If you're not challenged on your trails, why upgrade? The one weekend you take a stupid line and roll you truck is the same weekend you're going to wish you had that $500 in your pocket.

SAVE YOUR MONEY!

 

Lol I've been YT surfing since before I had my truck.

I'm starting to think I'm gonna get my front axle with this money and rebuild the knuckles. Plus pick up a 4.56 third. Leave it on the 33's for now until a good deal comes along on 35's or 36's and begin piecing together the SAS. So far once again it looks like trying to piece the kit together isnt worth it for me. I know I could save like $200 but in the end I'd have springs upfront that dont wannt flex. How much lift am I gonna need to clear 35's/36's. I plan to leave the 33's on and add body lift back when I get them.

And since when does doing a SAS hurt gas mileage?

 

Yeah maybe so but that one weekend I broke an IFS axle doing NOTHING difficult was the same weekend I payed $500 and said "˟˟˟˟ theres half of a SAS..."

 

I read about that incident...if you were not confident enough to change out your front axle yourself, what makes you think you have the know-how to hang a solid axle?

 

I think it was more he didn't have an axle to change out, and was stuck, rather than not knowing how. (hopefully)

A sas is going to kill a couple of miles off the MPG, but i wouldn't worry too much, its a wheeling truck, gas is gas, if i got 18 and now i get 14, i'm really not losing that many miles per tank. BTW, its due to SAS having a larger wind resistance profile, as well as usually big tires are put on at the same time. It varies wildly depending on the truck.

One truck has no loss, another will lose 5-10, you won't know until you've done it.

Really, if you want to save money on gas, buy a prius. Otherwise, its a truck, it gets what it gets. You gotta pay to play.

Forget pieceing the kit, i'd just get the Trail gear set up...having everything you need is peace of mind, really.

 

My confusion is switching the axle out was A-I've never done it before and B-I didnt have it. Give me a general guide to doing it and I'd have it done in a day but when you break on a friday night after work, Have work saturday, sunday then school then week its hard to find time.

I agree with you on the gas thing. Trucks a truck so whatever but I never thought it would hurt gas mileage. As far as the kit, yeah I'm just gonna buy the Trail-Gear. Breaking the kit down they give you like ubolt flips and shocks for free if you bought the same stuff seperate. Gonna be getting a set of rears with 4.88's in them, putting my locker in the new rear third and rebuilding the front axle. Hopefully that damn'd federal check will come soon so I can get a price the axles.

As far as the comment on hanging an axle vs swapping out an inner. IMO a SAS is a very simplistic thing. Its more of a fab job that actual mechanical skill. I went through everything with my friend who will be helping me do it and he told me that if cutting the IFS off goes smooth and we pre-weld the hangers and shock hoops that we could have the SAS done in two full days tops. I mean come on leaf springs are the simplest thing out there...

 

I see a dramatic "learning experience" on the horizon ...

 

I concur.

 

Yes, i understand not having done it before. My first time took several hours of painstaking confusion. After that it was pretty straigt forward.

As for the swap...Ive seen it doen in 2 days before, but that was by a shop who's done about 10 million of them, with 6 guys working on it.

Not trying to dash your hopes, but you should not count on tearing it down friday, and be ready to drive for monday. It might turn out that you get it done in 2 days, but it may also stretch to a month or more, depending on how many things go wrong

The rule i keep in mind whenever i start any project, be it changing the alternator, or tearing down and building up a transfer case: Nothing ever goes according to plan. You might snap a bolt, you might weld crooked, you might not have all the parts you need, etc...

Also, be extremely careful, and take your time when drilling the shackle tubes, and welding the hanger. Measure like 3 to 4 times, and have your friend measure 3-4 times, and make sure, because once those holes are drilled, you are stuck with it. Not very easy to go back w/out welding plate on top of the frame to re drill, and that sucks.

Anyway, just take it easy, take your time, and don't put yourself in a position where you absolutely need the truck to run, becuase there is a strong possiblity it won't.

 

Oh, one last thing...You cannot preweld the shock hoops, as your IFS is smack where you need to weld. You'll have to wait until your IFS is cut off, and the motor mounts are boxed.

 

Ah alright. Yeah I know your thinking crash course in brain surgury. The way I look at it: I have the knowledge and he has the experience with the fab and welding. Ontop of that I'm pretty good with a wrench myself. First day I expect to have the front axle hung. Second day will be steering and driveshaft.

 

When jon and I did his truck the longest thing was rebuilding the axle and the ifs hub swap/brakes. All of which was done before hand. The actual down time for the swap was pretty small. It can be done in a weekend by first timers. As long as it's not the first time you have used the necessary tools. IMO.

 

I say save your money for now. If you must spend it put in a rear locker.

You mentioned that your next money is going to a flat deck? Why the hell would you build that first? You can't plan rear fenders and stuff until you are done your SAS and know what size tires you are running. If you are going flat deck, buying armor is harder because soon you will need to cover less of your body.

Save your money and do it all at once. Doing things out of order will result in changes and wasted time and money. Don't waste money on tires that you aren't going to run that long before upgrading. Don't spend one more penny on the IFS.

As for the SAS make sure you leave far more time then you are thinking you need. From your attitude we can tell that you have far less mechanical experience then you think you have. Better have a ride to work on monday just in case.

 

Chris, you are an experienced welder with lots of time on the tools. I think you are right, that it can be done quickly, but that is if nothing goes wrong.

This can be anything from welder cutting out to miss measured holes or welded parts. That can add days to the build. Plus, i think you have to factor in the hurry factor, that is, if you only have a weekend to get something done, then you will hurry your way through, and make more mistakes.

Just wanted Stomis to be sure he's got things in perspective. His buddy said he could preweld shock hoops, and you can't, because the IFS is in the way. You can only preweld the hanger and the shackle tubes. Just trying to save the guy a little headache was all.

 

Right-o. I was just so amazed at how easy the swap was. Of course we really didn't have any hickups. Except for the need to trim the metal brake lines running off the calipers. But that was just cause of the ifs hub swap.

...and thanks for the compliment

Anyways this thread has gotten really off topic. I still say go with dual cases or 4.7s!!!!!!

OR if your really cool/ballsy, go with DUAL TRANNIES!!!
God if I only had a 112"+ wheelbase...