Rear Axle Swap

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psea17

Member
I have a '98 w an open rear diff. it's a 5spd manual so it has 4.10 gears. I just purchased a '99 rear axle that has an elocker. I plan to install the entire rear axle rather than transfer the locker to my existing axle and do all the grinding, tapping, cutting that would otherwise be required. A few questions arise:

1. since i just did my rear axle bearings and drum brakes, could I just move the entire axle shaft, hub and the attached bearings and brakes to the '99 axle (and just replace the bearing seals)? Or are the axle shaft teeth entirely different because i'm going from 4.10 to 4.30?

2. i'm guessing now would be the time to have the differential serviced. i'm in Phoenix. any idea what that would cost or who to use for that? what should I ask them to do? do i bring them the entire axle or should i remove the differential and just bring that?

3. when i purchased the rear axle, it came w/ the 4.3 front diff as well. while i'm switching out the front differential, what should I service while i'm in that area under the engine? i clearly need to get new differential mounts. i already replaced the cv's on both side so i'm good there.

3.5. if i wanted to go w/ a front locker THAT ISN'T AIR ACTUATED (ie, not ARB), what would you recommend?

4. i'm thinking about painting the '99 rear axle housing before putting it in. what would you recommend? should i have it sand blasted or should i just clean it up and paint over what's already there? i don't see any rust.

5. do i need to have all the wiring in place before i install the elocker axle in order to use the truck in its open diff state? i need to minimize down-time because it's my only vehicle.

APPRECIATE the help!

Thanks,
psea
 
Last edited:
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1. Yes you can use your old axle shafts, I did that in my swap since I have disk brakes

2. Nothing to service in the diff, unless it has a bad bearing, if it does have East coast gear supply build you one. These diffs are pretty tough though so you’re probably ok

3. Oil pan is easy to get to with the front diff out so you could reseal that, get a set of upgraded front bushings that go in the mounting arms, I think durobumps is the brand

4. You’re in Phoenix so just clean it up and maybe put a coat of paint on it if you want to pretty it up, not like you have to deal with rust scale or anything

5. You can drive around without the locker wired up, mine still isn’t wired up I’ll get there eventually
 
1) You can use your 98 axle shafts in the 99 axle housing without any issue. Just make sure you check that the inner axle seal rides on the inner retainer on the shaft. You might want to replace the inner axle seals since they are $10-15 each.

2) An axle service (front or rear) is draining the fluid, cleaning the drain plug magnet (if equipped) and refilling with the correct amount and weight of gear oil. That’s it.

3) To reseal the oil pan you have to remove the front diff. Other than that it really isn’t in the way of much. Since you have to pull the axle shafts to remove the front diff it would be a good time to replace or reboot if they need it.

3.5) The only other selectable locker option for the front is a Harris elocker, but in order to add any traction device to the front diff it will need to be disassembled completely. If you are going to do that I would recommend sending it to a pro to get done. You can send your old front diff in to get built and geared if you decide to go that route.

4) If your rear axle isn’t rusty then any black spray paint for outdoor use will be fine.

5) Wiring only required if you want to use the rear diff lock otherwise it will function as an open diff until you get your wiring complete.
 
Zuk is in your area and is the best for servicing 3rd members.

Chilkat Designs makes a manual cable actuator for the rear locker.

You can make your own electric actuator circuit. Search YouTube. Or you can hook it up to the Toyota ECU which is probably more work.
 
Mark_BC said:
Zuk is in your area and is the best for servicing 3rd members.

Chilkat Designs makes a manual cable actuator for the rear locker.

You can make your own electric actuator circuit. Search YouTube. Or you can hook it up to the Toyota ECU which is probably more work.
Click to expand...

You can also get the Harness from Low-Range Offroad if you don't have an ECU and don't want to build your own wiring setup.
 
Consider doing the work yourself and save a ton of money. For the front diff replacement, we learned an easier way to get it out and back in. Read the comment we pinned (1st comment you see). Also read the video descriptions of both videos and the comment we pinned for the e-locker swap video for helpful information.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qAznG_WoS44" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w_gPiDvh9v4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
This truck is a daily driver for me.....Regarding a front locking differential, there appears to be 2 decent options:

Detroit True Trac LSD. as best I can tell the only significant downside is that i can't be assured it will remain disengaged, a problem for snow driving. (applying the brake to engage isn't a big issue for me. i'm used to juggling the pedals w/ a 5spd MT.)
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/dtl-911a342

Eaton Elocker4. 2x the cost but, YOLO! seems to be some complaints concerning how they engage/disengage. but that doesn't overly concern me. i'm not really a rock crawler, but i do get pretty far off grid where getting stuck is a royal PITA.
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a few questions arise:

1. i notice none of the front lockers refer to gearing. do i just stipulate the gearing i need or am i expected to bring it somewhere for regearing?

