88 Surf SAS conversion questions

[Mattman]

The truck has a 50mm suspension lift, 31in BFG's, manual hubs, old man emu shocks and a fully rebuilt motor and turbo so is semi capable at the moment.

I was looking to do a SAS conversion or dual lockers, winch and a front suspension rebuild as it's getting a touch sloppy.

The two options will probably cost about the same but have different pros and cons.

Is it worth spending the money on the old style 88 Surf or should I sell it and look for something newer?

What does everyone else think? I am leaning towards the dual lockers with winch option.

Cheers
Matt.

[hiriklux]

if you buy a newer truck you will looose money through deprciation buy an old truck and lockers and all the bits then when you kill it swap the bits into another old truck my 2 c worth there only toys after all
rik

[hosehustler]

I'm with Rik,
just remember when you spend money on your toy you never get it all back, in fact very little if you actually add it all up including your hours spent working on it.
If you spend large make sure you intend to keep it for a long time, otherwise you've wasted your money and someone else gets the benefit out of it.
If you are looking for a short term fix, spend a few more dollars on one that has had all the hard work done

[Mattman]

Thanks guys. Solid trucks don't come up that often.

So, lockers or SAS?

Anyone in Wellington able to do a SAS job?

GGuys seem pretty good. They fitted the springs that I got from Steve.

Matt.

[MATT4U]

Or find an older chassie and swapping it like im doing

[Mattman]

Don't know if I want that much work really.

Installing lockers I would be comfortable with but not much beyond that.

A SAS conversion would have to be done by someone else.

Matt.

[turoa]

I'd do it but it may take a couple of months and may not be certifiable

[JTop]

I have done a couple, though not Smurfs, the $$'s just run away to do it properly,ie ifs hubs, disc spacers, high pinion front etc etc
J Top

[SupraLux]

The reality is that a SAS is going to cost you $3500 minimum for something certifiable. Its worth doing to any truck you like - I wouldn't say it wasn't worth doing to an old 3-door if you like that truck, but you would get better value from doing a 5-door I think. That figure is a pretty basic swap too - you're only going to get an old solid axle, no rebuild on it (which it will probably need), whatever diff came it it (almost certainly not high-pinion), no locker, a ground out IFS driveshaft, old springs, budget crossover steer etc... which is still waaay better than IFS, but theres money to spend to make it better...

The only way to reduce that figure is to do some of the work yourself... for example I hate the grinding part, so I always offer a reduced price if the owner brings the truck in and grinds all the IFS gear off before they leave ( I sooo need a plasma )

You'll find that twin lockers in your truck will make it so capable compared to before that you'll probably be pretty pleased with that as a major mod. The other nice thing is you can take the lockers with you over to your next Hilux or Surf, or they will improve the resale of the existing one.

Warning: a front locker will put extra stress on your front crownwheel and pinion in the diff if you wheel it hard with big tyres... don't be surprised if you pop a diff... if you like to drive hard at stuff then just do the rear, but be careful with that front diff either way... they are really only designed for 31" tyres.

So back to your original thought that the SAS would cost about the same as the lockers and rebuilt front... I think you might spend considerably less on the front and lockers... some good gas-charged shocks and if you wanted, some uprated torsion bars and the front will tighten up nicely for around $600, and the lockers will cost less than that each. I'd go that way myself I think, or find a solid axle converted or original surf and start working on that.

My 2.25c (GST incl)

Steve