Diff Drop or not?

achha64

achha64

New member
Hi,

I'm on 1.5 inch lift for the front now. I'm looking to get at least 3" soon, as I have 5 inch on the back.

I've been reading in this forum and others for a while now and still not have any clear answer for this.

I don't off-road much! or using the 4 wheel drive mode much! Let say I do 70 percent of long road drive and 30 % of 4 wheeling.

When I push my baby to 3 inch in the front do I need to Diff Drop?
Will I need a new UCA for 3 inch lift?

Thank you
 
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achha64 said:
Hi,

I'm on 1.5 inch lift for the front now. I'm looking to get at least 3" soon, as I have 5 inch on the back.

I've been reading in this forum and others for a while now and still not have any clear answer for this.

I don't off-road much! or using the 4 wheel drive mode much! Let say I do 70 percent of long road drive and 30 % of 4 wheeling.

When I push my baby to 3 inch in the front do I need to Diff Drop?
Will I need a new UCA for 3 inch lift?

Thank you
Click to expand...

This is about the lift I got with the Tundra coils. I put a dif drop on it, as the angle of the CV just looked to drastic. I also will eventually get some UCA's as I lost a lot of wheel caster with the lift. It drives OK for now, however.
 
You won't *need* either. There are opinions on whether or not a diff drop is necessary, but I would say most do utilize one. Adding Aftermarket UCAs will definitely make it more drivable, as it will give you back caster that was lost from lifting. Makes it more stable on the freeway for sure.
 
The reason you haven't found a solid answer is because there isn't one. Each owner of a lifted truck will give a different response, just like the requirement of a pan-hard bar drop.

In my opinion at 3in lift you do need one. Being off-road or using 4wd doesn't matter with this truck as the CV's always spin and on road driving at speed is what a CV at a severe angle doesn't like.
 
you do not need a diff drop for a 3" lift, ran my FJ with a 3" extended travel icon lift with total chaos UCAs and my CVs lasted me till 152k miles, then I had to replace both
 
I run a diff drop with a 3" Toytec lift. I run one because I couldn't get a clear answer. :shrug:
 
The practical purpose in using a diff drop is to save your cv boots from tearing. Within a year of lifting my front end (2 inches) the boots had torn. I then tore the second set in about 8 months. And then the third set lasted about 13 months. This is without running a diff drop. So right now Im doing a ton of front end work, including cv's, and am adding the diff drop.

So to sum it up, without a diff drop Ive torn 3 sets of cvs in less than 3 years, with only a 2" lift, and I do next to nothing for off-roading. Almost all highway driving. For this reason I would recommend running a diff drop with any lift above 1.5". CVs are expensive, and napa refuses to let me use the warranty on the cvs any more as they know my truck is lifted (modified by definition which voids the warranty)
 
1985taylor1925 said:
The practical purpose in using a diff drop is to save your cv boots from tearing. Within a year of lifting my front end (2 inches) the boots had torn. I then tore the second set in about 8 months. And then the third set lasted about 13 months. This is without running a diff drop. So right now Im doing a ton of front end work, including cv's, and am adding the diff drop.

So to sum it up, without a diff drop Ive torn 3 sets of cvs in less than 3 years, with only a 2" lift, and I do next to nothing for off-roading. Almost all highway driving. For this reason I would recommend running a diff drop with any lift above 1.5". CVs are expensive, and napa refuses to let me use the warranty on the cvs any more as they know my truck is lifted (modified by definition which voids the warranty)
Click to expand...

Couple of questions, not to hijack the thread TOO much. But is it the outter boots that are tearing? Or both? The outters get a lot more stress as the turning of the wheel is added into the equation.

And have you seen or tried the CV axels with the extended outer boots? Those look pretty nice.

I have a 3in front lift. The cv angle doesn't look bad at all to me though. I plan on not dropping the diff till I run into issues and then need to :D
 
hmm.. I suspect the 3rd gen runners have a more extreme cv angle when lifted 3" compared to 4th and 5th gens and FJ cruisers, that might be the difference
 
fact, Regardless of Opinion:

After lifting 2" or More, Dropping your front differential reduces wear on the CV joints and boots...

:peep:

OP, take it how you will. You may get tens of thousands of miles with no cv issues; but, doing the diff drop will lengthen that period

:deadhorse:
 
2+ years with a 3" lift, no diff drop, no aftermarket UCAs, and stock CVs. Alignment is within spec and drives straight as an arrow down the highway, and no uneven tire wear.
 
2014 Warthog said:
Couple of questions, not to hijack the thread TOO much. But is it the outter boots that are tearing? Or both? The outters get a lot more stress as the turning of the wheel is added into the equation.

And have you seen or tried the CV axels with the extended outer boots? Those look pretty nice.

I have a 3in front lift. The cv angle doesn't look bad at all to me though. I plan on not dropping the diff till I run into issues and then need to :D
Click to expand...

Ive had both boots rip. In fact, I just pulled off my torn cv's today. On driver side the inner boot is torn, and on passenger side the outter boot is torn. So both. I don't have any experience with the extended boots but would definitely be interested in finding our more about them. Do you have any links?

470SNC said:
hmm.. I suspect the 3rd gen runners have a more extreme cv angle when lifted 3" compared to 4th and 5th gens and FJ cruisers, that might be the difference
Click to expand...


Yeah, I think you are correct. And I am not positive on this as I've never been under a 4th or 5th gen to look, but I'm guessing the control arms and cv's are longer. In which case a 3" (or any amount of) lift on a 4th or 5th gen would not affect the cv and control arm angles as harshly as a 3" lift on a 3rd gen does.
 
Millerad1651 said:
2+ years with a 3" lift, no diff drop, no aftermarket UCAs, and stock CVs. Alignment is within spec and drives straight as an arrow down the highway, and no uneven tire wear.
Click to expand...

That's impressive, I mean about the cv's. I certainly haven't had the same experience. My truck is also within positive camber, and drives straight on the highway. But it eats cv boots quickly. My oem cv's were all original with 180k+ miles when they tore after I installed a 2" lift. And I suspect the boots are just cheap on the two sets of reman cv's I've gotten from NAPA.
 
I tore both boots with no lift, I tore both boot with the diff drop, so it can happen either way. In MY OPINION, take it for what it's worth, if you think you might need one, for $30 just do it. They are super easy to install. If you are at all mechanically capable it will take you an hour. like you have already seen there are going to be hundreds of different opinions, if the thought is in your mind then just spend the $30 bux. Will it help? YES. Will it hurt? NO. Is it necessary? YES, NO, Maybe, you will get 100 different answers.

DIfferential Drop Kit for Toyota '95-04 Tacoma, '96-02 4Runner, '99-06 Tundra
 
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