Glad to see this sub forum up and running! Since I was noisy wanting to see it, I figure I better contribute!

I am approaching the end of the capabilities of my IFS FJ Cruiser and I have it in my head that one day I am going to solid axle swap. But I don't want to run it as a trailer rig. I want it to be capable of daily driving. When I do it I will probably find someone with a jeep who is doing a 1-ton swap and get their D44s. I'd probably only run 4" of lift with 37s-38s.

So is this a doable thing? I have driven a bunch of trucks that have a SFA, and honestly they seem to ride fine.

I could also install a long travel set up, but it seems to cost about the same as the SAS.

It would be like driving a Jeep at that point, so definitely able to daily drive if you set it up properly.

There is a lot to setting up the suspension and steering properly for a decent ride on road.

Wasn’t exactly a swap but I’ve daily driven this one for several years…

Attached File

The only Jeep I've ever driven is my uncles old Willy's.

That is bad ass...

If you’re looking for Jeep Dana 44s you’re looking at about $5,000 for axles. Just buy custom axles built for your same width. Seriously. It’s going to cost you the same and you’ll be way ahead.

Second, the ride is going to depend on the geometry. There is a guy on YouTube doing a one ton his IFS FJ Cruiser, and it would be a good look into the amount of work it will take.  He is running 42s but 37s might not fit as easily as you would think. Plus 37s might be the upper limit of those Dana 44 axles. If you screw up track bars and drag links you can have death wobble/bump steer. If you don’t clear enough you can have tire rub or limit your turning radius. If you don’t know what you’re doing with welding you could really do it wrong and hurt someone or yourself.

Long travel might be better. Bolt in. Plenty of ultra 4 cars run it. Better handling. Plus you’re not going to be waiting around for “cheap” Dana 44 axles costing as much as a set of one tons.

Yeah, you're talking about Ken from Offroad hub! He's sort of a friend actually! LOL

37s fit the FJ OK with some wheel well cutting and a re-gear. I have 35s now and they are fine. The reason I haven't stepped up is because I don't want to pay to re-gear any differential that I am just going to swap anyway. Once I am committed to a course of action, I will be on 37s either with or without IFS.

This guy here is on 38.5s and long travel/RCVs. Also a Ford 9" rear end. I just bought those exact tube doors from him that you see in the video.

I’m on the fence about whether my 4Runner gets a SAS or Marlin Crawlers rock crawling long travel.

They appear to entail similar amounts of money and time.

Check out the Fab Rats YouTube channel.  He does an SAS on a second gen Tacoma.  Should be very similar to the FJ.

Cool! I’ll check it out when I get a chance.

I've got a friend with a SASed FJ. She paid to have it done and the specs are a little hazy. She claims it’s a land cruiser front axle, but the driver’s side drop has me wondering.

Any competent shop should be able to build a truly capable suspension that will handle road driving with ease. Probably not cheap. There's a shop locally here that built this FJ40. I remember one of the big magazines did a write up and explained the owner of the rig told Samco he wanted something that could do everything from crawling to high speed desert stuff.

A reputable shop can build any kind of suspension you want with any axle you want.

I’d like to see some more pics of that truck!!