4runner on 80-Series Axles?

[Bad Luck]

What about using a Dana 44 axle out of a wagoneer or bronco? Driver side drop so you won’t have to change transfer case or deal with exhaust clearance.

Dana 44:
1999 SAS Dana44 ARB 4Runner Build
DOWNPOUR11's Build Thread
Dous's Build Thread Version 2.0
ADH8796 4runner Build

FJ80 front and rear: John's 99 4runner rebuild/build

Toyota mini truck axle up front: https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/53403-photo-timeline-my-4runner-{lots-pics}.html

Trail gear housings(?): slowpoke99's super slow timeline/build thread
Addicted's 96' 4runner using TG Tacoma SAS kit

 

[danthemanx07]

What about using a Dana 44 axle out of a wagoneer or bronco? Driver side drop so you won’t have to change transfer case or deal with exhaust clearance.

Dana 44:
1999 SAS Dana44 ARB 4Runner Build
DOWNPOUR11's Build Thread
Dous's Build Thread Version 2.0
ADH8796 4runner Build

FJ80 front and rear: John's 99 4runner rebuild/build

Toyota mini truck axle up front: https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/53403-photo-timeline-my-4runner-{lots-pics}.html

Trail gear housings(?): slowpoke99's super slow timeline/build thread
Addicted's 96' 4runner using TG Tacoma SAS kit

May be a little easier that way, but I see the passenger drop as a bonus really. As long as I can get the rear driveline to work properly, I could switch to a gear driven case with an adapter down the road. Really only looking at the possibility of a T100 case to keep down initial costs. And the gear driven cases can be hard to come by sometimes. If I happened upon a deal on a geared case with an adapter plate, I would probably pick it up and throw in on the parts pile.

Ive read through mmml4's postings. His swap was far more involved than I want to get. He swapped the transmission and transfer case too which required modifying the body's transmission tunnel. I don't really want to get into that.

Next best thing would be the front mini-truck solid axle like liny4runner's build. Setting up steering for the 80 axle may convince me to jump ship...

 

[nissanh]

A hilux LN 166 (98-04ish) which is quite similar to our 3rd gen 4runner has been converted to run on 80 series front and rear axles on 4wdaction (presently called 4wd247).

 

[G_Raw]

A hilux LN 166 (98-04ish) which is quite similar to our 3rd gen 4runner has been converted to run on 80 series front and rear axles on 4wdaction (presently called 4wd247).

Needle in haystack no? But rad idea. Anyone got lines on the Philippines? Seems to be the most common place for this swap to occur...or parts for this swap to occur anyways.

 

[Black798]

So here's my two cents on it. I've done a lot of work prepping my truck and gathering parts to sas it but obviously everyone's situation is different so take it for what you will

The centered rear tcase output and offset diff imo is not a good route to go. You're moving the driveshaft in two planes now and the 80 series rear diff is offset roughly 5 inches from center. It might not vibrate at highway speeds but it is highly likely it does, your ujoints will also be weaker in this configuration due to more drastic angles. If that becomes an issue I do not know. Only experience would be able to say for certain. But this was the big reason I went the route of building the route of building my own housing from scratch because if I'm spending the money and time I don't want to have to go back and do major rework.

I would say either choose a different rear axle or different tcase to match the axle. The 8.4 axles out of the t100 and unlocked tacos would be a viable option. I've seen those take a lot of abuse and hold up to it no problem. Obviously not full float like an 80 axle which to me is a big downside with my truck being the fat whale it is but if it suits your needs they're easy as hell to find.

The front axle I seriously entertained the idea of passenger drop for a long time, unlocked front 80 axles are basically the perfect width and the hp 8" diff is relatively strong for it's size. Probably not much stronger than the 7.5 diff we have though because it's more prone to carrier deflection than the clamshell 7.5. biggest reason I have decided against using a stock 80 axle is the amount of work stripping the stock brackets and everything plus they are prone to bending the passenger side tube. Due to all the welding of the radius arm brackets they aren't very rigid, seen 3 bend first hand. End of the day it ends up being like putting lipstick on a pig.

