Purpose of differential drops?

Can someone help me understand the point behind dropping the differential?

What is the purpose, and how does it affect your truck?

TIY

 

Can i assume that the higher the lift and bigger tires the more you would benefit from dropping the diff? If so, is that something than the layman can do?

 

Yeah. Conventional wisdom is that they are needed for anything over 2.5. Easy thing to do if you can handle a wrench. Definitely not worth paying someone else to do.

 

DO you know if there is a DIY thread on here anywhere?

 

I can handle a wrench, but i want to know what i'm looking at and what the outcome is if i twist THAT bolt or nut

 

sure. here it is.

1) remove skid plate
2) put a jack underneath diff
3) remove bolts
4) lower diff by about 1"
5) slide in spacers
6) reinstall bolts
7) remove jack
8) reinstall skid plate.

really, after step 1 slide under there and take a look. It will become quite obvious.

 

Thank you so much!! After hearing that it might prevent premature wear and tear i'm certainly in the mind set to get it done. I can handle this. Again, thanks for heads up.

 

@jberry813

 

Any suggestion as to which kit i should go with, or are they all pretty similar?

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/when-is-a-diff-drop-needed.11593/

 

np. Definitely a big return for a small investment. Did you raise the rear? If so, you may need to consider a carrier bearing drop kit as well. even easier to do, since you don't have to mess with the skid plate.

 

that's the thread that got me inquisitive.

 

I raised the rear up 1 inch and then put 35's on.

 

OK. so the deal there is, you may notice a subtle vibration when taking off from a stop. Should that happen, it is because the two pieces of your driveshaft are no longer in alignment. A carrier bearing drop kit adds spacers to realign the drive shaft halves.

 

I haven't noticed a vibration. I haven't noticed anything out of the norm....yet.

So, here's a question...does the truck work harder to turn those big tires with it lifted, and if so, is there anything else i need to worry about with that size tire? This is the first lift i've ever had and obviously the largest tire. Ive been through numerous Tacomas and Tundras but never lifted. What else to i need to maintain outside the suspension?

 

The short answer is yes. Those tires are likely a lot heavier than the stock ones. In addition, they may, depending on the tread pattern, create additional rolling resistance. That said, my butt-dyno didn't notice any difference at all. There are those who say they CAN feel the difference, but maybe my old ass is numb.

Changing tire diameter also changes your effective drive ratio which likely means your speedometer, odometer and MPG meter are now lying to you. Hyper-tech makes a speedometer calibrator module that will "tune" your speedometer to compensate for the effective gear change.

 

Mark, I've got a diff drop you can have. It came with a spacer kit, I got one from Toytec. Theirs is nicer, it's not quite as thick and solid billet. The free one composite.

 

Awesome!! Thanks for the offer.
Is it worth having or should I get the ToyTec? If it's decent and it'll save me some $$ then I can drive to Evergreen sometime this weekend and meet up with you if you're available. If it's not good quality I might purchase one. I'm not exactly sparing expenses on this truck.

Again, if it's decent I'll take it

 

It seems descent, the longer bolts are solid and the same diameter as factory. I thought it was a little thick for my 2.5" lift. Let's ask @ColoradoTJ if the composite is ok. I'll snap a pic for you. It's out in my shed.

 

Yeah @ColoradoTJ ...help us out!

 

Where in evergreen are you? Closer to 70 or Conifer?

 

They're 1 3/16 thick

 

I've got the spacers for the skid plate to. I should be around this weekend. Do you take I-70 or 285, I'm closer to 285.