Tire size is key ingredient. This is going to dictate which axles to run.
Ive seen 40s last on a 44, but maintenance will go up as well as breaking shit.
I prefer the big boy axles, but some people think thats overkill( im not running axletechs though)
If you want to dana 44 and driver drop go with a ford, dont waste your time retubing and switching everything because you might as well go with a custom axle. You can find those ford dana pretty easy still, at least here.
Dana 44 chevys are good axle, kindve suck lp but not a deal breaker. Downside is the leaf spring mount is built into the housing so grind town here you go.
Buy once cry once. Do not buy everything in at once like your shocks. You will regret this decision if you buy the wrong size that you actually want or need.
Once you figure out ur tire size, pick the axle.
Once you get your axle, buy two tires of the size you want.
This is where the bandaid needs ripped off
Cut that stupid ass ifs off. All of it
Grind the frame till its smooth as butter, and fix any cancer spots.
Next slide big bad larry of an axle with the desired tire size mounted underneath said truck.
Open the 3 link calculator on a computer. ( understand the terminology and what to measure prior to all this).
Boom start measuring. Im not saying for an hour im talking about the whole weekend.
Take your time
Find your ride height, wheres your links going to mount blah blah.
If you do this and you still want the 4wu kit then go with it.

 

Lots of good suggestions. I’m a fan of full width but my truck is strictly a crawler and ice cream runs now.

as for the 3 link calculator, I didn’t have any luck with it and ultimately put stuff where it fit and spent probably 2-3 weeks cycling it to get everything to clear and get the travel I wanted. This also meant no off the shelf kit fit my needs and I made a lot of my own brackets based off several companies who sell the stuff. You’ll save a lot of money by waiting for sales from Barnes or ruffstuff or tmr and ordering the link mounts and heims through them and then you can place them where you want.

as for starting, I’d suggest cutting the frame at the body mount and making your own frame. I did both and cutting the frame was way easier and let’s you raise the motor.

as for axles, I spent the money and did 609 fabricated axles. When I did the math vs my dad buying a 60 and a 14 bolt and building them, I only spent a little bit more money by buying used knuckles and waiting for sales on axle shafts and 3rd members. The cost difference between the two is negligible in my opinion and the lighter housing and all sheet metal housing made it easier to build off of and saved some overall weight.

another not mentioned and not very common but I just did and am glad is went to a jeep tj big bore psc steering box. Not only does it mount inside the frame giving more room for the tire but is way stronger and doesn’t seem to have the same problems with the Toyota ifs boxes leaking.

and my last piece of advice is buy a real transfer case. Don’t buy Toyota cases. Buy an atlas, Tstak, black box, etc. if you really want Toyota cases; I’ll sell you my built doubler and order myself an atlas. These cases are ticking time bombs on 40s and these heavy trucks.

also don’t be afraid to ask questions. I jumped into linking mine blind and no 3 link calculator and it does really well. As long as nothing binds and it cycles clean, you shouldn’t have issues.

 

Thanks again guys, definitely good info. And good call on the Ford d44 for the high pinion.

I want to keep the stock or close to stock width as I do a lot of tight trails and it’s one of the reasons I like the Tacoma, because it is smaller.

I want to keep the truck as low as possible also and I think this would be easier to do with smaller axles and I have no intentions of going to tires bigger than 35s so a D60 seems overkill. If I ever want to go bigger I’ll have the perfect excuse to build another dedicated trail rig.

As far as narrowing a D44, yeah it’ll be a lot of work and that’s fine, the axles are cheap, plentiful and I enjoy fabricating. That said, you all have convinced me to check out the fabricated axles. I haven’t seen any FJ axles local to me but I may just need to look harder.

I’ve already spent months reading dozens of build threads and playing with the link calculator so about all that’s left is to decide on an axle and fire up the parts cannon.

 

Post made me laugh LOL. Lots of good points in there.

The truth!

Agree for the most. A D60/14B combo is not as cheap to build as people assume, especially if it's a kingpin where everything pretty much has to be upgraded form the start. There's some wiggle room with the 2005+ ones if the steering can be figured out cheaply.

Agree 100%! But I am biased of course since I have an Atlas lol. So glad somebody gave me the advise you are giving here. It is true and the best advice in all accounts when it comes to transfer cases.

Famous last words lol.

Seriously man..most people say that but end up going bigger later on anyway. Please take that into consideration. So why not go big from the start and forget about it all? But it is true that some guys do stay with small tires after a SAS. Everybody has different needs and goals.

Something else to consider, you could easily fit 35"s with IFS for a fraction of the headache and cost of a 3-link. That way you could stay with the factory width that you want, and still have a really capable truck. 35"s, lockers front/rear and good armor all around. Good stuff!

 

I would go atlas. I went with the toyo cases cause i had them laying around and i dumped a grip of change already. Later on ill go atlas

 

I had a 1" body lift installed in the truck already prior to the atlas. As it turned out, that 1" of extra clearance between the frame and the body made a HUGE difference. Did not have to cut the cab floor to make the atlas fit. It actually sits a hair higher than the factory tcase lol, so it clears the bottom of the frame.

So...consider a 1" body lift when you install yours 'cause it will save a lot of sheet metal cutting and aggravation.

 

I just need to get my old girl down the damn road. Once i do that then ill look into an atlas lol. Ive seen a lot of people hit the shit out of there tranny tunnels to get the atlas to fit

 

Ran a stock 60 front with decent luck for awhile. Broke a few outers here and there, so just upgraded to ''stock'' 35 spline outers. And can confirm on just cutting the front frame off, such a benefit to build the frame higher and without pop can thickness. And atlast, I went through 6 4.7 Tcase gearsets, and grenaded the cases completely on half of those breaks aswell. 2rz and 40s was just too much, even with a light truck that my build was. Heck, even going to a Dana 300/upgrading that would be a step up from a Toyota case.

 

Chop the tunnel out and flat belly the biotch

 

I’ve been debating getting a Dana 300 with 4:1 gears but I feel like that’s not far off what an atlas costs. I need to piney up and just get the atlas as I need a transmission and that would be easiest but then I need to redo all my transmission mounts and skid plates and drive shafts..