SAS using Toyota Axle?

Sweet truck OP

 

I'm running a flipped 85 axle, sleeved with 3/8" wall tubing plus the usual trussing and knuckle gussets. I used the ifs style hubs and taco brakes. With the 15x10s and 3.75" back spacing my tires still stick past the bushwacker flares without wheel spacers.

 

Very nice truck.

you might need some mud tires though

 

Tell me about it haha, 37" Pit bull Rockers are in the mail and should have some weld on bead locks ready to go in the next few days!

Looking at your build makes me wish I had known more at the time and gone with a 3-link!

 

So were u one of the guys that jumped on that pitbull tire special recently?

About my build, thanks I actually was going with leaf springs. but a good friend, who has a bad ass toyota with links front/rear, kept bringing my attention to the 3-link option. Then research started and i got sold on the idea.

By the time te build started i had an idea of what I wanted. But when the actual SAS idea started a few years back I was clueless about the pros/cons of link suspensions lol

 

Build a toyota hybrid.

Semi float rear axle housing from a 91-92 FJ80 + FJ80 front axle knuckles-out and shafts. 64" WMS drivers drop axle with 9.5" third.

I am building this for my FJ40 but flipping the third in the housing so its passenger drop.

 

Basically this:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/my...es-weak-link-all-toyota-hd-front-axle.496561/

 

Im saving an fj60 rear housing to maybe do this someday when i want to ditch the ifs hubs i have now. That was one of the threads i used for reference for my axle flip.

 

Yeah figured the deal was to good to pass up although getting them up into Canada made it a bit more expensive.

Looks awesome! Definatly wish I had spent more time researching the 3-Link like you said. I ended up destroying my ifs and rear axle housing so just went right into the SAS knowing nothing. Made a bunch of mistakes but it was entertaining and now its performing just right other then my pitman arm keeps smacking the leafs.

 

Man this toyota axle stuff is crazy. I've seen guys spending huge amounts of money building these things. It starts innocently but things can get expensive very quickly.

I really don't get it. If it can be done for free or dirt cheap then I see the point. Kudos to those of you who have done it cheap

To me personally, it is not worth dumping thousands of dollars on toyota axles. At some point you gotta realize that if you are neck deep spending money building toyota axles, it makes better sense to go big with wontons or go with totally custom units.

Even with the added expense of getting them to Canada I think you scored good. That was a sweet tire sale!

It is all a learning experience with 3-link suspensions even if you spend hundreds of hours researching before you start. There are so many variables man, and there are a million opinions about what works and what doesn't in terms of link length, triangulation, etc.

But it is not until you start building your rig that you realize there's really not a one formula that works for everything. Lots of compromises with links. At the end of the day you you have so much room to work with. That's what makes a 3-link more complex.

Mine turned out great, but I still have to dial some things with the suspension. Might need to use limitring straps because it has too much flex

But generally speaking, It is true that a leaf-sprung set up is easier to set up initially.

 

Its the same reason why people build way over priced toyota truck, yank all rhe toyota shit out of them and put axles out of a 1 ton truck under them. just buy a $500 old 1 ton truck or a clapped out s10 and use that.

For me its just me being an enthusiast. if i really cared about money or ultimate performance and strength i would have built or bought a buggy.

 

There are a lot of variables, intended use, tire size, suspension type, etc. I am a Toyota nerd, so that factors into my choices.

I have around $400 into the three axles; a FZJ80 FF rear, FZJ80 front minus third, and the FJ80 SF rear. I was patient and found them all at you pull it junkyards. Rebuild parts, gears, lockers, steering arms, etc are pretty much a constant regardless of what axles you choose, the costs are similar. I already have 6 lug wheels, and don't have to mess with driveshafts or brake lines much swapping from 40 to 80 axles.

Tons are stronger, they're also heavier and have less ground clearance. For tons It's hard to beat a set of 05+ super duty axles, they're arguably stronger than kingpin axles and have better brakes. I wouldn't swap a rear that didn't have a drum in disk parking brake, el dorado parking brake calipers are dogshit. Ultimate set of axles in my view would be a 2011+ super duty front (even bigger brakes) and a 14 bolt rear out of a late model Chevy with the factory disks, use spacers on the 14 bolt to adapt the bolt pattern and to match the wider front axle.

I'm only running 35's and I'm not that hard core.

 

Building an all toyota SAS truck is not a bad idea. You just need to know that if your going to hammer on the truck, your going to need to spend some money. I built this 1st gen for a friend of mine with Diamond front and rear axles. It's sitting on 39.5" Iroks with RST custom three link front and rear and sits low to the ground. It was a pain fitting that HUGE front diamond axle under there but it can be done.

Setting up a three link isn't really that hard. It's all I've done in any of my builds and seems easier to me than doing a leaf sprung front. Plus I like the ride better. I know, you can make a leaf sprung truck flex just as well as a three link...... But I just like the ride and adjustability better with a three link suspension.





Here it is sitting next to another Tacoma on Toyota axle's but it's on 37's and is using the 8" front diff instead of the 9.5" front and rear diff on the truck I built.

 

Wyatt do you have a writeup on that build? whats the frame height?

 

I don't have a build thread for it yet but I will post one up in the next couple of weeks.

 

Tons are a slippery slope and can be expontentially expensive beyond the purchase price. Upfront cost, then 40's because you've got two rock anchors otherwise. Then you need a second car to DD and/or a trailer because DD'ing 40's is miserable in your underpowered truck that can no longer comfortably push the heavy tires and bonus 600 lbs of axle at highway speeds. After your axles are bulletproofed, now your tcase output is the weak spot and then you want an Atlas...

Then on top of that, you no longer have a light, nimble pickup that you have on 37's and Toyota axles.

 

I'm not sure your entirely correct there. I've daily driven my Toyota on tons and 40's for years not to mention my tons have better clearance than a stock toyota rear does and they are both high pinion. Then, I still have my FJ Cruiser T case with the Marlin Crawler Taco box neither of which have ever broken in my 6,184 lb truck on 41" tires.

They 1st gen in the picture above is also daily driven as well as this one here.





I drove 70 miles in one direction for two years with my beast 5 days a week, then wheeled it on the weekends and drove back home. It's been driven to tahoe to run the rubicon trail three times from Huntington Beach california and back and has been driven to Phoenix Arizona so many times I can't remember the count and driven back home to Huntington Beach. It was taken from the show room floor in 2005, built and driven from then on. It now has 67,000 miles on it and still climbs like a mountain goat and takes my wife to the grocery store.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqcFHFY2TNg

Plus if you gear it correctly, like we have with these trucks, you'll still shock the folks in the other lane as you keep up with them. And I'm on 41's now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B6rJ5eXQfo

So not only can I drive it on the freeway and my wife takes it to the grocery store it also can go just about anywhere I want it to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgHeMpkLNZU

You can have your cake and eat it to if you know what your doing.

 

Dam you! I hate seeing trucks like yours....... gives me bad thoughts!

 

Sorry man...

 

Wyatt we know you build a good truck but a second gen is a completely different ball game from a first gen. The 1GR is close to an extra 100 HP over a 3RZ and 50 over a 5VZ. That alone makes a huge difference in driveability. Plus the second gen really isn't a mini truck anymore, it's a pig compared to the first gen and really benefits from the extra width and strength of one-tons.

I'm just pointing out that Toyota axles have their place in the world for people who want a nimble and light pickup wheeler. It's night and day difference from the 5500 lb rigs that lumber over everything to a sub 3500 lb rig that dances over obstacles. Plus you don't normally need a second mortgage to build and maintain one.