team_gforce

well after 3 long months of searching the junkyards (and finally giving up and ordering a few new parts) i have completed the conversion. I was able to find one axle hub in a junk yard for $50. The other side i ended up ordering from toyotapartszone.com for $135. Two new wheel bearings for $120 plus some odds and ends (new bolts, o-rings, gaskets, c-clips, etc.) to finish off the lockouts for around $50. The cv axles i purchased from advance auto for $75 apiece with lifetime replacement (used some local coupons). The machine work was done by a old family friend for the whopping price of one 24 pack of coors light.

In all I would say that i was able to make the conversion with new cv's for a little over $500.

I dont have any miles on it yet, so no reports of driveability or mpg increase

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

What are those hubs from? They look 86-95 IFS, which shouldn't work on a 3rd gen 4Runner/Tacoma setup....

pkt1213

iTrader: (1)

Nice. I got my setup from DeathCougar and swapped over to keep my ABS. I have no idea the mileage change since I did my lift at the same time.

85gijunk4x4

do indeed look like ifs hubs.

though the sfa and ifs hub dials interchange right?

maybe its ifs dials on sfa hubs?

pkt1213

iTrader: (1)

the ifs hubs are different between the tacoma and the earlier trucks.

it's allowing me to drive my truck since I had a vacuum actuator go out and the front intermediate shaft is locked in

Southern Toy Man

I have a 2002 Toyota Tacoma X-Tra cab 4WD and was wondering the same about swapping my Tacoma, "Stella" over to manual locking front hubs and the challenge to acquire all of the necessary parts. Best Regards, SPC Smith http://fly.hiwaay.net/~deesmith/skeletor.html
____ USAR ___ Huntsville, Alabama _____

JBurt

Maybe not the right thread but why would you need new wheel bearings?

pkt1213

iTrader: (1)

according to the FSM they're a one time use item that needs to be replaced. I reused mine.

team_gforce

the hubs are from a 96 taco. i just decided to repaint them after i cleaned them up
i also kept the abs, couldnt decide if it was worth it or not, but had a hell of a time finding both tacoma spindles around here. by the time i pay for shipping from an online junkyard i just decided to get a new hub and keep the abs spindles

JBurt

I definitely like the paint on them. Looks real good.

terminator

iTrader: (1)

What did you do about your ABS during the conversion on yours? I have a 96 4Runner Limited with ABS and want to do the same thing but not sure what, if any, issues I'll run into b/c didn't the manual hub Tacos not have ABS on them?

team_gforce

I kept the ABS spindles and swapped in the hub/bearing from the manual hub but also installed the ABS tone ring with it. In the end you will end up with both the manual hub and ABS. A little extra work, but probably worth it.

terminator

iTrader: (1)

OK so 4Runner spindle so you can use the ABS, Taco hub/bearing and put the ABS ring on the manual driveshaft then. KEWL! Gonna start collecting my parts then!

TacomaJunkiey1968

Listen Everybody,
I don't know all of your reasons for wanting to switch to manual hubs. I am assuming because they age much better than the ones with auto locking hubs that come with the ADD system, and they might work better for some of your defined applications. Switching to manual hubs is a lot of time, effort and money on rigs with automatic differential disconnect.
The one thing I can tell you is that you are probably not going to see any change in gas mileage. My family has a 1999 Tacoma with a 3.4 V6, R150F 5-Speed transmission and factory manual locking hubs, and it gets the exact same gas mileage as the ones with the automatic differential disconnect system.
It should get better gas mileage because the front gear shaft, and front differential are not spinning. I, however, have never noticed a difference, and I have tested our rig multiple times, and it gets 16-18 miles per gallon, which is what all of them get with the stick-shift and V6 according to the EPA.

ethankubala

I have a 2002 tacoma with 3.4 and auto transmission and I also want to switch to manual hubs. My question is what parts do I need to buy to do this? Do I need wheel bearings from a manual hub truck, and can I use my current cv axles or do I need cv axles from a manual hub truck.

