Builds SAS 89 Mini--Triple cased Mashed Potato (1 Viewer)

[71-CRUISER]

We have a several customers running spacers, 40s, 80s and 4-Runners, and haven't had any issues to date. Just use red lock-tite and re-torque them every time you have your tires off and you will never have a problem.

Wheel studs are like knuckle studs, if they loosen they are way more likely to break but if you keep them tight you are very unlikely to have any issues.

 

[TeddyBoy]

Good to know, thx! Got 'em all mounted up last night.

Got the rear shocks ordered today, went cheap with Pro Comps, so, NO! there isn't anything "Bilstein" going on my truck at this time. They're coming from Ca to 4WP in Norcross and should be in Wednesday.

Next major job: Front Shock Hangers and Square front drive shaft.

Going the Square route hillbilly for the extended slip joint and cost effectiveness. Parts needed are +/-30" of 2" x 1/4" wall square tubing which we have already and +/-36" of 2.5" x 1/4" wall square tubing which I found at Metal Supermarkets in Norcross, cost $29. I'm buying a little extra just in case.

The object is to use the joints from my old drive shaft which is now far too short and weld them to the square tubing. The trick is getting these mounted as "square" as possible to eliminate the vibes if 4WD is ever used on the highway. I don't think there's any such thing as balancing a square drive shaft but if you read in the instruction below the guy actually adds sand to the inner shaft to help out. Don' think I'll do that but thought it worth mentioning.

Throw in a couple of Zerk fittings for lubrication and call it a day.

This is the goal:

Instruction on how to do this can be found here:
http://www.rocketcityrockcrawlers.com/memberstuff/al/85 Toyota 4Runner Square Driveshaft Project.pdf

 

[pillguy]

interesting.... are you going to be ready for durhamtown?

 

[TeddyBoy]

interesting.... are you going to be ready for durhamtown?

not unless Houdini himself shows up and knows how to turn a wrench.

 

[schmitty]

I'm sure we can get it ready tomorrow after we fix my power steering and finish dad's cage. I'm sure we will have plenty of time to work on your truck

 

[Dave Logan]

not unless Houdini himself shows up and knows how to turn a wrench.

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring. It's time to wrap this "winter" project up.

 

[TeddyBoy]

I'm sure we can get it ready tomorrow after we fix my power steering and finish dad's cage. I'm sure we will have plenty of time to work on your truck

Yea right! finish, you're funny!

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring. It's time to wrap this "winter" project up.

Agreed! I'm ready to get this done too. Shooting for the next 2 weekends.

 

[zukinut]

i used tractor pto shaft, stuff is awesome, and its designed to be used as a driveshaft.

 

[TeddyBoy]

It was such a nice day out I called it quits at work about 12:30, grabbed the keys and shot over to John's to meet Josh for a little Friday wrenching. On the way had to swing by the scrap yard and pick up a little 1" schedule 80 for building my spring hoops, $15 later I was on my way.

To figure out how tall to make the shock hoops I had to get into the the wheel well so i pulled out the Hi-lift and jacked up the truck.


I didnt take any progress pics b/c I'm getting anxious to get this thing done. So, I just set to building them and this is the near complete outcome.


I did manage to complete the fab work including cutting to length and capping the mounting tubes. Then I thought about taking the Pillguy route of primer/sand, primer/sand, primer/sand but in the end decided against it and said screw it and just painted the stupid things.

wait for it...

 

[schmitty]

Come on Ted show everyone what the look like painted.

 

[TeddyBoy]

Come on Ted show everyone what the look like painted.

no pictures of the bling exist

 

[Dave Logan]

Waitin' for them to come back from the chrome shop?

 

[TeddyBoy]

Waitin' for them to come back from the chrome shop?

Somethin' like that

 

[TeddyBoy]

The final Push

I felt like I was sittin' on pins and needles all day today. After yesterday I'm really gettin' antsy to finish up and get it at least drivable. No to mention, the landlord has been very patient with me. Thanks John!!!!

The TO DO list. I think it can be knocked out in one big day if I can just pull all of the parts together this week.

Here it is:
[STRIKE]1) finish shock hoops and weld to frame (near complete)[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]2) Mount front and rear shocks,[STRIKE] might need new front ones and will research/purchase this week [/STRIKE]( install won't take long)[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]3) G[STRIKE]otta pick up the replacement pitman arm and other 5.29 diff. this week. The Arm install is easy and diff/gear install will just have wait for a few weeks.[/STRIKE][/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]4) Front driveshaft, [STRIKE]pickin' up materials this week.[/STRIKE][/STRIKE]
5) [STRIKE]Nuts and bolts stuff, picked up new front shackle bolts today.[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]6) Need to bend 2 inside front shackles to match spring width.[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]7) Bleed brakes[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]8) Finish welding front brace.[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]9) Pinion angles--hmm, just cant do anything with it until the above is wrapped up.[/STRIKE]
10 Remount rear bumper, BOB will wait for another day but will definitely happen.

