Junkers88

I'm going to look at (and probably buy) an 89 4runner tomorrow. This one will be going up on 35's and have a solid axle swap done. Ok the problem is this. I'll have to send it somewhere, probably to the Wabbit, to get the SAS done. I'll have to keep my 86 truck to drive until the runner gets back and then sell the truck to help fund the rest of the build. During that time I won't be able to afford the tires/gears/lockers for the runner and will have to drive it for a little while with the 28" tires and 5" of lift.

So I guess teh question is this. Will having little tires on the rig cause any problems to the fab guys when they put the SAS under it? I mean don't you have to set up the lift with the tires on it to measure articulation and stuff? And do any of you think the truck will ride wierd with stock sized tires on it for a while? I KNOW how strange it's going to look.....

Ed H.

if its going to a fab shop specializing in offroad im sure they have an extra set of wheels and tires laying around or can use some off of their rig for mock up, narrow tires and lots of lift doesnt sound very fun to me especially around corners be careful.

drew303

Why don't you wait till you have all the money in order? Whats the rush of getting it swapped right after you get it, if you won't be able to utilize any of the new suspension?

Besides, running 28" tires on a Runner with a 5" lift is IMO, dangerous as hell.

And no, having tires/gears has nothin to do with installing any lift. They are completely separate.

Junkers88

It's an odd situation. I'm using a chunk of our household savings to buy the 4runner. I then need to sell the truck to pay back the house (this will keep my wife happy, which is mildy important). The problem is I can't do the fab work on an SAS swap in the driveway, so I need to send it off, but can't do that if I don't have a truck to go back and forth to work with...... etc.

After the SAS is done and I get the 4runner back then all I have to do is sell my truck to pay the house and then use the left over for the rest of the things I need like tires/gears/locker etc. Those things I can install myself depending on which lockers I get.

Did that clear things up or make it worse?

drew303

Interesting situation, lol. Made sense though.

It's to bad you couldn't borrow a car. A SAS should only take a day, maybe 2 for a shop to bust out. Might contact Wabbit, if thats who you're thinking about hiring and see how fast he can get it done. not sure where he's located versus you but if its local, could probably arrange a 3 -4 day window, and wait till you do have all the funds (ie sell your current rig) .. then plan for 4 days where you can arrange another vehicle?.. or rides?

Or just take those 4 days off work =) I took 4 days off 2 years ago and did my entire frame swap in those 4 days.

But really man, 28" tires and that high of a CG is really dangerous. Lotta deaths in Hawaii from kids runnin those types of lifts. The Hawaiians LOVE to jack their crap up as high as possible then running that on the highways till they can afford the proper size tires. ugh

Nothing like seeing a 18" IFS home-made drop bracket and 31's.... Man, some of the setups are just down right scary. Before I was their for a few months last year a guy die and killed another driver when his home-fab fell apart on the highway doin 50mph. =/

bxlt

I totally get what you are doing but I also agree that that much lift on the small tires would be scary as !!!! i Would suggest looking on craigslist for some used tires get some cheap ones that don't have much life left in them 31's or 33's and run them until you can afford the new ones and the gearing. Just my opinion :-)

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

Maybe things are different where your at but I'd use a whole lot of caution floating your savings in a hobby build on a possible vehicle sale in a soft economy. IMO its plain Futarded, sorry but opinion are like.... Well you get the point and Wab doesn't like profanity But seriuosly dude. Start small, I've been rocken IFS for a while but have done the cheaper and costlier mods. Now I've got a highly capable IFS rig that has taught me how to wheel and I've not run the risk of going belly up financually. A SAS alone will get you a whole lot of stuck right there next to the guy wheeling stock IFS. I know we wave as we pass them on the trail or sometimes just getting to the trail, deep snow Your choice guy, and ya'lls situation. Good luck.

gilby4runner

muddpigg makes a good point along with the others so far. Seeing your location, your choice of fab shops is interesting. Granted i know Wab does good work but your shipping your truck across the country. That alone would cover your cost of wheels and tires. Seems like a rush to get this done. In this economy it seems like a big gamble. just my .02

tc

First, it's pointless to SAS a rig without gears and lockers. The benefit from the flex is negligible, and unless you go beefy highsteer and Longs, you're not going to see a significant strength increase either. If you really NEED a SAS (and from your previous posts, I'm not convinced you do), then you need to do it right.

