Topic: The Great White Shark attack SAS...

[Toyospearo]

 Here is my solid axle swap thread.  I had the build on another site and I figured I would share it with Marlin!!  

That is not me. That is a so cal guy at Guadalupe Island.


I named this thread "The Great White Shark attack SAS"  because of an incident I had freediving/spearfishing 2 days ago. I wasn't actually attacked but I thought it would make a good thread name.
 I was diving not far from my home just around Trinidad Head.  I was 30ft down looking for a Vermilion and/or scallops along a deep underwater cliff face when I felt a huge surge of water off to my side.  I spun around and looked into the murky green water and saw a giant black figure moving off very slowly and then dissapeared.  I couldn't see it clearly enough to make out what it was. I was running out of air and I need to get to the surface to breath up.  I hugged the cliff face all the way to the top and almost passed out from staying under too long.  The giant black figure was one of a few things:  A whale, giant sea lion (not likely it was way too big) or a Great White cruising the rocks for an evening meal.
The first thoughts I had were: I was all alone, I was 1/2 mile off shore, The swell was picking up, the sun was going down,  there was no where to climb out (too steep) and last but not least, I wont get to finish my solid axle conversion.
After an hour of contemplating what to do I finally decided to swim in.  I swam up against the rock stack until I got closer to the bay.  I made it in safely just as the sun went down.
Now, on to the swap.
My SAS is a little different than most.  My overall lift will be 3" to 3 1/2".  This rig is not going to be wheeled super hard. I use this truck as a DD and an offroad rig.  My wheel size will be 33's- TSL's  My reasons for the lower lift are a more stable ride (not so squishy) and I like the SA for its reliability, articulation, and ruggedness.  My IFS needs a ton of work and I thought it would be fun to do a SA conversion. It has been a lot of fun so far. My articulation will still be good overall and the leafs being made are SUPER tough.  The leafs I am swapping are being custom made here locally.  The rear gets new leafs with a Shock hoop and Billsteins and an armored up axle.  The diffs have been re geared to 4.88 and I have an Aussie in the rear.  My kit is Trail Gear and my knuckle rebuild kit with wheel bearings is from Marlin.  I had a gift certificate and decided to spend it on the Knuckle kit.  Everything on the axle has been replaced: Diff studs and nuts, axle armor, multi hole flange, shock mount with gussets, Low Pro drain plugs, JB welded the balls for smoothness and seal etc. I put off getting Longfields until the summer.
I want to thank the contributers and members of Yotatech for all their help and patience. Especially Mike (MSR) from Mikes Speciality Repair in Garberville Ca. and Brian from WABFAB!!! :banger:
I have been wheeling my whole life, Fords:bang: Chevy's   Internationals   Quads   Horses    and Toyotas  
I was a total Newb to the Toyota SA until a friend of mine let me drive one through a boulder field I never dared wheel in my rig.  After that I was sold!!  
and so it begins...  

My truck- 1994 22re ext. cab


This is the lift height mine will be.  This was done similar to what I am doing by Mikes Specialty Repair.



1983 SA I got from Mike at MSR.  I beat the brush for an 84 or 85.  I found one 85 but the pitting was too much. It is near impossible to find an SA that isn't rusted beyond belief around here.  I figured I would be driving 8 hrs north or south to get an 84 or 85 and I decided to settle on the 83.

Cleaning and cutting off-

knuckles, birfs and inner balls wire wheeled and cleaned up




Hubs rebuilt, powder coated, and cleaned  


Axle marked for shock hanger placement

Big Brown payed me a visit. Axle armor, gussets, knuckle rebuild kit, seals, Diff drain plugs etc.. Thanks WABFAB, Thanks Marlin!


Welding! the 3rd on the SA while welding and no seals

Axle parts sanded, blasted, grinded and primered!



Big Brown came buy this week..   aaaaahhhhhh yea!!!  Mike Specialty Repair did the Aussie install and 4.88 regear.


and... installed it in the pouring rain :banger:

Knuckle ball JB welding trick.  Thanks 4Crawler!!!  So Smoooooooth!

