Advantages to a SAS

[Prodigous Ranger]

I know that a sold axle is stronger but beyond that what is better than the stock TTB. And If I we're to look into a SAS is there anything that I must do do make it work properly. Meaning more stuff to buy or modify. I ask this because my brother offered me a solid axle off his truck but he didn't know when he would get it off. I have a person that can sell me drop brackets for my TTB. But I was just wondering if a SAS would mean a lot of work, and if so are the benefits really worth more money? I have a 1991 Ranger and I'm not sure what axle my brother has.

 

[fordtrucknut77]

from personal experience i would rather do a sas than lift a ttb truck but hey thats just me but yea the main advantage of the sas is the strength IMO and there are fewer moving parts which means less stuff to break
and unless you want your tires to stick way out you need an early bronco front axle or jeep wagoneer and make sure they are drivers side drop.

 

[Boggin]

as far as i heard, the most part of the SAS is removing the ttb..but ill be doing my 88 with fullwidth axles, if your interested i can provide some steps when i do mine

 

[Prodigous Ranger]

Well the work isn't so much I'm worried about as extra procedures or things I'd need to make it work. So basically if I get the solid axle for free would it be cheaper than getting a pair of drop brackets? I think the person that has some I can buy will sell them for around $100.

 

[Boggin]

yes i would do the sas

 

[fordtrucknut77]

SAS you need the complete front axle,radius arms, radius arm mounts, correct coil springs for sas,the biggest thing i can think of you would need to buy is the trac bar mount on the frame. and oh yea you will need to buy is new wheels and convert the rear so that you will have matching wheels

 

[4x4junkie]

I know that a sold axle is stronger but beyond that what is better than the stock TTB. And If I we're to look into a SAS is there anything that I must do do make it work properly. Meaning more stuff to buy or modify. I ask this because my brother offered me a solid axle off his truck but he didn't know when he would get it off. I have a person that can sell me drop brackets for my TTB. But I was just wondering if a SAS would mean a lot of work, and if so are the benefits really worth more money? I have a 1991 Ranger and I'm not sure what axle my brother has.

It actually depends on which particular axles you are comparing whether a solid axle is stronger or not.

Pretty much anything out there would be stronger than a Dana28.
It's different with the Dana35 though, some axles might be a slight bit stronger (Dana44 from a F-150), some are massively stronger (Dana60 from F-350), others are weaker (Dana30 from a Jeep).

Some common axles from weakest to strongest:
D28 (TTB) (weak, belongs on a golf cart or ATV/UTV)
D30 (solid) (approx. 5-30% stronger than D28)
D35 (TTB) (approx. 5-25% stronger than D30)
D44 (solid or TTB) (varies from 20% weaker to 5% stronger than D35)
D60 (solid) (approx. 30-60% stronger than D44)

(% ranges are due to variations over the years, such as an axle having different size/grade u-joints)

All 1991 RBVs produced came with the D35 front axle. IMO, an axle swap won't yield a whole lot in the way of strength unless you were to use a D60, which for probably a majority of uses is just plain overkill.
Your D35 front axle will easily support up to a 35" diameter tire (37" if you treat it nice) with only a few minor upgrades thrown at it (locking hubs & u-joints primarily).
Some people however do the SAS simply because they can better understand the workings of a solid axle suspension better than a TTB suspension. This doesn't necessarily make it better than the other, both do have some distinct advantages.

I would take a look around the site here, both here in the forums, and in the Tech Library, there is an overwhelming amount of info when it comes to comparing, upgrading, and swapping of the various axles (don't forget there is the Search box at the top, and the Search function within the forum itself, too). Many items are stickied (some as "Announcements") at the top of the Axles, Steering, 4WD Suspensions, and Xtreme Suspension forums, and will have various links that will take you to more info.


Hope that helps.
.

 

[Prodigous Ranger]

Yeah thanks a lot, I'll try to find some more in the tech library. But that did help a lot.

 

[dangerranger83]

SAS you need the complete front axle,radius arms, radius arm mounts, correct coil springs for sas,the biggest thing i can think of you would need to buy is the trac bar mount on the frame. and oh yea you will need to buy is new wheels and convert the rear so that you will have matching wheels

Or you can use leaves, like what I'm going to be doing, because I've never done this, and leaves are easier to set-up for people who have never done this. But the set-up you choose depends on what your going to be doing with your truck.

 

[fordtrucknut77]

I dunno, I really dont, maybe im smarter than I realize but IMO a coil spring SAS swap is so simple I dont understand why every single ranger owner out there that wants to lift there truck doesnt do it and I very very honestly believe it would be harder to do a leaf spring swap than doing a coil spring with an early bronco front axle
I mean I had NEVER done anything like this before and I would guess in 6 to 8 hours I had the old ttb stuff out and the SAS under the truck and had the truck on the ground and mobile ( not finished but mobile none the less)

 

[koda6966]

Plus, solid axles don't get camber from lift..

 

[Bray D]

I dunno, I really dont, maybe im smarter than I realize but IMO a coil spring SAS swap is so simple I dont understand why every single ranger owner out there that wants to lift there truck doesnt do it and I very very honestly believe it would be harder to do a leaf spring swap than doing a coil spring with an early bronco front axle
I mean I had NEVER done anything like this before and I would guess in 6 to 8 hours I had the old ttb stuff out and the SAS under the truck and had the truck on the ground and mobile ( not finished but mobile none the less)

+1

Depending on what you want out of your setup, a standard RA coil sprung SAS is stupid simple. Hell if you have the skyjacker trans crossmember and keep factory length RA's it'll bolt right in (IIRC). The only thing you NEED to fab is the trac bar mount. Even there you can modify one for your app.

 

[fordtrucknut77]

when i did mine all i did was literally rolled the axle under the truck and stared at it for a few minutes until i decided where i wanted it and then clamped the radius arm mounts to the frame and drilled the holes in the frame, stuck the springs in and hooked up the tie rods. I even used the original brake lines

 

[BlackBII]

Plus, solid axles don't get camber from IMPROPER lift..

A correctly lifted and aligned TTB will have the same amount of camber as a stock truck.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

A correctly lifted and aligned TTB will have the same amount of camber as a stock truck.

For awhile.

They love to do this /--o-\ when they get some age on them. Mine does it with the factory stuff, I need new put in new springs, then I have to try to find somebody that knows how to align it.

That is my #1 qualm about the TTB. A close second is it makes a handy snow/mud plow.

IMO the only advantage to the TTB is it came there from the factory, there is no reason I would rip out a solid axle and put in a TTB.