Looks like my next step for my '95 4Runner is going to be gearing and lockers. I've been wheelin' it with 34x9.5 Swampers and a welded rear for a couple years now, but it can't climb very well without a front locker. It's my DD, and I don't have a lot of cash, so an SAS is out of the question at this time.

I'm not worried about tire clearance. I'll probably do a 1" body lift, and the firewall is already pretty smashed to fit my Swampers.

What I'm worried about is the diff, steering, or axles breakinng. The steering is the most important to keep reliable, or at least easily repairable, because I want to drive it home!

I plan on getting an ARB for the front, since it sees a good amount of nasty roads in the winter.

Most of the trails around here are mud. I'll occasionally travel to club runs and do some rocks.

So, can it handle 35s? I'd love to go to 35s, it just seems wrong to go down in size. Is there a big difference in stregth of the front gears between 4.88 and 5.29? I've been running stock 4.10 with the 34s, so 4.88s with 35s would seem fine to me.

Also, can I swap in a reverse-rotation diff from a later model? Would that strengthen the diff? I've even wondered about having flanges and brackets put on an 8" diff. But if I'm going to snap axles first, I guess there's no point.

Thanks for any info!

 

I would be most worried about tire weight rather than size.

I wheel 33's with a front ARB and have two CV breaks. I also trash an idler arm about every other hard trip.

Unless you are aggressively spinning big tires, the R&P will not be the weakness, the CV's will. Swapping to an 8" center seems a little overkill to me. Ellinger did that with a 9" Ford back when he was IFS.