I've been putting this off for a long time and I almost thought I could get away without ever SASing my DD. but my 'trail rig' has been stolen, recovered, and now taking up space at a local shop and is about to be kicked out. just for some background since I refuse to put it all in my sig:

94 X-cab v6 auto, chain case, stock gears, tbar crank(with dead balljoints), AAL in rear on 32x11.5 bfgs/15x8.

87 4runner 22re 5spd gear case, 5.71s in the rear w/locker, supposedly 9" springs on SAS with old toy axle w/truss on top, marlin hysteer, on 35x15.5 SX's/15x10. This thing will never be legal.

the 4runner is so rusted for every hole i patch i discover 10 new ones. i've decided it's not worth the effort to patch up so its going to the dump after I sell the 22re/5spd and whatever other parts I can get money for. the front axle on the 87 was rebuilt and has 0 miles on it, all new bearings and seals. I have to get the 4runner out of the shop ASAP. eventually I am going to be charged rent and/or its going to be thrown out. To complicate things a bit, I am in college and my budget is . I have access to all kinds of welders, grinders, torches, you name it. I just don't have much experience with these things yet. If I play my cards right, hopefully I can reuse most of the parts from the 4runner for this SAS.

Before I start to buy anything, I am trying to get all my ducks in a row and facts straight. I am fairly sure I will need at minimum:

• front hanger, tubes, tube jigs, perches
• new brake lines front+rear
• u bolts front+rear
• shock hoops (can I reuse these??)
• motor mount plates
• rear hangers
• new rear shock mount (necessary??)
• driveshaft, front gears [future]

Everything else should (hopefully) be coming from the 4runner. If I can reuse the shocks I will save roughly $400, which would be ideal. I have a ton of pictures of what the trucks look like now. The rear will involve some work. What will need to happen with the LSPV to retain its function? E-brake? The 4runner is running some odd rear pack consisting of what looks like toy and jeep leafs.

I would like to narrow this down so that after the hanger, motor mount plates and shackle tubes are welded, I can spend a weekend or so putting it all together barring unexpected delays. to be able to get the truck legal after this, all the welds have to be done by a certified welder (which is not me). What is an acceptable amount to pay someone for welding up the hanger, tubes, and motor mount plates?

thanks for taking the time to read all that. your input and advice is appreciated.

here are some pictures

 

The 2wd oil pan is only required if you are going with Hyd assist. I ran my sas for a year+ with no rubbing issues but once I added a steering ram it became an issue.

I cant stress enough that you need that front hanger forward. Mine front spring bolt Zerks are flush with the front of my frame. I have a 90 Xcab V6 but I also have a winch and bumper. On the tubes you may opt for a hole saw and some patience over the customary torch method. I used my Plasma (hypertherm 600) and looking back a hole saw would have been cleaner and probably easier.

If you can cut the shock mounts off clean I don't see why you cant re-use them. If not then you could go with the Ford shock mounts for about $12 each (search on Pirate). I had bought a set but eventually gave them to a friend for his project after I purchased a Trail-Gear SAS kit. The Ford mounts worked great on his 83 with 12 shocks and 5" TG springs.

You could build those motor mount plates for about $5 worth of steel ($.50 worth if you have a used steel yard).

You will need new lower shock mounts to weld to the axle if you do a U bolt flip kit (I recommend it). I used the stock upper mounts and it works great. I should also mention that I have never used or even seen used a third member gasket? I always use a carefully placed amount of "The Right Stuff" by Permatex and I nor any of my friends have ever had a leak (about 10-12 thirds installed now).

The 8" thirds from both the 4cyl and 6 cyl are interchangeable with no modifications. You may need to swap flanges but I doubt that even. If you do swap flanges it will be necessary to reset the pinion pre-load unless you opted for the solid collar during re-assembly in which case no pre-load changes would be necessary. You may be ahead of the game to simply rotate the drive shaft on the flange a bit and re-drill new holes if its not compatible rather than swapping flanges.

I would say practice your welding or find a friend that can do it. Paying some one to weld your project seems like a waste.


Edit... Looking at those pics maybe you should NOT move the front hanger too far forward as your front springs seem a bit short and your shackle angle should be kicked back a bit for a better ride and more flex.

 

cool so I don't have to buy a 1000$ kit I could get away with making my own by using the hy-steer kit and the jigs every thing else I could get out of the trash can.

edit: it looks good and all.

 

awesome advice, thanks

one day i probably will end up with hydro assist, but that wont be for a long while.

i checked out the shock hoops on the 4runner and they aren't welded on, just bolted. the steering stabilizer was mounted wrong and limits steering so i will need to fix that once i get it off.

 

answered my own questions..

 

5.71s swapped in the rear w/locker. 4.88s out. the difference with the auto with 32"s is noticeable

note, The Right Stuff is also "the expensive stuff". lol