Second - what about all the transportation money to get this thing from NM to Alabama and back? You're telling me there's nobody in ABQ that can do a good SAS?

Lastly - you can save A TON of money doing much of it yourself. The cutting and grinding takes the bulk of the time, and you can do that yourself.

muddpigg makes a good point too.

My recommendation would be make a plan of what all has to be done (armor, lockers, gears, wheels/tires, SAS, etc) and what order you could step through it without spending any money on stuff that you will cut off later and keep the downtime on the rig to a day here and there instead of weeks all at once.

bxlt

TC makes a great point. I am looking to build a trail/street truck. I don't need it as a DD but I have very limited funds but I figured out that I can get it done in just under a year and half and still be able to wheel it during the process by breaking it down into 6 steps. and I will average only spending $100 - $150 a paycheck, I won't add any debt and while some steps (wheels & tires) will take a little longer it will be nice to be able do it with out going into debt.

Step 1&2 armor (bumpers front & rear sliders and other armor + some recovery gear)
Step 3 lift and shocks
Step 4 gears & lockers
Step 5 wheels & tires
Step 6 misc and improvements a SAS would come in at a later step if I feel the need (unless I can find a 84-85 but I don't think my price range will allow that :-)

Now after saving and selling a bunch of stuff I no longer needed I am about only about 3-6 months away from getting my new toy. It's been painful searching craigslist and seeing a bunch of great trucks go buy I know that I will find a good truck and not have to worry about over extending myself

swapped89

you might wanna do a 4" sas my 5" sas made my driveline angle suck and is almost maxed out just sittin in the driveway not flexed. and thats after takin out the cv and installing a high angle u-joints at bothe ends. just lettin you know my experience. i do like the 5" thogh they say it has more flex than the smaller lifts. your rig will look kinda goofy sittin on 28's when its that hi up. not sure about safety though. i hear once you sas something safety starts walkin out the door. You just gotta adjust your drivin to the rig.

swapped89

My front axle has all stock geometry. no high pinion, rotated knuckles or shims. those would all help with driveline angle.

Junkers88

Really good points all.

I guess I should point out that I wanted to SAS this thing just because it's what I want to do. Might be time to rethink that but dang it'd be nice to have a solid front axle and some 35's.

tc you're right. I don't need SAS with the wheeling that I do, in fact I have only had a couple spots where the rig I've got now didn't make it all the way to where I wanted to go.

Junkers88

Heck I've got all that on my truck now and the only thing that won't swap over is the rear bumper.

You know now that I think about it I'm betting I could take the MC front bumper and the Budbuilt skid plate and put them on the 4runner. The axles are the same so I could also swap in my 4.56's and the locker, swap out the wheels and tires, do the battery swap and drop the Supra MAF in the 4runner and have pretty much my truck with a 4runner body. Then all I'd need would be the lift in the rear and some BJ spacers for the front.

Of course then the value of the truck would drop without all the extra goodies on it.

The bad thing is that I'd still be rolling 31's on IFS instead of 35's on SAS but the good thing is I'd only be out 1500$ for the 4runner and a couple hundred for the MC rear bumper and I could probably get 2000$ for my truck.

drew303

i like your latest plan the best =)

drew303

oh btw, you can have a shop weld on all the SAS parts.. front hangar, drill the frame, rear hangars...

before you take anything off, then bring it home and torch/cut/grind the IFS off at your convenience and do the rest of the installation yourself.

bxlt

That sounds like the best plan and take that MC rear bumper off before you sell it I would be willing to buy it for $200 or so and I am sure I'm not the only one :-D