1999 SAS Dana44 ARB 4Runner Build

[Mountain Fun]

I wanted to create build forum to help people who are just starting or in the middle of their builds. It includes some of my mistakes and things I might have done differently if I did it again. I'm not an expert by any means. I have had a lot of lifted trucks but this was my first custom build where I totally changed the suspension, steering, brakes, gears, axles, and geometry. My build is completely done...well, the major parts at least...but it may take me a while to complete the total build on T4R.org. I started with a stock 1999 Toyota 4Runner SR5 that I found that only had 86K miles on it. My first stage of the build was a 3" Toytec lift and 2" body lift with 35" tires. When I got bored with the IFS I went all out SAS Dana44 with leaf springs all around on 37" tires with ARB lockers. I hope you like the post and feel free to ask question. I love this truck and the ride quality is awesome even with all the lift. ***Update*** The truck has now been upgraded to dual case and axles out of a 1978 F250 with 5:38 gears, ARB's, and 40" Pro Comp MTB.

Updates:
Dana 60 rear axle, 5:38 gears, ARB
Dana 44HD high pinion front axle, 5:38 gears, ARB
40" Pro Comp MTB tires
Tacoma rear transfer case (to fix speedometer)

Final Build Spec:
1999 Toyota 4Runner SR5
3.4 V6
Automatic
Dual Transfer Cases
SAS Dana 44 front with Chevy Spindles, Knuckles.
Hi-Steer.
ABS Removal and Chevy Master Cylinder.
4:88 gears with ARB air lockers front and rear.
12K winch
37" Dick Cepek FC
17" Pro Comp wheels
Custom sway bar links
Energy Suspension custom bump stops.
Addicted Offroad bumpers and sliders
Custom spare tire carrier

Vendors Used:
Sky Manufacturing (Sky Offroad Designs) Sky's Off Road Design – Sky's Offroad Design
Trail Gear Trail-Gear Off-Road Products for Toyota Suzuki Nissan and Jeep
Toytec Offroad Toyota Suspension Lift Kits, Parts & Accessories - Toytec Lifts
4Wheel Parts 4WP | Off Road Truck Parts & Jeep Accessories Store | 4wheelparts.com
Amazon (awesome for tracking down parts) Amazon.com. Spend less. Smile more.
Addicted Offroad www.addictedoffroad.com

***Have to go through now and repost all the photos through IMGUR because photobucket sucks ass and wants to charge every month to share your photos on a 3rd party website. Sorry for the lack of photos for now.***

New Photos after Upgrades:

1978 Ford F250 axles with ARBs and 5:38 gears. 40" Procomp Tires

Old Build on the 37" Tires, Waggy Dana44 Front and Toyota Rear, 4:88 Gears

 

[Mountain Fun]

How it began

1999 4Runner SR5 with 86K miles.

 

[Mountain Fun]

Stage 1 mods:

Bought a 3 Toytec lift and 2" body lift.

 

[Runner Magnetic]

Looking good already. Im not really a fan of running boards but yours look awesome! Cant wait to see it finished

 

[Mountain Fun]

The Toytec lift and body lift installed pretty easily. I did it over a weekend but it could have been done in one day if I had really pushed it. The only things that really were a pain was getting the front lower control arm down far enough to install the coilover. I ended up disconnecting the lower ball joint and using a crowbar. This is a really good time to replace the lower ball joints since they are a common failure point on the 3rd gen 4Runner. The rear shocks were also a royal pain in the ass. It's very hard to get a wrench on the top shock mount and they are always rusted on because of the way the upper mount is designed. I would recommend just cutting them off and save yourself some headaches.

 

[Mountain Fun]

I did install wheel spacers on the front. I used the 1.25 spidertrax. The 35" tires might have fit without them but I didn't want to take the chance of cutting into the sidewalls with the upper control arms.

 

[Mountain Fun]

For tires I went with the Dick Cepek Fun Countries. I have had several sets of these tires over the years and love them. They last a long time, they are quiet, and have good onroad and offroad performance. I went with the 35 x 12.5 on 16" black Procomp wheels. And yes you can fit 4 of them in the back of 4Runner.

