4x4 Camper - Rear Axle Swap, FROR or D60?

[JD403]

Hey Forum

I've come in to possession of a rad RV built on a 4x4 hilux (like a sunrader 4x4). The rear axle is a G282 (4.30 2-pinion). It has spacers and duallie 15" wheels, which I don't like for a number of reasons, and I want to swap a stronger axle in and run E-rated tires. It would have to be wider than stock (by my math about 70-72" between wheel mount surfaces) so custom housing regardless of what I do. GAWR is 3200# so I'd like to go to full-floating to give me some extra peace of mind.

One option is a Diamond Axle full float housing and the FROR floater kit. Advantage: uses Toyota OEM parts

Another is a custom D60 from Moser or similar. Advantage: quicker turnaround, cheaper.

In either case, I plan on putting a truetrac in, so the ability to reuse my 8" in the Diamond axle is moot. The D60 would mean doing some work to the driveshaft, and maybe some more monkeying around with brake proportioning.

I'm wondering what y'all would suggest. Thanks!

 

[yotadude520]

Unfortunately none of us can help you until we see some pics, not my rules but ya know, rules of the forum..

On a Toyota I'm a fan of any option that'll keep it as Toyota as possible. Diamond axle housing IMO would be the way I'd go..

 

[gnob]

Weight wise (GVRW) id go Toyota.
Wait wise id go D60 or 14B.

As far as WMS, you may want to double check. T100/early tundra is 66" wms

 

[JD403]

Haha, I’m away from the truck but I’ll get pics up eventually.

I’m about 79” from outside rim surface to outside rim surface (very coarse single person tape measure measurement), so I’d have to space out a Tundra/T100 axle, and I don’t think they have the load rating I need.

I guess on top of the weight (~150lb difference?) there’s the clearance. I’d probably gain ~1.5” with the Diamond. Does anyone know the dimension from axle center to to the bottom of the pumpkin on a Diamond? (I’m only planning on running 225/75R16 tires.)

 

[gnob]

Are you wanting to stay dual wheel?
I believe the Diamond shaves an 1-1.5" over stock

 

[JD403]

I’m trying to lose the dual wheel, so I plan to have a custom wide housing made for the rear and run a single E rated tire on each side. The existing dually setup puts the inside wheel at “stock” width and then has another whole wheel on the outside. My intent is to roughly match the track of those outside wheels so I don’t give up stability, since the body is that wide anyways.

 

[pappy]

Unfortunately none of us can help you until we see some pics, not my rules but ya know, rules of the forum..

Rules are rules buddy.

Do you really need all that beef? Can't you just use a 4-pinion V6 pumpkin and call it a day?

 

[gnob]

I think youd be gtg with the v6 or 8.4.
Going to be wildly wide. Cant wait for pics.

My diamond delivery time was 17 weeks. Nearly 5 months to get my entire order.

 

[JD403]

Haha, okay, okay. Dug through the photos on my phone, found one. Here’s the current setup. (@pappy to help my own ignorance, where are the rules written down?)

Do I need the “beef” of a D60 or equivalent? No, but the problem is the weight on the rear axle and my need for a wide wide track - I won’t be putting much torque through the diff, but I will be much heavier than stock, and will be bouncing all that weight around on dirt and rocks. And toyota campers have a history of nasty axle issues.

 

[pappy]

View attachment 2051302

(@pappy to help my own ignorance, where are the rules written down?)

You forgot the.

Jerod and I rule this forum with an iron fist. The rules are made up on the fly, like whims. This rule is wisdom i pass down to newbies as the need arises.

 

[JD403]

/

(Is there a rule against responding with only smileys?)

 

[pappy]

/

(Is there a rule against responding with only smileys?)

You can respond with smileys any time I haven't had too much to drink, and can understand what you are trying to communicate. Brief discussions are certainly better than long rants, which I'm usually guilty of. Just using smileys is the ultimate in brief communication.

Now, let's talk about important stuff. Like, two spaces after a period or just one.

Back to serious stuff. Have you weighted the truck, especially the rear end? I've never heard of Toyota truck axles having any problems. I suspect the V6 diff might be more than adequate for your use, and certainly lots cheaper.

 

[gnob]

The Diamond housing is flush with the diff flange. My housings are basically flat across the bottom due to pinion angle.
With a flatter pinion angle, the housing rises away.

 

[JD403]

I have a coworker who's a big fan of the Ford 9", so I was looking at 9" floaters overnight. But then I realized - either the D60 or the Ford 9" would have SAE hardware... small detail but there's a big plus in favor of the FROR setup. No mix n' match on this truck!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

AAM10.5 (late model disk brake 14 bolt) uses metric hardware if that's what gets you hard.

Don't mess around with Toy stuff. Go with a domestic axle that will have no issue with the weight. If you're worried about ground clearance, put a 13 bolt cover on that 14b axle and you'll have similar clearance to a toy 9.5" diff,. with dramatically more strength in every aspect.

 

[JD403]

I mean, they do call it hard-ware

That almost does it, except that then I’d have 8 lug rear and 6 lug front, and the 6 lug ff kits I found are for the older corporate not the AAM. Also, there’s no 4.30 gears for 14-bolts.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Any machine shop can turn down an AAM10.5 hub and make it 6 lug for you, but you're right the gear ratio won't work if the front is actually a 4.30.

Later model Dana axles may also use metric hardware.

The diamond housing, while pimp, does not give you a stronger axle. It gives you a more rigid axle housing, but the limit you'll run into on that rig is not housing strength, but in wheel bearing size/durability IMHO.

Toy axles are good, but it's silly to throw money away on a diamond housing just because you prefer metric thread pitches.

 

[gnob]

Toyota axle bearings are bigger/stronger than almost any domestic SF.
Not even in the same class as domestic half ton garbage.
A diamond is plenty for a mini motorhome.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

We're not talking about SF axles, or half ton axles for that matter. @JD403 mentioned a Dana 60 (one ton full floating axle) and I mentioned a 14 bolt/AAM10.5 (one ton full floating axle). Tell me that toyota FF bearings/spindles are larger than those.

If @JD403 wants to upgrade the axle, then he's not going to see any value in going to a diamond housing, other than looking cool. The value is going to be in upgrading to something with larger bearings and spindles. If he wants an upgrade without moving to a heavier duty axle, then put money in wheels with proper offset, good brakes, and new wheel bearings, in the current axle housing.

This isn't a rock crawler, or a pre-runner. It's a RV.

 

[gnob]

You are correct. But you aren't really gaining much size comparing FF to FF either.
OP wants a super wide housing, which is going to be custom either way.