Crunchy Taco? - 1st gen on 35s BS

Yup the strength and reliability is the reason I would want it. BUT the downsides would be expense, down time, and learning how to do it properly to be able to still drive it across the country comfortably like I have been.

 

That's totally understandable. My buddy and I joke that the reason so many SAS Toyotas go up for sale after they get finished is because they couldn't figure out how to make it actually ride right and drive straight enough to keep it as a street/wheeling rig... and he's a 4x4 fabricator so he's fixed plenty of sketchy suspensions

 

If you venture off TW you will see that an SAS isnt that expensive and hard to do there's a mantra here that is 5 figures min to "do it right" whatever that means. Your reasons were one of the main reasons it took me so long to SAS the truck. Once I started looking at some builds and what other mfrs do (like jeeps and other land cruisers) and copy those it was all good. Did it pretty cheap and the truck is smooth up to 80, which is as fast as I'll go. Yea I fought some issues like any major mods, but I kept the build simple and it all worked out. Its DD capable and I don't have a trailer and closest good wheeling is 8hrs one way. Excluding tires my tires and wheels, most members on this site have more money tied up in RTT and expo accessories/flair than I do in my axles and suspension.

Keep it on leafs and copy a factory-ish design and you will be good. Zero death wobble unlike the guys with mini trucks I wheel with that did what evreyone else does like @Wulf pointed out. The shackle in the rear on these mini truck SAS that evreyone does and copies is a mess and causes most of the issues on and offroad.

 

And wheeling it IFS for a long ass time like you guys is the way to go. That way you know exactly what you want. I laugh at the dudes who go wheeling twice, get stuck once and then start chopping their truck up. Its then for sale a few years later because "it doesn't work right", no you just dont know your truck and built it wrong.

I crawled for over 10yrs IFS, 33s, an open front end and a crawl box, so when it came time to start hacking I knew what I wanted /needed. My IFS was on its last legs and just physically could not get the truck over the rocks on the trails I was trying to wheel on. I still miss it IFS and 33s, so much fun and soooooooo stable.

 

Yeah, these trucks really are quite capable as it is and a lot of people don't seem to realize that. My "poor mans" OME front suspension wheels quite fine and I haven't felt the need for coilovers. Maybe if I dailyed the truck and wanted to fine tune the ride


Poked at the truck more this week; monday I put the third in and put the passenger side back together. Getting close to having it back in a place where I can at least get it out of the way for a bit.

 

Loved my OMEs, worked great and it was a DD. Never got the coil over hype unless you were desert running the thing, plus the road salt here would eat them up.

Hell if you look at half the solid axle forum, I did mine "wrong" since I didnt link it and used leafs.

 

Leaves will get you down the trail and perform great if setup well.

Plus it's easier to setup leaves right than it is to actually link it properly, which I am guessing most people don't do

 

Very true!! And it saved me a few grand which on a toy means alot to me!

Saying that next truck I'll prolly link it because getting old sucks.

 

I feel that. Though next time around I will probably buy a built rig and adjust it to my taste

 

Yea you can pick them up for pennies on the dollar.

 

You can, I see SAS Yotas show up in the $6-10k range pretty often in Western CO or Utah. Or for the same price you can get a well built CJ7 or YJ... and I think about it sometimes when they pop up.

I actually have a CJ7 with a Dana 44 front swap, sleeved and trussed rear with discs and Moser shafts, Front/rear lockers, etc in storage but I haven't touched it in 8(?) years because of the bad memories associated with it

 

My mod yesterday was to put a breather vent into the extended rear axle vent hose that Ryan installed prior to my Moab trip

 

Went wheeling today. No pics for now.

Was coasting at about 35mph on the drive home and it felt like the truck popped out of gear...after checking several gears I threw it into 4wd and pulled into a parking lot

The DS CB nut stripped the thread and the DS came apart. Glad I caught it before the DS totally came apart and vaulted the truck off the pavement. I was pissed at first because I thought I grenaded the rear diff

 

Damn dude. Glad you caught that in time

 

Actually twisted a driveshaft in two at a little over 100 mph back in the day. Took almost a half mile to get stopped with the back half of the shaft steadily digging onto the pavement.

Wasn't my time to go....

 

That sounds like it wasn't a very fun ride. I'm glad I avoided something similar on HWY 24

 

Wow that's crazy! Did you stake the nut when you installed it? Thanks BTW now I'm going to be paranoid since I cut an inch off that threaded CB shaft when i stripped the threads on it being a dumbass.

 

I did not