Toyota 8" vs. D35, took some clearance measurements

I finally crawled under my MJ with a Toyota 8" rear, and under a friends TJ with a D35 and measured how far each diff hangs below the axle centerline.

My Toy 8" hangs 4.5" below, and the D35 hangs 4.75". HAHAAA :greensmok

mine is shaved for about 1/2 inch or less more clearance, so a stock Toy would be the same or at max a 1/4 inch lower than a D35, but they are really easy to shave.

Better than D44 strength, better than D35 clearance arty:

Toyota 8in sounds like a great swap. Personally if I had one I'd have a set of "road gears" and deeper "off-road gears" since the carriers are removeable.

I don't know a whole lot about the axle, are they easy to come across? About what does one go for?

What about bolt patterns? Does anyone make new shafts with the correct bolt pattern for an XJ swap?

2wd toy 8" = 5 on 4.5" bolt pattern

BajaCherokee- I have 4.88s locked up that are good for on-road and off with 35s. if you had the gear reduction from your tranny and t-case, you could run stock 4.10s for the ultimate strength, a number of Toyota guys do this because they have dual t-cases and have narrowed the R&P down as the weakest link when running 5.29s. I will carry an extra third member for more difficult or far away trails.

bolt pattern is 6 on 5.5, same as Chevy and Waggy D44 stuff. just swap a D44 up front and quit whining about bolt patterns.

the 2wd 5 lug pattern is a rumored to exist, but in all my (and others) searching, I have yet to see one or hear first hand experience with one. The story goes that the are under 2wd V6 trucks. the V6 is very important as the 4 bangars have 5 lug but it's the Toy 7.5" which looks almost identical on the outside, but the shafts are smaller. you could always get stock shafts redrilled for 5 on 4.5 and the flange turned down.

Max, that's very interesting about the toy 7.5. There are three 2wd Toyota pickups in my local pick 'n pull, I'll have to go see if any of them have six cylinders.... Thanks

Ary

whatever you do, count the splines before you buy anything, it'll be 30 on an 8 inch.

Here's a little info:

95 and newer Tacoma V-6 2x4 has the 30 spline axles and 5x4.5 bolt pattern and a ~60" width. I have one to sell if anyone is interested.

The Tacoma's with the e-locker have a slightly different housing than the ones without. There is a cuttout for the e-locker and the stud pattern and stud size for the third member aren't the same.

The 6-lug versions (Tacoma, clueless on the older housings) can't be redrilled to a 5x4.5 pattern without converting to disks. The center hole for the drum is roughly 4.25". When converting to disks the centering part of the axle can be cut down to fit rotors with a smaller center hole. Doing this Saturday.

If your going to do gears and a locker or at least gears and want to keep the 5x4.5 patter the v-6 2x4 housing is the one you want. Needs perches, shock mounts, and the e-brake adapted.

mad maXJ, how did you adapted the e-brake cables? It looks faily simple but it would be something to consider if swapping one in.

Iam very interested in the possibility of swapping out my D35 for a toy 8" with the locker. What donor vehicles should I be looking for.