Past the point of no return...

[jim65wagon]

what I want to know, is how much tread will be left on those puny 33s, and what you're planning on doing with them when your wallet gets fat enough for 35s (or 37s.....maybe 40s.....face it you're a rock crawler!)

[TangoBlue]

This may be a dumb question but what's the difference between SAS and SAC? Is yours an SAC because you got the axle new from a company vs. pulling it off another vehicle?

Not at all; the acronyms are used so often and casually most folks just nod their heads in the vertical plane knowingly without understanding the difference.

Solid Axle Swap (SAS) and Solid Axle Conversion (SAC) are terms (acronyms) often used interchangably. Since I'm not swapping one solid axle for another and actually converting my IFS axle half-shafts and clamshell differential for a solid axle, SAC is the more accurate term. The source of the axle doesn't make a difference.

[TangoBlue]

what I want to know, is how much tread will be left on those puny 33s, and what you're planning on doing with them when your wallet gets fat enough for 35s (or 37s.....maybe 40s.....face it you're a rock crawler!)

Quite a bit, got them in March 09; which for a month falls after the puniest of months, February. Vince is buying them for his puny FZJ80. If that doesn't work out would you be just the puniest bit interested? The price I'm charging for all 5 is... reasonable.

Well, I don't know about rock crawler but I think I'll stick with 35's for my puny axle and my puny 3RZ.

[Tim A]

Not at all; the acronyms are used so often and casually most folks just nod their heads in the vertical plane knowingly without understanding the difference.

Solid Axle Swap (SAS) and Solid Axle Conversion (SAC) are terms (acronyms) often used interchangably. Since I'm not swapping one solid axle for another and actually converting my IFS axle half-shafts and clamshell differential for a solid axle, SAC is the more accurate term. The source of the axle doesn't make a difference.

Gotcha, thanks for the explanation. I checked out Trail Gear's site...stuff looks solid for sure.

[jim65wagon]

Quite a bit, got them in March 09; which for a month falls after the puniest of months, February. Vince is buying them for his puny FZJ80. If that doesn't work out would you be just the puniest bit interested? The price I'm charging for all 5 is... reasonable.

Well, I don't know about rock crawler but I think I'll stick with 35's for my puny axle and my puny 3RZ.

Since my puny tires are getting worn down to replacement, I would consider your puny tires for my puny truck, providing the price were equally puny for a decent amount of tread......I need something that will get me 20,000 miles or so down the road (that's another year of driving time)

[TangoBlue]

The Tacoma is back on the road again! Took it to Richmond for our BBRC meeting last Wednesday. It drives really nice - about the same with the IFS and steering rack. Tracks straight and true. Suspension is firm but soaks up all the bumps - better than the already good OME. Had it up to 85 MPH with no problems. Little driveline harmonic that they took care of Friday by changing the angle at the carrier bearing. I'm liking it! 315 KM2's on order.

I'll report back with pictures and a drive report Sunday. Today we go up to PA in the Tacoma to pick up an immaculate RHD Aussie FJ55 with rear ambo doors.

[4Rescue]

Gotcha, thanks for the explanation. I checked out Trail Gear's site...stuff looks solid for sure.

I'd personaly go with Marlin (or All-pro if you like their designs better)... This has been discussed to DEATH on alot of other sites, but TG has some questionable business practices not to mention allot of there stuff is a near direct copy of Marlin's stuff. I've personaly had a bad experience with TG regarding a front bumper that I thought I could get for alot cheaper but never materialized(didn't lose any money over it so I can't complain about that, I just really want to get a front bumper on my rig ) . I like to support someone like Marlin and his crew who has been giving BACK to the 4wd (Toyota and others in general) and trail comunity. Chris Geiger has been accused of alot of shady things over the years and while I don't think he's as bad a guy as they make him out to be, in fact he seems to be a smart nice guy but... I'd rather spend my money elsewhere. YES TG is the cheapest way to go, but sometimes (most of the time) you get what you pay for in my exp. I will say though I've never heard of TG's SAS's being badly built either so I'm certainly not calling their stuff junk.

Anyway, nice truck TangoBlue. The 35's will look sweet on her for sure.

Cheers

DAve

[4Rescue]

Wow! At 4700 lbs with basic gear, your truck is lighter than mine unloaded! I think after this swap you should consider a V8...just because you're old and retired doesn't mean you have to be slow!

Cool swap! Keep us posted.....and you should buy the wife a helmet so she doesn't hurt herself when she passes out at the bill......