 

[Mountain Fun]

To fit the 35's I did have to do some fender trimming. I cut about and inch out of the inner fender wells on the front. Still rubbed some offroad but not too bad.

 

[Mountain Fun]

Time for gears. I went with 4:88 gears. Since I live in Colorado and we get a lot of snow I decided to go with open diffs so I could still use 4wd and steer and snowy roads. I ordered the complete built diffs from East Coast Gear because they had the best price. I would not buy another diff from East Coast Gear!!! They didn't even clean the diffs, my front diff they just spray painted the dirt and rust, I would have thought they would have at least dipped them or hit them with a blaster. On the rear diff they used a damaged used carrier that had suffered a spun bearing that they held together with locktite. I didn't discover that till I installed my rear ARB. I will cover that and post pictures of the damaged carrier later in the build.

I also figured this was a good time to change out the front CVs and lower ball joints while I had it all apart.

This rear was really easy, took about 3 hours. If you are doing by yourself you can stretch the brake lines rather than disconnect them so you don't have to bleed your brakes when finished. Just disconnect the line clamps from the axle.

 

[Mountain Fun]

The rear diff was easy but the front was a huge pain in the ass and took about 8 hours to swap out. I'm not going to go into details about how to take it out, there is already some great write ups on that, but I will tell you about some problems you might run into. I had a hell of a time getting the diff to come out and it turned out the driveshaft flange was binding up against the 2" body lift steering spacer. If you have a body lift take that spacer out first. I found the best way to get the CVs out is a prybar on both sides with a quick pop motion. Once the diff is out you need to removes the ADD system from the diff. This requires special torque/start sockets, I got mine at Harbor Freight since I will probably never need them again. The bolts are locktited in to I had to put a torch on the bolts to get the locktite to loosen up. When you are putting it back together take time to make sure the ADD system shift fork is in the flange correctly. I installed it incorrectly and ended up have to pull the diff back out because my 4wd would engage. The last thing is don't forget the diff breather hose, it's a pain in the ass to get back on but if it's not connected it sprays out diff lube. You will need some kind of a diff lube pump to reinstall the diff lube.

 

[amalik]

You gonna drive this SAS'd rig on the highway/streets? How is it?

 

[Mountain Fun]

Just a recommendation if you are running a 2.5 to 3" lift on the front. Unless you like changing out CVs for torn boots you really need to stretch the upper CV boot or it will tear prematurely. Cut off the cheap little clip, they stretch and leak grease anyway, and pull the boot down about .5" and use a good marine hose clamp to secure it. This helps keep the boot from rubbing against itself. There are plenty of write ups about this mod online if you need more information.

 

[Mountain Fun]

You gonna drive this SAS'd rig on the highway/streets? How is it?

I drive it all the time. I would drive it across country except it's pretty tall and not legal in most states because of the bumper height. I did have to install a sway bar to make the body roll manageable. Most people who ride in are really surprised how nice it rides. Not bouncy at all.

 

[Mountain Fun]

I drove my 4Runner like this for about a year and half and loved it. I think it had the perfect stance, ride quality was better than stock, and it looked cool. I started to get the itch again to build it better. I started researching solid axle swaps. Living in Colorado I wanted to build a pretty serious trail rig that was still reliable and could be driven daily if needed. I decided to pull the trigger after my wife gave me permission, lol, to start stage 2 of the 4Runner build. So I will start detailing everything I researched and encountered building my SAS 4Runner.

 

[Mountain Fun]

Before starting a project like this do a lot of research. There is a lot of information online but there is also a ton of bullshit posted by people that don't have a clue what they are talking about. This is one of the reasons I wanted to post this build, not to tell people what to do but to let them know what I experienced and maybe things I would do differently if I did it again. I lost a lot of sleep going into this build worried that I would ruin a really nice truck. I read things like you can't go over 45mph with an SAS Toyota, that they get death wobbles on the highway, the brakes won't work, and that they bounce all over the place. This is all bullshit. I can drive my SAS 4Runner down the highway at 80mph with one finger on the steering wheel if I wanted to. The ride quality is very good, not as good as an IFS front end, but definitely not bad by any means. It stops very well even with the 37" tires. Just don't believe everything you read by people that have never ridden in a well built SAS Toyota.