For a little more money into the axle housings you can get a set that works with the existing transfer case, fits the vehicle perfect in terms of width, and this allows you to mix and match parts to get the best of both worlds in many cases. You're already going to be reworking link mounts so you gotta ask how much your time is worth to cut off and clean up all the old brackets that were stock on the donor axles. Speaking from experience it takes a long time to really get them nice and clean haha.

For mine I already built a full float 9.5 rear axle and will be using a hp 8" front in a custom housing that's driver drop.

All that being said no matter what a sas is a ton of work. Because you're basically redesigning the entire suspension and large amount of the drivetrain from the ground up. It gives you a lot of flexibility and potential. But that potential can both swing bad and good. But to me it sounds like you're wanting something you can wheel hard but get in the highway to drive home and not feel like you're in a death trap. And making something like that isn't easy, you're realistically looking at redoing both front and rear suspensions along with swapping around axles and transfer cases.
Take it for what you will but those are my thoughts on it.

 

[G_Raw]

Sorry not much help... friend is running a 3rz in his Sami with 80 series trans and tcase so everything lines up in terms of drive lines. He had a machine shop fabricate and adapter plate then swapped input shafts to get Tran and motor to link up. Then obviously fabbed up custom cross members and driveshafts to get everything in. I thought it was a 5vz and would shed some light on a way to link the axles to a drive train that would mate up to our motor for ya.

 

[danthemanx07]

Not sure how I missed the last two replies here, but thanks for the thoughts fellas.

[MENTION=121903]Black798[/MENTION] - Where/who/how did you get your housings fabbed up?

I dont see shifting to a passenger drop as a down side really. My hope was that by the time I was ready to SAS, I would also be ready to switch over to a double case setup with a passenger drop gear driven case. I guess to keep things simple, there is the TacoBox though. Think that retains driver drop by using the stock case on the end if I am not mistaken.

I hear you on the strength of the 80 front. Part of the reason I am fixated on it is the availability of the 4wheel underground kit that is available the axle. They of course make others though. Feedback I have read is exactly what I want - excellent flex and excellent road manners.

The rear is not a deal breaker for me really. Would be nice to have the 9.5 back there, but the 8" in the rear seems to hold up OK for a lot of 1st gen Tacomas on 35"+ tires. I am not going to push too hard to get it in there. I can probably sell it and get pretty far down the road to something else anyway.

I did happen on another Tacoma that has run the offset rear with no issues, but you are right about the unknown. What has worked for others may not work for me.

[MENTION=455277]G_Raw[/MENTION] - thanks for checking nonetheless man.

And just to let y'all know I am super serial about working towards this. Swap candidate has been purchased and a picture of the goods.

 

[Black798]

I built the axle housing myself from scratch. Mad an alignment jig out of an I beam, drew it all out in solidworks and cut the parts on my cnc plasma. Center section is 3/8 plate and the tubes are 3.5x.25 dom. Ive made a couple now and am swapping one into a friends truck. Once his is done here in about a month mine will be coming in for the rear end swap and front end swap/.
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The only real downside to passenger drop is packaging. The ac compressor hangs super low and ends up hitting the diff being the limiting factor with uptravel. The one other downside with the fj80 axle is the steering, not sure if someone else had mentioned that. You'll likely want to do high steer for clearance and reducing bumpsteer and the only way on the fj80 housing is using the hellfire or diamond axle knuckles. Not the end of the world but definitely something to consider.

