SAS Shop

[kmok]

I posted this originally on the main TTORA forum under newbie tech and was told to post here. I want to do an SAS on my truck and wanted to know if anyone knew any reputable shops that do this in the Ohio area. I know my limits and I would not be able to do the SAS myself so I will have a shop do it for me if there are any nearby. Any help would be great.

Kmok

[99TanTaco]

I don't know of any here in OH but you might want to talk to Hagan http://www.ttora.com/forum/member.php?u=1156 who had his built by a shop in KY

But (and I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, and I'm not trying to be condenscending or anything) are you really sure you need/want a SAS?

Have you wheeled and modded your truck to the point where it is no longer capable of running the type of trails you would like to run?

A lot of people tend to jump on the "IFS is Crap" bandwagon and seem to think that the only way to go is solid axle but the truth is a well built and driven IFS truck will run just about any trail we have around here (and for that matter most on this side of the country) and I just can't see justifying the cost of a swap just to be able to access 2-3% more trails. You would be quite surprised of what IFS is capable of and I'm willing to provide examples if you'd like

Next, don't assume that by going to a SA means no more breaking parts and when they do break they will be harder and more expensive to replace

just trying to give you some food for thought:2cents:

[99TanTaco]

One more thing, If you really want a solid axle I think you will find it way cheaper to buy a used truck that has already been swapped (look in forsale section on national board) or look for a older (pre 1985) truck with factory solid axle than to convert your existing truck

[simple4runner]

One more thing, If you really want a solid axle I think you will find it way cheaper to buy a used truck that has already been swapped (look in forsale section on national board) or look for a older (pre 1985) truck with factory solid axle than to convert your existing truck

X2 on that! Way cheaper and less crying over scratches and dents!

[kmok]

I'm just trying to research as much as I can about SASs before I decide to do it which will probably be years from now...I want to find a shop so if I do decide to pull the trigger I have somewhere I can get it done at and know more of what I'm getting into and a rough price.

[Full_Tilt_Fud]

what is your end goal for the truck???

mud??.....rocks??.....chromed out show truck??

do you want to maintain on road driveability of the truck??

this is all info that will make a difference as to where you send the truck.

If I were gonna drop the cash to have a shop swap my truck I would put it on a semi to Cali to Demello and have it linked. The have done the swap several times and their work is trail proven.

I too have too question your reasoning for swaping it though.......I mean the truck in your avitar looks to be bone stock.......it is a huge jump from that to SAS.

As Terry mentioned ALOT of people jump on the SAS band wagon cause it is the cool guy thing to do (not saying this is what you are doing). When they do this one of two things usually happens.....

1. they do the swap themselves and end up with a vehicle of questionable quality that is less capable then a well built IFS truck would have been.

or

2.They manage to build themselves a nice truck or a have a shop build them a nice truck.......but they can't drive it cause they lack trail experience so they end up looking like a bumbleing idiot on the trail.


* please note that all info contained in this post is just my observation and does not depict an individual person or event.......thanks......the management

[NEV2DEP]

Sorry I don’t know any place in OH off hand that could do the job. Like Full Tilt said I would be very, very cautious about the shop I took my truck to for a major work like that. I would want to see a few of their SAC’ed trucks in person and in action. The only other advice I can offer is immerse yourself in this folder on the national board
http://www.tacomaterritory.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=7
. Read, read, read and read some more. You should be able to get an idea of the cost involved and help you get an idea of some of the different options like leaf springs or linked, D44 or a Diamond axle etc.

[ugly's ok]

As Terry mentioned ALOT of people jump on the SAS band wagon cause it is the cool guy thing to do (not saying this is what you are doing). When they do this one of two things usually happens.....

2.They manage to build themselves a nice truck or a have a shop build them a nice truck.......but they can't drive it cause they lack trail experience so they end up looking like a bumbleing idiot on the trail.Stop are you saying that im cool LOL! Or that I cant wheel my junk?:confused::rolleyes::2cents:

[kmok]

what is your end goal for the truck???

mud??.....rocks??.....chromed out show truck??

do you want to maintain on road driveability of the truck??

this is all info that will make a difference as to where you send the truck.