Even did an LED conversion while I was waiting for the rain to stop

Axle welded up, wire wheeled, sanded and ready for primer :banger:


and primered..

and painted.

[Toyospearo [OP]]

I picked this little gem up FOR FREE while in the middle of this swap. It has a NEW motor (2500miles) and rebuilt tranny

Marlin's seals greased up and ready to be driven in with my redneck PVC seal driver lol


Birfs locked and loaded..

A reminder of why I am doing the swap :hillbill:

My goodies loaded up in my new "cough"  VW van on the way to my buddies house.  He is an x toyota mechanic who is going to make sure I get the knuckles dialed in.  People around here consider him "the guru of Toyotas."    Note the fire extinguisher close buy and the purple shag carpet, oh, and the WABFAB sticker :banger:

aaaaaaaand on the way to the guru the van decided to quit  lol  Yes, that is a tow truck.  I tore the thing apart from front to back.  Turned out it was a corroded wire to the distributer underneath the motor.  :bang:

more fun today.
Knuckle rebuild, packing bearings and races..


New knuckle studs wrapped with teflon (just in case )

Welded on the leaf bracket..

Annnnnnnnnnd.... the vultures started to circle over my VW VAN. Which is now running....


The middle of the pic is the damn wire that was corroded and left me stranded :bang:  Holy crap what an ugly motor..

[Toyospearo [OP]]

Here are a few pics.  I will have much more in a few days..  :fire:
THANK YOU MSR (Mikes Specialty Repair!)
Parts came!  THANKS Marlin, THANKS TG
Truck on jack stands ready for the chop.

Cutting off the brake line housings so I can re weld them on the new SA. Yea, I look disgruntled because I have a sawzall in my hand and not a torch or a plasma.

SA assembly (almost.)  I ran into some trouble today with the after market lug (wheel studs.)  They would not go in!  I used every damn hammer in the shop.  I finally gave up and tomorrow I have to pull some out of an 83 at the junk yard :bang:
This mornings overwhelming amount of crap to deal with and those damn wheel studs stalled a few things

Knuckles chillin on the beach towel all clean and purdy!

The axle with a beam of sunlight

Races going in with the help of a BFH and a brass bar-

more crap

Loading up the races with grease..  yea, there is a technique.  By the time I was done with all four my hands hurt.

Shim measurement


Knuckle being torqued

seen this a million times I am sure



THE CHOP!!!  YES, it is a pain the ass like everyone says. especially when you are a total redneck using a sawzall in your driveway.
I only got everything under the UCA's  they are still on and I have to deal with them at dark o clock AM



what an eyesore.  Like a big behemoth dead and waiting for the flies to take it away.
Somewhere in that pile is the noise that drove me to the brink of insanity.:bang:  and eventually an SAS :banger:

Half assed axle waiting for my dumb ass to usurp new/used lug studs from Johns Auto Wreckers.

the underneath chop chop waiting for the sun to come up to start the GRIND!!!!!   :banger:


Stay tuned..

[Toyospearo [OP]]

HOLY FREGGIN CRAP!!!
What a long day.  SO,,,, much to my surprise the new shiny lug wheel studs I ordered don't work ($30.00 for 12.) As a result, I had to go the the junk yard this morning and pull the hub housing off and get the wheel studs out.  The poor 83 in there was about to be crushed.  Gary at John's Auto Wreckers held it for me so I could get them out.  Thanks Gary you rock!!!  
It took me 2 hours to get that muddy, rusted, bent, axle apart.  It was a total nightmare but I got the studs out.  Here is the deal-  The aftermarket, NAPA, Rockauto, Kragen, lug wheel studs are bigger and will not go in the rotor and rotor hub housing.  If you are going to replace the studs on an 81 - 83 you have to use OEM or you will pound your new rotor into oblivion trying to get them in.  I have made mistakes like this too many times so instead of whaling on my new rotor I had to find out what was up.  A friend of mine had seen this before and told me exactly what to do.  "You will have to pony up to buy new ones at the dealer."  I decided to hit up the JY first. I was lucky.  
I finally got the housing and hub together and got things painted up.


