Here is my solid axle swap thread.

That is not me. That is a so cal guy at Guadalupe Island.


I named this thread "The Great White Shark attack SAS" because of an incident I had freediving/spearfishing 2 days ago. I wasn't actually attacked but I thought it would make a good thread name.
I was diving not far from my home just around Trinidad Head. I was 30ft down looking for a Vermilion and/or scallops along a deep underwater cliff face when I felt a huge surge of water off to my side. I spun around and looked into the murky green water and saw a giant black figure moving off very slowly and then dissapeared. I couldn't see it clearly enough to make out what it was. I was running out of air and I need to get to the surface to breath up. I hugged the cliff face all the way to the top and almost passed out from staying under too long. The giant black figure was one of a few things: A whale, giant sea lion (not likely it was way too big) or a Great White cruising the rocks for an evening meal.
The first thoughts I had were: I was all alone, I was 1/2 mile off shore, The swell was picking up, the sun was going down, there was no where to climb out (too steep) and last but not least, I wont get to finish my solid axle conversion.
After an hour of contemplating what to do I finally decided to swim in. I swam up against the rock stack until I got closer to the bay. I made it in safely just as the sun went down.
Now, on to the swap.
My SAS is a little different than most. My overall lift will be 3" to 3 1/2". This rig is not going to be wheeled super hard. I use this truck as a DD and an offroad rig. My wheel size will be 33's- TSL's My reasons for the lower lift are a more stable ride (not so squishy) and I like the SA for its reliability, articulation, and ruggedness. My IFS needs a ton of work and I thought it would be fun to do a SA conversion. It has been a lot of fun so far. My articulation will still be good overall and the leafs being made are SUPER tough. The leafs I am swapping are being custom made here locally. The rear gets new leafs (Old Man Emu with Trail Gear 5.5 shackles.) The diffs have been re geared to 4.88 and I have an Aussie in the rear. My kit is Trail Gear and my knuckle rebuild kit with wheel bearings is from Marlin. I had a gift certificate and decided to spend it on the Knuckle kit. Everything on the axle has been replaced: Diff studs and nuts, axle armor, multi hole flange, shock mount with gussets, Low Pro drain plugs, JB welded the balls for smoothness and seal etc. I put off getting Longfields until the summer.
I want to thank the contributers and members of Yotatech for all their help and patience. Especially Mike (MSR) from Mikes Speciality Repair in Garberville Ca. and Brian from WABFAB!!!
I have been wheeling my whole life, Fords Chevy's Internationals Quads Horses and Toyotas
I was a total Newb to the Toyota SA until a friend of mine let me drive one through a boulder field I never dared wheel in my rig. After that I was sold!!
and so it begins...

My truck- 1994 22re ext. cab


This is the lift height mine will be. This was done similar to what I am doing by Mikes Specialty Repair.



1983 SA I got from Mike at MSR. I beat the brush for an 84 or 85. I found one 85 but the pitting was too much. It is near impossible to find an SA that isn't rusted beyond belief around here. I figured I would be driving 8 hrs north or south to get an 84 or 85 and I decided to settle on the 83.

Cleaning and cutting off-

knuckles, birfs and inner balls wire wheeled and cleaned up




Hubs rebuilt, powder coated, and cleaned


Axle marked for shock hanger placement

Big Brown payed me a visit. Axle armor, gussets, knuckle rebuild kit, seals, Diff drain plugs etc.. Thanks WABFAB, Thanks Marlin!


Welding! the 3rd on the SA while welding and no seals

Axle parts sanded, blasted, grinded and primered!


Axle welded

Big Brown came buy this week.. aaaaahhhhhh yea!!! Mike Specialty Repair did the Aussie install and 4.88 regear.


and... installed it in the pouring rain

Knuckle ball JB welding trick. Thanks 4Crawler!!! So Smoooooooth!

Even did an LED conversion while I was waiting for the rain to stop

Axle welded up, wire wheeled, sanded and ready for primer


and primered..

and painted.

I picked this little gem up FOR FREE while in the middle of this swap. It has a NEW motor (2500miles) and rebuilt tranny

Marlin's seals greased up and ready to be driven in with my redneck PVC seal driver lol


Birfs locked and loaded..

A reminder of why I am doing the swap

My goodies loaded up in my new "cough" VW van on the way to my buddies house. He is an x toyota mechanic who is going to make sure I get the knuckles dialed in. People around here consider him "the guru of Toyotas." Note the fire extinguisher close buy and the purple shag carpet, oh, and the WABFAB sticker

aaaaaaaand on the way to the guru the van decided to quit lol Yes, that is a tow truck. I tore the thing apart from front to back. Turned out it was a corroded wire to the distributer underneath the motor.


More to come!

 

nice dude...

 

Cool intro to your swap.

 

Cant wait to see more man !!!

 

Where is the cutting and grinding?

 

nice if it did a sas i wanted it the same height. oh and more cutting!

 

more fun today.
Knuckle rebuild, packing bearings and races..


New knuckle studs wrapped with teflon (just in case )

Welded on the leaf bracket..

Annnnnnnnnnd.... the vultures started to circle over my VW VAN. Which is now running....


The middle of the pic is the damn wire that was corroded and left me stranded Holy crap what an ugly motor..

 

You should put a drop or two of red loc-tite on your knuckle studs, not teflon tape.

Also no need to do anything but lightly grease things, then once all that is on the axle you can just pump 1/2 tube of grease into the knuckle via the grease plug and make less mess.

 

Thanks! I was kinda following the FSM on greasing the bearings but I think you are right about just packing it in there after its together.
As far as the teflon tape that was an idea from a friend of mine who use rebuild these axles long ago.

 

nice progress makes me wanna rebuild my axles even tho they are fine hehe
yeah ive done minor work on thse vdub busses that motor is a damn mess the engineer was as high as most of the drivers

 

oh and can i get some details on your truck's paint? she's beautiful

 

sure man. THanks!
Its a vintage FJ Cruiser beige. http://coolfj40.stores.yahoo.net/colorcodes.html
Scroll down. It is the beige 416

 

Great shot! love the waves on the background.











The man is putting his heart and soul on this project. Bravo!

 

dude, 2 of the same color trucks in utah...?

 

yes that is a beautiful picture

thanks i'm thinkin bout doin my pickup that color or the other beige. where you at in utah? i spend some of my time in holladay... a little north

 

lookin' good man, can't wait till you get it done and some more pics.

 

nice work

 

Uhhh, Seriously......I was talking aboot you and I...

 

Do you know where Sanpete County is???
If you are in Utah during the summer we should Wheel! There are some amazing spots in and around central Utah.

 

there are some amazing spots everywhere in utah! my favorite state for recreation. we used to have a homestead in mt pleasant its been the family fun spot since my dad was 3' tall. i dont know the area too well but know where it is. i plan on heading down there for a few weeks this summer for some wheelin/camping i'd love to meet up.