TOTAL cost of solid axle swap??

[happytrails]

anyone have a good guess on how much a SAS for my 89 will run me. i need to know the rough cost of axle itself, labor, other parts needed, etc. basically how much is it going to take to get me rollin on a real suspention. that would really help me out. thanks. JD :help:

[KToy]

6000 minus trade on ur truck.... just by mine its already done


http://www.wildyoats.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=12617

[happytrails]

where do you live..or where would i have to travel to get this thing?


but how much do you think for a basic SAS (everything included)? in case i keep my rig.

[Kyron]

It depends on alot of thingies............

....... such as........

[KToy]

im in utah slc utah ..... and i might meet ya half way.


and a sas usually cost about 2000 bucks plus tires.

[93SAS]

Well if you do the swap yourself like I did it'll run ya around 3 Grand give or take a little. Thats what it cost me to do mine, its really pretty easy to do. Check out Trail Gears SAS kit thats the cheapest I've found. But if I were to do it over again I'd go with Marlins kit using the USA made springs. Hope this helps, Wes

[KToy]

give me 3500 and ur truck... ill deliver if u pay half of gas.

[muddy_yota_guy]

i did my own labor, used junkyard springs; chevies and rears up front, made all my brackets, and i'm in about 1200 thats buying hi-steer and 14 inch remote resivior shocks.

[KToy]

so 2000 plus tires.

[Kyron]

thats buying hi-steer and 14 remote resivior shocks.


So what did you do with the other 10 shocks :rofl:

[muddy_yota_guy]

All of them are on there, i had them platinum plated, because all of my mall buddies have chrome and that's just really 1990's. You haven't seen my ride posin on the curb at the mall?

But honestly it's late so i went back and edited it

[happytrails]

i dont know if i can come up with that kinda money soon though. i want to do it but im in the middle of movin back to kentucky and itd take a month or two to come up with 3500. plus my truck has a brand new motor in it i spent 3000 on. if i think of any ideas ill let you know....i want your truck so bad hah.

yeah i wont be doing any SAS's by myself. the most ive ever done to a truck myself is drop the tank and change my fuel sending unit and pump. an axle convertion is a little advanced for me. if anyone lives around the kentucky/indiana region and wants to make a little pocket change....let me know

[KToy]

my truck has 140,000 original miles and runs perfect.


but ya i need to get rid of my truck so i can start a new project im getting bored.

[muddy_yota_guy]

where abouts in ky are you moving to? i live in somerset, it's about an hour and a half south of lexington. If you got your truck down here i would be more than happy to help

[yota711]

sorry to bust in on your thread....but hey ktoy...what kinda truck you lookin for? jsut a new one to start over or do you want a pretty boy tacoma? haha...cuz i got a 93 ex cab....let me know what your plan is...

[happytrails]

im moving back to louisville. bout 45 to an hour from lexington. im willing to pay for the help. let me know what you think....and keep your eyes open for a yota front axle that'd be a good canidate for the 89

thanks

[KToy]

hey i got ur pm dont jack his thread. and i msged u back so u have a pm about ur truck. and i need the money first off and i want to build a new one.

either truck like a 93 or a 4runner or a tacoma no matter really.

[azredliner]

anyone have a good guess on how much a SAS for my 89 will run me. i need to know the rough cost of axle itself, labor, other parts needed, etc. basically how much is it going to take to get me rollin on a real suspention. that would really help me out. thanks. JD :help:

I have'nt read all the replies to this thread, but I will tell you the IFS suspension is a great setup. The IFS will hold up to anything short of extreme. Unless you plan to do some extrem rock crawling, stary with your IFS. I have an IFS and a straight axle. Up to this point, I have taken my IFS truck everywhere my SA truck has been.

Cost? SAS kits run about $1700.00 not including the axle. If you are going to do some "real" 4-wheeling, you will need bigger tires. With bigger tires, you will need lower gears to compensate for the bigger tires. Then you will need to upgrade from the stock Birfields, because the lower gears and bigger tires will be too much strain on them. That upgrade will cost you around $650.00 and while you are doing that, you might as well rebuild the knuckles, another $80.00.

And since you want to pay someone to do all the labor, it will cost you about $10,000.00 in parts and labor.

***I said "up to this point" because I'm outgrowing the "trail" scene. I'm doing a bunch of axled mods so I can do a bit more extreme stuff.***

[happytrails]

i assume making my yota more trail oriented is a little cheaper than doing an extreme mod such as the SAS. this toyota i own will see everything short of extreme rock crawling....and i want to feel confident that i can make it over most obstacles. and i dont want to buy useless shit (i.e. SAS when i dont rock crawl or live near moab) that i could have kept stock or lighty modified to get the same results. your all's help is awesome and thanks

IDEAS WELCOME!!!

[azredliner]

i assume making my yota more trail oriented is a little cheaper than doing an extreme mod such as the SAS. this toyota i own will see everything short of extreme rock crawling....and i want to feel confident that i can make it over most obstacles. and i dont want to buy useless shit (i.e. SAS when i dont rock crawl or live near moab) that i could have kept stock or lighty modified to get the same results. your all's help is awesome and thanks

IDEAS WELCOME!!!

