Axlel length

[jd elbert]

I just swapped out the differential housing in my 1987 4runner with one out of a 1985. The left axle stops with about an inch to go. I was wondering if Toyota made different axle and differential combination between these two years?

 

[turboSR5]

The rear housing on an 1985 will be shorter than the rear housing on 4runners/pickup that have independent front suspension (1986+). That's a real bummer!

 

[cometobanks]

your going to need about three inches of wheel spacers...

 

[4runner_kid]

Different sizes, you need an IFS rear.

 

[RotaMan2]

86 and newer with IFS are wider axles than the 85 and older models. The brake drum and brake components are also bigger. they went from 11 inch to 13 inch drum brakes.

 

[estrada.1977]

I have a question on this thread.
I have an 85 T4R, I bought 95 complete Diff with brake drums and all, with front calipers, BMC/Booster.
is this Diff better than the '85, is it a straight fit, do I have to do anything to my front to align it with the lenght of the rear diff?

 

[Hyde802]

You have a few options: One is you can just replace the 3rd member, it will bolt right into the 85 housing.

Other option is to replace the whole axle, it will bolt right up. And to widen the front you can either run wheel spacers, or get some IFS hubs and swap them on, which takes a little creative work, but plenty have done it, and I plan on doing it when I solid axle my 92.

The housings them selves are the same, just one is wider to make up for the additional with of the IFS. However, you said you got all your parts of a v6, the v6 3rd itself is stronger with bigger bearings and more cooling fins on the housing with a 4 pinion carrier (4cly has a 2 pinion carrier), but the v6 3rd will bolt right into the 4cly housing.

And you get special bonus points for bumping an old thread vs starting new one. :bravo:

 

[fourwd1]

I have a question on this thread.
I have an 85 T4R, I bought 95 complete Diff with brake drums and all, with front calipers, BMC/Booster.
is this Diff better than the '85, is it a straight fit, do I have to do anything to my front to align it with the lenght of the rear diff?

I think you mean you bought a complete axle.
The axle will swap in to your 85, and has 2 things different. 1) the axle is 3" wider, and 2) it has bigger drum brakes. Both are good things.
You can make up the width difference in the front by adding 1.5" spacers on each side. Hopefully the axle came with the e-brake cable assy, as the 85's is shorter and won't work.