In search of necessary parts for 1989 Toyota pickup straight axle swap

Hey everybody,

New to the forum and just thought Id throw it out there that in the near future I am looking to do a SAS on my 1989 Toyota pickup and if anyone knows the whereabouts of any good used complete front axles I could use, any help would be appreciated. I have nothing necessary to do the swap now, Ive been trying to work the bugs out in the 4.5' IFS lift thats on it. If you have any information or have something I could use I would appreciate it, just let me know where and how much and we will go from there.

Thanks,
Tim Dawkins

PM user ddbarr4, he has some of the parts needed for the swap that I think he is no longer using.

true, And I think Trail gears makes every freaking part needed.

I have an empty housing that would be great if you plan to build the truck to wheel. If not the Barr guys may have a complete front. Ican get you any parts for the SAS just let me know when you are ready.

Whiten on here is selling a lot of parts from his 4runner that you could use.

Yeah, Dj (ddbarr4) has a bunch of stuff and he said he wanted to sell everything that wasn't a direct replacement for anything on his rig or my dad's, but I don't really know what that leaves available. I'll make sure he checks this post.

Wow, quick responses from you guys. Thanks for the help, I havent started anything yet swap wise. Ive tried replacing my upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. I just cant seem to get my alignment right and it definately isnt what im used to being everything Ive had was either front coil or leaf springs. I know I need the spring hanger tubes and the front spring hanger assembly to weld into place on the frame, as for shackles and steering setup, would I need the steering setup for the model axle im putting under it?

I daily this truck, but plan to wheel occasionally and when I get into the soft stuff my foot gets a little heavy, so not wanting to go too extreme but wanting to build something that can handle a little abuse.

The trailgear kit makes for a nice clean & relatively quick swap. Mike @ CFS offroad has a front yota axle he might would part with

Ive heard a few things about CFS offroad, I actually work maybe 10 minutes away from them. Havent had the chance to stop by and talk with them about anything yet but Ill definately stop in.

Step one is to get a front axle then decide how to build it. Hardest part of the job is cutting out the its.

Yeah and my biggest thing is that since I drive this truck daily, Ill have basically 3 days to do the complete swap. Ive heard it could be done, I just want everything to be ready once I start cutting it all out. I printed out a SAS guide from trail gear and have it for basic information, seems to be a step by step guide pretty much. The kit they have for sale is awesome and I know if I had the money that would be the best way to go.

Thanks to everybody who helped with the search. I found a set local from a buddy of mine and now its just a matter of time before I start tearing them down to rebuild them. Still searching for a set of springs. Looking at the spring hangers from Trail Gear. Anyone have any useful information for me before I dig into these. I know I need to go through the bearings and seals on the knuckles. Also going to look at the Birfields closely when I get them apart, if they look to be in good shape should I go ahead and order new Birfields anyways?

don't waste $ rebuilding the axle, just put a set of axle seals in it and call it good. Keep the stock birfields till you lock the front and/or start blowing them. I ran 35x15x15 tsls locked for 2 years before I broke a stock birfield. I would get springs/hanger/shocks/winch/dual stock cases/hydro assist/hi-steer kit/33" tires. This combo would let you wheel all of the trails that a DD would go down/up. Upgrade as you wheel harder and/or break stuff. I have a bunch of stuff f/s that would get you started.

link to parts
http://www.offroadsc.com/showthread.php?4592-leftover-parts

That's a very good suggestion.

Just like Whiten said. Put some seals in it and roll out. And while the trail gear stuff prices are attractive don't fool with the axle rebuild kits. The factory Koyo bearing are as good as it gets. I wouldn't fool with hysteer either but that's just me. Between whiten, matt85 and me we pretty much have had the entire Marlin/all pro/ trail gear catalog. I know for a damn fact I should own stock in one of them. When you get all the parts just check with one of us, not that we know it all but we deff know what not to do.

Okay guys just a little update on whats going on, not really worried about the axle and rebuilding it anymore. Thats taken care of and we're moving on to finding some other parts to get the ball rolling. Really looking for a cheap way out with the steering setup so Ive been looking around to see if anybody has any parts they're not using that I could scoop up. Also still looking for some leaf springs, would really love to go 3-4'' lift, but stock would be fine just to get everything setup right.

The swap its self is usually like 3in of lift

There are other places to save money before I'd save it on steering. If you buy cheap steering parts (trail gear tie rods) your just going to spend it again sooner. Get some good stuff and it will last for years, even used good parts are better than cheap new stuff. The old saying is "you can't find time to do it right but you can always find time to redo it".

I can get you a good price on a TG hi steer kit if you decide to go that route. The TRE's are actually pretty good parts. They use FJ-80 TRE's and I have never had any issues nor seen any.