This is the way the stud should look in the hub housing (this is OEM)

This is the way the aftermarket ones sit.  I didn't keep one of those but this pic shows how they sit.  No way in hell they were going in that hole.

Finally got them together.


old calipers rebuilt and painted sitting on my porch drying in the hot sun!

Steering arms painted.  Kind of a cool color. Matches my porch chair. That is self etching primer.  Soon they will be satin black.

Crap all set up ready to go in...

more tomorrow    
made my own backing plate eliminator spacers.  I cut out the center of the dust shield :guitar:
also cut the brake line brackets out to weld on the SA


Calipers painted with caliper paint and NEW PADS IN THERE  :banger:

Sweet Jesus!  Almost painted! One more coat and that is it :hillbill:  
You gotta love my redneck shop- crappy porch chair for my axle stand and other crappy porch chair and 4" x 4" piece of scrap wood for my paint drying room!  
Now that is hillbilly!!      


Close, so close  

Todays carnage  
My Harbor Freight grinder couldn't keep up RIP

new grinder 

Sawzalled

smooth

Getting smoother

 SO SMOOTH  

Looks like a grenade went off under my truck

Cut these in all the excitement 

Ready for the hangin  

Looks like something out of a Kubrick movie

Marlins beefy seals finally showed up.  I had to yank the old ones to do some more welding.  

My hillbill seal driver!!     The Outlaw Josey Whales on in the background   

in and ready

Birfs in and knuckle packed

Spindle on and nuts torqued

hub on

Spindle nut torqued


cat came by to make sure I am doing things right  

All good in there

hub on and snap ring in


hub on!!    

My cat thinks I am totally crazy. lol

A 1983 complete rebuilt SA, Aussie with 4.88's :banger:    
Yes that is my living room. I am a TOTAL redneck  

[Toyospearo [OP]]

SWAPPED!!!  :hillbill:
I had Mike at Mikes Specialty Repair in Garberville Ca. do the hanger welding and mount it up.   He did a fantastic job!  Super detailed and clean.  I couldn't be more happy with it!!

It absolutely drives and handles like a dream.  I can't believe it.  Super responsive and actually pleasant handling.
Below are a few pics of it up, on and running.
I need to paint everything, get it flexed out, takes some pics and post em up.  :banger:










Saw this 85 SA lonely, sad and unused  :guitar:

This is out front of Mikes Specialty Repair...Yota central!!








There is a Raccoon in that picture under there somewhere.... :hillbill: :hillbill: :hillbill:

More poser shots.. I got so excited to flex it out I drove it up on my porch!

Cat is like..... "dude, this is silly!" 

painted up  :banger:




got the bumper back on.  Used the ole "tractor bucket method"  lol



before


after

[Toyospearo [OP]]

For anyone keeping track of this thread here are a few updates and photos of the latest crap-
The specs of the front are as follows:  the springs are made out of domestic spring stock 1.5" lift from level and axle pin is 1/2 inch back from stock.
The rear are Old Man Emu springs with the Trail gear Rear 5.5" shackle kit.
I pulled the bed off to paint the lower rear of the cab.  I have a flat bed being fabbed and I need to get the paint matched.  I decided to repaint the truck to get everything to match up. Got an few new goodies from big brown!!
Below are a few recent photos 
XRC8

put a Winch Line 75ft synthetic on!


TG 5.5" shackle kit and Old Man Emu springs ready and waiting



my other flatbed  lol

it even has a solid front axle   


Getting ready to paint!  



soon very soon this will all be over with  



Got the Old Man Emu leafs and TG shackles installed (by myself).  I only had one set of jack stands and they were the dinky ones.  I used those on the axle housing.  I had to use a long 4" x 4" on the rear of the truck with my one ton jack to get it high enough to slip the new leafs in.  It was kinda wobbly to say the least. :con: What a PITA.
It added 4" overall and leveled the truck out perfectly!
I will sleep very little tonight knowing in the morning the thing WILL be wheeling!!!

bump stops are going in in the morning.  I had to replace one of them,,



I had to move cows today so I didn't get up in the mountains but I did get to flex the thing out..
One interesting thing about the rear being done and the bed being off is I am certain I seriously damaged my kindeys from all the bounce
I need to throw a few rocks on the rear to calm it down a little.