 

[danthemanx07]

I built the axle housing myself from scratch. Mad an alignment jig out of an I beam, drew it all out in solidworks and cut the parts on my cnc plasma. Center section is 3/8 plate and the tubes are 3.5x.25 dom. Ive made a couple now and am swapping one into a friends truck. Once his is done here in about a month mine will be coming in for the rear end swap and front end swap/.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/147275993@N05/51017408543/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_0465"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51017408543_68bf549494_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_0465"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The only real downside to passenger drop is packaging. The ac compressor hangs super low and ends up hitting the diff being the limiting factor with uptravel. The one other downside with the fj80 axle is the steering, not sure if someone else had mentioned that. You'll likely want to do high steer for clearance and reducing bumpsteer and the only way on the fj80 housing is using the hellfire or diamond axle knuckles. Not the end of the world but definitely something to consider.

Man - we are not even on the same playing field. I certainly wish I had those kind of skills (and equipment). That would open up a world of other possibilities. What outer/knuckle setup are you planning for? Any chance you are taking orders? Just shipped a rear 8" housing to Washington from here for $250. I am sure one of your empty housings weighs less than that.

So you are keeping the stock transfer case? Any plans for a geared case down the road? Tacobox?

Aware of the hiccups with steering. Hellfire's lead time has come down to about two months. Nothing to it but money right? They are pricey. And like you said - lipstick on a pig to some degree. I am not ready to pull the trigger on anything. I'll probably have to take another hard look at a fabricated housing. May even things out if I dont have to spend $1000 on knuckles.

 

[Black798]

Man - we are not even on the same playing field. I certainly wish I had those kind of skills (and equipment). That would open up a world of other possibilities. What outer/knuckle setup are you planning for? Any chance you are taking orders? Just shipped a rear 8" housing to Washington from here for $250. I am sure one of your empty housings weighs less than that.

So you are keeping the stock transfer case? Any plans for a geared case down the road? Tacobox?

Aware of the hiccups with steering. Hellfire's lead time has come down to about two months. Nothing to it but money right? They are pricey. And like you said - lipstick on a pig to some degree. I am not ready to pull the trigger on anything. I'll probably have to take another hard look at a fabricated housing. May even things out if I dont have to spend $1000 on knuckles.

I will be using fj60/fj40/minitruck outer knuckles with early IFS hubs. I chose this route for a few reasons mostly surrounding the front axle housing. There are only two companies that make new knuckle balls which is something I wanted. Those are front range (diamond axle) and trail gear. The front range knuckles ae by far a better product but based off my personal experience with them as well as some friends experiences when they ordered full axle housings I try to avoid doing business with them and I didn't want a repeat of the last axle housing from them I saw so trail gear it was and they only offer minitruck knuckle balls. The minitruck knuckles also have bolt on high steer solutions. This is where I was forced to go with diamond because I really needed a set of flat steering arms for clearance and their keyed design was really appealing since it required very minimal modifications to the knuckle and should be the strongest possible setup. Borrowed a friends mill and cut the flat into them last week. I will also be using trail gears trunnion bearing eliminator kit essentially making this high pinion 8" axle a baby kingpin dana 60, or at least as close as you can get with light duty parts.

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The fj80 knuckles and birfs are larger which would be nice, but with good quality chromo birfs, I plan to either get RCVs or use the Nitro chromoly birfs as I am a dealer for them, they should handle 37s no problem even with the turbo.

For now I am keeping the stock transfer case, I haven't really felt I needed lower gearing being an automatic but definitely not ruling it out in the future. I personally wont be doing a tacobox if I do lower gearing though. They are a proven setup, but end of the day the gear reduction box they are based off of was engineered for a 4klb pickup on 29s that made 90hp. My 4runner is making closer to 300 to the wheels and weighs roughly 5200lbs on 37s. I will likely do an atlas 4 or the northwest fab planetary system they just announced when it becomes available. I really like the concept they have going there. Here's a link to their post about it
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The housings I make weigh about 70lbs empty and I can build them to order. Length can range from stock width up to I want to say about 70" wide, would need to double check with the axle shaft blanks I can get. Empty housings I sell for 750 plus shipping.