HAHAAH yeah I was thining the SAME thing... My 1st gen 4Runner is 5500 wet with NO camping gear. The older trucks ARE heavier duty though and I still belive that the old style IFS is and can be further built alot stronger. Doesn't RIDE as nice, but it does have it's qualities... Kind of like a middle ground between a FUL SFA set-up and the modern IFS units in terms of strength and ride quality... Although TangoBlue's linked SFA will ride just as nicely if not better then my IFS... If/when I go to an SFA I'll be doing leaves for ease of service and robustness, but I've ridden in a fair few Linked C/O'd sas trucks and they ARE VERY nice when done properly.

Cool axle choice too Tango. Is it running Toyota center sections or somehting like a Ford 9" ??? I'll be sticking with Toyota units and Axle, but I've heard AMAZING things about fab'd axle housings and Ford 9" units.

I slo agree with you about staying with the 4cyl... There's something so TOYOTA about a little 4banger espescialy when you run with a bunch of guys in V8 rigs eh. Simplicity and durability have their advantages, plus with proper gearing you've got all the power you need IMO. I love my 22RE, just wish it was a 1KZ-T Diesel, but the 22RE has proven itself to me time and time again both here and in Australia in trucks with well over 300+K on them and used HARD in teh bush I'm really looking forward to getting my Diff's and locker in so I can get back the power I lost with the 33's and I'm not worried in the LEAST bit about the pinion size of the tAller gears. This has been discussed adnauseam on ALOT of boards and the outcome is that the taller gears while smaller have very good strength despite the visual clues that they wouldn't eh. The tooth engagent when set-up right is every bit as strong (although I'm sure it could be a bit touchy in a Desert Racing application ) as the 4.10's. I think of it this way. I can use ALOT less skinny pedal with the taller gears and keep the clutch alive longer wich in turn means the diffs have less sterss on them. AS it is right now I bounce alot more and I KNOW that's not good on Diff's and Drivetrains in general eh. I like to crawl and pick good lines. were I running a buggy or something, I may be inclined to run a bigger motor with the 4.10's but as it stands the lower gears will suit MY needs VERY well (for now untill I cut the front end up eh .

Cheers

Dave

[RocKrawler]

I'd personaly go with Marlin (or All-pro if you like their designs better)... This has been discussed to DEATH on alot of other sites, but TG has some questionable business practices not to mention allot of there stuff is a near direct copy of Marlin's stuff. I've personaly had a bad experience with TG regarding a front bumper that I thought I could get for alot cheaper but never materialized(didn't lose any money over it so I can't complain about that, I just really want to get a front bumper on my rig ) . I like to support someone like Marlin and his crew who has been giving BACK to the 4wd (Toyota and others in general) and trail comunity. Chris Geiger has been accused of alot of shady things over the years and while I don't think he's as bad a guy as they make him out to be, in fact he seems to be a smart nice guy but... I'd rather spend my money elsewhere. YES TG is the cheapest way to go, but sometimes (most of the time) you get what you pay for in my exp. I will say though I've never heard of TG's SAS's being badly built either so I'm certainly not calling their stuff junk.

For the record, they (Trail Gear) didn't copy Marlins stuff, they copied All Pro's stuff - and when All Pro decided not to settle for cheap Chinese copies of their product when it was offered to them first, they went to Marlin (who didn't have suspension at the time, just drive train) who snapped it up to be more competitive in the Toyota industry (the Geiger era @ Marlin after getting canned from All Pro). Then they tried buying out Marlin, who backed out at the last minute & opened up their own storefront as Trail Gear. The sour taste left at Marlin caused them to source their own manufacturers and drop Trail Gear as a supplier (& Geiger then went to TG). Both companies have come a long way in product offering and quality control, but All Pro was the innovator originally in the Toyota SAS game. As for Geiger, he has been out of the industry for at least a couple years, and is currently a very good self employed professional photographer. Parts from all the companies are quite good, and while they all share some of the same core products, all also have some specialty niche products different from each other that are quite nice!

Now... post up pics Tim - its Sunday!

[Box Rocket]

Not to turn this into a vendor discussion, but I have several TG products on both my trucks. No problems at all for me and they are excellent value. Personally I don't care about all the crap that's been thrown around about this company or that. I'm just glad there are competetive companies out there that drive innovation, price, quality and offerings for all of us.

That being said, I have (and have had) lots of Marlin parts too and without question I prefer to spend my money with Marlin if I can, just based on my personal experience with them and actually the few times I've met Marlin in person. Seriously top notch. The problem for me is that they offer very little (with the exception of the crawler cases) for the Tacoma or my Land Cruiser. So I'm forced to look elsewhere sometimes.

Can't wait to see some updated "real world" shots of the truck Tango. Sounds like that SAS setup is working out great!