S.S. Diff Drop Experience *photos

[CSL]

This is a follow-up to this thread where I posted various choices of differential drops.

I went with the Sonoran Steel 1" tapered diff drop. This one appealed to me because cutting a taper where it is tapered makes sense, and because of the claim that the skid plate does not get lowered.

I installed it today and here are my thoughts.

Here is the spacer above the front brackets of the diff. The tapered cut seated nicely against both sides.

HINT: Be very careful with the nut when you are putting on the threads. There is a big hole that the nut can fall into...mine did. See the nut to the left of the picture (after retreival) and the big hole in the middle of the picture.

Here is how I got the nut out.

Here is the million dollar picture. I overlaid a 50% transparent "after" photo on top of a photo of the "before". I set the camera up and left it still so the shot would work. This picture show how much the CV axle drops, and the change in shape of the boots.
To understand the photo: the dark in the middle is where both axles overlay, the "before axle" is the lightened line at the top and the bottom of the dark part in the middle. The "after axle" is the bottom lightened line and the top of the dark part in the middle.

As far as the skid fitting back in the stock position...its a pain in the ass, and you have to grind and hammer the shit out of your stock skid plate.
Here is the grinding I started doing.

Here is one side thought to be done:

After getting the skid plate back on, the center brackets were about 3/8" short of contact. The skid was lower, and not making contact with the frame. The idea of the skid staying in the stock position puts the metal of the skid in contact with the diff. arms. I will have to take mine off and try grinding the arms a teensy bit and grinding the skid more.

IMO These should be 3/4" spacers and put a couple of washers below the brackets in the center of the skid plate.

In the end (which I have yet to reach) I think it will be worth it. The axles DID lower and I will get the skid just about back to original.

My only worry now is will Bud Built skids fit.

 

[smallfry]

My only worry now is will Bud Built skids fit.

The Bud Built skid plates will be fine. :thumb3: I have the 7.2 lift with the diff drop and the bud built front skid and it fits with no problems.

 

[sn0wrunner]

Glad it worked out for you!

The pictures overlaid is pretty cool. Good thinking!

 

[TC4Rnr]

bud skid will fit 100%.

on the modification of the stock skid, I used a sanding disk instead of a cut-off disk, it was done in minutes. it doesn't need to be look nice any way.

 

[CSL]

I am happy that the Bud Built will fit, but I am suprised for as stout and solid as they are that they didn't try to get it as close as possible to the diff bolts.

...I guess maybe they are smarter than me, and new that people buying their skids, may have also done this mod! Works for me!

I am suprised I didn't get more love for my before and after overlaid pic...I thought I was pretty slick myself. :

Thanks sn0wrunner!

 

[DavidAlexander]

Nice job with the pics!

The budbuilt attatches in the rear to a bracket that bolts to the back of your steering rack so its very solid once mounted. It was also designed with the diff drop in mind so there are no problems!

Pick one up, I give them my full approval, top quality and a top notch business to deal with.

 

[TC4Rnr]

do you mean the gap between the plate and the bottom of the screw hole where you bolt the skid?

 

[Ron Helmuth]

I like the overlay picture to help me visualize how the drop lowers the components-but I don't understand it fully.

What has happened to the outside boot in the bottom picture? are they overlapping perfectly at that outer end and only the inner boot has dropped significantly to see the variance?

Most helpful you taking the time to help us "see" the results.

 

[drinknmolson]

I am happy that the Bud Built will fit, but I am suprised for as stout and solid as they are that they didn't try to get it as close as possible to the diff bolts.

...I guess maybe they are smarter than me, and new that people buying their skids, may have also done this mod! Works for me!

I am suprised I didn't get more love for my before and after overlaid pic...I thought I was pretty slick myself. :

Thanks sn0wrunner!

Nice pics, I am a visual person, this totally convinced me the diff drop is worth the $. Thanks for the extra effort and the overlay was pure genious!!

 

[CSL]

bud skid will fit 100%.

on the modification of the stock skid, I used a sanding disk instead of a cut-off disk, it was done in minutes. it doesn't need to be look nice any way.

Yeah, my grinding is not pretty. I was lazy and cheap, so rather than going and buying the right disk, I just mashed through it with a grinding disk...sparks were a flying!!

Nice job with the pics!

The budbuilt attatches in the rear to a bracket that bolts to the back of your steering rack so its very solid once mounted. It was also designed with the diff drop in mind so there are no problems!

Pick one up, I give them my full approval, top quality and a top notch business to deal with.

Its definetly on my wish list, and thanks.

do you mean the gap between the plate and the bottom of the screw hole where you bolt the skid?

Yes, I have to grind a little bit more, and a bit off the bottom of the rubber washer thing at the bottom of the diff bolts to get the skid to make contact with the frame at the location of the skid plate mounting holes.

I like the overlay picture to help me visualize how the drop lowers the components-but I don't understand it fully. What has happened to the outside boot in the bottom picture? are they overlapping perfectly at that outer end and only the inner boot has dropped significantly to see the variance?

Most helpful you taking the time to help us "see" the results.

The outside boot (at left in the pic) didn't move because it is attached to the wheel, it did change shape at the top of it from the change of angle. The overlap of the photos is pretty darn close...I played with it for a while to get these results.