Yeah. If your not going to be doing the extreme stuff, just put on some 32" tires and remove the sway bar for a little more flex. As a matter of fact, the IFS will hold up to a little more abuse than the stock Birfield set up. You can get away with a locker up front on a stock IFS. A locker and stock Birfields = breakage.

My truck is totally bone stock, suspension wise. And I have been everywhere in it with 32's. I don't even have lockers. I just air down to 14 pounds of air and go!

I leave those Jeep guys scratching their heads.
http://yuma4wheelers.com/images/American%20Girl%20Mine%202.JPG

Here's my '84. It's lfted 4" with 33" M/T's
http://yuma4wheelers.com/images/Araz%20Wash%20Night%20Run2.jpg

[muddy_yota_guy]

my buddy has a 92 that he's kept ifs we put 1.5 inch longer shackles on it that we built, and a ball joint spacer from www.4crawler.com. We also removed the sway bar. Actually made it handle better. In a few months we're installing aussie lockers front and rear and he's working on building a new tranny crossmember to get a little more ground clearance. With 31x10.50 mtr's he's pretty capable around here. After the lockers he'll be near unstoppable at a lot of the places we go.

[happytrails]

so the stock toyota gears are pretty capable of getting the truck through some tough stuff? i'm still learning a lot of the technical yota stuff and im preparing to start modding within the next month or two and i need to know what to get...and in which order. what do you guys think?

[azredliner]

The IFS does a lot more than it gets credit for, plus it rides a lot smoother than SA. I'm keeping my '86 as an IFS. It handles trails rated 1 - 4. My SA truck will do the 5's.

[happytrails]

trail ratings only go to 5 right....the rest is all the insane stuff?

[azredliner]

trail ratings only go to 5 right....the rest is all the insane stuff?

Here's what some people (and most Arizonians) go by: http://yuma4wheelers.com/trailratings.aspx

Trail Ratings are like everything else. Everyone has different ideas. Some have 10 catagories and some have 3. The one on the link is a 5 catagory with the "1" omitted. The "1" catagory is for 2-wheel drive. We don't bother with that one.

[bodo]

I also have an 89 shortbed standard cab with a straight axle conversion, I really can't tell the difference in ride quality, but my stuff was wore out before. It's not going to ride like a lexus so don't try to make it one. In my experience I got sucked into the whole magazine/rockcrawlerforum thing and had to have a straight axle, I wish I had the money back. There are no rocks in Florida, but it's still cool when someone says hey man that's cool. WISH I HAD THE MONEY BACK!

[happytrails]

according to those trail guides, and my personal experience with my yota, my stock 22re/4wd/89' pickup can probably make it through a lot of those difficult trails.

im learning a lot so far about the potential of my toyota and i am very pleased. i have had this on numerous "difficult" trails and it seems to pass with flying colors on everything but mud.

my mods in the near future will probably consist of suspention parts for as much articulation as i can afford, tires, engine stuff for a few extra horsies, lockers, and rocovery supplies. hopefully those wont break my bank. i need to learn how to do some of this on my own to cut costs down.

[azredliner]

Go here to see a video of a IFS truck doing some rocks; http://www.trail-gear.com/video.html

[Marc P]

My IFS worked great for about 4 years...then my control arm bushings went south, so it was either take it all apart to change bushings or take it apart for an axle swap.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid205/p07d0d7d0c9324bf767c0cb485252dc18/ef3e3632.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid172/pe75bf2857750e05ed1d9e566fe836407/f3d387a5.jpg

My SAS has cost just over $2,000 at this point, but I had a buddy do the welding and cutting. I did the wrenching and grinding.

I kept my swap low too...running 33's..I didnt want to be tippy, just stronger.

Here are some new pics....

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid213/p161aff2ff1af7251fc9529d5b1fa58a4/ed3b14f2.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid208/p403bd5842946e83135735cf60a2c339e/ee5db4ae.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid214/p85792689f197b0e09868f949324d8ca8/ed1ea4e6.jpg

[22REkid]

I would agree with a lot of people on here that a SAS is not mandatory and IMO pointless for a lot of people. Someone made a good point eariler about being caught up in the magazine/rock crawling craze. In no way am I putting down anyone's decision to do a SAS, but like I said a lot of people think they need it and don't. If you are a hardcore rock crawler than a SAS would be a good idea. IFS works good for the all around average trail guy. You either love or hate IFS there isn't that many people in the middle. I love it. It suits me very well for how I use it. For my application it is very stable, handels well, and is a smooth ride. There are downsides to to solid axles and IFS but all in all they are very comparible in price of modification. You can spend thousands on a solid axle and thousands on IFS it's your call. There is a uniball conversion that bolts in the stock balljoint location too. So BJs are not a problem anymore.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/22rekid/22rekid2.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/22rekid/22REKidrig1.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/22rekid/1.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/22rekid/balljointconv_lg_07.jpg

[bbagwell]

After watching some of the Best of the Dessert Vegas to Reno race a couple weeks ago, I really want to build an IFS truck for some high speed dessert stuff.