(x-post from my build thread) toyota axle conversion
 

Forking this into a new discussion here because not everyone reads my crappy build thread.

As you might know, the FT86 shares it's pumpkin with the IS300, meaning it's a toyota 8" IRS. With that in mind, I was amazed when I saw people were blowing the rear axles up on these cars, but when I realised that the subaru engineers decided to make kind of a conversion axle to mate subaru-sized outer splines, CV's, and axle shafts into the toyota diff, it all made sense.

That said, if you pop the rear axles out, you can just pop in either MK3 supra / MX83 cressida or IS300 companion flanges to the rear diff, and early (MA70 / MX83 / UCF10) or late (JCE10 + others??) toyota RWD axles will bolt up. This plus the fact that we can now run aluminum spacers between the axles and the companion flanges means there's a lot of axle lengths to pick from.

At this point, we only need to deal with the outer splines in the hub. Subaru went with a bolt-on hub assembly, and happily, they managed to pick the same registration diameter to the upright as Toyota did: 84mm. The hub pictured above is an LS400 (UCF30 I think but I can double check) unit, and it looks like I'll be able to make it work with only easy machining to the rear uprights. I will post updates and part numbers and possibly a drawing of the required work once I confirm this.

Figured the F/I guys and the swap crowd would be interested in this. The toyota 8" rear end is great, so you really don't need to swap in a ford 8.8" or any of that crazy shit, you just need axles that aren't shit. Paying $1000 for axles forged from unobtainium is one way, but it seems to me like swapping in regular old toyota axles is probably another good solution.

Discuss.

i always think im pretty mechanically-inclined until i see threads like this and realize im not that mechanically-inclined. lol

Seems like a good option for those looking to upgrade. I look forward to your updates.

http://i.imgur.com/VX74Ttl.jpg

super close, but not quite.

could be doable with a machined spacer between the hub and the upright, or easily doable once aftermarket uprights come out. hopefully parts shop MAX is clever enough to make theirs with a dual pattern for the rear hubs.

with a short spacer between the hub and bearing, it might be possible, but I'm going to investigate some other options first. I just got off the phone with PSM and they don't plan on making rear uprights, so I wonder who the first company to come out with some will be.

any updates?!

Anyone found a toyota axle solution yet?