'90 Truck Rear Axle Question (1 Viewer)

[Old Blue]

Hey Guys
I ran into a little situation with my ’90 Toyota V6 pickup 4WD. I sprung a leak in the rear axle housing due to rust in the diff area. I think I’ve fixed it temporarily with a weld job, but the housing itself is a little shaky. I retrieved an axle housing from the local pick-and-pull from a 1994(?) 4cyl 4WD truck, thinking that the housing is the same. After looking everything over I’ve realized that the spring perches on this housing are wider than what is on my truck, and my new Ubolts do not fit. Luckily nothing is torn apart yet on my truck.

So what exactly are the differences between my stock ’90 V6 rear axle housing, and this one from the ’94 4cyl? Can I even use it? If I can’t, what axle housing do I need? I am thinking the ’89-95 V6 rear housing, and not from the 4cyl, though I’m not sure why Toyota would put wider springs on the 4cyl. I am also not sure whether or not Toyota made any mid-model changes on their trucks, like wider springs. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Old BLue

 

[Cube Dweller]

Blue,

never heard that about difference perch widths. On the 4runners they seem to have used difference ABS systems- on my 91 the abs pickup is on the 3rd, on the '95 housing in my truck the sensors are pressed onto the axle and the pickups are on the housing. Something to check...

You can also order new perches from Marlin (www.marlincrawler.com), cut the old ones off, weld the new ones on. Just check the angle of the companion flange with weight on the truck before you cut the old ones off. Do the same when you install the new ones.

Good luck.

 

[Red_Chili]

I think Toyota used funky rubber isolators on the newer axle, that may be what you are seeing. Cut off the perches as recommended and replace.

Oh, and you now will have a 2-pinion (spider) third in place of your 4-pinion third. And smaller bearings. Nothing to run away from, but not as strong. You could remedy that pretty much completely with the addition of an ARB.

At least, that argument should be used with one's SO....

 

[WES1977]

wow i'd love to see pictures

 

[Old Blue]

Well I think I've figured it out. The guys at All Pro confirmed my suspicions. Apparently Toyota did use a rear axle on the 4cyl model that had spring perches that were 1/2" wider than the V6 models. No idea why, but they are indeed wider and takes a different U bolt. So my options are (as previously mentioned), replace the perches or buy a new set of U-bolts. Axle widths are the same so I can simply replace all the innards with my stuff, as well as my V6 diff. Lesson learned, take measurements before heading to the junkyard.