front differential drop

well i have a brand new Front Differential Drop Kit if anyone needs one, it goes for 30.99 plus shipping.... as always my loss your gain! 25-30 make an offer.

Why aren't you using it? It's made a huge difference on mine and the axles and boots are sitting much happier. What they dont tell you is a lift gets everything out of whack. This was a cheap and easy fix for me.

It also messes up your front pinion angle....also called a lose/lose situation

4running wrote:

It also messes up your front pinion angle....also called a lose/lose situation

the dif drop causes the bad pinion angle ? therefor the lose lose...

Anything you do that changed a vehicle from stock is going to involve some level of risk, big or small. I've had mine on for about 5 months and no issues whatsoever, knock on wood. Rides and handles like stock too.

the reason i'm not using it is because when i put my skid plates on i realized that there was no way they would fit with the drop,

you have the ricochet skids right darrell? i wonder if the fitment issue is the same with budbuilt or any of the other manufacturers??

yeah i have the ricichet, i'm sure if i called the company they make a dif. skidplate that makes room for the drop. i just decided it would be fine without it

i think no matter what you do its good...that bit of a drop really doesnt make a whole lot of difference...and even if you had used it those big Buh-tox meats you have would negate all of the benefits...LOL...

by the way...congrats on not breaking anything yesterday!! i was absolutely convinced that you would...LOL

Lol thanks man, once again the fj proved itself to be a beast.... I probably need to be a little gentler on her though, I'm sure she can't take it forever, my right foot just feels real heavy at Times

well you do have a good bit of power loss due to rotating mass....so im sure that pedal feels mushy and slow to respond ...

Guess I need a power adder, if only I was rich a they made a sc for my model year

noooooooo dont be duped into thinking more power is better...an SC is great and fun but all you need to do is regear it...the truck makes plenty of power think about it...270 horse power is 50 hp more than a 5. mustang back in the day...and they had enough power then to snap an axle in those 8.8 housings...and that was a V8...brother let me tell you that the way to go is regear...if you regear you will immediately regain that "power loss"....and its cheaper!...

.... Wow never thought about that, I'll definitely have to look into that. Is that something I could do myself? What ratio would you go with?

with the AT you can go to 4.56 with the stock Elocker...if you want to go to 4.88 then you have to change the carrier but if you do that you might as well buy an ARB locker to replace the carrier with..
ive seen the prices for the gears for like $200 or so factor in the install kits and necessary hardware and having someone do the work...id say $1500-$2000 ...may less than a supercharger...add the ARB and you add 1100?...still less...

Alright, guess it's research Time lol, thanks for the advice brother! I may pm tomorrow with a few mire ?'s.

fjdarrell wrote:

.... Wow never thought about that, I'll definitely have to look into that. Is that something I could do myself? What ratio would you go with?

Talk to Nick (MadToy). He regeared and has never said a bad thing about it.

Yep. 4.56 gears will get you back to almost stock gearing with the 35's. You'll still be slightly off power due to the much heavier tires, but you'll definitely feel most of the power come back. 4.88's will be slightly over geared, but that would definitely give you the power back from the extra weight too. I'm slightly over geared with my 4.56's and 285's, but I tow a travel trailer, so the extra rpm on the highway actually helps a bunch. I'll lose some of that advantage when I go to 35's.

I also think your ATRAC is struggling with the weight of your tires. An ARB would make you invincible!

Don't forget that you need to regear both front and rear. East Coast Gear sells the entire 3rd member units already built, so all you need to do is swap the whole assembly and ship your cores back to them.

Just Don't attempt to actually install the gears yourself. Unless you've done them before, it's easy to screw up.

MadToy wrote:

Yep. 4.56 gears will get you back to almost stock gearing with the 35's. You'll still be slightly off power due to the much heavier tires, but you'll definitely feel most of the power come back. 4.88's will be slightly over geared, but that would definitely give you the power back from the extra weight too. I'm slightly over geared with my 4.56's and 285's, but I tow a travel trailer, so the extra rpm on the highway actually helps a bunch. I'll lose some of that advantage when I go to 35's.

New tires already?

If you guys all go to 35s, then I will have to as well. I need to start sucking up to the wife.

Brian wrote:

New tires already?

If you guys all go to 35s, then I will have to as well. I need to start sucking up to the wife.

Well - not till Spring maybe

But - They will most likely be the same tire. I was very pleased with how they did on the trails. Gulches will be the real test, as that's more "mud tire" type terrain. But I'm very happy with them on the rocks.

i agree about the Atrac...it was not working to well most of the time you got in a bind...that really held you up alot in my opinion...the ARB in the front would be amazing..

I think a-trac works best when you hold it steady at a moderate rpm range. I think it was less of the 35" tires hindering a-trac and more of the full throttle assault.

Back to the diff drop, I did A LOT of reading before getting my lift, and most of the literature/forum discussion revolved around for lifts up to 3" no need since the angles didnt change enough to merit it...at 3" of lift is was a case by case need, above 3 and you should definately install one. I went with the OME lift, which according to them is a 2.5" to 3" inch lift, leaning more towards 2.5" with any weight in your truck at all, so I skipped it.

Nick, how much did your regear/ARB/install run altogether if you recall?

yeah id like to know the same Nick!!!

NC FJ Driver wrote:

Nick, how much did your regear/ARB/install run altogether if you recall?

The regear, ARB locker, ARB compressor, and installation (it worked out that I had to go see a customer that was right around the block from ECGS, so it was worth dropping it off to them, going to my customer, then coming back later and picking it up all complete) came out to just under $3k. Install was around $6-700 of that if I remember correctly.