Hey guys,
One of the brackets that connects one of the 4 suspension arms is completely broken on my rear axle. Here's a pic of the bracket on another 4runner:
I took it to my regular shop that I trust and they say it looks like the bracket has broke before and was rewelded at least once. They called a bunch of their used part dealers and couldn't find anything for me and the local wreckers weren't returning their calls. I drove out to the wreckers and they have a 96, 97 and 99 rear axle still attached to their respective 4runners. The wrecker quoted me $425CAD for the whole axle assembly. The axle housing from the dealership is $1200. My shop was planning on swapping all the guts from my rear end to the wrecker axle housing.
Questions:
1) If they swap my rear end guts, it doesn't matter what gear ratio comes in the axle I buy from the wreckers but will any of those axles from 96-99 work in my 02 4Runner?
2) If I buy one of these axles from the wrecker, should I take the axle somewhere to get cleaned up and painted to prevent further rusting? If so, what exactly would you suggest?
3) Would it be worth my time to have the brackets on the wrecker axle boxed in or reinforced to make them that much less likely to break again after going to all this work and expense? How about adding ball joints to the end of the suspension arms? I read somehwhere that will reduce strain on the bracket over the stock bushings.
4) If any of those axles from 96-99 will work, is there anything specific I should look for when picking out which axle I will buy?
One of the brackets that connects one of the 4 suspension arms is completely broken on my rear axle. Here's a pic of the bracket on another 4runner:
I took it to my regular shop that I trust and they say it looks like the bracket has broke before and was rewelded at least once. They called a bunch of their used part dealers and couldn't find anything for me and the local wreckers weren't returning their calls. I drove out to the wreckers and they have a 96, 97 and 99 rear axle still attached to their respective 4runners. The wrecker quoted me $425CAD for the whole axle assembly. The axle housing from the dealership is $1200. My shop was planning on swapping all the guts from my rear end to the wrecker axle housing.
Questions:
1) If they swap my rear end guts, it doesn't matter what gear ratio comes in the axle I buy from the wreckers but will any of those axles from 96-99 work in my 02 4Runner?
2) If I buy one of these axles from the wrecker, should I take the axle somewhere to get cleaned up and painted to prevent further rusting? If so, what exactly would you suggest?
3) Would it be worth my time to have the brackets on the wrecker axle boxed in or reinforced to make them that much less likely to break again after going to all this work and expense? How about adding ball joints to the end of the suspension arms? I read somehwhere that will reduce strain on the bracket over the stock bushings.
4) If any of those axles from 96-99 will work, is there anything specific I should look for when picking out which axle I will buy?
