Howzit folks? After years of thinking about it, gathering parts and doing tons of research I finally started the SAS on my 89 pickup. I wanted to stay relatively low and read articles like this
thread and this one many times over and even from other sites but the more I researched, the more I became unsure of what the hell I was doing lol.
I went with the standard full braced hanger from Sky’s off-road and as the title states I decided to french the front hanger to try and maintain the 4.5” lift as it currently rides. I thought the solid axle I got from Craigslist was an ok deal because it wasn’t rusted out, came with the hi-steer conversion, 4” springs and even the flat pitman arm.


(what’s up with the gold paint?)
This past weekend, my uncle’s master welder friend was in town and he said he could “help” so I checked them out. Not expecting any actual work I figure I could at least show him the truck and I could ask for some advice..next thing I know, he’s cutting the front cross member!


These old school guys are the best!


This 3rd generation welder is such a classic character and had some far out stories from having fathered at least 10 kids (that he knows of), welding stuff for the us army as a soldier with an m16 watches over and why underwater welding is always a roll of the dice all the while diligently working. He declined my offers to at least do some grinding and I took it as a sign that I should just watch and learn.



So this is where I had to make a critical call. Knowing that the front hanger placement is important I wasn’t sure where (flush or forward) because I couldn’t find a definite answer because most folks weld the hanger under the cross member and I wasn’t sure of what kind leafs (trail gear, all-pro?) I actually had. So after reading this, I reluctantly told him to mount the thing 1/2” forward and he tacked that bad boy on. After about a hundred measurements and adjustments, he continued to absolutely crush it and welded that thing for good with a 110 mig on a shi++y generator. I am a newb in the welding arts but I know what stacked dimes looks like.

But did I blow it? I know I should have asked him to stop but my man was on a roll. Can I still get a good shackle angle (how?) I know I can still be ok by finding the right spot on the frame for the tube and using the right length shackle..I’m thinking 4” to keep it low. Worse comes to worse, there’s a good spring shop in town that can make me some customs but I know will be $$. Anyway, I’m sorry for the long story. Any insights or advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

1/2 inch forward should be fine for TG/all pro (usually about 46") and 48" ruf springs.

Are you planning on using the springs that came with it? The hanger is set, so now its just finding the sweet spot for the shackle.

Got any side shots of the cross member in place?

You may run in to issues with the pitman/tierod/steering box running into the top of the drivers leaf spring.

 

Thanks for the reply and the vote of confidence. I first thought that the place for the tube had to be the middle of the body mount but I understand that one can just cut the mounts or use the boomerang shackles from Sky’s (leaning that direction). I plan on using the leafs that came with em and see how it sits. I saw on a thread that you can mount the springs to the hanger and rest them on the frame with some wood blocks between (to replicate the height of the shackles) with the full weight of the truck. You do this to find the the good angle at 30* right?

My welder buddy says we should take that top side of the cross member off (that we left on) as it’s plenty strong and the holes on top is a rust potential


I realize that there is an order to the placement of things and I just want to get it right as I can’t mess this up from a financial perspective.

 

Yes on the wood blocks for ride height testing. Your shackle tube may be in the front of the body mount or even a little into it. all good, just means your front axle will be a bit farther forward.

Good news is your caster angles should be pretty good with the hanger so far up.

Got a picture like that first one from the other side?

When do you plan on doing the rest of the swap?

 

Here’s the view from the driver’s side. The birfs just arrived so I’m gonna start the rebuild with the kit from marlin crawler. I’m planning to do the ifs hubs so I gotta take em out from my parts truck. A lot of work still yet then I gotta order the rest of the fab stuff as money trickles in. I was thinking of doing the boomerang shackles from Sky’s just so they match. Have you seen those IRL?

 

Yes, Ive used the boomerange shackles (( Start of sas in my build thread) ) . They are for clearing the body mount, I usually just end up cutting the front of the mount anyway.

How is the crossmember connected to the frame rails?

This is what I would be worried about, your leaf will probably hit the steering box. You may be ok with tall leafs, but they may still hit when you flex. You may also have to move your box up.

 

I think I know what you’re getting at with how the hanger attaches to the frame rail. My welder buddy says he’s going to box it all in on both sides as it’s only really welded on top. I just ordered more parts but after checking out your awesome build thread I have a lot more purchases to save up for haha!
Thanks again for your insights..time to re-build the axle!

 

Awesome, sounds like your doing good things. keep the updates coming!

