Just scored an awesome deal on this 85' axle. Planning on keeping it fairly low to keep running my 33's, 4"-5" max. Planning on 2" springs with stock shackles with sky or trailgears 2" hanger. It's more of an exploration rig, with capabilities for some trails but don't need anything too crazy, enough to clear for steering with some extra up travel to keep it road worthy since this is my DD.

Rebuild kit on the way!

 

for only wanting 33" tires you do not want a 4 or 5" lift. in my opinion that will be too much.

I ran 33" swampers for a little after i did my sas with 4" tg kit. Was way too tall.
I currently have 36" iroks but did clear 39.5" iroks fine on that same 4" kit.

 

From everyone I've spoken to, when using the tg kits and say their 3" springs, it ends up actually lifting the truck up almost 6-8" from stock with the 2" drop hanger + 3" springs + another 1" or so with their longer shackles. Planning on using stock shackles and probably old man emu 2" springs to keep it lower. My ifs is up probably 3-4" right now and I feel is almost perfect for my 33's. But I do agree; I'm trying to keep it low enough to clear 33's but not too much higher.

 

If i were you, you may consider making your own front leaf pack.
A lot of people run rear leaf springs up front. Yes that will lift it up quite a bit, but you should be able to play with the leaf packs and get a lower stance that you are looking for.

The 3" kit would probably be fine. It will be tall at first but the more and more you drive it, it will sag out and get lower over time.

i have pics in my build thread of when it was first straight axled with a 4" kit and 33's.

Hell, you might consider ditching your 33's and going to 35"s anyways. (trust me, you think you won't want a bigger tire, but you will eventually)

 

I was considering a custom leaf pack. There's a spring shop right down the road from work where I've had some other work done. I may pop in there and ask a few questions and maybe get something worked out. I remember seeing someones build on here where they kept it pretty low with it and looked great!

 

Got the axle off the frame, hubs, rotors, wheel bearings off both sides as of tonight. Spindle nut worked great with the screwdriver and hammer method. Noticed some previous screwdriver marks on the nut as well : p. Bearings and seals should be here next thursday. Still got lots of prep, cleaning and painting to do!

 

Subscribe for low slung SAS conversion. Good luck

 

Thanks! Can't wait to get started.

Got everything torn down the other day. Been trying to make some extra time for everything. Still need to cut off everything I don't need, sand it down, weld on extra trusses and clean everything!



Found water in the passenger knuckle, didn't see any rust or damage so I don't think it's been in there too long. Should be able to put everything back together by the end of next week.

 

be sure and keep the adjustment shims where they were, so you don't have to reset the preload and such.

be very careful when welding the housing, these things warp at the drop of a hat... some people think that warpage is unavoidable, and that the welding should only be done when the housing is bolted into a jig.

 

As long he doesn't weld the truss in one go he should be okay we stich welded my truss sure took a while but it turned out good and no warpage to boot

Sent from the abyss.

 

Subscribed... In the same boat. If I SAS I'l probably want to keep it lower. I drive a lot of back roads and don't want too much body roll... I have a 4" bracket and 33's right now. It's so stiff I can fly around tight corners like the civics down the road from me I would really hate to give that up as I can't stand driving any slower than 50mph on that road. If I SAS, I'd try to keep it lower. I keep telling myself stick with 33's, keep it simple. But I always forget that when I see a clean truck like mine SAS'd with 35's... Good luck with the build!

 

Lots of things have been keeping me occupied but finally got finished with the rebuild..

Extra brackets all cut off and smoothed out.



Primered and painted.



Burning in Sky's Toyota truss. No warpage!



Grabbed a stock 8" diff with 4.88's out of a v6 4runner with only 150k on it!



Reassembly! Full rebuild kit, bearings, seals, grease. Had to reshim the steering arms as the stock shims were nowhere near the pull scale weight. Think I ended up with .30 with a break free of around 9lbs.



Torqued and assembled up to spindle!



Backing plates cut down to keep brake line attachment.



54mm socket custom made, worked great!



Locking hubs all tore apart, painted and cleaned up and lightly greased for reassembly.



All put together!! New wheel studs pressed in as well, olds were all shot.



Drool...



Whole rebuild was pretty straight forward. Main problem I had was over torquing a bolt for the oil retainer behind the knuckle. Ended up breaking it all the way inside and had to drill it out. Looks super clean and can't wait to get it dirty ;] Ordering all the misc I need to complete the SAS when I get my next paycheck in!

 

Nice!

 

Looking good! How much did you pay for that v6 diff?

 

Thanks man. Picked it up for $80, always seem to find 4.88's on CL locally and lots in the pick n pulls.

 

$80??? I offered someone $300 and they said no.. And finding them in the salvage yard never happens.

 

ive got 3 of them lol, and no Toyota at the moment, I always find then

 

Got everything in the mail today!



Also scored this 85' front driveshaft on CL. Was told it was lengthened to fit his 6" lift 4runner and balanced as well so I'm hoping I won't have to lengthen or shorten it at all. Picked it up for $50 so if it works I'll be super happy.



Decided to run RUF over getting 2" Old Man Emu springs. So off to the picknpull on my next day off to see what I can grab then I'll get this project going.

 

White knuckles. Interesting choice. I remember seeing a beige truck with flat bad that did a sas real low on 33s. Looked great.

 

Lookin good man! Nice job on the 54mm socket!