Beefing a "1-ton" dually rear

[Andyl]

G'day all,

Anyone know much about the toyota 1ton rears from the mid 80's? We're eyeballing a 19' sunrader as the winter RV upgrade... But I've read lots of horror stories about that rear axle already... And our plans would involve stepping up the tire size (33 +/-), increasing the weight (need more tank capacity + thinking about the 4x4 conversion), and well - I found a nice '97 TDI engine this weekend for cheap; and I have those spare VW-toyota adapters :D

Just wondering what could be done about that rear axle - I understand it barely handles the motorhomes as they rolled off the showroom floor; seen lots of swaps for ford 9" etc - but I'd rather keep toyota parts; I'd almost rather put in a super beefy standard 8" (especially if I go ahead with the 4x4 swap). Any thoughts?

[freeze]

Hmmm... if you build up a Toyota 8" with V6 third, 4340 Chromo axles that'll be pretty strong and it'll be easier to line up your output to the rear drive shaft if you're doing a 4x4 swap. Marlin has a sale right now for the rear axles $189/pair

[Winch]

What about the 1-ton 9.5" axle out of a '91-'97 FJ80 with factory e-locker?

[Andyl]

There are differences in the axles from what I understand - the later (86+?) duallies were true full floaters; I was half thinking about one of the new trail gear housings + a v6 third, seem to vaguely recall finding a full floating conversion kit for a standard 8" rear...

Locker - think that'd be counter productive - with all that weight on the rear axle, I'd be more comfortable with a winch over using a locker - too much weight, too high of a CG; no desire to load up the interior with spare parts :)

Unfortunately it's the need for the bearings & housing to carry that weight + the brakes that really becomes the issue - I was reading one of the 180RD owners mention his rear axle is carrying 3tons, that's an awful lot for a metric ton axle :)

[Winch]

What about Hino? :) They're a subsidiary of Toyota: http://www.hinocanada.com/2010-Hino-185-en.aspx

[Andyl]

How do you make the fronts match the 10 bolt rears so you don't need to carry multiple spares? :)

[Wellsy]

Ya I agree with Winch. Rear axle from an FJ80 cruiser - can be had without Elocker - They come - Full floating with disc brakes, & the dropout 3rd is massive compared to a standard toy 8".

Let me know if you want some pics of one under a '93 Pickup ;)

Plus I have comparison pics of the 3rd member too