Well, ive been searching around and havent found anything usefull yet about my question, so here is the backround first.

buddy of mine has a 85 toyota pickup with 4" suspension lift, has stock steering and a stock axle completely. The truck is now wrecked so it turns into a parts truck for the 84 that he has.

now my question is this.
If i were to nab the axle, springs and all stock steering parts,(including the box) would i be able to do a extremely budgeted sas on my 86 runner without running into to much trouble, i figured i would get his entire front suspension and axle, with the steering, use all of it on my truck, and when i get the money, add highsteer and whatnot.

what do you all think about this plan, What is it im overlooking that will stop this project from getting off the ground?? I just spent my sas budget on a new motor and whatnot so I cant afford the actuall kits that are around right now, thats why the budget sas idea came about. I can fabricate enough for spring hangers and whatnot, but ill probably just buy the springhanger kit from someone.

so what am i missing, I have a gut feeling that this wont work, and dont want to torch nothing without knowing i can finish it.

thanks
wade

 

will the stock 85 steering work with the ifs steering box?

 

Nope, thats why i would get his steering box to, basically i would pull all of his front suspension and steering and put it under the runner.

a 84 came in today with 4" of lift under it and it sparked the itch once again, I now have enough money to finish the engine, just not enough time yet.

wade

 

i would think you could do it....arent the frames from 84 and 86 basically the same? Of course, take what I say with a grain of salt....wait for a pro to chime in.

 

yeah, thats what im waiting for.....

I read through your thread quite abit and didnt see to much info there.

so well see.
wade

 

different infront of the frist cab mount. the frame is a coulpe inches winder "up and down" and you cant use a sa truck steering with an ifs box. sa trucks used push and pull while ifs used like a sweep type "cant think of the word "

 

no, they are very different

long and short is that yes, you COULD do this

the reality is that it is just a stupid idea (not trying to put you down)

grab the axle and springs if you can get them and hold off until you have the money to at the very least do cross over. It shouldn't cost that much extra, see the mild SAS thread that has been going on for the last couple weeks for basic crossover info.

Using the push pull steering is more work for crappier results. If you can't do crossover now, hold off until you can...

 

Sure, it is a lot of work adding '85 steering to an IFS frame, it has been done. Here is Jack Alford's old SAS writeup:
- http://www.off-road.com/4x4web/project/projtoy.html
And if you ever decide to go back to the IFS steering box, you'll have to rip all the push pull steering off and do the crossover steering conversion.

 

So after reading the article you posted roger, what i gathered is if i had the 85 sitting right next to the 86 in my garage, it is possible. and although crossover steering would be the way to go on this, i may just end up doing this first to get the truck back onto the trail, would you give up your stock 85 front end for a stock ifs front end, I know that i wouldnt, And i belive that even though a little more work is involved in the end, that i can actually do this project pretty cheap sense all the parts are only going to cost me 300 bucks, and the axle is geared for my rear, then the only other costs would be the wheel spacers, and misc. bolts and whatnot.
This is the begining stage of reaserch, so i may end up going with a kit and doing it right from the start, but only time will tell.

wade

 

Another option might be to just cut off the front of both frames and swap them, adding plating and bracing to the joint. You would pick up the nice solid axle arched frame and the thru-tubes for the shackles and up front get the front spring hangers and the solid axle steering box. Just have to figure out how to hold the engine up while you swapped the parts over.

 

Are you seriouse?

doesnt sound feasible to me at all, and very dangerous on the road.

or is that the point your trying to make?

wade

 

It has been done before, you of course would need to do a good job welding and reinforcing the join. Probably less work than a SAS, especially when doing the IFS to solid axle steering swap. But do it however you want, your truck.

 

Just seems like if you cut your frame off and put the old frame back in its place, it would be really weak though.

after looking around at prices for thins, i think that if i went with the springhanger kit and the highsteer from marlin i would actually not be to far behind. so i may go with that, especially after thinking about the hassle it would be to remount the new steering box,only to rip it off again in a few more months.

because of the fact that my truck has a clean title with no wrecks im not going to consider cutting frames, not only for that reason but because i dont think i would ever trust my own skill at doing something that big.

thanks for your input 4crawler. I think that if i dont get the kit, but at least the spring hanger and the highsteer ill be fine.

wade

 

remember tho, that you cant use high steer with stock springs.....too low....at least thats what they said in my thread.

 

Sure, everyone likes to do things cheaply, but at the expense of correctly, IMO never. Sounds like what you envision could be done, but doesn't sound like the best way. I'd snag the axle and other parts you can use and wait to swap things when you can do them all and do them right.

 

As mentioned in the original post, the '85 has 4" lift springs.

 

Well, point taken waskilly, and 6lug i have a set of 4" lift springs on the 85 already, basically what I wanted to do was a sas with push pull stock steering. after reaserching, not feasible, plenty possible but not feasible, so my next step then is to order up the spring hanger kit, as well as a highsteer kit from marlin, double up the brake lines (safe or not?) and get a driveshaft kit from marlin also, I can handle the welding portion of this, but not enough to actually swap front of frames.

what am i missing in your opinion waskilly that isnt doing it right, cause pretty much im going to have everything a sas kit has now but suspension components that i already have so i dont want to buy twice.
wade

 

Having driven both push-pull and crossover steering on my '85, there is no comparison, push-pull sucks in all but stock height. Once I lifted my truck, the steering took a major dive. Crossover is so much more solid and precise, on- and off-road. Unless your time is worth nothing, I think popping for the crossover steering kit would be a wise idea. Afterall, it'll take you no extra time to set it up once you do the SAS, outside swapping steering arms onto the old axle. If you plan to rebuild the front axle, there would be no extra time at all.

 

Thats what my plan entails right now.

Basically this is how it will work,

Ill drive the truck to my buddys 30X60 shop, where his 84 and 85 are parked, and park the 86 right in line with them, we will torch off my suspension, and use a marlin spring hanger kit to prep the frame for the new springs, i plan on using ford shock towers,(in possesion) and the crossover fom marlin also, take the old springs and axle right off of his truck, and put right under mine, shouldnt take but 2 days i figure, and should have it ready to wheel from start to finish in 3-4 (other stuff to do also)

my original post was pre-research, then i realized that the highsteer/crossover would be way better. Basically im doing a sas just like everyone else, but not buying the whole kit cause I have most of the suspension stuff already.
wade

 

I was speaking more in general terms, nothing specific, just from an overall view and from my experience w/ my own rig. I've taken great care to plan out stuff so I don't end up wasting $$$ or doing something twice...been a few bumps, but overall, things have gone well.

I do think Ford shock towers are inferior compared to the braced hoops and what the heck are you talking about doubling up brake lines?