With the exception of the drive shaft most everything else is pretty quick and easy to do. Hopefully, with a good day next Saturday I can get this thing back home and then I can build a traction bar before it hits the trails.

 

[4in100]

Wish I'd known you needed hoops. I have some sitting here in my garage waiting on paint.

You got spare axles? I got a set if you need any

 

[TeddyBoy]

Wish I'd known you needed hoops. I have some sitting here in my garage waiting on paint.

You got spare axles? I got a set if you need any

I saw that too, oh well. Yea I'm gonna need some axle shafts as spares but that will have to wait a few weeks. If you still have them I'll hit you up.

 

[TeddyBoy]

Had to shoot down 400 this evening to unload some old IFS junk and a spare 33" tire to a guy on Craigslist. On the way home decided to swing into Southern Offroad Specialists off McFarland Rd. I've only been in there once or twice and they seem like good guys, mostly jeepers and Fords but I won't hold that against them. The goal was to see what they had in stock vs. having to order through 4WP and wait a week.

Goal accomplished, just picked up the front shocks. Also, during the course of the conversation we stumbled upon something else I've been looking for... we'll see but it sounds like they might have a lead for me to follow up on tomorrow.

Anyway, shocks are nearly 34" extended and 20" compressed, a little overkill perhaps but did not want to come up short. That's nearly 14" of travel.


Also picked up a square axle U-bolt to replace the 1 round one I have on the passengers side. $10

 

[pillguy]

Ted,

Do you know what your original travel was? I am assuming around 7" .
I saw in the last T4wd mag, that they had some sort of kit to extend IFS for 2Gen trucks.

Your truck is looking pretty mean, question is will it be tall enough to avoid the MM mud bogs?

Had to shoot down 400 this evening to unload some old IFS junk and a spare 33" tire to a guy on Craigslist. On the way home decided to swing into Southern Offroad Specialists off McFarland Rd. I've only been in there once or twice and they seem like good guys, mostly jeepers and Fords but I won't hold that against them. The goal was to see what they had in stock vs. having to order through 4WP and wait a week.

Goal accomplished, just picked up the front shocks. Also, during the course of the conversation we stumbled upon something else I've been looking for... we'll see but it sounds like they might have a lead for me to follow up on tomorrow.

Anyway, shocks are nearly 34" extended and 20" compressed, a little overkill perhaps but did not want to come up short. That's nearly 14" of travel.
View attachment 405890

Also picked up a square axle U-bolt to replace the 1 round one I have on the passengers side. $10

 

[samuraiguytn]

Looking at your driveshafts, dunno if you know this or not, but you can take the stock drive shaft and get the flanges milled down to except a standard size tubing. Thats what I did with mine. Cost about a hundred bucks per drive shaft but still cheaper then ordering from some where, and you'll like the results better then the square tubing. Just my thoughts on it.

 

[TeddyBoy]

Ted,

Do you know what your original travel was? I am assuming around 7" .
I saw in the last T4wd mag, that they had some sort of kit to extend IFS for 2Gen trucks.

Your truck is looking pretty mean, question is will it be tall enough to avoid the MM mud bogs?

Thanks PG, it's coming together nicely. I don't know what the previous articulation was, kind of kicking myself for not pulling some measurements before we started. Like I said in the first post, my wife calls me bulldozer and I just plowed ahead early on. If i had to guess 7-8" tops would be about right in the rear and probably 5" tops in the front. We've probably at least doubled the front and increased the rear by 75%. It's gonna be fun to find out what it can do.

I think you're talking about long arm kits for the IFS. Don't know much about them but knowing what I know now about a SAS I wouldn't bother dumping several hundred $$ into the IFS. Chances are you will re-spend the same amount of money 2 years later on a SAS and be much happier. It's not been easy and I've been very fortunate to have the friends and tools at my disposal, this makes a huge difference.

One more thought, the scope of work I laid out was very ambitious, probably more so than I first realized. In the end I could have bought a SAS kit and saved a great deal of work and time. I'm not saying I'd go that route personally but all things being equal it's a very good option, but then again, anyone could have done that.

Looking at your driveshafts, dunno if you know this or not, but you can take the stock drive shaft and get the flanges milled down to except a standard size tubing. Thats what I did with mine. Cost about a hundred bucks per drive shaft but still cheaper then ordering from some where, and you'll like the results better then the square tubing. Just my thoughts on it.

That's kind of what the plan is, remove the old joints and clean them up as much as possible, then mount/weld those to the square tubes. The problem I have is not the tube but the amount of slip in the factory DS, it's only about 2". TG sells a 10" long spline shaft but it's nearly $200 and even their website says it can't be balanced. That said, you probably know something I don't though so please spoon feed me.

With the square shaft I can increase the slip to roughly 12-14" of which is plenty. I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of the square but given the slip and the cost it's very attractive at this time. I think I'll have about $40 in the drive shaft when done, oh, plus lunch and