If I were gonna drop the cash to have a shop swap my truck I would put it on a semi to Cali to Demello and have it linked. The have done the swap several times and their work is trail proven.

I too have too question your reasoning for swaping it though.......I mean the truck in your avitar looks to be bone stock.......it is a huge jump from that to SAS.

As Terry mentioned ALOT of people jump on the SAS band wagon cause it is the cool guy thing to do (not saying this is what you are doing). When they do this one of two things usually happens.....

1. they do the swap themselves and end up with a vehicle of questionable quality that is less capable then a well built IFS truck would have been.

or

2.They manage to build themselves a nice truck or a have a shop build them a nice truck.......but they can't drive it cause they lack trail experience so they end up looking like a bumbleing idiot on the trail.


* please note that all info contained in this post is just my observation and does not depict an individual person or event.......thanks......the management

I want my truck to be able to be driven on and off the road and I would be doing rocks and probably a little mud but not bogging or anything like that I dont need to destroy my truck.

My thinking is why waste my time getting exspensive lifts on my truck when I will eventually do an sas and I can save time and money by going straight to the best thing. I'm not 100% saying I'm going to do an sas and I will probably will be doing it years from now I'm just looking to do a little research and see what the prices are and find out about shops around here. I'm not jumping on the sas band wagon because it is the cool thing to do I just want a very capable rig and something I can use as my daily driver. So far all the post have been helpful and thanks for the replies:).

[99TanTaco]

I want my truck to be able to be driven on and off the road and I would be doing rocks and probably a little mud but not bogging or anything like that I dont need to destroy my truck.

My thinking is why waste my time getting exspensive lifts on my truck when I will eventually do an sas and I can save time and money by going straight to the best thing. I'm not 100% saying I'm going to do an sas and I will probably will be doing it years from now I'm just looking to do a little research and see what the prices are and find out about shops around here. I'm not jumping on the sas band wagon because it is the cool thing to do I just want a very capable rig and something I can use as my daily driver. So far all the post have been helpful and thanks for the replies:).

I can certainly understand your point about wasting money on items you might replace down the road, I'm having the same struggle with my current build

Have you spent much time wheeling?

Does your truck have any mods on it? TRD package (rear locker)?

If you haven't already I would invest in a quality set of sliders (you would still need these with a solid axle anyway) and a rear locker if your truck does not already have one and spend some time wheeling it I think you will be quite amazed at what IFS is capable of. Before my Tacoma was diagnosed with cancer and put down by Toyota it had seen time on "Black" trails at the former Paragon, Level 5 trails at Superlift, Level 4 trails at Harlan, numerous trips to Wellsville and always got me home and there are others here who have ran their trucks equally hard with very few problems

some examples
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s32/terrystaco/Apr%2008%20Wellsville/th_IMG_1288.jpg (http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s32/terrystaco/Apr%2008%20Wellsville/IMG_1288.jpg)
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s32/terrystaco/tellico%2008/th_ToddMedium.jpg (http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s32/terrystaco/tellico%2008/ToddMedium.jpg)
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s32/terrystaco/8-17-07/th_IMG_0998.jpg (http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s32/terrystaco/8-17-07/IMG_0998.jpg)
a few in here http://www.flickr.com/photos/terrystaco/sets/72157600972858161/
more here (particularly the last few) http://www.flickr.com/photos/terrystaco/sets/72157600582119997/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/terrystaco/649330109/in/set-72157600534695026/
I got more but need to upload em

not trying to shoot down your plans for sas just saying you can get a long way before you actually need it

[99TanTaco]

If I were gonna drop the cash to have a shop swap my truck I would put it on a semi to Cali to Demello and have it linked. The have done the swap several times and their work is trail proven.

I'm gonna have to agree with you there, by the time you pay a shop to do this swap, the shipping cost would be irrellevant given the amount of money you would be spending.

[Full_Tilt_Fud]

I want my truck to be able to be driven on and off the road and I would be doing rocks and probably a little mud but not bogging or anything like that I dont need to destroy my truck.