 

Wow that last post was almost 2 years ago! Sorry folks I guess we definitely on Hawaiian time over here lol.
Maybe 9 months ago I decided to get serious and finally start cuttting stuff. I’ve only been working on the swap on weekends and when I can as
I’ve been busy with other projects.
So far:
- I’ve finally grinded down all the ifs stuffs
- i finished boxing in where the front hanger meets the frame
- I’ve been prepping the axle parts and getting ready to rebuild
- welded the engine mount plate (I wish my welds are halfway as good as my grinds lol)

Mocking it up
Now it’s time for the frame tubes and I’ve been trying to figure out the location. Here she sits with the full weight on the springs (& wood block)

is this how? According to the internets the ideal angle is 30° in relation to the line from eye to eye which will put my frame tube right where the “forward” body mount tab is


Although according to this guy on YouTube with his formula of
hanger distance = spring length (46”) - sin of desired angle (30°) x shackle length (4.25”)
I got 43 7/8” which puts the hole about center of the body mount.
So which is right? My maths might be wrong but my gut is telling me put the hole as far forward as the body mount allows as Rattlewagon succinctly suggested

 

Looking good! Ideally, you want the shackle in the correct place to get the full movement out of the spring. Its a balance. I think your on the right track with the shackle tubes all the way foward in the body mount.

You can see too, with the straight line of the level, that when those springs go flat, they are going to get shoved RIGHT up into the steering box.

 

On my first SAS I put the tube in the middle as per instructions I got with my kit. I don't recommend it. The next 3 SAS's I did I put them all the way forward. MUCH better ride and shackle angles. This was with Marlin, TG and All Pro springs. Put an alignment rod across the frame and through both tubes and make sure they are properly aligned before you weld them in. I'll check back in two years. Ha ha.

I should talk. I'm 4 years into a build.
Scott in AZ.

 

Thanks for the info gentlemen
aztoyman, why on earth would put yourself through 4 swaps!?! lol (so much grinding)
I guess after a while you get em down to a science
I’ll keep y’all posted

 

@BlackPearl808 I only did the grinding on MY truck. Actually two. It does SUCK. On the other trucks I was um...more of the welder and consultant.

 

Happy Toyota Sunday!
Grinding sucks but hole sawing might even be worse.

I used 1-5/8” hole saw but in retrospect 1-1/2 might have been better as I found the saw rattling around and made the hole bigger with 1/8”+ in some places. The welder is gonna be bummed
I mocked it up and I think I only have small kine griniding for it to sit evenly.

I had to notch my alignment tube as the tranny bolt was in the way and in the process bowed it ever so slightly so I might have to try again. Do y’all think it worthy to somehow move the tranny/engine up so the tube is unhindered?

Hoping for a good angle.

Time to restock on some pilot bits

 

After 3 years (!!) the Black Pearl is rolling. I’m pretty stoked so far and I’m in disbelief that I’m almost there. The major things left to do is figuring out the brakes with the IFS hubs, the drive shaft and the shock hoops.

 

I noticed that the PO cut the tie rod which gives me less purchase where it threads in..is this going to catastrophically fail when I’m on the highway and I lose steering? Seems unlikely with the force exerting towards the ends/steering arms.

Also, the truck sits about 1-1/2” higher before the SAS even with the hanger location. For now I’m going to remove a leaf..would one remove the bottom one (closest to axle)?

 

Glad to hear you're still making progress. I can't say anything as I'm 4 1/2 years into my build. Life happens.
I've pulled leaves before on new springs. I don't think the bottom short one will make as much change as a longer one will. You won't know till you try though. Sometimes it takes a couple tries to get what you like.

I did IFS hubs and slip on rotors on my build. Your wheels matter for what brakes you want to run. I went with big brakes and they barely fit in my 17" steel beadlocks.

 

Spacer/washer
The new washers I bought from Fastenal were too thin and bound up the rotors so fishing around my bolts pile from the IFS breakdown I found a couple that fit and figured out that they were from the idler arm bolts. Lucky I have a parts truck for the other side and after grinding the rust off of them they fit perfectly. I used the old V6 calipers from the IFS and the stock aluminum SR5 wheels and just had to grind a little bit of the inner most fin to make it work.

 

After driving around small kine around my property and on the country roads I found that it’s a bit rough. This is my first time driving on leafs up front so maybe that’s how. Overall the truck sits 1.25” higher than before so I first want to try removing a leaf. Which one should I remove? The one closest to the axle? Also, I didn’t get the perfect 30° angle on the shackles so maybe that’s what’s hindering the flex. Theres a good spring shop in town so maybe I can get them to make me longer ones to get a better angle.
Last question anyone have any creative ideas on how to test the full flex without access to a forklift?

 

Hi Blackpearl....
Leave the leafs alone.....your ride will become so much smoother when you increase that shown shackle angle from 10 degrees now to maybe 45.....no more than 45 though. ZUK