dark_fairytales

well said Zelephant

MaK92-4RnR

Appreciate the post, Zelephant.

but lemme specify on the LT kit a bit more.

Its actually not made in his garage. The company that made it is called DIRT Designs and Fabrication. they've made a few ford rangers and tacoma race trucks. I've seen the kit up close and personal, and it performs ridiculously well and smooth. ( he was flying around at pismo, and I kept trying to keep up with him, my truck just couldn't take the sudden drops, and whoops like his could ) This was obviously before his rig blew a headgasket a few hours later.

But heres some pictures of it and what not.







Also, Heres a link to the company that makes it.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/DIRT-D...593741?sk=info

I understand its a "rival" company compared to JD performance and fab and TOTAL CHAOS but. its sufficient none the less... I just think the price is a tad bit crazy... :/ honestly, if he wanted like a grand or 1500 for it. I'd take it and if i didn't like it, i'd sell it and do an SAS. but 2500 for no coil over suspension ( even though i contacted the owner and he says yes, he can definitely convert them to coilovers and remove the t-bars. ) that would just make that 2500 go up in price, not to mention he's located in So cal and im in nor cal....

Also, 2500 also seems ridiculous as well, because the Tie rod extensions are bent. :/ so I'd need to buy new ones. and he needs to cut the shock towers off ( im a bit sketchy about that ) so i'd also need to buy the TC hoop towers. AND i'd need to get the TC idler arm or brace the one i have. That 2500 just climbs quick... and I could have a sufficient SAS with the price.

Im glad everyone sees where im coming from though as far as for the same price I could have a sufficient SAS

gary_the_4runner

do what you want to do, obviously. but it seems like you haven't really justified the point of SAS. youve estimated 1000 to improve your stock IFS and to lift it. ive put 1000 into my suspension, and i have a factory straight axle rig. expect to at least triple that.
you say: money isnt the issue, and you want to only build once; so why not SAS with 4 link?
you say: youre not going hardcore crawling yet you are unsatisfied with the efficiency in clearence and travel?

MaK92-4RnR

To me, I've clarified both of those. but I'll clarify some more.

The price of the long travel and the kit itself isn't the issue. As in, I dont care how much he's asking for with the kit, it still doesn't free up the inconvenience of working on the front end. Regardless of how much I spent on a Long travel set up, the pain the ass assembly of the front is still going to be there...

I am not going to be hardcore crawling like I said before, But swapping to a solid axle eases up on the front end assembly, as in... I dont have to pull the skid, bumper, and IFS brace off to work on it. And putting a straight axle under the rig and doing it right the first time ( whether it be links or leafs ) would make more sense to me by not dropping money into a very limited stock suspension.

Hopefully that clears up a few things?

MaK92-4RnR

I just did some more math on the LT kit... he's only wanting 225 cheaper than a brand new TC kit ( and i included the shock hoops, shocks, and axles... )

dark_fairytales

Mike, in all reality, you are describing the real issue is just the budbuilt skid-plate. Sounds like your first step, if you do anything, would be to sell the skid-plate. If you SASed your rig. You would be selling the skid-plate anyway. From that point, you would have many options open for you too decide on. You could build a new and custom skid-plate of your own design that has no interference problems.( you do know I have a welder now. right). You could also really look into what you need as suspension goes. What kind of suspension would work best for your needs. It is all baby steps man. I understand you want to do it right the first time. Doing it right can mean many different things to many different needs.

Ps. I just received my Blazeland kit two days ago. With out shocks the total price shipped to my door plus tax was $1184.17. As stated before, there are many options too many needs.

MaK92-4RnR

Thinking of selling the TJM and the Budbuilt skid plate and replacing the bumper with a badlands. haven't yet decided on a new skid plate.

this is up in the air for now.

dark_fairytales

wow man, your decisions seem erratic. Keep us updated as to what you do.

MaK92-4RnR

Lol you dont know this by now? Im extremely indecisive... Futuristically, i know how i want things to end up and be set up. but currently, my project is my house. ( just finished the flooring today )

but for now, i'm gonna run it how it is... save up some bread and see where I wanna go with it. I could leave the suspension stock for now and do a roof rack / drawer cargo system build. ( might need to beef the rear end up though... leaf conversion? ) theres lots of things I can do.

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

OOOHHHH! Nice!

Mike, unless you're ready to SAS it sounds like you just need to mod your armor to be compatible with one another and leave it alone. Its not like your diff needs to come out very often either. If it does need to come out, it's a pain in the ass regardless. If I were you and wanted something to do next, I'd put some cruiser or OME springs in the back, perhaps some beefier t-bars, new shocks, and go through your IFS with new bushings and make everything happy again. I've got a brand new OME steering stabilizer somewhere in the garage if you need to piece together an OME kit. Don't leaf the rear.

Good luck on the house. I'm finally almost done with mine and last big project was the kitchen - now just waiting for my countertops to get installed and need to figure out what color tile to put on floor. After that my attention goes to the garage for some shop time