Solid front axle swap?

Question

After going around in circles for a couple months getting ideas from lots of people, I'm going to go with a Toyota solid front axle in my FrankenWillys project

formatting link

and use the stock Toyota rear end. Right now I have the 88 IFS w/ disc brakes, stock 4.10 gears and the 3.0 v6 + 5speed. The IFS won't work in the Wagon because of the engine alignment issues around the torsion bars and the oil pan on the engine 'straddling' the IFS front axle. A straight front axle would eliminate all those problems, allowing me to place the engine exactly where I need it. At that point, the only thing I'll have to do about the engine placement is to have the drive shafts altered - much easier than trying to 'stub' the frame! What year and model front axle should I be digging around for in junkyards to get the solid front axle that I can use as much of my current front brake hardware as possible? I've seen what some other folks have done with Land Cruiser axles into pickups, but they obviously only mention the one year truck they got parts from. What year ranges would be a good fit, since I'm looking at all used stuff? Spring pad placement isn't an issue because they'll be fabricated from scratch anyway with mounts fabbed onto the Willys frame.

Cheers, - Jeff G

Roger Brown · Accepted Answer

'85 and older on the pickup/4Runner axles.

Whitewall Junkie · Answer

'85s have more gusseting on the axle housing and have more strength in them. I think '84s are the same with '83 on back not having the gusseting. As an aside, why go with the 3.0? The 3.4 is more pony and better reliability. The intake and exhaust are swapped around, but with all the mods you are going to be doing anyway it won't make that much difference.

Chris whitewall junkie and variation dabbler Mfinja's Hot Wheels with Whitewalls

Tom Huppi · Answer

There are several sites around with information about what axles and gearing might be found in which trucks. I was doing some research on what truck to look for last night and ran across a number of them, and info on how to read the VIN codes. Here's one, and there are links to others from there.

formatting link

BTW, I'm on the lookout for the same thing (an 84-85 truck, but with a bad engine), but have decided that for my purposes, I'de make do with a later IFS unit, so please drop me a note if you happen across one (esp,in the Pacific NW.) Also note that the V-6 might have a slightly less desirable chain drive transfer case if I recal correctly from my reading last night.

Good Luck,

- Tom

Bubba Kahuna · Answer

85 sounds like what I'm looking for.I'm using the 3.0 because that's what came in the chassis that I got for next to nothing and it runs like a brand new engine. I also have a nearly complete spare 3.0 that I can scavenge parts from if I even need them. Otherwise I probably would go with a bigger engine, even though I'm yanking out the SBC V8 that's in there now because I don't like the weight of all that cast iron.  - JG

Roger Brown · Answer

Actually the '83s (and maybe a few years before) have half lengh bottom gussets that stop just shy of the u-bolts, '79 and '80 (maybe '81) have no bottom gissets. Now folks are going after the early axles and adding a top of the tube gusset:

formatting link

Gives more ground clearance and makes it easier to fit round u-bolts around the axle tube.

Whitewall Junkie · Answer

>>Also note that theV-6 might have a slightly less desirable chain drive transfercase if I recal correctly from my reading last night.Mfinja's Hot Wheels with Whitewalls

Solid front axle swap?

Join the Discussion

Didn't find your answer?