Okay, so I searched, and only turned up one post addressing this issue:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2940
Not quite what I'm looking for....


Anyhoo, what I'm looking at is doing a SAS with as little lift as possible. Why? Well, full blown SAS is gonna cost me a pretty penny and seeing that I don't really have any income (college :rolleyes: ) I can't just go tossing half my life savings into my truck right now. But, if I can do a SAS with much (if any) lift, I can cut tires, wheels, rear driveshaft, rear springs, etc. out of the budget. Basically all that would be needed would be spring hangers, some springs (possibly use stock springs?), an axle/brakes/etc., front driveshaft....plus some other misc. little stuff I'm sure, but I'd spend a lot less money plus be able to keep my current tires and not kill my DD ability...but I'd put myself into position to start doing things like lockers, gears, lift later down the road but still gain some off road performance now.

Does the IFS frame have enough clearance to run a solid axle without a bunch of lift?

It all seems pretty doable, except I'm not sure what I'd do about steering. No hi-steer....what about low crossover? Or even a "regular" steering setup? Truck stays stockish height, stock steering might be adequate...

Anybody done anything along these lines, or have any ideas?

I talked to Mark at Kongs4x4 about this quite a bit when I did mine. I wanted to keep my 33" MT/Rs to save the $$$ on gears and tires. What it boils down to, is that you can have a flexy pre-86 Toy with less lift, because there's enough arch in the frame to tolerate it.

With the IFS frame, if you run the same suspension, you will run into clearance problems. Hersh and I both wanted to keep our 33s when we did the swap, but there just isn't a whole lot of room.

I think that if you used low-crossover and a not-very-flexy spring it could work, but if you're going to run a non-flexy spring, why SAS?

I would skip the SAS for now and spend the money on lockers, tires and a sawzall. You would have a pretty capable vehicle.
The SAS can come later, after you graduate and start making the big bucks.

Originally posted by zags
I would skip the SAS for now and spend the money on lockers, tires and a sawzall. You would have a pretty capable vehicle.
The SAS can come later, after you graduate and start making the big bucks.
Maybe dual cases or crawler gears and a rear locker? That'd be a great thing to not have to do when the SAS funds roll in....trust me doing it all at once takes forever, and is tough on the wallet :rolleyes:

Originally posted by zags
I would skip the SAS for now and spend the money on lockers, tires and a sawzall. You would have a pretty capable vehicle.
The SAS can come later, after you graduate and start making the big bucks.

there is the correct answer to your question.:p

so is the clearance problems to do with the steering?

dave

just imagine, all the time you spend not doing your sas could be on a trail somewhere, far far away.

Originally posted by Dr. Evil
With the IFS frame, if you run the same suspension, you will run into clearance problems. Hersh and I both wanted to keep our 33s when we did the swap, but there just isn't a whole lot of room.

I think that if you used low-crossover and a not-very-flexy spring it could work, but if you're going to run a non-flexy spring, why SAS?

That's what I figured would be the problem...there's more arch to the frame on the factory solid axle trucks, right? Not enough room to have a SA on a IFS frame without lifting it for clearance...

And you're right, non-flexy spring with no lift....what's the point? I've got non-flexy no lift suspension already. It's called IFS...

Originally posted by zags
I would skip the SAS for now and spend the money on lockers, tires and a sawzall. You would have a pretty capable vehicle.
The SAS can come later, after you graduate and start making the big bucks.

Well, this was my other plan. 4.56 E-locker rear, 4.56 IFS third....when my tires get a little more worn, hack my front and run 32's or 33's...

Originally posted by LOKNLOD


Well, this was my other plan. 4.56 E-locker rear, 4.56 IFS third....when my tires get a little more worn, hack my front and run 32's or 33's...

This and some t-case gears are the way to go for now, unless you want to sell your truck and buy a solid axle truck.

I have a friend with a 7.5 IFS front diff with 4.56s and a lock-rite for sale. He is in Texas so shipping wouldn't be too much. PM or e-mail me if you are interested.

Originally posted by Dirty Harry
I have a friend with a 7.5 IFS front diff with 4.56s and a lock-rite for sale. He is in Texas so shipping wouldn't be too much. PM or e-mail me if you are interested.

Sent you one :)

best bang for the buck for you would be 63" chevys on the rear,rear locker and a 2" body lift.

I agree that the marlin would do wonders....
OR>>>> waggs front and chevy's, wagg, yj,someones old skyjackers in FS? if you pull JY springs you can do alot for under 250$ in suspention. So.... I have an IFS frame(gonna actually do this soon with danas) strip it off with my own torch...free. there is the main time and $$ issue. go to the PNP get some waggy front stock springs and some chevy 2wd rear springs, and in your case a front axle(goodluck :rolleyes: ) I would guess that you can get all this for 50$each spring set? and an axle is what 100? so say 250$ springs and axle. make your own hangers=free x-over arms and setup is another 250$+/- then comes drivelines....shackles and blocks. well drivelines are "optional" block and shackles are what 100$ for both.
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so what 600$ to 1000$ and your set?
There was some threads on how much $$ was spent on SAS'ing.
just the flipside to the coin...

What's the average lift the 63" chevys give vs the wagg fronts? Do they sit pretty level?

dude,check out the chevy 63" faq, been beat to death.

I tryed to to the very same thing you are talking about. I used stock springs and the double arm cross over. I had 31s on there. I can tell you from experiance that it I should have done it right the first time first the frame hit the drag link when it compressed. even with stock springs I still gained some lift and had to rase the back up. The biggest problem I had was the drag link it self it was too long I didnt know at the time that i needed to get a shorter one. the one I had was too long and I couldnt get it to drive streight down the road. My tires got chewed up fast and the truck was not fun to drive. I finnaly rased it up 4 in and put 33s on it and now I enjoy 4wheeling with it again. do it right or dont do it at all.
http://www.geocities.com/pilgrmiii/frontaxleontruck1.jpg

Skyetone, that all sounds dandy, buuuuuuuuut......no Pick'n'pulls here (we have a pull-a-part but it's just a few white trash/homie cars, no trucks!). We barely even have any junkyards anymore...don't know why! Salvage is just outrageous here now, so those cheap-o parts are out of the question really. And even if I did get the 600-1000 buck swap, we're forgetting gears, lockers, wheels, tires, shocks, brake lines, and about a million other little things...

Looks like it really does come down to do it all and do it right, or wheel what i've got and just be bored with my teeny 31's. Oh well....at least my gf won't have trouble getting in :D