SAS or not?

[Tobi-Wan]

I have an '87 4runner, with a 4.5" trailmaster suspension. i just purchased an 85 4runner off ebay, and i have yet to pick it up. It's in Virginia, and I am in Athens Ga. the '85 has a solid front axle, and I am thinking about doing the SAS from the 85 to the 87. Any suggestions, or comments from those who are experienced with this swap? i want to get more into off-roading on trails,a s well as a little crawling. I have read in several places, threads for and against both the solid axle front end as well as the IFS front. Obviously the IFS has more components to break, but EVERY picture i see anywhere, with any serious articulation, is a Solid Front Axle! Is the swap something I can attempt to do, and if not, how much should it run me to have it done? Any information is greatly appreciated, as i have been thinking about this since i purchased my 4runner a couple of months ago!

There's good days and bad days..and goin' half mad days....JB

 

[yotatilla]

For the amount of money that it would take to do the swap, you'd just be better off building the '85 for rocks and keeping the '87 for trails and things of that nature. You would need everything in an All Pro Kit believe it or not. You could just buy the kit for $1400, which includes everything to do the lift including lift springs. This only includes the front end, not the rear. It is something that can easily be attempted, as I have done it twice to friends trucks. You have tom make sure that you have all the tools and parts that you need, because the dificulty could go through the roof if you don't have a plasma cutter, a good arc welder, and basically a full set of tools. The kit comes with full instructions. We did one swap in a week and the other in one night. It was an intense night. We have 6 guys all working strait out until 6 AM. You will need the front support and a few other things off of the '85 in order to do this. I have considered this many times for mine, but I always come back to just buying the kit. You can pick up the whole system, minus front axel and a few other pieces for around $2500 shipped. This includes the front and rear 6" suspension lift, shocks, greaseable shackles, and shock hoops. Check out www.allprooffroad.com . The solid axle with outperform the IFS like no bodies business. I was amazed when we did a swap on a 1990 P/U. I'll attach a few pics. It is a stock pick with just that $2500 kit on it and a set of 35x14.5 Thornbirds.If you plan on doing the swap, keep both Runners complete, and buy the kit and find an axel out fo the want ad or the like. They run around $150-$200 complete up here. That is the first thing I am going to do when I get out of school. Good luck, Sam.