Solid Axle Swap or Independent Suspension

[JetPac9]

Greetings 4th Gen T4Rs,

I'm trying to budget the upgrades that I would like to make on my 2008 T4R and I'm trying to decide if I want to upgrade the clearance of my vehicle from a stock independent suspension to a lift and level package or if I should look for ways on completing a SAS. I interested in what performance benefits I would get from either scenarios and cost to do the upgrades.

 

[NJshadow93]

Greetings 4th Gen T4Rs,

I'm trying to budget the upgrades that I would like to make on my 2008 T4R and I'm trying to decide if I want to upgrade the clearance of my vehicle from a stock independent suspension to a lift and level package or if I should look for ways on completing a SAS. I interested in what performance benefits I would get from either scenarios and cost to do the upgrades.

You would have to decide what you want to do with your truck. If you want to SAS, I assume you want to have a dedicated trail rig or crawler. Street performance will obviously suffer unless you put a lot of money into it. From what I hear, a good and complete SAS can easily cost over $10k as opposed to maybe $1500-2000 for a top of the line lift/upgrade from stock (excluding long travel), and even between $700-1000 for a budget suspension lift. IMO, a SAS is a waste unless you're really gonna use it for it's intended purpose of extreme rock crawling.

 

[M1911]

A solid front axle will significantly increase unsprung weight. That will compromise ride quality. You'll also get bump steer. In general, it will a lot less livable around town. Unless you are building a dedicated trail rig, I don't see the point.

 

[t-man]

Addicted Offroad is working on a SAS kit for us.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-g...project-100-kilos-good-stuff.html#post1915926

 

[JetPac9]

Thanks for the response. I have looking into both. Eventually I would like to make a dedicated rig but i think I will likely stay with independent suspensions with upgrades to support more of what I want to do. Seeing as it is more of a hobby and to get to places that I enjoy camping and hiking at. Really appreciate the input. Do you have any particular kits that you suggest of overs?

 

[Nyc-Runner]

What type of budget do you have for a suspension? They can range any where from $1000-$1200 for entry level and go up to $2000-$4000 for higher quality shocks and components.

Some good company's to check out are

Toytec - They make a pretty a basic entry level kit and sell other brands as well.

Toytec Lifts: Toyota Lift Kits: FJ Cruiser Lift Kits, Tacoma Lift Kits, Tundra Lift Kits, 4 Runner Lift Kits, Sequoia Lift Kits, Toyota Truck Lift Kits

Metal Tech- They have higher end stuff Icon-Radflo etc more $$$

Metal Tech 4x4 Toyota Off Road Specialists

And i think [MENTION=72341]NJshadow93[/MENTION] was a little low on the price of a SAC. I think Crozhawk from over on T120 who did a SAC on his 4th gen estimated it to be more around the $20K range I think he did most or all of the work himself which is HUGE also when factoring that into the build budget..