80 Series - Axle and Diff Rebuild: 4.88 gears, front E-locker, Steering Knuckles

[@lsvej1]

Hey i love your channel i just picked up a 96 cruiser for myself been wanting one for a long time was lucky to get a good deal on it watching this video was very helpful for me as I'm still learning on how to work and maintain mine i just got! Thank you for taking the time and showing us these helpful videos keep up the good work. Subscribed!

[@Ghostrider-71]

Great video and very informative. I am glad to see you using the 12 ton shop press from Harbor Frieght, I just got one myself, the 20 ton, (for suspension bushings on my HDJ81). Thank you for posting.

[@zacklance7798]

Sick timing! I’m about ready to order all the regear supplies for my ‘92

[@ldooffroad1823]

Boom! Good luck!

[@1992Yotaman]

thank you thank you thank you! You do a great job of providing content on these rigs and take the time to show every step.

[@urbanturbine]

1:01:57 looks perfect. I had to do this so many times too. You fix one and the other goes whack. i finally said, this is it and closed up. it worked fine :)

[@dandahermitseals5582]

Wow. Lotta work.

[@peterhauler85]

This is awesome!!! Thank you. I’m gonna do mine soon.

[@TLC94LS]

Those marks on the birf are from the manufacturing process. 100% normal. The grease is grey moly grease. That is all correct.

[@DouglasGreen562]

Yikes! Close call at 44:25. Could have been a real bruiser. Very good, detailed video 👍

[@harmeetgp]

As an Australian viewer, i can confidently say, you have a completely different real axel to us. We don’t have that cover and majority ours are LSD. Was very weird seeing the cover haha. Good vid regardless

[@urbanturbine]

weird they sent us mostly none LSD diffs. Most of my friends with FJ60 has open diffs. I have a euro spec 61 and it has LSD.

[@urbanturbine]

ops sorry, i forgot he is doing this on 80.

[@Tbooth87]

Once you have a chance to break the gears in, I’d love to hear your thoughts on highway drivability post-regear.

[@ldooffroad1823]

Well, actually I did that re-gear project in July 2021, and I've now driven at least 10k miles on it. The gears work great, and the locker is awesome. The 4.88s help in multiple ways: more torque to the wheels, slower crawling speeds, and higher RPMs at 70 mph which helps with power up hills. It drives much better than before. However, it does not change the fact that the stock 3FE engine is sluggish and low HP. Still not a race car, haha.

[@TheShooter466]

I see you have the semi float.

[@Tbooth87]

LDO, where do you find these SWEET jams you play during the montage?! Good work on the knuckles - I’m procrastinating mine. 🥴

[@ldooffroad1823]

Thanks, I’m glad you enjoy the music. …I write and record them.

[@Tbooth87]

@@ldooffroad1823 I THOUGHT that might be the case! 😉 Love the content - keep ‘em comin!

[@petermcdonald7380]

Love the video. Can I ask why you didn’t put in a locker in the rear diff? And how much would you say the parts cost you?

[@ldooffroad1823]

I spent $3k+ for everything in this video. Shortly after spent another $450 on inner axles. They do not make a selectable locker for the semi-floating axle in the early model 80s. So that solution is coming in a video to come…

[@petermcdonald7380]

@@ldooffroad1823 Thank you very much. Working on picking up an 80 in the next 6-8 months. Saving right now. Looking to build a capable overland camping rig.

[@leerevell5998]

Question please why did you change the diff is it because the lack of power on bigger tires? And why did you have to do the front as surely not in 4x4 modes all time. And last is the new gearing 4.88 to1 hope you got the power you wanted thankfully 👍

[@zaceastwood6871]

Short answer: yes, re-gearing will restore a sense of power lost with bigger tires - the real issue is that your RPMs are different from stock when you have bigger-than-stock tires. The 80 Series Land Cruiser (US version) has full time AWD, not 2WD, so the front is always engaged. Plus you should never have your differentials geared differently - everything will break - your front axle would try to go a different speed from your rear axle.

[@airborne1283]

Before you did all of this work, I am curious if you had the 80 series clunk in which when you let off the accelerator you hear a clunk sound? If you did, did all your work end this clunk?

[@ldooffroad1823]

I don't remember if I had a clunk when I let off the accelerator... I did have a loud clunk when I would shift from Drive to Reverse or vise-versa. A lot of that went away when I did this, but not all of it. I think some of the clunk was in the birf to drive flange splines. Someone on the Mud forum described it well by saying: each connection in the drivetrain has a little bit of play, all of those accumulate into a clunk, and it's very normal in these old 80s. I think a lot of it can be minimize by rebuilding those components. I'm planning to rebuild my T case this winter, and I expect to find some slop in the front output.

[@55silverbullet]

@@ldooffroad1823 I hope you’ll do more videos like this with future work 👀

[@OswaldoQuiceno-xr3ey]

Hello Mr how are you? I have a question for you about the differentials, can I replace the gears on the back diferencial only?

[@zaceastwood6871]

No, you MUST do both differentials at the same time, same gear ratio.

[@Allfather88]

What's your take on 4.88 gearing now that you've gone LS swap? Also, when LS swap video(s)?

[@ldooffroad1823]

I'm hoping to edit and release the LS swap videos this year. Sorry for the long wait. The LS power definitely helps move the bigger tires, and depending on what tire size you want, it may not be necessary to regear to 4.88s. Currently I'm on 35s with 4.88s and the V8 with GM 4L60 tranny. This combo is slightly undergeared, meaning I run slower than my speedo says. It works fine, and would allow me to run 37s without regearing, I think. If you're still running the stock engine, I would definitely consider regearing to 4.88s if you run 33s or bigger.

[@scottshellenberger4721]

How did you wire up the e-lockers?

[@ldooffroad1823]

Maybe I should put together a video for that... In short, the instructions explain the basics, but you choose how to get power, where to put the switch, and so on. I ran the main wire harness from the locker up the passenger side of the engine, across the firewall above the engine, and over near the brake master cylinder, where I went through the firewall to the interior. The power wire connects to the battery and through the firewall as well. Then on the interior, I got power from the small fuse box inside, and ran everything over to the switch, which I placed in the center of the dash down low near the cigarette lighter. Hope that helps!

[@taotaomotna5395]

How did you know that it has c clips by the year?

[@ldooffroad1823]

There are a number of differences between the 91-92 and the 93-97 Land Cruiser. As I research parts before a project, I usually learn about those differences in the process.