Nice pics, I am a visual person, this totally convinced me the diff drop is worth the $. Thanks for the extra effort and the overlay was pure genious!!

Thanks. Yeah, I wanted to do the photo thing so I could see for myself what I actually accomplished for $50 and an afternoon. Its so subtle that you probably wouldn't otherwise see the effect, but I think when it comes to CV angles the subtle can still be significant.

 

[TC4Rnr]

Yes, I have to grind a little bit more, and a bit off the bottom of the rubber washer thing at the bottom of the diff bolts to get the skid to make contact with the frame at the location of the skid plate mounting holes.

there's a reason for that. a Bud skid has 7 mounting bolts. the two at the bottom(under diff) are the most vulnerable. when a hard impact happened, you want some thing to give, but not the frame, not the skid, the two bolts are the cheapest and easiest to replace and you want them to fail, not transfer all the impact to the frame.

 

[CSL]

there's a reason for that. a Bud skid has 7 mounting bolts. the two at the bottom(under diff) are the most vulnerable. when a hard impact happened, you want some thing to give, but not the frame, not the skid, the two bolts are the cheapest and easiest to replace and you want them to fail, not transfer all the impact to the frame.

What you say makes sense, but I don't have the Buds yet. I am talking about the grinding it takes on the stock skid to get it to fit back exactly where it was at stock position. I guess I am assuming that the stock skid, before the diff drop, was previously in contact with the frame at this location...maybe it wasn't. I will have to check out my buddy's runner to see.

 

[CSL]

Here are the two separate pics that I overlaid. Maybe this will help the overlaid photo make sense. You can notice how the gap of light between the bottom of the CV and the top of the steering rack closes in the after picture.

Before.

After.

 

[Rock Hardson]

This is a follow-up to this thread where I posted various choices of differential drops.

I went with the Sonoran Steel 1" tapered diff drop. This one appealed to me because cutting a taper where it is tapered makes sense, and because of the claim that the skid plate does not get lowered.

I installed it today and here are my thoughts.

Here is the spacer above the front brackets of the diff. The tapered cut seated nicely against both sides.

HINT: Be very careful with the nut when you are putting on the threads. There is a big hole that the nut can fall into...mine did. See the nut to the left of the picture (after retreival) and the big hole in the middle of the picture.

Here is how I got the nut out.

Here is the million dollar picture. I overlaid a 50% transparent "after" photo on top of a photo of the "before". I set the camera up and left it still so the shot would work. This picture show how much the CV axle drops, and the change in shape of the boots.
To understand the photo: the dark in the middle is where both axles overlay, the "before axle" is the lightened line at the top and the bottom of the dark part in the middle. The "after axle" is the bottom lightened line and the top of the dark part in the middle.

As far as the skid fitting back in the stock position...its a pain in the ass, and you have to grind and hammer the shit out of your stock skid plate.
Here is the grinding I started doing.

Here is one side thought to be done:

After getting the skid plate back on, the center brackets were about 3/8" short of contact. The skid was lower, and not making contact with the frame. The idea of the skid staying in the stock position puts the metal of the skid in contact with the diff. arms. I will have to take mine off and try grinding the arms a teensy bit and grinding the skid more.

IMO These should be 3/4" spacers and put a couple of washers below the brackets in the center of the skid plate.

In the end (which I have yet to reach) I think it will be worth it. The axles DID lower and I will get the skid just about back to original.

My only worry now is will Bud Built skids fit.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news........
But your diff drop is upside down.
The circular indentations are supposed to be closer to the ground, not the engine.

 

[CSL]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news........
But your diff drop is upside down.
The circular indentations are supposed to be closer to the ground, not the engine.

I disagree.

Here is a quote from the instructions:

"The spacers are marked with a dot for the top and front, this ensures that you will install them correctly and orient the taper in the correct direction."

From their website:

Toyota 4Runner - Tacoma Tapered 1"Front Differential Drop Spacers

 

[Rock Hardson]

I disagree.

Here is a quote from the instructions:

"The spacers are marked with a dot for the top and front, this ensures that you will install them correctly and orient the taper in the correct direction."

From their website:

Toyota 4Runner - Tacoma Tapered 1"Front Differential Drop Spacers

PM sent

 

[theizzardking]

dude why wouldn't you just post this here instead of pm'ing, i'm thinking of ordering this diff drop instead of the one i already own and i think the installation conversation you guys are having is valuable for the rest of us.

 

[Elton H]

yea i got a ss diff drop along with a adjustable panhard bar

 

[manhunter]

Is the SS diff dop any better than the one that 4crawler offers, or does anybody know? The 4crawler one comes with longer bolts for the two rear holes on re-installing the skid plate. All you do is elongate the existing holes to the rear to accommodate for the rear of the plate being lower.

 

[trd_4runnin]

Is the SS diff dop any better than the one that 4crawler offers, or does anybody know? The 4crawler one comes with longer bolts for the two rear holes on re-installing the skid plate. All you do is elongate the existing holes to the rear to accommodate for the rear of the plate being lower.

The TOYTEC one was the same way. I don't really see how one diff drop can really be any better than another. I've never had any problems with mine. Had it on for about 1.5 years now and through a couple of wheeling trips + every day driving and have never had a single CV problem.