Axle advice for a SAS

[660griz]

I'm wanting to swap in a solid axle in my 99 Toyota TRD. What are some of the recommendations you guys think works best. I'm not a rock crawler, but want a good hunting rig, trail rider. Not looking to run anything bigger than a 34" tire.
Not sure if a Toyota front axle is sufficient or a 44 out of a jeep. What yrs. would be good for the swap?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[I Lean]

I'd say a Toy front axle is too narrow, plus the diff is on the wrong side. Yes, you can switch sides, but that's work...better to use an aftermarket housing if you want to go that route. Diamond, RuffStuff, Trail Gear, etc.

Or a D44 out of a Wagoneer or Cherokee Chief would be a decent match. You'd need to research to figure out which years came drivers-side drop, my guess is 1980+ or so. You could also use a high pinion 44 from a Ford, but you'd need to change the lug pattern. (easy bolt-on stuff, but you may as well try to get what you need in the donor axle...)

 

[Kevin B.]

Waggy 44 is common, but you can't get 5.29 gears for it if that's a concern. Trailgear makes a Rockassault housing that's the right width with the pumpkin on the right side. You could use a pre'86 axle if you swap your tcase output to the passenger side - Lefty transfer cases aren't cheap, but you could maybe make a T100 transfer case bolt up, they've got passenger side outputs and should bolt up behind your trans.

Gotta say I don't know why you're going to the effort of a solid axle if you're not crawling though, is this just because you want a solid axle? That IFS is pretty solid, we get our '99 4Runner all sorts of places.

 

[Spork]

Or you could do something similar to what Steve did and keep the IFS...

http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?88552-97-tacoma-build-Abner/page10&highlight=abner

 

[660griz]

Its more of a want than anything. But I will do more research and try to decide what to do. Thanks for all the advice given so far.