My thinking is why waste my time getting exspensive lifts on my truck when I will eventually do an sas and I can save time and money by going straight to the best thing. I'm not 100% saying I'm going to do an sas and I will probably will be doing it years from now I'm just looking to do a little research and see what the prices are and find out about shops around here. I'm not jumping on the sas band wagon because it is the cool thing to do I just want a very capable rig and something I can use as my daily driver. So far all the post have been helpful and thanks for the replies:).


building IFS don't have to be exspensive.......watch the classifieds for used parts on the national board.......there are deals to be had and the best part is if you buy good used stuff for a good price you can probly sell it again for close to your original investment.

Most of the stuff on my truck is stuff I either won in a raffle (front lift), obtained in trades (rear bumper), bought used (skids, other odds and ends), ect (my truck is the black ex-cab in the first two pics terry posted).

My advise to you is get a lift, some armor, a rear locker and some mud tires and get out on the trail........sure you may take on some body damage (it happens........period) but you will have a blast and the experience you gain will make the SAS much more enjoyable when you get to that point.:2cents:

[Full_Tilt_Fud]

Stop are you saying that im cool LOL! Or that I cant wheel my junk?:confused::rolleyes::2cents:


You can wheel just fine........Your spotting on the other hand leaves a little to be desired :rofl:.

[Full_Tilt_Fud]

I'm gonna have to agree with you there, by the time you pay a shop to do this swap, the shipping cost would be irrellevant given the amount of money you would be spending.



my thoughts exactly.

[Full_Tilt_Fud]

Before my Tacoma was diagnosed with cancer and put down by Toyota it had seen time on "Black" trails at the former Paragon, Level 5 trails at Superlift, Level 4 trails at Harlan, numerous trips to Wellsville and always got me home and there are others here who have ran their trucks equally hard with very few problems




some of us may have wheeled our rigs but I don't believe any of us can equal what you put that truck through. :eek::2cents:

[ed4stoy99]

This guy is a Jeep guy but I am sure he could do it .He is working on my 88 runner right now that has a Dana 44 front end. I can tell you he does good work and if very fair on cost.Heck he has TTORA cards on his counter. Here is a link to his web site. http://www.onandoffroad4wheeldrive.com/

[NEV2DEP]

This guy is a Jeep guy but I am sure he could do it .He is working on my 88 runner right now that has a Dana 44 front end. I can tell you he does good work and if very fair on cost.Heck he has TTORA cards on his counter. Here is a link to his web site. http://www.onandoffroad4wheeldrive.com/

I was gonna mention them
Bob is a good dude he did my gear install and hopefully will be doing my front ARB install here real soon.

What is he doing to your Runner?

[ed4stoy99]

Front pinion bearings are bad do to a bad drive line angle. I bought the runner with the SAS already done .So Bob is cutting everything off the axle and rotating it to fix the angle .Then he is doing pinion bearings and gettin me a custom drive shaft. All for $850 bucks , not bad at all.:saw::welder:

[toy yoda]

hey buddy, i have a shop, and the tools to do it, and i would love to do it for you. actually i would almost do it for free just to get the experience, you see i want to do the same thing to my truck when i can, but right now i dont have the time or money with school :mad: but i live near columbus and although i have never done one before, i am confidant that i could do it, you would just have to give me a little time since school is the #1 priority right now.

[simple4runner]

hey buddy, i have a shop, and the tools to do it, and i would love to do it for you. actually i would almost do it for free just to get the experience, you see i want to do the same thing to my truck when i can, but right now i dont have the time or money with school :mad: but i live near columbus and although i have never done one before, i am confidant that i could do it, you would just have to give me a little time since school is the #1 priority right now.

I just wanted to say I saw the job Silas did on his yota sas recently and it was excellent. If Silas would be willing to do the job for someone else he would do top notch work. I'd let him work on my truck any time.

[NwiTACO]

I just wanted to say I saw the job Silas did on his yota sas recently and it was excellent. If Silas would be willing to do the job for someone else he would do top notch work. I'd let him work on my truck any time.

