I currently have a 1987 Toyota 4Runner with a 5 speed manual transmission, 31" tires and 4.10 gears. I am looking to upgrade to lower gears and would like to get the front and rear differentials out of a junkyard with the lower gears already in the third member.

Today I was cruising the local junkyard and came across a few 4runners with the following axle codes.

1. G282
2. G292
3. G072
4. G144
5. G254

From what I can figure out the two codes that hold promise are the G282, G254 and G144. Will any (or all) of these codes work in my 87 Runner?

G282 is a 4.300 gearset from a 1987 4Runner 4 cylinder automatic
G254 is a 4.556 gearset from a 1990 (I think) 4Runner (not sure of motor since it was missing)
G144 is a 4.875 gearset from a 1994 Automatic 4Runner (6 Cylinder motor)

What are the possible issues? I know the last number of the code is the number of Pinon gears.....does that matter if I want to swap out the entire 3rd member? Does it matter if the 3rd member is coming out of a vehicle with an automatic transmission and I will be installing it into my 4runner with a manual transmission? Did Toyota use the same axle spline count in all their 4runners?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Gregg