What better way to lift the rear than with the front loader!





Jamie (one of our ranch hands) came out to see what the hell was going on. He is a Ford guy, he doesnt understand. lol




shackle angle looking good.


stretched out over "Dead Cow Wash"


I entertained the idea of a hood ornament but i dont think this will work.. lol

my shop on the ranch..

I share with the chickens  



check this work bay... take the backhoe, dig a big trench, roll your rig over it and drop the tranny..

we bought some Gayhinnas last year.  What an interesting creature.  Their eggs are really good.

one more poser flexy shot  

[Toyospearo [OP]]

I just got done painting the thing..




done !  
same color but more even and I fixed a few dings :hillbill:



THIS goes in tomorrow morning Thanks Marlin!  SUPER heavy duty 1800lbs :banger:

New Marlin Super HD clutch installed in all the madness!!

any time that thing is laying on the ground you know you got issues

tranny out PITA

old clutch

New flywheel and old bearing!  Yea, I know..don't ask.

new clutch!!

new OEM seal!


strange photo

As good as this looks, I hope I don't have to see it for a LOOOOOOONNNGGG time!

As it sits as of now..

















Here is what keeps it safe at night  :hillbill:

[bigarms23]

came out really nice

[Joey88RUNR]

I had the same issue with the lug nuts on my swap...i just ground them down enough to fit...still took a BFH to get them in!

[drayday55]

i love the flat bed who made it?

[Toyospearo [OP]]

i love the flat bed who made it?

I made it..
thanks!!
here is the build thread on the flatbed   http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=61992.0

[Steve_925]

thats one of the coolest flat beds i've seen.

[Toyospearo [OP]]

thats one of the coolest flat beds i've seen.

THANKS MAN!!!
I appreciate that!

[94MtnYote]

 thats a nice lookin truck shes a keeper!!!    think I remember seeing that truck around here bf the SAS and flatbed.

[lilbuddy]

Damn man,..... The cleanest SAS ive ever seen. And you did it with a sawzall, hardcore?

So you live in/near Garberville? My buddy is a CDF FireFighter around there (forget what city) but he lives in Garberville when hes not at the station. You may have seen his rig. An incredibly wide ex cab 3rd gen prerunner toyota that is red sitting on 35" KM2's

[lilbuddy]

Also what LED's are you running in your dash? I have some in mine and they are not NEARLY as bright

[86bobbedtoy]

your build is awesome!!!

[axled89]

nice build

[Toyospearo [OP]]

Also what LED's are you running in your dash? I have some in mine and they are not NEARLY as bright

Thanks for the compliments!!
The LED"S are from www.Superbrightleds.com  I think that is the link.  The are really bright.  The rear turn and brake lights on my flatbed are from that company also.  They are blinding bright!

[CrazyYota]

Truck looks good! When did you figure out the high steer arms were on backwards? 

[Dark Knight]

wow F'n sweet. the flat bed is amazing work.

[fatlife]

almost to pretty to wheel...real nice work.  I would move the high lift before you smash it into something

[46&2]

 

Very nice work!! Nice rig, and I love the flatbed. Definitely the coolest one I think I have ever seen. 

[runner88]

Very nice build... was one of my favorite threads on the other board   

[DUH-HUH]

Great build, your truck looks great. What kind of top do you have on your bed?

[THK Matt]

That is one of the sickest, cleanist and most factory looking swaps I've ever seen and that flatbed is out of this world.. .you are my HERO!

[Steve_925]

i just hope that truck doesnt leek oil. that would be a shame

[Toyospearo [OP]]

That is one of the sickest, cleanist and most factory looking swaps I've ever seen and that flatbed is out of this world.. .you are my HERO!

HOLY CRAP DUDE!!
thanks for that compliment!!!!!
I just replaced the valve cover gasket.  No more leaks!!

[THK Matt]

No thanks for the amazing photos of your perfection fitted build.
Makes me want to take my axle back out REDO IT!