To regear or not to...oh who are we kidding, we are regearing!!!

I'm down for doing it myself but I never have before. I would not attempt to try this without someone with previous experience. I know my limitations and when to ask for help. But if your serious about helping, than I will go ahead and order the parts. I just feel like we all lean on you quite a bit.

 

I definitely agree on the amount of time it takes the elocker to engage. And sometimes I have to. I've the truck forward or backwards for that to happen. That is not always an acceptable practice in the trail.

 

I'm telling you warren even with one person the rear removal is easy, the front I can walk you through the CV axle removal and what not but the one thing we had forgotten and I was telling you how difficult the front is to remove is. Your a drop bracket so the front diff can not get hung up like mine did. This would make it easier. Call ECGS tomorrow tell them what you want. This is what I would select if you keep the 8.0 rear.

 

The front diff is a pain in the ass to do by yourself. Get the stuff and pick a weekend, if I'm off I'll. E there to help install everything.

 

Front is a bitch alone but it's a drop bracket so I'd imagine you dont have to do the tilt twiddle and fight with that damn bolt

 

Ah yeah that's true didn't think about that.

 

Switching to deeper gears in the rear axle will make the already small ring and pinion even weaker. It might be worth buying a stronger assembly, especially if you wheel it hard.

 

That's the same setup I have in my cart but with core charges, oil and new bearings.

 

Pardon my ignorance, but why will running 4.88's make the ring and pinion weaker?

 

A numerically higher gear ratio is accomplished by adding more teeth to the gears, which means the contact surface area will be smaller, which means a smaller amount of torque will damage the gearset. I think that the Toyota 8" is only adequate for 4-cylinder motors, and I believe that Toyota sees this the same way since they started using a larger rear axle in the 3rd gen (and the V-6 puts out the same torque). Buying a semi-float Dana 60 from Dynatrac or custom axle from Diamond will not be much more expensive and will be far more durable.

 

Semi-Float?

 

Semi-float means that the wheel bearing is inside of the housing and the housing and shaft share the weight of the truck, like your stock axle. A full-floater has the wheel bearings outboard of the housing on a spindle, the housing bears all weight, the shaft only deals with input torque, and can withstand far more weight. It's also more expensive.

 

Haha man I love working on these trucks it's never a problem. I'm no expert in the rear end but I've had mine completely dissembled when I installed my lock right locker so I'm relatively familiar with it all. I feel totally comfortable helping you install the diffs

 

Please point me toward a cheap diamond axle.

 

I never said "cheap", I said not much more expensive. The Dynatrac Dana 60 is $2600. It will be cheaper when he blows out another 8" ring and pinion and save a lot of time and effort.

 

Full float is the shit, changing axle shafts are easy. If the shaft breaks the wheel can not fall of the axle. Like @computeruser6 stated they can withstand more weight because is all on the bearing. But expensive and you would need something to keep up with the front. If you truly want a cheap full float go to a junkyard and get a corporate 14 bolt. Shave the bottom and toss in your gears and locker.

 

They are $2600 without the diff, don't know what a full 3rd with a locker is, but I would guess $2000. So $4600 vs $665 for a regear. Not saying it wouldn't be bad ass, but to say they are similar costs is simply not true.

 

He's already destroyed a set of gears. He'll just keep doing the same until he gets a stronger axle. What's the point in simply repairing a axle that simply can't do what's demanded of it? I've never understood why some people will replace a small ring and pinion multiple times instead of fixing the problem.

 

Not arguing that, nor did I suggest that, but the alternative is not a small price upgrade as you had indicated.

 

The reason the gears were destroyed was there was a big ledge and bumped it a little too hard and fast. The rear went airborn over the rocks and when it landed it got traction and we heard a grind. Yes a bigger rear would be better but what he is considering by adding the front locker would have got him over no problem Which would have eliminated the speed and bumping.