2003 DCSB Tacoma 1 Ton SAS

I got all the parts in to start setting up the gears and ARB air locker. I cut up some key stock and added it to the housing to better support the square U bolt that will be going on the inside of the leaf spring. Found a local deal on a set of 37x12.5x17 BFG KM3's with 4,000 miles on them for $800! When assembiling the ring gear onto the diff, I put it in the oven on an old cookie sheet at 300°F for about 30 min - it slid on without a bit of resistance - my wife didn't appreciate the burnt oil smell when she got home!

 

Been a while since the last update. I waited 2 months for the passenger side steering knuckle from 4 wheel supply - They did amazing work, it just wasn't fast. The knuckle was drilled and tapped for a high steer arm with a GM Drag link end taper. I got the knuckles painted and ball joints installed. Painted front axle. got it under the truck and the PSC 1.5" x 8" hydro assist ram on and made sure it cleared everything. Tie rod is from Fusion 4x4 and its beefy!

 

Bad ass man!

 

Finally got the truck sitting on all 4 tires! List of things left to do. With thre rear AAL installed, the rear was a bit too high (1.5" or so) and the front will settle they say which would only make the issue worse. I decided to remove the AAL and make the ride a bit softer as the AAL made the rear a bit too stiff. After removal the rear sits about 1.5" low to the front. If the sprigs settle, ill just remove the block. I like the way the rear sits with the 37" without the block so hopefully I can remove it in 6 months and it'll sit level.



With the AAL ^^



Without the AAL^^ about 8" between fender and top of tire in the rear.

The fron shocks (Bilstein 7100 short body 12" shocks) would not mount in the hoop becuase the reservoir line hit the hoop before the bolt would line up.


A trip to the locat hydraulic shop fiex that issue, but I had to bleed the charge off to change out the fitting on the end of the reservoir and put a 90 deg elbow as it exits the shock body.

Broke a bolt off in the hub during disassembly when i bought the axle and I welded a nut to the broken bolt and somehow got it out on the first try!




Bleed Braked
Charge front shock
Install front shocks after relocating lower mounts
Add 1" rear block - see photos above
Relocate rear lower shock mounts for more travel after removing AAL
Install new front hubs - ECGS sent wrong hubs
Alignment

Plan to start on a rear bumper at some point in the next month or 2.

 

Had a buddy that works at a laser/cnc cutting place cut me a set of 1" block from solid plate steel. I drilled and tapped them and installed an old set of leaf spring pins in them. Got the front socks installed - see the end fittings that I had to have added by a local hydraulic shop. I had to replace both front calipers as they both locked up on the test drive.

 

How did i miss this. Come do mine now. Lol. Great work man!

 

Update: I got the truck on the road for a test run and to cycle the suspension out. Found a few issues.


Back of rear fender rubbed and it pushed in the fender, luckily it just bent right back out when the tire flexed away from the fender - this was trimmed to fit.


PS box leaked bad after my first rebuild attempt - rebuilt it again and its good to go so far....
Blew the PS pump/pump quit working well unless truck was at high rev - not sure why... Replaced with a PSC pump and reservoir setup and added a cooler. This was planned, just not this early.
Crawl box rear adapter plate leaked - had to drop the T case and rear adapter plate on crawl box and re-seal

 

I had to build a bracket to hold the ARB compressor. This will go between the brake booster and the fender well on the driver side.


A few more photos..

 

What are your shocks tuned for? How did they ride?

 

275/78 valving Model # AK7112SBA - 12" short body remote reservoir

I'd say it rides ok, better than it did with the IFS if that says anything...

 

Right on. I was looking at them for all 4 corners of mine.

 

Amazing build!

@cynicalrider you seen this?

 

I mainly got them for space (length) so I could run a 12" shock in the front and not have the brackets way down on the back of the axle tubes.

 

Awesome build! I'm seriously considering an 05+ SD60 axle for my SAS, and narrowing it like how you did to yours.

I'm curious on how (or if) you set your caster for the driver side inner c, did you cut back the weld on the c and rotate it? Or did you rotate the entire tube once you cut back the center section casting? Or did you even mess with the caster at all?

 

Thanks! The knuckle on the passenger side was cut off and welded back on. I set the axle up on my table and strapped it down and set the drivers side (Still factory welded) caster to “0”. I then hammered on the passenger side, set it to “0” to match the drivers side and pre-heated and welded the C back on the tube. Under the truck, I just placed the spring perches on the axle and then set the axle on jack stands so the weight of the truck was on the spring perches. I used a scissor jack under the pinion then get the 4-5 deg positive caster I was shooting for. Hope this helps.

 

I got the compressor bracket finished and the arb compressor installed and wired up. I couldn’t find a spot I liked for the compressor and locker switches, so I made a bracket that screws on by the shifters.

 

Okay, so you didn't rotate the DRIVER side tube/inner-c relative to the center section then? That is what I was trying to get at with my question.

 

Correct, I did not mess with the drivers side C at all.

 

Update on ride height and rear bumper build.
Initially the frame height was +/- 26" with the new springs and no miles on the SAS.
After around 500 miles on the SAS and flexing the suspension out a few times the ride height has settled to just over 24-1/2"

Started on the rear bumper and got the "base" of it done. Going to start on the tire carrier and fuel can holder when I get the spindle in from RuffStuff. The bumper will double as an air tank +/- 3 gal capacity.

 

Bumper base is completed and I've been working on the tire carrier. Painted the camper shell in plasti-dip black - looks way better than the white and has a bit of a matte finish. The rear end was making a howling noise under acceleration and cruising at over 60 MPH. Pulled the cover and found that the adjuster rings on the carrier bearings were lose - not sure how, but there was .010-.015 play left to right in the carrier. Reset the backlash to .007 and re-torqued everything - no noise so far...