Now, if I get the front hubs from a tacoma, would it mount with the existing
lower ball joint mount?
Yes
upper ball joint mount?
Yes
caliper hose?
Same calipers. No need to do anything with the brakes.
CV axle length? Did you use your 4runner CV's or tacoma? Did the splines matched?
CVs came from O'Rielly's for a MANUAL Taco. IIRC, I didn't have to worry about the splines matching. Just get CVs for the same year HUBS you're using.
The manual CVs are "held" in place by a 12mm safety bolt with a massive washer on the hub end.
The best part of this is that if you want to leave the CVs for later, you can. You DO NOT have to run CVs with manual hubs. One of the main reasons I decided to switch to them. Just make sure you either pull the diff, or cover both sides of the diff, and cover up the back of the hubs to keep the insides clean.
Finally, can I do the manual diff while it is in the truck?
I believe you can. I had mine out because I swapped in a diff i bought with 4.88s and an ARB air locker off a guy on the TTORA forum, so I just did it to the 4.88 diff.
Have you noticed any increase in gas mileage?
No noticeable increase in gas mileage.
It's best to get the uppers and lowers and change those out while you're doing the hubs. It's all going to be off anyway. Plus, you're probably going to destroy your upper ball joint while you're trying to get it off the ADD knuckle. The lower, best to avoid the LBJ failure.
You don't need to do anything to the brakes. Your calipers are going to bolt straight up to the knuckle.
If you want to do the Tundra upgrade, you'll have to mess with the brake lines and all that jazz. I haven't done it yet, so I can't say for sure what you need to do it.
Any other questions, shoot me a PM. The email notifications go right to my phone, so it won't take me long to respond.
