A lot of people are confused about the difference between the TRD 8" rearend and the NonTRD 8" rearend (that's right it's an 8" also, not an 8.25 or 8.4 as is commonly mistaken) found in Tacomas. TRD Tacoma rearends have the e-locker, of which the 3rd members can be installed into other 8" non e-locker housings with some modifications (If someone knows of these mods and would be willing to post up specifics, I'd appreciate it. Otherwise I'll try and hunt them down and post them here myself). The non TRD Tacoma rearends are blocky looking and it is my understanding that these rearends are also used in the Tundra, although I'm not sure yet if there is any strength differences between the ones they put in the Tacomas and the ones they put into the Tundras. The blocky look is due to a bearing cap truss inside the diff.
Here's a side shot of the bearing cap truss:
and from the top:
I'm still looking into the differences between the Tundra diff and the Taco diff and will post findings as I get them here. Much of the information I have is from an article from 4x4 wire
http://home.4x4wire.com/erik/diffs/#taco_ifs. A friend of mine is putting one of the non TRD axles in his project Sammy buggy, and he keeps me updated on any new info on this axle. There's a lot more lockers on the market for these lately, so they may become more popular. I'll get measurements and post them here soon.