On the 3rd Gens the front diff is on the drivers side which creates some problems. A Toyota solid axle won't work for two reasons: This diff is on the passenger side which means you would need to swap to an older gear driven transfer case, and it's too narrow which means you would have to do the Tacoma break mod or use wheel spacers to make the WMS length 60". If you go with the 80s Wagoneer Dana44 the only Toyota/Dana44 matching gear ration is 4:88 which is perfect for 35" tires but too small for bigger tires. If you swap out the rear axle for a Dana44 or 12 Bolt so you can get a bigger gear ratio there is a chance that your speedometer may not work because I have read that on the 4Runner it is tied to the rear ABS sensors. The other issue with using a Waggy Dana44 front axle is the knuckles don't allow for high steering which requires swapping the spindle, knuckles, and hubs off of 70s Chevy Dana44. The last small problem with the Waggy 44 is that the spring perches sit out wider which creates a larger turning radius.

I decided to go with the Waggy Dana44 with Chevy spindles, knuckles, and hubs for my application. I'm going to use my factory rear axle since it already has the 4:88 gear ration and that way I don't have to mess with the rear ABS sensors.

 

[Mountain Fun]

I found an incredible deal on Craigslist. I found a Dana44 out of a Cherokee Chief with an ARB airlocker, already converted to high steer with Chevy ends for $450. The guy who had it didn't know what gears were in it.

I was even more excited when I got it home and realized it had 4:88 gears already installed in it. What an incredible find.

My dog likes to help out when he can.

Axle all cleaned up with new rotors, lugs, and wheel bearings repacked with grease. You have to love a supportive wife.

 

[Mountain Fun]

I went with Trail Gear's heavy duty single transfer case crossmember. Sent it off to get powder coated satin black. It looks awesome but my wife isn't really a fan of it sitting on out kitchen table. I think it looks good there.

This crossmember's are super heavy duty, like .5" thick steel. I can't see it getting damaged on the trail.

 

[Mountain Fun]

Decided it was a good time to do some maintenance before starting the SAS. Went and did the timing belt, water pump, hoses, belts,plugs, and wires.

 

[kolelt]

I'm a little confused. Why are you spending money on a lift and front diff when your doing a SAS up front ? Sick build bro!! Looking forward. Liking how the progress is going fast

( it amazes me that people don't reply to this thread. If it was about a TRD STICKER it would be pages long lol)

 

[Mountain Fun]

I wanted to talk a little bit about cost of doing an SAS on a 3rd Gen 4Runner. I read a lot of crap online about guys doing an SAS anywhere from $600 to $2000. This is total bullshit, there is no way you can do this and still have a drivable safe truck. If you do the work yourself you are going to spend between $5000 to $8000 depending on how much you junkyard your parts. If you hire a shop to perform your install add about another $2500 to $4000 depending on the complexity of your install. I decided to buy new parts for everything except the front axle housing.

This is a brief breakdown of some of my cost:
Front SAS kit from Sky Manufacturing: $3000
Rear leaf kit and shock hoop: $800
Crossmember with powder coat: $500
Addicted Offroad bumper package: $1600
Powder coat for bumpers: $500
Rear driveshaft: $120
Front long spine driveshaft: $500
Front Axle used: $450
Front Axle parts: $250
5 37" tires and wheels: $2500
Rear spare tire carrier: $200
Welding wire and supplies: $100
Grinding pads and cutoff wheels: $150
Gear lube, oil, powersteering and brake fluid: $200
Misc expenses: $250
Parts shipping cost: $600
Rear ARB airlocker new on craigslist: $600

I'm sure I forgot some things but this will give you a pretty good idea that's not a cheap date.