TacomaJunkiey1968

Hello Ethankubala,

I see you want to change your rig to manual locking front hubs. I have never done this coversion so I can't advise you on the parts you need, but you are basically going to need a lot of parts, and it is going to be a labor intensive conversion. Only go through the effort of doing this conversion if you are planning on keeping your rig indefinitely. This conversion is not worth your time if you plan getting rid of your Tacoma in the future.

Good Luck,
Paul

habanero

I've done this to my 96 4Runner so have to base my answer on that-
You'll need the cvs off the manual hubbed donor truck (96+ Taco, not the older style). It's not hard to reboot if they need it, part# and how-to in my build thread and various other places.
You can either use the spindles off the donor (and probably lose your abs unless you find manual hubbed truck that happens to have abs), or move the hubs to your own spindles to keep the abs which does require new bearings. Off Road Solutions has the brass inner and outer bushings plus the needle bearing if the old ones get messed up.
I don't know if your taco has a speed sensor or uses the abs for the speedometer. For the 4Runner it uses the abs so I had to get the speed sensor out of the donor Taco to have a working speedometer because I used the donor non-abs spindles. It was not hard to make this work (in my build thread). You'll have to research and figure out what needs to happen there.
Upper and lower ball joints, if they need replacing this is a good time to do it.

If new parts then hubs, all the things you'd need to replace your spindles' wheel bearings/seal with parts for manual hubbed spindles, abs ring out of your truck, possibly new brass bushings if old ones get messed up, cvs for manual hubs, upper and lower ball joints might be a nice touch.

I agree in that I wouldn't do it for fuel economy. I didn't find it particularly hard to do -but- I had somebody with a press do the presswork which was annoying and why I needed new brass bushings and the needle bearing. They, a Toyota dealership, sucked. Find somebody better than I did! Other than that follow torque specs. This system will require occasional maintenance. Again, not hard, but it is another maintenance item. Your hub cover will either need modifying or need to be replaced with a compatible version or don't use a ring at all.

Again, I have a 4Runner that has add. The front dif is out of an add 4Runner, the only difference between what I had and now is I have to remember to lock the hubs when I either need or are likely to need 4 wheel drive. I still shift into 4wd using the shift lever. The cv's do not spin if in 2wd. They just sit there looking cute.

AND a few random pics from the old build thread because why not?

If you've got to get a cv shaft out of a manual hub first turn the dial to 'FREE'
Undo the 6 bolts that hold the dial on


dial should come off


unbolt the bolt w/large washer at the end of the cv shaft


Take out the 6 bolts or nuts (I have one hub with each) that hold the hub body on the flange. There are a variety of ways to get those stupid cone washers to pop out. I find colorful adjectives don't really help.


Take off the clip (not pictured) holding the shaft on. It's right in front of the washer pictured...


and you should have this (with or without wheel adapter):


Remove your 4 lower ball joint bolts and pull the spindle towards you. The cv shaft should be encouraged to leave the hub (I pushed mine out with a thumb)

Then it's business as usual for a cv change.

When you button it back up grease the bearings inside the hub in the spindle and the shaft. Once you get the shaft through the spindle hub it goes washer, c-clip (you may have to seat the shaft until the groove for the c-clip can be seen), hub body, little gold bolt w/big washer, dial w/mechanism and spring. The gear on the dial part will only go on a couple of ways. Where there is a small clip in the groove between 2 teeth-

that only fits in the larger single cut-out.


The torque specs on all this stuff is light, don't over do it.

You can see the brass bushings and the 4Runner's original abs reluctor ring behind the lock nut...

And the needle bearings (pre-greasing). The old race isn't easy to get out of there....That bushing and needle bearing is the part that got destroyed when Toyota tried to press it. The only way to get those little pretties from Toyota is to buy the whole hub that goes in the spindle. That's where ORS's having those parts solved what could have been a very expensive situation.

ethankubala

Thank you for the info. I do not have abs on my truck so I just need cv shafts and hubs from a manual hub truck and the swap should be pretty much bolt on?

habanero

With no abs if you find a donor truck with parts in decent shape grab the spindles complete with hubs and bearings and the cv shafts. Wheel bearings on add vs manual hub are different.