Yeah, Carole (Wife) was a good sport when driving this obstacle. you can hear her yell as the 4Runner tips back. Despite the sudden tip, she kept her bearings and kept it moving forward.

 

that was your wife driving ??? simply awesome. can she teach me to wheel ?

 

I would have lost my balls halfway up that.

And your wife did it? shes definetly coolest wife of the year!

 

whats even crazier is that the exit from that obstacle is almost scarier than the obstacle itself. Not quite, but its pretty close.

 

We have a "wheelstand of the year" winner!

Where is Rockchucker - Farmington?

 

True it's literally straight down, IIRC I was hanging off of SteveO's rear bumper on the exit.

On Metal Masher in Moab

 

Ohhhh - haven't run that one yet.

 

thats with out doubt the best pre-sas video i have ever seen

 

Thanks for all the responses - they answered alot. I am not afraid of pushing the truck, just on the fence on whether to do a SAS or not. I would be able to do the swap no problem myself, but think the ARB front IFS will suffice the wheeling I will do...

 

in reality, you shouldn't plan on SAS'ing until you care nothing about the body and glass. if you're going to cut up a perfectly good 3rd gen, then it should be ready to be a trail rig at that point. if you're not ready to consider it a trail-only rig and still care for the paint and glass, then you more-than-likely haven't wheeled it to it's potential with a front locker. there are a couple exceptions to that, but for the most part, it's a good guideline to tell you if you're ready or not in my opinion.

the progression is to run a front locker FIRST, then go to an SAS if you feel that it's absolutely necessary. if you want to SAS before you lock the front, then you really don't have a clue as to what the rig is capable of. just my $0.02.

 

yeah the truck will remain my faily driver, so likely wont SAS it yet, but who knows maybe soon will buy a new FJ and use the runner as my trail rig,,,we shall see

 

I would agree with Andy, don't sas until you really start breaking parts on your IFS. Then you know you are wheeling past the capability of your IFS. There is no sense is doing major surgery if you don't have to. I was constantly going past the IFS capability, and the opportunity finally came to SAS, so I did.

Currently I daily drive my rig about 90 miles a day, from Santa Fe to Los Alamos and back. I have a set of 35" BFG/AT tires coming so that the ride will be a little nicer on the highway. A SAS rig can be a daily commuter, if the setup is nice enough.

Yeah, Carole does a lot of the scary stuff. Many moons ago when Cliff Hanger still had the really scary drop off right next to the cliff, she drove that one with no issues. When we are wheeling together, she does a great job behind the wheel. I believe she was the first female driver in a 3rd gen to do Yellow Belly in Martinez Canyon as well. That one was a wheel-hanger as well.

Jim is right, getting down off of Metal Masher, in my opinon as well, was scarier than going up. The obstacle to get down was just about a verticle drop off.

 

I think the ARB front will be the way to go for now.....you guys have me convinced

 

I think so. She gets in, buckles up, and does it. Plus, she has a Mastors degree in Spanish, teaches Portugues (sp?), composes music, sings, plays guitar, piano and supports my expensive habbits; wheeling. She indeed has been a great wife of 15 years.

 

Great post - pretty much what I've been saying all along. The question isn't "should I SAS or not" - you need to wheel enough to know that you need a lot more than an IFS can do. The question is "should I SAS or just build a buggy because the trails I want to do are not fit for a bodied vehicle"

 

Well said. Lock the front and enjoy it, if you need more lift consider a long travel kit like BruceTS.