Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I just bout a 1.3L NT LWB sierra that is in need of pretty much a complete rebuild from ground up. As i bought it, the body was sitting separate to the chassis. The body has a bit of rust in it that i will try and fix. If the body becomes unrepairable and a panel beater asks too much to repair it then it will become a dedicated comp vehicle and the cab will be cut into a ute. If this is the route i go i want to know as much as i possibly can about diff conversions.

What i know:
Pre-IFS hilux diffs are a good alternative to standard because of width, strength, gear ratio's available and SPOA.
It sounds like a pain in the to cut all the mounts off these diffs
You can run your original springs on top of these diffs but would also work well if you went for a hilux fronts all round conversion.
A highsteer configuration is needed

What i need help with:
What power steer options do i have available to me? I see the americans use the toyota IFS boxes but what cars do these come on?
Is it worth buying a kit to do this or would it be better to fab up the mounts and everything?
Do the hilux diffs knock on anything at full flex that the standard diffs dont?
Is the process between converting these diffs on NT the same as WT?

I have searched but just haven't quite been able to get my head around these things as it has never been posed as a question . Any help would be great thanks.[/b]

Mate, you really need to talk to an engineer. Seeing as you're from Qld, you're going to have a hell of a time getting it legal. Nothing's impossible though.

Before a proper answer can be given, we need a bit more info. How good are you at fabbing/welding/hitting things with a hammer? What you are proposing is a fair bit of work and should not be undertaken lightly or have corners cut.

What power steer options do i have available to me? I see the americans use the toyota IFS boxes but what cars do these come on?

You can use pretty much any power steering set up. Depending on what tyres you want to run. Vit/Jimny are both good options.
Landcruiser boxes are another option as the 60s and 80s have forward facing pitman arms so you can mount them further back on the chassis which is handy if you are moving your diff forward. FWIW I have a ford falcon 'teardrop" pump and a 75s box sitting on the shelf.

IFS boxes come from toyota hilux and 4runners that have (gasp) IFS. They are readily available and complaritively cheap, hence their popularity in the states.

Is it worth buying a kit to do this or would it be better to fab up the mounts and everything?

Cheap or convenient. What's more important to you?

Do the hilux diffs knock on anything at full flex that the standard diffs dont?

Not if it's built right. Although I'm not sure what they could possibly knock on anyway.

Is the process between converting these diffs on NT the same as WT?

Pretty much although every job has it's individual quirks. I'm definitely no expert though. The NT and WT chassis are the same, the WT just has the spring mounts outboarded.

It sounds like a pain in the Twisted Evil to cut all the mounts off these diffs

What tools you got? Plasma and a grinder = not such a pain.
Pretty much every other method (I used a grinder only) = very painful and time consuming.
Well, in my case anyway.

does an engineer need to be consulted for competition only vehicles too? This is not going to be a daily unless the cab can be fixed and in which case the standard diffs would stay or possibly go to WT diffs

I am not bad at fabbing and welding but there is room for improvement. I can lay a decent bead and can make parts up fairly strong if need be.

You can use pretty much any power steering set up. Depending on what tyres you want to run. Vit/Jimny are both good options.

would the jimny set up withstand 35's? that is the absolute max the car would be set up for

Quote:
Is it worth buying a kit to do this or would it be better to fab up the mounts and everything?

Cheap or convenient. What's more important to you?

a little from both i would prefer to spend money to know that it is perfect, or close to, rather then do it cheap, break it, then do it the expensive way anyway so probably a better way to phrase the question would be: are these kits worth the money the companies ask for them? are they strong enough to with stand hard wheeling?

Quote:
It sounds like a pain in the Twisted Evil to cut all the mounts off these diffs

What tools you got? Plasma and a grinder = not such a pain.
Pretty much every other method (I used a grinder only) = very painful and time consuming.
Well, in my case anyway.

