Tacoma SAS Part Two: The Swap

The SAS is done! For now...
This thread won't be nearly as detailed as the axle rebuild. Sorry.
My buddies and I were able to complete the job in two weekends. It was a lot of work and I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked.

Here it goes...

We got the truck out of Grandmas garage and onto the trailer.





Brought it over to my buddies shop where he's got a lift. Not that we didn't like grandmas. The shop just has a little more room and we didnt have to worry about throwing anymore sparks on her Oldsmobile.



Saying goodbye to the IFS.



You will need a torch or a plasma cutter for this. The torch seem to work the best. After that we were in for a whole lot of grinding!





Gone

 

After about a full evening of grinding, we got the frame rails cleaned up enough to attach the Trailer Gear reinforcement plates.



All welded up.



Also welded on the front cross member and spring hangers.

 

where is part 1?

 

Looks sic! Subbed

 

We mounted the springs to the axle and bolted them up to the front hangers. This allowed us to figure out where the rear shackles needed to be mounted.
I would recommend tacking the rear shackle mounts in place before fully welding them. You will need to put some weight on the springs to see what the shackle angle looks like.
It took us a while to get it right. A lot of cutting and re-welding.







Triple checking that everything is straight.



Couldn't wait to put the tires on.

 

Subd. Can you post a link to your axle build thread?

 

Found it -> HERE

 

Had to modify the transmission crossmember to clear the new front drive shaft.
Remember to secure the transmission before removing the crossmember!



Welding on the shock mounts.



Ready to rock n roll.



Didn't take long to get it dirty.

 

You made that look easy!

 

Again, sorry this writeup wasn't as detailed as the last. There was just to much going on during the swap to stop and take pictures.
What you would really need to follow are the trail gear intructions. Link below...

https://www.google.com/url?url=http...QmhohA&usg=AFQjCNFC9rEJLYkmDF_XyJX7UyCWyBI6Xg

There were alot of other things that I do not have pictured. The trailer gear intructions do a great job covering that.

When I have some time I can upload some more photos of underneath the truck.

 

Wow that's tall. Whats up with the rubber under the grill? 2 weekends, nice! I've been dicking around with frame plates for a month LOL

 

Nicely done!

 

Damnit... y'all are quick.

What is the frame height as it looks tall.

 

Wow that looks tall... Nice and quick. Hoping I can do the same without a lift!

 

what size tire and front lift are you running?

 

I like it. Looks good!

 

Very clean build. Looks good.

X4 on being tall. I guess that's the nature of the beast when doing a SAS with leaf springs...until they begin to settle or you start modifying the the leaf packs - whichever comes first.

Also...you gonna hate those swamper TSL radials

 

Getting ready to do the same swap on my 04. Did you swap the oil pan? Looking at pics, I think you did. Did you move the dipstick?