Which axle would you choose and why?

Starting my research for a potential SAS. First question, what axle would you choose? I have a 2004 (first gen) 3.4l extra cab with a manual transmission. So far I've probably wasted money on putting OME springs in the rear. I've been told if I'm going to build a crawler I should have used 63" Chevys. It would have been nice to start out right but I needed springs and jumped into it. Then I added 285/75/16s. Now I'm pretty convinced over the next year or two ill be grabbing parts where and when I can to do a SAS. I'd really like to be able to keep my rims so a 6 x 5.5 lug pattern would be ideal. I'd like to keep it street legal. Sliders, skid plates, and 5.29s I'm thinking (of course ill have to get a bigger tire for the 5.29s). Anyway, I digress. Any advise is welcome. Thank you for your time

David

EDIT: Why does everyone say you don't want a SASed taco as a daily driver?

 

Have you ever wheeled this truck before? Reason i ask is you should wheel the truck for a few years to learn it and when you finally do swap it, you will be that much better of a driver. Get sliders, armor, and a crawl box and then read the below parts after a few years of wheeling.

Rear springs are not a big deal, you can run those. Whoever told you that you need 63s is dumb, people run those because they are cheap and flex pretty good. As for a front axle i recomend the fj60/62 axle. You can usually find them for really cheap, they use mini truck steering and outers so parts are cheaper and there are a bagillion vendors for them, you can use your toyota wheels, and it has the bigass 9.5" diff. People say you cant daily drive an sas truck because they either built it too stupid high, way too big of tires, or are scared of wandering steering. You can dd if you build it right.

 

I'd steer away from a D44 and go for either a custom axle, Fj60, or one ton axles.

SASed tacos aren't "easy" to drive on the street compared to a car. You can do it just fine though. Lower helps, links help too, my leaf springs are a little squishy on the steering and when stopping quickly the truck wants to turn due to steering geometry and suspension squat.

 

Thank you for the advise. I have lightly wheeled it before my lift but not really much after. I just don't know of any areas near me that aren't "rock crawling" trails. I think I will follow your advice to a point. Next I'll get sliders and make a skid plate for it. Probably bumpers after. I don't know about dumping the money on a crawl box if I'm going to SAS it....

 

Thank you for confirming the fj axle. I'll have to keep thinking about this. I'd like to keep it as a dd for a few more years before it becomes solely for recreational purposes so I am reconsidering the solid axle...

 

If you're SASing it, it means you're going on some really technical difficult trails. If that happens, there's gonna be trail dents with pretty good sized dents. Unless you wanna DD a beat up truck like that, you should really wait until you get a DD car/truck. Wheel your truck with IFS for a while and take that to the max first. Maybe don't go long travel but maybe mid travel. Learn the truck and how it maneuvers. Learn to "be one with the truck" before you start dumping tens of thousands into it.

 

FYI I had to modify my sliders because of the SAS, so although I do agree with @slander for the most part I wouldn't necessarily do sliders first as I had to cut 2 supports on each side and redo them. Front bumper is pointless as it will need to be modified as well (probably). You are probably safe with the rear bumper as that shouldn't get in the way of anything.

FYI I used the Trail Gear kit C (with their Rock Assault axle, just a beefed up Toyota axle), if I had to do it again I would probably use it again but could be persuaded to just go tons.

Disagree. My truck doesn't have huge dents and I haven't rolled it yet.

Yes it is good to know the limits of what IFS can do. I've surprised myself what a stock first gen on old 31's can do. Now my truck can do that fairly easily where before I had to really push it, and the sliders, and the skid plates.

 

Aight well I guess I'm wrong. My bad OP. I'll leave.

 

I don't think you're completely wrong. Most crawlers do get beat up. If I do SAS and crawl it, I think I may be able to save the body with sliders and a full exo

and I guess I just need to start pushing my limits and see what she can do. I do want to put on sliders and skids first. If I have to modify em, oh well. Anyone know any good areas to test my limits and learn the truck in the nor cal area? Better yet, anyone wanna escort me?

 

Crawl box is a must in rocks. I wheeled with one IFS and on 33s for 6yrs before i did my sas and went through some knarly stuff. I still say that mod dollar for dollar was better than my solid axle performance wise, especially in the rocks. I also think thats why i never really broke anything, i only broke one cv during that time and considering the trails i wheeled that truck on, thats pretty good.

 

what did you do to your front suspension? Mid travel? And are new driveshafts required for doing a crawl box?

 

Ome 882s and yes new drive shafts are required. I used a local drive shaft shop to do mine.

 

sorry to keep dragging you into my project. If you get bored with me or get tired of answering questions, don't worry about replying.
Having kind of a hard time finding 882s. Found 881s and 883s. Any suggestions on places to look? And what struts did you run? UCAs or LCAs?

 

OP, no offense, but based on your questions it seems like you are over your head....at least at this point. Usually guys have wheeled the crap out of their rigs before they go SAS, and it seems like you have barely wheeled that thing.

But since you asked about axles and everybody is giving their opinion; I'll go ahead and offer mine as well

Do it right and do it once by going with 1 ton axles. It will be the last axles you will ever build or need.

If you decide not to go with big axles, go with a D44 from a late 70's Ford F250. Those are high pinion, come with .5" thick axle tubes (super strong) and are full width. It's the strongest D44 you can find, and they are cheap - if you can find them anymore

 

Appreciate the input, but like I stated before, I don't know anywhere I can wheel without being told I'm going to break a halfshaft

 

where are you located at? There are so many wonderful places to go wheeling all over the country. Plan a nice week get away and head to Moab Utah other parts of the Southwest where some of the best wheeling in the country is at.

 

I'm in Northern California. And at this point a week off of work would be very difficult to get. I'm more so looking for 3-4 day trips.

To the best of my knowledge the closest thing to me is the Rubicon, but that's a SAS only area to the best of my knowledge

 

Dude, California has great places to go wheeling!

The Rubicon can be done with IFS. A good set of off road tires and lockers would be ideal though, as well as going with a group.

 

There's a thread by @jberry813 I believe showing that him and a group of IFS tacomas went through rubi. Difficult but possible.

 

I love the "hey im in norcal and cant find anywhere to wheel posts" LOL!!!! you are just about smack dab in the middle of the wheeling mecca...

I dont know about what OME products are out there now, i bought mine in 2008 and ran them up until last year. Look at my build thread and you can see what i did with it, but evreything was stock except for the ome struts and coils.