Yeah i pretty much only have access to a grinder and oxy but i think that the oxy would be a bad choice as it would effect the physical strength of the diff housing

i have a 94 vitara with IFS
getting ready for a front and rear diff swap
hilux diffs are weak-u put lockers and 35's and will be breaking axels and centres(a few of my mates with hilux's have worked this out the hard way)

im goiung for landcruiser 60's series diffs(sahara preferably-they come with mechanical lockers-so no air lockers needed)

pretty simple swap, a bit of cutting to get rid of my IFS, still a bit with u

u should have no probs. we r doing it at my house

How much stronger are stock landcruiser axles than stock hilux considering they run basically the same birfield and same spline count? Sure the rear is full float, ad that's an advantage, but then you have to deal with the crappy offset compared to hilux.

There seems to be plenty of tech indicating that longfields in hilux diffs are very, very durable.

More power to you and all, good on you for building a vitara, but a blanket statement like "hilux diffs are weak" is pretty useless. A guy on pirate has just broken a rockwell bull gear, so they are obviously weak too....


PS: Not all sahara's come with lockers- good luck with that search. In any case, factory locker equipped diffs are worth $$$ and end up with nasty acuators hanging off the diffs. I'm not sure it's the way I'd go. It's obviously a compy sort of car so I think I'd spool the rear and airlock the front anyway.

What are you planning to do for gearing? Landcruiser is 4.11 or 4.88 - your vitara currently has 5.12, so you're making your tyres about 35% taller but you diff gearing will be taller again too- so (lets say) at 100kph, cruise revs will drop to about 1750 RPM or something.

Just some thoughts.

Steve.

not too sure about which gearing i will use prob 4.11 and do transfer case low and high range gears
yeah i know they r hard to come by but its worth looking(been doing it for a while now with no luck) might have to settle with air lockers.
its going to be coils all round
once the diffs r in i have a vp v6 siting in my mates garage which should fit snug

danssurf82 wrote:i have a 94 vitara with IFS
getting ready for a front and rear diff swap
hilux diffs are weak-u put lockers and 35's and will be breaking axels and centres(a few of my mates with hilux's have worked this out the hard way)

lol hilux rear axles are stronger then 60

and the cv's and axles are idetical just the short side axle is a little longer
(the long side is interchangeable between 60 and hilux)

Zook_Fan wrote:I just bout a 1.3L NT LWB sierra that is in need of pretty much a complete rebuild from ground up. As i bought it, the body was sitting separate to the chassis. The body has a bit of rust in it that i will try and fix. If the body becomes unrepairable and a panel beater asks too much to repair it then it will become a dedicated comp vehicle and the cab will be cut into a ute. If this is the route i go i want to know as much as i possibly can about diff conversions.

What i know:
Pre-IFS hilux diffs are a good alternative to standard because of width, strength, gear ratio's available and SPOA.
It sounds like a pain in the to cut all the mounts off these diffs
You can run your original springs on top of these diffs but would also work well if you went for a hilux fronts all round conversion.
A highsteer configuration is needed

What i need help with:
What power steer options do i have available to me? I see the americans use the toyota IFS boxes but what cars do these come on?
Is it worth buying a kit to do this or would it be better to fab up the mounts and everything?
Do the hilux diffs knock on anything at full flex that the standard diffs dont?
Is the process between converting these diffs on NT the same as WT?

I have searched but just haven't quite been able to get my head around these things as it has never been posed as a question . Any help would be great thanks.[/b]

I used a vit box and high steer from locktup 4x4 and it works well, check out my build thread for ideas on Hilux diff to NT chassis.

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic157486.php

danssurf82 wrote: hilux diffs are weak-u put lockers and 35's and will be breaking axels and centres(a few of my mates with hilux's have worked this out the hard way)

im goiung for landcruiser 60's series diffs(sahara preferably-they come with mechanical lockers-so no air lockers needed)

LONG FELDS axles and cvs garentyd to 42inch tyers i think their cheap insurance

hillbilliywheelchair wrote:

danssurf82 wrote: hilux diffs are weak-u put lockers and 35's and will be breaking axels and centres(a few of my mates with hilux's have worked this out the hard way)

im goiung for landcruiser 60's series diffs(sahara preferably-they come with mechanical lockers-so no air lockers needed)

LONG FELDS axles and cvs garentyd to 42inch tyers i think their cheap insurance

actually longfields have a life time guarantee not limited to tire size he just does not recomend over 40"