Good. He has a shop and will help...hmmm...now I just gotta pay it off and get a diamond for it!

[Full_Tilt_Fud]

I still want a solid axle some day....however this weekend was sort of an eyeopener for me as far as being able to see what well built and driven ifs will do. I was amazed where my truck would go and it is not even that built and sure isn't well driven.

[simple4runner]

I still want a solid axle some day....however this weekend was sort of an eyeopener for me as far as being able to see what well built and driven ifs will do. I was amazed where my truck would go and it is not even that built and sure isn't well driven.

I agree that the IFS trucks can and do go through some tough stuff, but you can't argue that the solid axle setup is a lot stronger. Look at how hard Silas was hitting that last obsacle (shoot the moon?) and didn't break anything, yet Joe broke an IFS axle on a trail the solid axle guys attacked with no breakage. I'm not putting the IFS setups down, just pointing out an obvious reason to switch to a solid axle.

[toy yoda]

the strength of a solid front axle it the main reason I changed from IFS. but it is not the only benefit, you also get much better travel/flex! my truck almost rolls before that front tire comes of the ground and that is a lot better then the IFS and I had long travel IFS on my truck.

[Full_Tilt_Fud]

I agree that solid axle's are stronger and better in most every way...i was simply pointing out that if you use your head and take good lines ifs can and will carry you a long ways.

[head]

I'm going to have to agree with everyone here. Solid axles are stronger and give way more flex, as Silas showed by walking over every obstical. But with the proper skill, IFS can do alot, as Todd showed by being able to do pretty much every trail we tried.

-I still love my solid front axle though-

[swaycleveland]

joe broke a cv because, he didnt know. He didnt know how his new arb locker was gonna work on the rocks. ( joe dont take this wrong) he didnt realie that by being locked to spool and trying to turn and such over those rocks he was putting force on his cvs that they couldnt take. even a solid axle would break being spooled and trying to turn.( once that wheel looses ground and comes back in contact with it STILL spining at the speed of the other tire) i know ill hear about people running lock rights and such but the beauty of them is that they UNLOCK in turns. a spool cant. and solid or ifs if those wheels cant turn at different speeds in the front you WILL snap one. it is a down side of spooling the front either by arb or actual spool
ill be asleep by the time i get an ear full about how he wasnt locked at the time and this that and the other and ill gladly take it
but id bet money not even being there that he was locked and the turn snapped it
or maybe after years of beating on them it just gave out like sooo many logs in solid axles have

[NEV2DEP]

I knew I was binding it I was at full lock trying to use my driverside tire sidewall to climb a rock and on top of that I was trying to bump up on it. I knew I was pushing the limit and should have winched but choose to try one more time before pullling cable:o


I think a soild axle can be built to be much more stout than IFS could ever be not to mentoin the artilculation that you can achieve that just isn't possible with IFS.

When it comes to IFS espacilly on the Taco they are much more capable than lots of folks believe.

For now I will wheel the shit out of my IFS and fix it as I break it, and maybe 1 day far far away SAS..:2cents:

[toy yoda]

When it comes to IFS espacilly on the Taco they are much more capable than lots of folks believe.



I couldn't agree more, before I built this truck I had a 92 std cab that was pretty much stock, I wheeled the tar out of it and never broke a cv, I guess that is why i thought my truck would be ok without a SAS and why i didnt put one in when I originally built it. IFS can take a beating if its set up right, I was there when Joe broke his, and it had every right to break when it did.

[Full_Tilt_Fud]

When it comes to IFS espacilly on the Taco they are much more capable than lots of folks believe.

For now I will wheel the shit out of my IFS and fix it as I break it, and maybe 1 day far far away SAS..:2cents:



X2.


Oh and I got some fixing to do........The whole way home my steering wheel was way off to the left and the truck pulled pretty hard to the right.

I got to looking under it and I bent my Budbuilt causing it to contact the lower control arm mount which bent that......It is not bad and I am not convinced that that is the cause of the pull but I think it is a good place to start.