1st gen Tacoma SAS swap using super duty axles

ive been searching for info on this and found a ton of 10k plus rock crawler builds that use nothing but premium parts and blah blah blah. My real question is concerning what axles to use for a SAS swap. My first idea was a Dana 44, but have been reading that they are weak and not worth using. I have a matching set of 1999 superduty axles in my backyard, sterling 10.5 rear axle and Dana 50 front axle. Is the Dana 50 alright to use on a toyota 4 cylinder? Or is it worth it to find a Dana 60 like my 2004 superduty has? New to axles but not to working on cars

 

D50 isn’t really worth the effort.

Super duty axles got upgraded in 05 with bigger knuckles and unit bearings and are all D60 from then on, I would look for a 05+ axle, they aren’t too pricey and pretty easy to get. The rear axle you have should be fine.

 

Yes but superduty front ends after 05 also went to coil spring, and I’d like to use leaf springs. I’m not confident enough in my ability to cut the mounts off the axle and revels new ones either

 

Re-weld

 

I understand your direction but I cannot fathom spending the time and resources it takes to swap one and end up with an archaic leaf spring front setup. I know, I know...They're everywhere, they work pretty good, they're cheap etc... I'm just the type that if I'm spending that much time and money I'm gonna spend that extra to go with a much more modern setup.

 

You'd have to cut the mounts for the superduty off either way so might as well have the better axle and maybe think about coilovers and links.

 

If you're not comfortable enough to chop mounts off an axle and weld on a set of perches, a complete sas and rear axle swap may be way out of your ability.

 

Let me reword, I’d rather not use coil springs, because I’m not comfortable with coil springs. The way I am thinking I want this is with leafs, just because that is what I’m used to and what I’m familiar with. I could spend the extra time to go to coil spring but that’s a whole lot more geometry and angles than I want to deal with. It’s not that I can’t do it, I’d just rather not

 

Well if I’m gonna use a coil spring at all I’d like to use a coilovers setup, and a lead spring setup is closer to my budget and more well suited to what I use the truck for

 

Just from this post your not ready to swap the truck. You can't just bolt on an axle on your truck your going to have hours of welding alone doing a swap. All of the factory mounts on the new axles need to be removed so you can mount all the mounting locations to fit your much smaller truck then the full size axles.

I would go and read for about 6 plus months on swapping a Tacoma before you attempt cutting on your truck or your going to have a jack stand truck for a very long time.

 

Fabrication issues a side, if it was me I would swap what ya got provided you can find gears and lockers for the d50.

If you don't cut off the leaf spring perches and move them, you are going to be fabricateing leaf spring mounts on the frame, which also requires a shit ton of welding and math. I did both on mine and the frame work was way harder than re welding some leaf spring perches.

 

Well I was thinking I can run the 50, and if I end up breaking it and destroying it it wouldn’t be hard to drop a 60 in. Again I’ve never even broken a CV shaft, so I’m sure the 50 will be fine for what I’m doing. I’m just an overly paranoid person who has a bad habit of talking myself into things I don’t need lol

 

I was already planning on not doing this for another year or so, gotta finish my 6 speed superduty 7.3 restoration first lol

 

So if i get a matching set of axles of a 95 f250 for 300$ would it be worth to sas my tacoma or should i just use a retubed to driver side drop toyota axle?

 

Sure, but you gotta know what you're getting into. Those should be a ball joint 60 and sterling 10.25. Both are perfectly fine to use. Leafs might be harder to do because the perches are like 36" wide on center. Not every rig has to be $60k.

 

For the record my 03 F250 has a D60 front... it started before 05.

 

02/03 was a funny crossover year for D60's vs D50's some F250's got one and some got the other. However, 05+ D60's in SD's are Super 60's that have bigger tubes, 35 spline shafts, bigger R&P, and bigger u-joints on the stub axles that let them turn tighter.

 

I have been considering doing an SAS with SD axles as well. In doing my research i found an interesting kit. Its a set of radius arms for an 05+ SD axles using the factory link mounts on the axle... would just need to locate the placement for the frame side bracket, might need some outriggers but it looks very promising to me. Could use coils or maybe even my Toytec/Bilstein coil overs.
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/R2348.html

 

Oh, and would need to make a panhard bar mount for the frame (no biggie) using a bar made for the SD.

 

I know this is a bit old but did you ever get anywhere with this, my buddy is looking to do the exact same setup