2. in the case of the DTT, it says it doesn't include the carrier bearing. diffs are completely new to me. what does this mean? do i have to buy a carrier bearing? or does my 4.3 front diff typically already have that?

3. are both of these lockers designed to fit in my existing differential housing and compatible w/ OEM CV joints?

4. any other front diffs I should consider that might be better than these?

thank you for all the help!
 
psea17 said:
This truck is a daily driver for me.....Regarding a front locking differential, there appears to be 2 decent options:

Detroit True Trac LSD. as best I can tell the only significant downside is that i can't be assured it will remain disengaged, a problem for snow driving. (applying the brake to engage isn't a big issue for me. i'm used to juggling the pedals w/ a 5spd MT.)
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/dtl-911a342

Eaton Elocker4. 2x the cost but, YOLO! seems to be some complaints concerning how they engage/disengage. but that doesn't overly concern me. i'm not really a rock crawler, but i do get pretty far off grid where getting stuck is a royal PITA.
Attention Required! | Cloudflare

a few questions arise:

1. i notice none of the front lockers refer to gearing. do i just stipulate the gearing i need or am i expected to bring it somewhere for regearing?

2. in the case of the DTT, it says it doesn't include the carrier bearing. diffs are completely new to me. what does this mean? do i have to buy a carrier bearing? or does my 4.3 front diff typically already have that?

3. are both of these lockers designed to fit in my existing differential housing and compatible w/ OEM CV joints?

4. any other front diffs I should consider that might be better than these?

thank you for all the help!
Click to expand...
You’re going to need someone to rebuild the front differential to put whatever traction device you want. This is not something that most people can handle on their own.

When you get the front diff rebuilt and traction device added you’ll need a new ring and pinion so that is when you will pick your gear ratio. Obviously you’ll need to go 4.30 ratio to match the rear.

Something you might want to consider is the true trac is mechanical and essentially always on. There’s a lot less to fail with it compared to a selectable locker.

I recommend either zuk or east coast gear supply for your front diff rebuild. They will buy everything needed to put in whatever locker you want. All lockers available for the front end use stock front axle shafts.
 
Bad Luck said:
You’re going to need someone to rebuild the front differential to put whatever traction device you want. This is not something that most people can handle on their own.

When you get the front diff rebuilt and traction device added you’ll need a new ring and pinion so that is when you will pick your gear ratio. Obviously you’ll need to go 4.30 ratio to match the rear.

Something you might want to consider is the true trac is mechanical and essentially always on. There’s a lot less to fail with it compared to a selectable locker.

I recommend either zuk or east coast gear supply for your front diff rebuild. They will buy everything needed to put in whatever locker you want. All lockers available for the front end use stock front axle shafts.
Click to expand...

i believe zuk is in my area so I'll give him a call.

MUCH appreciated
 
So it looks like i kind of got screwed by the guy who sold me the '99 front differential. It's missing the entire ADD system, differential tube assembly, the passenger side front mount arm and the vacuum tubes/breather tubes.

Anyone know if i can strip the missing parts off the differential that's in my '98 (4.10) and transfer them to the '99 diff (4.30)?
 
psea17 said:
So it looks like i kind of got screwed by the guy who sold me the '99 front differential. It's missing the entire ADD system, differential tube assembly, the passenger side front mount arm and the vacuum tubes/breather tubes.

Anyone know if i can strip the missing parts off the differential that's in my '98 (4.10) and transfer them to the '99 diff (4.30)?
Click to expand...
The parts will interchange
 
What you have on the 98 transfers to 99 diff. My 01 has servo motor ADD actuators it was a swap to pre 01 diff housing.
Having front diff out perfect time to service oil cooler, new hoses O-rings disassemble clean internals.
 
psea17 said:
So it looks like i kind of got screwed by the guy who sold me the '99 front differential. It's missing the entire ADD system, differential tube assembly, the passenger side front mount arm and the vacuum tubes/breather tubes.



Anyone know if i can strip the missing parts off the differential that's in my '98 (4.10) and transfer them to the '99 diff (4.30)?
Click to expand...
It's a.good time overhaul the front differential, seals, ECGS bearing swap, etc

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
 
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