[Alex_c]

Hey all, A buddy of mine has a bunch of issues with his IFS on his 2002 1500 5.7, and I was throwing the idea of an SAS at him. Has anyone done this on this truck? If so do you have any pointers or build threads I can reference? I was thinking of using the front clip from a 2001 1500 (stock solid front axle) and welding up the control arms, etc etc, but i'd like to get some reading material so i can research it better. He's a welder and I built machinery for a few years so between the two of us, we should have the chops to pull this off if it's worthwhile.

Also, how much do you think a shop would charge for the labour on this?


He uses his truck off road quite a bit, so we're trying to find out how much headache and cost is involved compared to just fixing what's already in there, and the cost of replacing the other breakage-prone IFS components when they eventually wear out too. Don't need any smart ass posts, useful information will be just fine

Cheers! :beer

 

[4Lo]

Getting it done at a shop will cost more in labour than parts. Most shops are around $90/hr. Search pirate for info specifically the dodge section there is alot of info there.

Cheers.

 

[Tmax]

i would sell it and buy a 03 3/4 ton dodge with the sas already. everthing else in the half ton truck is junk and no point trying to make it work off road.

 

[Alex_c]

That's what I was originally saying to him, but he owes money on it etc. Been looking on pirate, and even if we go with leafs its gonna be a big job. Have to custom fab a new cross member, replace steering (didn't think about this one, duh!), custom drive shaft, blah blah blah


I'll probably just tell him it's better to fix what's there, drive it until she's paid off, and trade her up for a real off road truck oke:

 

[Fordthunder]

i would sell it and buy a 03 3/4 ton dodge with the sas already. everthing else in the half ton truck is junk and no point trying to make it work off road.

I was tossing this same idea around on dodgeforum and this is the same response I got from everyone on there.. Theres one guy that sas'd his single cab short box 1500 and was into it for around 5000$ if i can remember correctly. But he did it RIGHT, he built the truck for 75% offroad to 25% street use. Ill check around on there later and try and bring up with posts about the SAS. The one thing is your stearing, you have to find a box that will work and all that jazz.. I just remember him saying the steering was the hardest parts for him to gather.. and he did the work himself so the 5000$ (approx) isnt any labour or minimal..

Ive just decided to pay off my truck in a few years and trade up to a 2500/3500.. I suggest your friend do the same.

 

[Alex_c]

Yeah, we just overhauled the front end instead today. cheers for the input guys:beer_cheers:

 

[Alex_c]

i would sell it and buy a 03 3/4 ton dodge with the sas already. everthing else in the half ton truck is junk and no point trying to make it work off road.

after working on it today and seeing how it's engineered... no effin kidding oke:

 

[Kula]

There's alot of SAS's done with cage products, now they're out of business but from what I have read it was family/share holder problems. going to re-open under a new name like bloody knuckle or some thing like that. If you google cage sas there is a ton of them out there and fairly simple to do if you can weld, all you need is a donor fron axle from an older 1500 some f150 coil spring bucket/perches and there long arm sas kit which is like 2g i think and you get a smooth riding sas'd truck with good flex. I think national still has a bunch of their stuff in stock.