Topic: 37's on stock toyota axles?

[Armentac]

Just wondering if putting 37s on my stock toyota axles would be a bad idea. I have 5.29 gears and lockers

[SqWADoosh]

It really depends on a lot of things. Most importantly is how you wheel. I run 37s on 5.29 toyota third members and I am not a ginger wheeler. However I am also not an idiot or a thrasher. If you are smart and don't try to force your truck forward in situations which are going to break something. Then they absolutely can handle 37s. Low gearing, good spotting, and experience are going to help you keep from breaking. Also if you haven't already upgrade your birfields to RCVs.  Start thinking about upgrading your outputs soon as well. That is next for me.

[blackdiamond]

I would never put 37s on with stock front axles even with an open differential if I planned for it to be more than a mall crawler.  Having said that, I chose to not run a full locker until I upgraded my front axles.

I can tell you that my stock axles survived quite a bit of wheeling with 33s and a limited slip front differential, but I'm as kind to my truck as possibly while still taking it where I want to go.  I've seen 37x14.50 Toyo MTs take out one stock and two chromoly front axles in Moab in two days.  Once the front axles were upgraded (overnight delivery) the front ring gear  took some damage.  I honestly can't say that the guy driving was being much if any harder on his 4Runner than SqWADoosh is.  More aggressive than I choose to be, but not certainly not thrashing their rigs.

SqWADoosh is absolutely correct about RCV front axles being the best.  I am running stock outputs with my lockers and 35s so can't give you any opinion on the need for upgrading your outputs though if you can afford it stronger is pretty much always better!

My motto is build strong, wheel easy, and hopefully avoid broken parts.

[:)bestgen4runner]

I would never put 37s on with stock front axles even with an open differential if I planned for it to be more than a mall crawler. 
My motto is build strong, wheel easy, and hopefully avoid broken parts.

I Agree 100% 

[Snowtoy]

My motto is build strong, wheel easy, and hopefully avoid broken parts.

I think that is the difference between those who spend their own time and money building their rigs, and those that pay someone else to do most/if not all of the work for them, or buy a built rig for their first rig.

[blackdiamond]

I think that is the difference between those who spend their own time and money building their rigs, and those that pay someone else to do most/if not all of the work for them, or buy a built rig for their first rig.

95% of my rig was done by someone else.  Wheel because I enjoy the wheeling and not the expense of activity of working on my 4Runner.

[1985CRAWLER]

I smashed stock birfs on 35s for years and broke plenty of them , I also used to wheel hard and not give a crap about my rig , if I babied it I could keep the axles alive but usually ended up breaking them , went to chromos and 37s and never looked back , currently banging 40s on rcvs and they are holding up well but if you have duals or 4.7s in the case thatll play a big part whether or not you'll break or not , having control over the rig and not having to ride the clutch makes a big difference , that being said if you've never replaced a stock broken toy birf on the trail then lucky you haha

[Snowtoy]

95% of my rig was done by someone else.  Wheel because I enjoy the wheeling and not the expense of activity of working on my 4Runner.

Having someone build you a rig after you have built your own wasn't what I was referring to, I mean the guys that go "Looks like fun, I think I will go buy one".  These guys, regardless of automotive hobby, don't seem to have an appreciation for the work it takes to build/repair a vehicle in a garage, had they, most likely wouldn't thrash on them the way they do.  Sure, there are the guys that look at their rigs as a disposable good, which is fine it is their property, also IME these types tend to be able to fix things pretty quickly as their used to doing it so much, not standing next their rig, looking confused as to why it wont go.

[blackdiamond]

Having someone build you a rig after you have built your own wasn't what I was referring to, I mean the guys that go "Looks like fun, I think I will go buy one".  These guys, regardless of automotive hobby, don't seem to have an appreciation for the work it takes to build/repair a vehicle in a garage, had they, most likely wouldn't thrash on them the way they do.  Sure, there are the guys that look at their rigs as a disposable good, which is fine it is their property, also IME these types tend to be able to fix things pretty quickly as their used to doing it so much, not standing next their rig, looking confused as to why it wont go.

Agreed.  I definitely have an appreciation for the effort it takes to built a rig which equates to mostly cost for me.

[Snowtoy]

IIRC, didn't you start off with an '85 way back when, so you did some wrench turning?  I know with a lot of my friends as we got into our 30'sand 40's we had more money than time, often less space, i.e. the wives took over the garage with stuff or they live in HOA's that frown on DIYer's, so paying to have it done or buying a built rig made things easier. 

I know some guys are also just not mechanically inclined and don't have the any other choice, with them it seems to be how much they value their money.  I have tow buddies like that, one knows he can't turn a wrench and not wanting to wanting to have his man card rescinded on the trail, he drives like his stuff is made out of crystal, on the other hand, another buddy flogs the piss out of his and then stands around waiting for others to fix it.   Not sure if he still does that or not, haven't wheeled with him in about 6yrs now, last  heard he had gone to Danas.

[Dingman.]

Just dont get crazy with the wheels turned too far.  It is doable, but i highly recommend rcv's

[blackdiamond]

IIRC, didn't you start off with an '85 way back when, so you did some wrench turning?  I know with a lot of my friends as we got into our 30'sand 40's we had more money than time, often less space, i.e. the wives took over the garage with stuff or they live in HOA's that frown on DIYer's, so paying to have it done or buying a built rig made things easier. 

I know some guys are also just not mechanically inclined and don't have the any other choice, with them it seems to be how much they value their money.  I have tow buddies like that, one knows he can't turn a wrench and not wanting to wanting to have his man card rescinded on the trail, he drives like his stuff is made out of crystal, on the other hand, another buddy flogs the piss out of his and then stands around waiting for others to fix it.   Not sure if he still does that or not, haven't wheeled with him in about 6yrs now, last  heard he had gone to Danas.

I have done very little of the work on either of my rigs.  I did start with an 85.  I have a bit more ability than I'm willing to use partly because everything is a bit of a learning process so just takes more time than I'm willing to spend on it.  I make it a point to not wheel with people that I consider to be high risk for breaking things because I don't find waiting around (helping where I can) to be any fun.  If someone is a smart wheeler, drives a solid and well built rig, and they break something then it doesn't bother me a bit because it's part of the game sometimes.  I'm more than willing to accept help with repairs off road, but always go in with the mindset that nobody owes me anything so if I need to spend some $$ to get home that's what I'll do.  For the most part, I don't wheel "easy" just to avoid breaking things, it's my natural style.  I will on occasion get more aggressive if making it up something that I'm struggling with becomes of interest, but it doesn't happen very often.