I finally decided on a vehicle. Picking up a Sidekick this weekend. Decided to go with the Kick over the Sami because it's a little bigger but mostly because this was a nice looking Kick for a good price and all the Sami's I found locally were junky looking and over priced.

1989 1.6L (8valve) F.I.
Manaul
4WD

Right back to the axle talk here man. I'm taking this into the shop next week so I have to decide what set up to go with. I need help choosing axles set up. Let me know what you like and why. These are some of the more popular choices but I really would like to hear all of the options as well as good detailed info on why you chose what you did and how they are performing and what lockers, gears you have installed on them.

Toyota Axles - are they all the same width? Are they wide enough to stick out a few inches on a Sidekick (that's what I like). I thougth I read another post where the stock kick axles were actually wider then Toy axles. I don't know. I thought it was like 55" on Toys but kicks were like 58".

Waggy - Dana44's are proably a good choice, they are wider then Toy axles but not the widest option available. I've heard that Toy axles are stronger though and will hold up better. I have no clue if that is true or false. These are probably also harder to get ahold of.

GM 14bolt FF - I know this is a full size axle but do the widths vary on this axle? What front axle would you run with this so they are same size?

Those I guess are the more popular choices. I just don't know if the Toy axles will be wide enough for my liking. What's stonger between all of these?

Grrr - I wish I knew which to pick - I'll take all suggestions at this point. Thanks.

out of the choices you've given i'd say go with toy axles. they're a popular swap and will work well.

they're about 2" wider than sammy axles. not sure if they mean on each side or in total.

say away from 1 ton chevy stuff. why would you? they weigh a ton and cut in to your ground clearance real bad. if you want to run 1 tons, swap them onto a fullsize pickup frame and put the tracker body on top.

track/kicks and sammys are supposed to be lightweight. we don't need that 1 ton stuff. you could run 1/2 tons with 35s and prolly not break anything.

my buddy has a sammi with toy axles with 37's and they are plenty strong. as for width, i like wide too. he put 2.5" backspaces wheels on his and the stance looks really good. i'm actually in the process of a similar build and thats what i'm gonna run. toy axles are probably a good balance between strength and wieght, plus ease of adapting to your kick so that would be my suggestion. also if you every wanted it a little wider you could always buy a 1" spacer or so for the wheels. good luck

It depends what you're after (maybe I missed another post?), I think the waggys are the best choice cause of width. Turning radius can be a lot better (without spacers). Price will be the same as toyota. For long term I think a nine inch 44 combo would be the best, cause you always want to go bigger later.:D

I've got full width chevy 10 bolts and wouldn't trade 'em for nothing. With the increased ground contact patch of a much much larger that stock tire with low (3-4)psi air pressure, your contact pressure on the ground will actually go down, which will lessen friction grip. You need to add some weight and stay with a skinny tire. I've got 39.5" Iroks 13.5" wide and they stick out all the way plus an inch. I've got a bitchin turning radius, too. and the rear steer just makes it even better. I made that myself out of a front and rear chevy 10 bolt, then made custom oil seals for it. I bet I gained about 600 pounds or so. Even if I top out at 3000lbs, it's still half of what a jeep weighs. jd

Good points. That's my fear of going with Toyota axles, that I will want to go wider. Maybe not. I'd have to see a Kick with Toyota axles and a 2" backspaced wheel from the front view to see how I like it. Like I said in my other post, all I've seen is Sami's with Toy's and also Waggy's and 14bolts, but never a kick with any of those. I've had some people say what's the difference, your track will be the same regardless of the Kick or Sami, but you also have to factor in tire clearance. That Toy axle with a 2" BS rim might stick almost all the way out on a sami where it might still be well tucked under on a kick.

If somebody could post some front shots of a Kick with Toy axles and 2" rims, that would be very helpful. I am very confused still on the width of the Toy axles and what year of tacos are they mostly coming off. Are they all the same width?

What's the width on a 9" and what would you run up front along with that in the rear?

Waggy's probably are a good choice but I suspect they are hard to find and the guy who is doing this work says they're much harder to put in compared to the Toy's. And how strong is the Waggy D44 compared to the Toy's?

********* Also forgot to mention, what drag link set up are you guys running with these kicks? I'm sure that needs an upgrade from stock. I already have the power steering conversion sorted out.

First off, if the guy that's "doing it" is saying that D44s are harder to put in then toys you should seek a different shop.
Second, with understanding that I will piss off a few people here I will still say that Toys are for Samis and Danas are for Kicks.
Toys are 3 inches narrower then stock Sidekick width. To make it work like a stock width you instantly have to go with spacers or low BS wheels.

The Toy - Dana strength war has been beat to death and any shaft or u-joint/birf strength differences are neglegable. However the strength of the housing is hands down Dana's domain, so if there was a tangible argument, Dana wins.

After 5 years of wheeling I have learned that my 61 WMS Waggys and 3.25 BS wheels are not wide enough. I want more. I will be narrowing the Chev long side D44 down to a Scout/Waggy length (or in other words cutting about 3.25 inches or so off), but I will leave the Short side Chevy length.
This should have me sitting at 64-65 inches WMS. :D
Trust me. If you want to wheel this thing hard you'll want wider.
Sorry I gotta go so cannot go into more details but that's just my .02.

Toys we are talking about never came in Tacos.:p Just in '79-'85 mini trucks.

as i've stated, i've got toys on my kick and wouldn't use any other. all you have to do is find an 86+ rear instead of an 85- and there's 3 inches wider than stock sidekick rear and bigger tubes and brakes than 85- toy rear. for the front, swap in IFS parts for inch and a half? wider front. i'm just running a 12.5 TSL on 8" rims and they are pretty wide and stick out far, i'll find a pic somewhere of the front or rear. if you don't go "stupid" high then it's plenty stable. carrying one spare diff for the front or back that can be put in on the trail is enough of an insentive for me, not to mention more clearance, less weight, no cast metal crap that's shitty for welding, easy steering solutions and it bolts right up to a toy 2nd t-case. One last thing, something that is never mentioned and often overlooked is the smooth bottom of a pop out third style housing, toys slide over obstacles, danas' bolt ridge hangs up and drags on stuff, i've seen this make quite a difference.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/4769/dcp6944small7cx.jpg
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3534/dcp6956small3kr.jpg

Remember you're not just limited to Toy mini trucks. :)

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