I got an 88 pickup. Its got an IFS, i was thinkin bout putin a lift on it and some good all terrain tires on it. Would it be better to have an IFS or a SAS? It'll be bout an everyday driver and will be on the roads 2/3 of the time and off road the other 1/3. What would be better for it?

 

I am contemplating the same thing. My stock 86 4runner is my daily driver. Is it worth it to sink money into the IFS.

I picked up a set of 4.88 gears and eaton truetrac's for the 7.5" IFS front and 8" rear . I bought them new, second hand for the a fraction of the cost. However, is it worth putting money into an IFS truck?

After Ball joint spacers, steering parts, rear lift, shocks, bushings, and whatever else comes up, how will it compare in price to doing it right the first time. I think it is safe to say a Yo running 35's SAS w/ gears and lockers would be twice as capable as the latter.

My main goal is to ad overall appeal and value, and to build it once. I guess I really need to do some shopping...

 

throw an lockright or aussie in the rear end before you do anything. wheel with stock IFS and a locker for a season, if you still want to SAS afterwards then go for it.

 

^^X2!!
I have got a bunch of time and money into my IFS and it performs about the same as stock. I feel the best mod. I have done was swapping my 4:10's for 4:56 gears! I dont have a locker yet but its on the list. Your $ could be better spend IMHO. Good luck

 

I agree with these guys -- I mean, the SFA would be helpful if you do a lot of crawling, but you will also sacrifice on-road handling, comfort, etc... And for the cost, probably not worth it, seeing as it is mostly a daily. Good tires and a locker are probably what will give you the biggest gains for the money.

 

You can link the SAS and it'll retain some road worthiness. theres reasons why 2nd gen - present 4Runners have a linked rear axle and not leaf

 

This is were I am at Mak92. For the price of quality components of a SAS with leafs, shocks, greasable shackles, u-bolt flip kit, and hi-steer, it's not much of a stretch to go to links. Obviously there is more involved. However, I have looking into air bag systems which are quite reasonable compared to $400 coilovers w/o springs

Also, one might run homemade flat steering arms w/o leafs to maneuver around?

Link F/R Leaf F/R

Link material $250 = Hardware: Shackles, U-bolts
Rod ends $500 = Springs: F/R 4-5" springs
Homemade brackets
Shocks $500 = Shocks: Bilstein 5150
Air bags $500 = Hi steer

All I have really found on this topic is 80 series LC running air bags.

 

I got a '93 Pickup, std cab, short bed, with the 22RE. Not to mention the Rock Ripper Header and Crawler Cam. MEEEOW!! haha

With my truck, I was out wheelin' one day, with the IFS, and I guess I wheeled it a bit too hard cause my ring and pinion gears skipped a tooth, and just messed up my 4wd. I was out of wheelin' for almost a year cause I was at school at the time, didnt have money to get the dam thing fixed, so I did without. Moved back home, all my boys had working 4wd, and I got sick of riding with them. It's BS. lol.

I started doing some serious research on the SAS project. Finally went through with it. I got the IFS Eliminator Kit from Trail Gear, and the rear lift from them also. Upgraded with the better Bilstein 5150 shocks for the front cause, well, it was only a $50 upgrade. Why the hell not?!
It was my first custom fab project, so yes, I was a bit nervous. But that kit from Trail Gear, is an AWESOME kit. has an axle rebuild kit so you can go through your knuckles and bearings and everything on your 'donor axle'. There's just a few minor things that they dont throw in. Such as new wheel studs and minor things like that, which you can get at your local parts store. But you can always call them for ANY assistance you may need. They're awesome. They really know what they're doing. They also have online instructions, very easy to follow, makes the build that much easier.
The longest part of the project was torching off the IFS. That was about a 2 day process, 8-10 hrs per day is what i put into the whole project. Thank god I had about 2 weeks off from work!
Now that it's all said and done, I am quite happy with it. Just a few minor adjustments I need to do still. Set the preload on trunion bearings, put some axle armor on, just small stuff.
It drives fine. Still have my little 31inch all terrains but, hey, they get the job done for now. With the kit/lift i got from Trail Gear, was the 4inch kit, which they say is like a 5inch lift. 33's still look small. I put my buddys 33's on and decided 35's are the way to go. I could easily fit 37's but, then I'd be rubbing when I flex out. And thats just too big for the little 22RE. No matter what kind of performance you got done. Still too big! Unless you go with the right gearing. So, I talked to the guys at Low Range Off-Road in Provo, UT, they recommend going with 5.29 gears for the 35's, and if I wanted to go to 37's, that's no problem with the 5.29's. Also, with the lift I got, I had to get a longer front driveline. Just took my old one down to a local driveline guy, and had it extended. Works fine. Another thing, you will have to adjust your axle perches, which I still need to do. If you dont, you'll really hear your rear driveline when there's not a load on it. It gets annoying. The front kinda binds because of the driveline angle, perches is the solution. One of these days, I'll get it taken care of.
The truck rides smooth with the kit, it's not super rough, but it's a little bit rougher than the IFS was. But, it's tolerable. that's for sure. It's made for offroading anyway, I don't care. Lol.
I'm happy with the SAS. Stock, with no lockers period, it kicks some serious ass. I can do just about anything people with 'jeeps' with a rear locker can do. It's awesome, I love it, glad I finally went through with it, and did it.
Overall, total investment was probably $2200-$2500. Not too bad at all.
If you got any questions about it, I'm open to all. It was only my first SAS, but, afterwards, I feel pretty comfortable about how it turned out. It's a fun project, the thing that was the biggest pain in the ass was the axle rebuild kit. Maybe it was just me, but it took me about a day and a half to get it done and ready to roll under the truck.
Let me know if you have questions, glad to help!
Just dont go sour and get a... Ya know... Jeep...

 

Another thing, I wouldn't piece it together. I highly recommend getting the kit. That way you know EVERYTHING is there.
Dont piece together the whole thing.
Unless you can fab up your own steering rods, shackles, etc., then more power to ya! I wish I was that good with my work to be able to fab up everything!