SAS for 1st gen ?
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Hyde802
New member
This is how you do it:
http://www.trail-gear.com/pdf/ifs-elim-inst.pdf
Cost about 2k to do properly. You can do it for less if you make your own brackets and use used leaf springs.
Welcome to the forum!
http://www.trail-gear.com/pdf/ifs-elim-inst.pdf
Cost about 2k to do properly. You can do it for less if you make your own brackets and use used leaf springs.
Welcome to the forum!
tor-redneck
New member
or you could find an 85 for 1500 bucks. then you would have a bad ass rig like mine with all the spare parts you could ask for!
cometobanks
New member
its one of those projects where if you are worried about the cost, don't do it.
helo-mech
Member
Bad_Vision
Moderator
easier to just buy a 85 rolling chassis i have two for sale right now for 1,000$ so they are not that hard to find if you just look and wait you can find one with a crap body and just trow your nice body on it.
its a waiting game but well worth it in the end.
the SASwap is costly and if not done by someone who has practice and patience can be deadly wrong if you plan to drive it down the road.
the slightest wrong measurement will cause it to dog track down the road.
its a waiting game but well worth it in the end.
the SASwap is costly and if not done by someone who has practice and patience can be deadly wrong if you plan to drive it down the road.
the slightest wrong measurement will cause it to dog track down the road.
Mudcat47537
New member
I did one years ago. It is not hard to do if you have some fabrication skills. I used stock yota rears up front and swapped to Chevy rears. Trail gears cross over steering, shock hoops and rear mounts. Everything else I made myself. We came in under 1k easily. But we collected parts for a while anticipating the build.
I used it as a teaching project for my son too, so that cannot be priced.
I used it as a teaching project for my son too, so that cannot be priced.
HDL_CinC_Dragon
New member
A SAS would be much cheaper than that though using Junkyard gold. I really want to do one in the near future buuuuut I can guarantee the other half wont let me spend that much on my truck... not in one fell swoop anyway heh >_< Has anyone done a swap using only parts scavenged from a scrapyard? I'm betting you could probably get the cost down to low 200's!
KidVermicious
New member
The problem with junkyard parts is the time and money you'd need to invest in getting them ready to put on the truck (clean and paint and seals and bushings and whatnot). You can scrounge parts and make your own stuff and save some coin, but you generally get what you pay for, and sooner or later you pay for what you get. 
:
Just thinking out loud, I could probably score a complete early front axle for around $100. I just picked up a set of 3" lift leaf springs for $20. I know a couple guys that would probably let me use their shops (and their scrap bins) to make things like hangers and shackles. You'll be $50 bucks into hardware, bolts and washers and bushings and things, but you'd still need to scare up high steer stuff, and that's gonna run a couple hundred even used. Then you have to decide if you're going to use the worn out tie rod ends that came with it, or spring for better ones, and that's not cheap either. Depending on what rear axle you have, you'll want to look at a set of wheel spacers so you match track width, that's gonna run you at least $50, and you'd better budget another chunk of change for odds and ends like fourwd1 says... you'd have to be gifted a lot of things to get out under $400, and that's assuming that you have access to the skills and tools needed for the fab work. $200 is insanely optimistic.
:Just thinking out loud, I could probably score a complete early front axle for around $100. I just picked up a set of 3" lift leaf springs for $20. I know a couple guys that would probably let me use their shops (and their scrap bins) to make things like hangers and shackles. You'll be $50 bucks into hardware, bolts and washers and bushings and things, but you'd still need to scare up high steer stuff, and that's gonna run a couple hundred even used. Then you have to decide if you're going to use the worn out tie rod ends that came with it, or spring for better ones, and that's not cheap either. Depending on what rear axle you have, you'll want to look at a set of wheel spacers so you match track width, that's gonna run you at least $50, and you'd better budget another chunk of change for odds and ends like fourwd1 says... you'd have to be gifted a lot of things to get out under $400, and that's assuming that you have access to the skills and tools needed for the fab work. $200 is insanely optimistic.
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fourwd1
Moderator
The only parts you'd be able to get used would be the axle, and springs and shackle. The going price for a used 79-85 axle around here is $250 or so. Used stock springs go for maybe $50.
If you went with stock springs instead of lifted you could get away with using the stock steering and save $400 there, but you'd have to pay a few bucks for the steering box.
You'd still have to buy a hanger kit unless you can fab your own.
cometobanks
New member
Don't forget your front drive shaft you will have to make, and adapting a double cardin joint to your rear drive shaft. and your new drive shafts will probably rub on your factory cross member and your fuel tank. have to do some retro fit work on your brakes. its a big job.
Pyroboy
New member
Make sure you get a professional welder to help you. Yes, you can probably practice and do it properly but it's not worth dieing, or killing someone else with a broken weld to save a few bucks. I do a lot of fab work on my truck but I had the SAS work done professionally. Also, in some areas, you might need to prove you had the work done by a certified welder.
