My 4 wheel drive wont work?

[toyo487]

    I just put some G144 axles in my 89 toyota, the axles were out of a 94 auto 4runner with a V6.  I went to play in the snow today and the front diff did not engage when I put it in 4 wheel drive.  My front drive line would spine but with my hubs locked and even unlocked my tires would not spin.  The diff out of the runner has a plug (electric) and two vaccume lines, I plugged the vaccume lines when I did the swap.  is there anything that I need to do to get my 4 wheel drive to work.  I really want to go wheelin with the 4.88's so any info would be great.
Thanks, Justin

[jimbo74]

the thirds are both 8" so thats not a problem.... however one is a v6 and one is a 4 cyl..... so your going need to regear one of them..... or deal with mismatched gaers.... i forget what the difference is, but there is something about their internals swapping wont work because of the setup of something internal.....

[CTENG in KS]

As long as the two IFS's are the same size (7.5?) you are good to go with swapping both over.  The v6 rear is a direct drop into your 4cyl rear end.

[jimbo74]

The v6 rear is a direct drop into your 4cyl rear end.

yeah thats what i was thinking, but i think he wanted t ostay with the same ratio? i dunno maybe i read it wrong... also i thought he was jsut asking about the rear... didnt even think of the fronts too

[CTENG in KS]

He will need to swap both, they ratios are too far apart to get away with it, the binding would be catastrophic.   

[kneedownnate]

I'm pretty sure he's tryin to upgrade his ride to the 4.56s.

[toyo487]

Yes I want to know if the rear and the front will work in my 89 so I have 4.56 gears front and rear.  Other wise I would'nt be ablt to use 4 wheel drive with out destroying something.  I just don't know if the front diff will work in my 89, I know the rear will be a drop in.  But what about the front?  Thanks

[Rocksurfer]

Like they said the rear is a drop in and if you just take the whole diff and housing out of the rolled truck it should bolt right up without even having to pull anything out. the flanges are the same, half-shafts, CV's everything.

[79coyotefrg]

yes the front will swap,  just take the hole diff loose from the crossmember

[toyo487]

Sweet thanks, that should be easy enough.  Thanks for all your help.  hopefully I'll have 4.56's soon. 

[toyo487]

how about some G144 diffs out of a 1994 toyota 4Runner with an automatic and a V6.  Those calculate out ot a 4.88 stock.  Only $200, will be pickin those up tomorrow. 

[CTENG in KS]

Yup, no matter the engine, all diffs are compatible...only thing is with the 4.88's from factory, std lockers and such don't fit...Maybe need a spacer or something, ring gear is skinnier???  Need more info n that.

[kyle_22r]

lockers do fit in the 4.88 thirds.  the carrier is the same a standard V6, it's the pinion offset that's different!

ask how i know...i installed a V6 ez-locker in a G144 factory 4.88 third last week

[toyo487]

how common are the G144's?  this is the first one I have seen.  The guy didn't even know what he had.  All I had to do it go remove them (took about 3hrs this evening), then I gave him $200 and it was a done deal.  Anyone looking for a good front diff with 4.10's?  I will have mine for sale in a day or two.  can't wait to see how the 4.88's do.  I'm just a bit concerned about my 31X10.5 inch tires and those gears but oh well, bigger tire someday I guess.

[kyle_22r]

they are considered rare, most are from 4runners since there were more auto 4runners with 31" tires than trucks(most trucks with 31s had the 5 speed, so they got 4.56s more often).  i had no trouble finding them on car-part.com

the diff i installed a locker in was out of a '95 4runner and according to the junkyard that i ordered it from, it only had 38,000 miles!  i looked at the ring gear...you could still see the remnants of the red gear marking paint toyota uses!

[toyo487]

I got mine out of a 94 4Runner with an automatic.  they only have 136,000 miles on them.  How much did you pay for your's?  I'm thinking that 200 for the front and rear were an awsome deal. 

[kyle_22r]

that's a sweet deal.  i paid $250 for one and $300 for the other.

[toyo487]

Well I put my new G144's in this morning (good thaksgiving thing to do)  They are sweet.  Not to low with my 31's, I like the torque that I have now.  I have posted 3 pics all of the rear diff's,  The V6 diffs are A LOT beffier than my 4cyl.  Now I've got to take it wheelin to see the difference that it does on the trails. 

[toyo487]

any ideas on how to get my front to engage?  Kinda hard to go wheelin with only the rear tires goin.  Please help

[sbc1875]

it is a add front end i dont know vaccum routing or electric but i thought that would help (you need to hook it all up)

[Hyena]

I think you need the vaccum lines to make it engage.  My buddy's front axle wasn't working either.  The d-line was spinning but the axles werent.  He traced it to the vaccum lines, fixed those and it works now.

[toyo487]

Yeah I kinda wondered about that  , I'm going to try that in the morning, did he have to hook both up or just one?  thanks for the info, I'll let you if it works.