V6 Differential vs. 4cyl

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Joined
Jun 11, 2004
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high desert, ca
I kind of messed up my rear end in my 1981 pickup and was going to just buy a new third member set up already. Is it worth the extra couple of bucks to buy the V6 version? The broken rear is stock with an aussie locker, I am going to replace it with an ARB.
 
From an objective, engineering standpoint, the V6 third is beefier, and better, however, if it's "better" for you is a different story. what kind of work do you put your rig through? what's your engine? how would you rate your lead-footedness? these questions will go a very long way to helping you reach a conclusion.
best of luck.
 
I swapped in V6 diffs on my 85. But, I didn't pay any more for them than a 4 cyl diff would have been.
 
Dang, I was gonna start out by saying if you get a 4cyl rear, you can put your Aussie back in it...


But then I started to wonder what you broke... The rear or the Aussie.

Then my mind started to wonder what size tires you would have to have to break even one of those.


Yes, a V6 rear is stronger... But it's not a like a 4cyl is weak. And if you get the V6/Turbo you'll have to get an Aussie for it.
 
When the rear got messed up, there were only little 33s on it. I guess with under 80k miles on the original 22r it just had too much power. The rear end is still ok, but the aussie took a poop. I plan on building this truck up a bit. I do have to drive past the hammers to work sometimes. It is going to be a wheeler that can drive to the trailhead, albeit slow.

I was going to put 5.29s in and figured I just get the whole thing set up and then have an extra third if necessary. I really like the ARB in one of my cruisers and plan on putting them on front and rear. My first mod on this round of modifications is to get new r&P, ARBs, and to strengthen the front axles. I can't afford everything at once, so I'm hitting it with a few thousand at a time.
 
to v6 or not to v6, diff

Im 1min. old in this site.
quiestion, I have an 85 t4r 4cil. I bought the rear diff of a 95 t4r 6cil. shall I do a whole rear diff replacement or just the 3rd member (pumpkin), of course I'll check on the gearing, and will mount a spool on which ever diff?
on the front diff, what are the options?
thanks to all.
 
to v6 or not to v6, diff

thank you.
I have the whole axle of a 95 t4r 6cil. should I just replace the 3rd member=diff=pumpkin :) or the whole and complete axle knowing that will be a lil bit longer than the 4cil, what is the best upgrade? and what are the required set ups for this?
 
you would have to weld leaf mounts onto the 95 rearend and Im pretty sure the ebrake is different.
 
the best thing to do is drop the third out of the 95, and put it into your stock housing.
 
the best thing to do is drop the third out of the 95, and put it into your stock housing.
Yep, as the other option of swapping whole axles requires welding. While you are at it, you may want to put in new seals and bearings. Bearings are likely still good if they were never abused or ran with mud or water in em.
 
first what the heck are you planning to do with it... If you are beating the heck out of it on the weekends and running 37" and up (just for example) then get some help and cut the bracketry off, purchase perches, set the pinion angle and weld the perches on. Then buy front spacers to match up widths. If I recall correctly the 95 rearend has a stronger housing, larger brakes, and of course wider. Now if your simply fixing your broken truck throw the third in it assuming the gear ratio is the same.

Thats my 2 cents
 
Finally I got my rear 6 cil whole axle and front pumpkin off a 90's, t4r, 6cil, 4x4.
I'm going to replace the whole rear end which is wider and has bigger drum brakes, purchase spring perches, shock mount, u bolt kit and a spool. (that should be enough, right?)
for the front axle I got the front pumpkin off the same donor, will this be a direct bolt on?

my ride...
86 t4r, 22re with double timing roller from lc engineering, 6 cil master cil, 3" body lift from rockcrawler, 4" susp lift (front springs are the extra long), 33" mickey thompsons.
 
The early 90's rear axle is the same as what you have now, except that it is setup for a coil rear suspension. Easiest is to just swap the diff instead of grinding all the brackets off the new axle, unless your current housing is shot. If the axle is out of a late 90's 4 Runner then it will be wider. I have the same width axle in my 4 Runner that came out of a Tacoma. it fits quite nicely. The front diff will bolt right in.

I just swapped a V6 diff into my 89 with a 4 cyl and it bolted right in with the exception that I had to drill the flange to match my driveshaft, but that only took about 20 minutes. Would have taken less time if I had noticed it before I installed the diff :)
 
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Wow, an old post from the past. I ended up getting a V6 third member and had to do a very tiny amount of grinding on the axle housing to get it to go in and out of the pumpkin. Good thing it came out ok, because I got about 30 miles out of it before metal shavings clogged the arb. (the highly reputable toyota supplier that built the 3rd member put a locking tab on so long it rubbed the carrier bearing below the o-rings. Damn turtles.)
 
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