I want to get a stronger rear diff with an elocker with as little effort as possible. From what I understand, the 2010+ 4Runner fits that bill. Larger housing, stronger gears, elocker, and 3.73 ratio
Gears vs. Nomad Valve Body with TC lockup.....?
- Thread starter tlin
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Supposedly the OEM elocker is actually kind of weak. I'm going with a Harrop for that reason.
If you are heavy/power short, a regear should be a great solution. I immediately noticed the added sluggishness when i put 33s on my rig. I'm going to regear with ECGS assembled 3rd members in the spring and I'll report back on how it performs.
Eaton e-lockers front and rear here. Stock housings/gears. 33s.
The 8” is plenty strong. If you’re building a rock crawler this is a bad platform all around.
The 8” is plenty strong. If you’re building a rock crawler this is a bad platform all around.
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I don’t do rock
I don’t do rock crawling, but I take my GX on off-roading trails and into some gnarly places. I also frequently carry a lot of weight/gear and tow trailers occasionally. I would estimate that it likely has 1000+ pounds of weight added over stock with the bumpers, sliders, winch, sleeping compartment, etc. I have been reading the GXOR accounts and watching videos of people breaking the rear diff during off road excursions. I would prefer to preemptively avoid that.
I wasn’t planning on putting 35’s on the GX, but my 33’s were getting worn and I was gifted a set of barely used 35” KO2’s that were “taking up space”. So now I’m on 35’s, I take it off-road, it’s heavier than stock, and I’m going to add ~100hp/100tq when I install the TRD supercharger that has been sitting in storage.
Given that a small, but not inconsequential, number of people have grenaded their stock rear diff on trails, I would like to avoid that possibility.
I definitely baby mine on the stock, 187K 8" in the back. No issues so far....and it does not seem to have much slop in it from my very unscientific hand lash check on the pinion flange....but blowing it up in the middle of nowhere is always in the back of my mind. Given the total cost to regear and add front and rear Harrop elockers, the additional cost for an 8.2 swap is pretty nominal. Maybe $1,500 total more and I'll make some of that back if I can eBay the old 8" carrier and sell the 8" housing for scrap.
I want this.
I think they are on sale now
Who is selling these in the US currently? I thought it was Cruiser Brothers but found nothing on their site.
They don't list them on their site for some reason (seems like they're missing sales opportunities that way). You need to call them and they'll send you a quote and you can pay over the phone via CC. They had them in stock when I ordered mine in 2022.
The lockup switch is also a good mod if you're already spending $$$ on your trans and either using the rig to tow or pulling big grades out West.
I’m thinking valve body and converter lockup.
Haven’t gotten out West yet, but towing happens somewhat regularly.
In for a penny, in for a pound!
You'll love it. 2.5 years in on mine and I still enjoy the way it shifts every time I drive it.
FYI, I'd also suggest replacing the transmission wiring harness if you swap out the valve body. It's only $60 or so from Toyota and will add maybe 1 hour to the job. Mine rig started throwing P2759 codes earlier this year - resistance out of spec in the TCC lockup solenoid. I spent hours troubleshooting it with a multimeter and determined it was due to the 17-year old trans harness, coupled with a imperfect splicing job of the lockup switch into the ECU harness by me. I ended up re-doing the splice with better-quality butt connections and a Deutsch connector between the OEM harness and the 4 wires the lockup switches uses to intercept and override the ECU lockup signal. I also made a jumper out of another Deutsch connector that I can plug in and restore factory function, if the lockup switch module were to fail for some reason.
Ironically Terrain Tamers (209)714-4210 bought Cruiser Bros. IH8MUD.com - https://www.ih8mud.com/
Don’t call the phone number on Cruiser Brothers website. It’s a hybrid repair shop or something.
Don’t call the phone number on Cruiser Brothers website. It’s a hybrid repair shop or something.
Lol, I hadn't bothered reading the full article.
Ironically Terrain Tamer (209)714-4210 bought Cruiser Bros.
Don’t call the phone number on Cruiser Brothers website. It’s a hybrid repair shop or something.
Hopefully we can still get Nomads in the USA! If not I'll keep enjoying mine. Wholesale may be able to ship directly if there is no longer a US distributor. I think they are around $1K USD now when I checked the other day, as the AUD/USD exchange rate is pretty good.
