Gear Ratio

[Stevo3]

Alright, So does anyone know how or where I can check my gear ratio? As you can see in my Sig, i gots a 96 4Runner SR5. Instead of having the rear-end rebuilt to change all the seals and such, I'm going to search around some junkyards until I find a 4Runner rear end that has the locker in it already. And is there a difference from the 96 to 02 4runners rear ends? besides the gears.
Thanks

[Greedy]

I believe that all toyota E-lockers are 4.30's for the 4runners. Yours could have 4.10's or 4.30's I believe. Try taking your VIN number from the door jamb and calling a toyota dealership parts department and tell them you want a new 3rd and them ask them what gear ratio it is. Also, when you take out your old one, count the teeth to verify.

[Bob98SR5]

steveo,

call toyota headquarters with your VIN #. they'll tell you.

by the way, ive been seriously lagging b/c of time issues to write up my e-locker retrofit wiki article. i have 4.10 gearing, so i bought a 4.10 e-locker to retrofit it in my rear axle. if you need a rear axle, i have one from my truck. i happened to buy a spare rear axle because i did not want to have any down time while i was retrofitting mine. and mine is a california rear axle so NO rust!

btw, they have 4.10, 4.30 and 4.56 e-lockers.

bob

[Ringmaster]

If I remember correctly, most 5speeds had 4.10's, and autos had 4.30's. But it all depends on how the vehicle was ordered.

[Stevo3]

well i do have aa 5 speed. but i guess ill call the dealership and see what they have to say with my vin. And Bob, im looking for a rear end that already has the locker so i can just do a direct swap of the 2. then all i will have to worry about is the wiring . :)

[Stevo3]

Just got off the phone with the stealership, he tried telling me i had like 3.86 or something of that sort. and he was looking at the wrong tire size that came stock.

So my truck does have the 4.10. Heading to the junkyards tomarrow in hopes to find an axle with a locker in it, then strip it of the wiring too :hillbill:

[MTL_4runner]

Most 3rd gen 4runenrs out there do have the 4.10 gears in them so I'm not surprised.
Good luck with your locker search.

[GSGALLANT]

I've got 4.30's in my 3rd gen, but it's also an automatic.

Anyways, I took this from my post over at Yotatech, but we might as well get the info onto here as well...

The easiest way is to check what your ratio is for sure (some people get mislead by the axle code on the sticker... this way is foolproof):

For an open differential:
Leave the tranny or transfer case in neutral, lift one of your rear tires off the ground and leave the other on the ground. Mark the driveshaft with a piece of tape or a dab of liquid paper so you can count the revolutions. Get a friend to help you rotate the tire while you lay under the truck and count the number of revolutions the driveshaft makes.

When you get set up, get your friend to rotate the tire exactly 20 times. Count the number of times the driveshaft rotates. Devide the number of driveshaft revolutions by 10 to get your ratio. (If you have 4.100 gears, the driveshaft will rotate 41 times... 41/10=4.1)

For a locked differential:
Leave the tranny or transfer case in neutral, if the rear is locked, lift both rear tires off the ground. Mark the driveshaft with a piece of tape or a dab of liquid paper so you can count the revolutions. Get a friend to help you rotate the tires while you lay under the truck and count the number of revolutions the driveshaft makes.

When you get set up, get your friend to rotate the rear wheels exactly 10 times. Count the number of times the driveshaft rotates. Devide the number of driveshaft revolutions by 10 to get your ratio. (If you have 4.100 gears, the driveshaft will rotate 41 times... 41/10=4.1)

This way, you don't have to guess as to whether the driveshaft rotated 4.6 times or 4.7 times or 4.8 times. There are no partial revolutions if you do it this way.

[Stevo3]

Thats an awsome way of doing it, but would oversized tired affect it?

[Bob98SR5]

steveo,

good luck on the search! dont get discouraged if you dont find it on the first try. also, try car-parts.com. also, call california mini trucks in montclair, ca. ask for troy. he's a great guy and totally knowledgable about toyota parts

bob

[Stevo3]

Alright, Well with searching 6 hours of sunday going from junk yard to junk yard. I have failed in search of a locking rear end. Went to all the forein spefic yards and only literally found 2 4 runner in the year range of 96 - 02. And both were just about completly stripped of everything except the damaged parts on the truck.

So with that said I may just not bother with getting a new axle with a locker :(.

I need to have mine rebuilt soon cause the leak seems to be getting worse and worse as the weeks roll through. Not only that, I NEED to have my supercharger rebuilt which I will be removing it and shipping it out some time this week. The bearings sounds like crap and it sounds like its getting ready to cease up on me.

[Elton]

i really think i have 4:10s even though i dont wheel mine alot the locker is so nice to have

[GSGALLANT]

Thats an awsome way of doing it, but would oversized tired affect it?

Tire size has no effect on this method of finding out your gear ratio. 1 full revolution of a 35" tire turns your driveshaft the same amount as 1 full revolution of a 28" tire.