Well i have recently installed a 4inch drop bracket lift about 2 months ago and all of the sudden my front differential goes bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently there is too much play in the passenger side of the differential therefore it is most likely worn out and needs to be replaced... like thats going to happen so as of right now i am just going to pull out everything and be without 4wd for most likely the rest of the summer...

After spending $2000 dollars on everything I have now decided that it wasn't the best decision to stick with the ifs... So on the brightside i am considering going SAS. What would you do? Replace with a diff or replace everything?

What all can you tell me about the SAS kits and the cost of installation?
As much as i would love to install it myself i do not have the tools... how much would it cost all together labor wise?

 

first off--search on the SAS. Do you know how weld, have a friend etc that can weld? If you are asking I am thinking you don't . To pay some one: $2k+
Parts $1000+ whatever deal you get on an axle.

What kind of wheeling do you do? Is SAS a necessary expense? TC and AxeIke wheel IFS like some SAS guys can only dream about.

Financially and timewise you would be better off fixing your diff or output bearing...

 

ide toss a diff in it and replace whatever caused it to go bad in the first place

 

Yeah... i do not know how to weld and dont know anyone close that knows how either...
As of right now its always been just mud but i've gotten sick of watching the problems it has given my 4runner so i want to get into crawling more and i have next to no travel in the front like every other drop bracket lift...
plus i plan on keeping the 4runner forever and a solid axel will be more durable and worry free right?

 

anyone?

 

The problem you are having is most likely not from the lift, its a common problem thats happened to myself and others.

heres some info I dug up when I had the problem(try searching "wobbly front differential)

quoted from 4x4wire...http://home.4x4wire.com/erik/diffs/

 

^^^^goood info!

 

How about a junkyard diff? They're not that hard to pull and cheap at a u-pull it yard. Common too if you have 4.56's.

BTW, you should have an ADD diff unless you changed that.

My opinion is that considering a SAS after having just dropped that kind of money in your IFS is insane - but that's just me

 

Eh, Not sure about this. He has a 5-spd. Unless he did an auto to manual tranny swap, he doesn't have ADD.

 

it came with 5 spd and i have ADD

yeah i thought about that but if got a junk yard diff i would want 5.29s for the 35s... and i doubt i would find that ratio in a junk yard but there is always online too
and i hear you on selling the ifs lift but i could get my complete money back for it because i got an awesome deal and bought the lift for $600 and it is only 2 months old and i think i could get $600 for it

wow thanks that is good info but it just makes me aware of whats happening

 

Buddy that problem has nothing to do with your lift. Replace the diff and keep the lift. Bracket lifts provide at least as much travel as stock ifs. And they flex better if you keep the torsion bars soft. I love mine. And I prefer the ifs for mud, as you have more ground clearance in the front. If I was rockcrawling, I would want to SAS it.

 

I have a IFS diff in my truck right now with 5.29s and a truetrac limited slip that will be for sale before too long if you are interested. I just ordered a sas kit for it but it will be a couple weeks before im ready to start on it,,,,It is a 90,.

 

i never said that the problem had anything to do with the lift i just said i instead of putting money into ifs i might as well go sas and i dont loose any money cause i got my lift new for such a cheap price

 

let me know when it becomes available and ill let you know if i want it or not thanks man

 

will do,,, thanks,,

 

Something to consider- if you fix the differential issue and later decide to go SAS, you can sell the entire differential and bracket kit and recoup your investment in the repair and probably a bit more. Heck, you could sell the bracket kit by itself for a few hundred- enough to fix the differential. You won't be able to recover your total investment in the lift and differential but would get enough to take a sizeable chunk out of the cost of going SAS.

 

I paid to have someone do my SAS

I would say its going to cost you about 1 to 3 thousand to get the front and rear done!! That is not including parts either!!

 

And to answer your question earlier, a SA is more reliable because there arent as many moving parts, just tie rods, and steering...no ball joints to go out, no CVs, no alignments (cept for toe), no torsion bars to break, cheaper to lift, easier to work on underside of truck! I dont regret it!

 

Less moving parts? Huh? Instead of ball joints you have the bushings (analogous to kingpin bushings / bearings) that allow the knuckles to pivot left/right, bearings on the ends of the axle housing and on the wheels, shaft joints (birfield / longfield), shackle / spring hanger bushings, etc.
No CV's? What's a Birfield / Longfield?
No alignment? Hmm... SAS has all the same alignment angles IFS has: camber, caster, toe, steering axis inclination, scrub radius, etc. IFS just gives you more options for adjusting them without cutting and welding or shimming the axle housing.
Instead of 2 torsion bars you get 3/4/5/6/7(?) leafs to break.
Cheaper to lift? I can add 3-4" lift to my truck for about 3000, using brand new parts. How much to convert to SAS with brand new parts?
Easier to work on? What's easier to work on with SAS compared to IFS?

Not trying to start an argument, just pointing out a few differences between what you said and what's actual, and I am curious. I'm pondering the (dis)advantages to SAS on my 88. Might do it... might push IFS as far as I can. Not sure, yet.

We haven't mentioned the different changes to alignment angles and vehicle attitude caused by compression / extension of IFS vs. SAS. IFS tends to keep the wheel contact patch parallel (laterally and longitudinally) to the frame wheres SAS' contact patch is parallel with the front axle. On level ground, IFS tends to keep the chassis level while turning where SAS can cause the chassis to lean simply from turning the steering wheel.

Anyhow, this isn't likely a discussion for this thread... but thought I'd bring it up to help trigger some research into the differences.