Well I decided to jump my truck going 75 mph and the front end bottomed out and i hit the front crossmember really hard... so a lot of the front suspenison is messed up.. took it to a few places and they qouted me 1500 to fix it... Since i was going to do a SAS swap i nthe future i suppose this gives me reason to make the process go faster :P

Ive been reading the boards and looking at other SAS daks and Durangos, and I think I am going to go with a leaf setup because it seems like it would be the easiest and cheapest?

Does anyone have like a compelete list of what I will need parts wise?

And around how much it will cost. I have a welder and tube bender.

Also anyone who has done this converison would you be willing to make and sell me another set of leaf mounts and what not so I can weld them up.


Or perhaps just going a radius arm and coil bucket would be cheaper? I pretty much just need to the prices for everything it will cost me minus the axle stuff itself because I can figure that out... Any help would be great. And yes ive spent nurmous hours lookin on this and different sites for infomation.. but I dont see any prices. thanks!~

What year truck do you have?

I have a 2000

I have a 2000

Ugh. So you'll have to convert from R&P steering over to recirc ball.

I don't think leaves are the right way to go, myself. SolidAxleDurango was my inspiration. If you bend your track bar like he did you can keep it nice and low. leaves usually end up even taller than mine.

Total cost for my swap including both axles and tires and incedentals and EVERYTHING was a bit under 5 grand but if I'd known what I was doing and planned better, it would have been more like 4. my alternative was spending about a grand to rebuild the IFS and I do not regret it at all.

If you're looking seriously into a radius arm setup, PM me and I'll make the "I wish I'd have...." followup post to my build thread that I've been meaning to.

azkt84, try doing a search on dodgedakotas.com. There's quite a few guys on there that have done the swap. They're not nearly as hardcore as this site, but you might be able to find some prie lists and stuff that guys have posted, since the question is asked on there darn near every week.

On the question of price, you're almost always going to get an "it depends" answer. I'm getting the parts together right now to do my SAS, but the fab has been put on hold since I'm moving to Alaska. I bought a set of axles off a 2001 1/2-ton Ram complete with all the brackets, coils, coil buckets, etc... for about $400. I'll probably have another $600 (give or take) in parts to get the axles underneath the truck and rolling. I'll have to spend some cash on labor since I'm in the military and I don't have the access to some of the shop equipment that I used to back home.

I know my axles aren't going to be the strongest setup out there, but I got a good deal on the parts and upgrading will be easy once I finally ge the solid axle under it.

Whats a good rule of thumb on what size axle can handle what size tire safely?

There isn't a fantastic rule of thumb. It depends on power, rig weight, driving style, locker presence, traction and especially driving style.

If you tried hard enough, you could probably break a 60 with 33s in the right situation, and if you're gentle a 30 can hold up to 35s. Personally I had zero hesitation to run a 35" on a 44 if it's open, I'll soon find out if a having a locker up there changes my mind. If I was building a rig to run 37s or larger I'd look for a 60, but I might try on my locked 44 if I feel like being 110% prepared to change axle shafts trailside this summer.

Maybe my impressions of axle strength are close to others', maybe I'll get flamed. But those are my thoughts on the subject.

BTW - I'd only put something smaller than a 44 under the front of a Dak if it was a V6 turning 33s. I thought about it but decided it was too close to "weak" on the weak -> bling scale.

I pretty much agree with Mr. Mindless. My experience has been nothing over 35s on a D44, and not much over 38s on a D60. Yes, you can run more, but for all around use and abuse, that's what the average guy can get away with and not have to sink cash into the rig after every trail. A locker multiplies any problem you may have been facing before. You can break a D60 with a locker and 31s in the right situation. You just need to know the limitations of your driving style, the terrain, and your rig. A lot of time a manual tranny can cause more breakage than a automatic. Loads of torque and power are a no brainer. You get stupid, or exceed your limitations and you'll quickly find your weakest link. Most of the time when talking of front axles, that will be your axle joints. In just about any situation you can take a locked front axle, turn the wheel sharp and tromp on it a bit and you'll snap an axle joint. Just depends on the power you have behind the axle and the obstacle in front of the axle. some guys don't mind pushing the limits, and sometimes working on a thrashed rig on the trail can be a challenge, and even fun sometimes, but I prefer to stay rolling if possible. But yeah, I'd say the above are generally what you can get away with and not have a lot of trouble. Then again, anything in moderation...