Alright, so I'm brand new to this forum thing, an I need opinions, so here we go...
I have a 2000 Tacoma with a 6.5" Fabtech lift on 35's. And of course with taking it up wheelin pretty often, its inevitable some damage is gonna occur. Lately I've been hearing some grinding noises when I turn the wheel a bit and on corners as well as a loud metal "popping" noise when I go from reverse to first and turn the wheel. I took it into an auto shop for a free courtesy check and they came back with a crap load of things wrong; bad ball joints, bushings, a CV boot is ripped, shocks are becoming shot, new leaf springs, steering stabilizer/rack and pinion, and my right control arm is bent. Basically my whole front end. I knew half this crap was wrong, but I just wanted to get a full insight on everything. They had also told me to stop driving on it until I can fix it.
After that I took it to a 4x4 shop where I always get work done to get another look at it. And with them being more educated in lifted trucks they had said I needed both upper and lower ball joints replaced, CV boot replaced, leaf springs, new shocks and my steering. They estimated everything out to be about $1,600 to fix.
Now, here's my dilemma... I hate the IFS. Its given me a lot of problems and I've had to fix stuff on it before. So I'm thinking should I spend the same/a little more to do a SAS conversion, instead of just fixing it all? Because its approximately the same price to do, and I have friends who have done a SAS before and will help me... And if so, what should I be looking for, for my specific truck? A friend mentioned to get a kit off of trail-gear.com, but I dont know exactly what I'm looking for. Please help!
I have a 2000 Tacoma with a 6.5" Fabtech lift on 35's. And of course with taking it up wheelin pretty often, its inevitable some damage is gonna occur. Lately I've been hearing some grinding noises when I turn the wheel a bit and on corners as well as a loud metal "popping" noise when I go from reverse to first and turn the wheel. I took it into an auto shop for a free courtesy check and they came back with a crap load of things wrong; bad ball joints, bushings, a CV boot is ripped, shocks are becoming shot, new leaf springs, steering stabilizer/rack and pinion, and my right control arm is bent. Basically my whole front end. I knew half this crap was wrong, but I just wanted to get a full insight on everything. They had also told me to stop driving on it until I can fix it.
After that I took it to a 4x4 shop where I always get work done to get another look at it. And with them being more educated in lifted trucks they had said I needed both upper and lower ball joints replaced, CV boot replaced, leaf springs, new shocks and my steering. They estimated everything out to be about $1,600 to fix.
Now, here's my dilemma... I hate the IFS. Its given me a lot of problems and I've had to fix stuff on it before. So I'm thinking should I spend the same/a little more to do a SAS conversion, instead of just fixing it all? Because its approximately the same price to do, and I have friends who have done a SAS before and will help me... And if so, what should I be looking for, for my specific truck? A friend mentioned to get a kit off of trail-gear.com, but I dont know exactly what I'm looking for. Please help!
