SAS Candidates - Which years/trims?

[rideexileex]

All,

I'm debating what would make for the best of the SAS candidates out of the 3rd gens...

Sub Generations:
96-98's
99-00's Non-Limited
99-00 Limited's & 01-02's

Transmission:
As far as I can tell, the biggest things when lookin toward the SAS candidates comes to transmission/tcase options, for compatibility with a crawl box, and resulting drive shaft length. Is the longer, multimode case the worst option for this? As in, should it be avoided? What are the resulting drive line angles compared to the standard cases?

Flares:
I have the Sport/Limited Style flares. I almost know for certain that for a SAS and increased tires, these would get chewed up and cut off far too quickly.

01-02 ABS / TRAC:
Is there any difference for the ABS compatibility changes? I've always been envious of the extra space within the 01-02 platform for a great place to put an extra battery or whatever under the hood. Any difference there for SAS considerations? Also to include thoughts of a rear-axle swap. Does the TRAC hinder anything?

Motor:
I've had both the 2.7 and the 3.4, and I wouldn't really consider this section much, but just in case you think there could be any serious benefit to either one... My thoughts are definitely to go the SC'd 3.4 again.


All other options I can think of are just mere conveniences (other than where the twin sticks might come out of the cup holders), but wouldn't directly affect the SAS candidacy. All thoughts welcome - just a brain storm session. Hybrid-ization definitely welcome of components between the years. I've always been curious if its possible to retro-fit the 01-02 ABS into the earlier platform.

 

[the great him]

id say a 96-98 sr5, or base... limiteds have all that needless trim that cant beremoved with out leaving holes in the body -ie when you scrap it agains a rock its gonna break off and leave the holes... and no traction control to mess with and a standard J shift Tcase.

plus older ones will have the lowest buy-in price typically so this would reduce cost.

 

[toykidd]

i think the perfect canidate 3rd gen is the one in your garage! when you move out here we can do yours then mine!!

 

[SCRunner12]

It also depends if you plan on sticking with the Toyota transfer case. If you are going with an aftermarket then I would say a 2wd would be best since there is less to cut out and a lot cheaper. That's what Scotty at AOR did and I think he liked it a lot better. I agree the Limiteds and possibly the sports would be too much of a pain with the flares since they might get in the way. We have seen a 01-02 (LINY) and a 96-98 SR5 (Downpour) who SAS'd, so they may have some insight. I'd say the simpler the better, so a 96-2000 SR5 would be best since they have the J shift transfer case and typically either had no flares or the black small plastic ones.

 

[JWaldz]

I agree with [MENTION=60147]the kid[/MENTION]

The older, less expensive ones are obviously more basic when comparing to the 99+. You can worry a lot less about banging it up and running into issues due to special parts to make things work. Hell, I might would even consider a 4cyl if it was a trailer queen.

 

[rideexileex]

Another aspect of the base models, is that they don't have ABS, so I assume they have the speedo issue already taken care of? Do they use the gear driven speed sensor then?