So I got a 10.25 sterling for the rear end, am looking at some long travel leafs, (deavers?). But now to the front end, im kinda second guessing the original sas idea. long travel would real be more suiting for the desert im in:P (south east Washington). So I need some opinions, SAS or LT IFS? Money is always a concern, but workable. I can weld, cut, do all the metal work so labor or customizing is not an issue. I am also curious about designing/buying a set of plans to cnc out my own long travel kit. (control arms, A Arms, whatever I need.) id guess engineering them is probably over the top though?

 

Please bear with "US" because we don't know what your intent is..
What is the need for such a large rear on an F150?
Are you building a off roader?
The truck is only rated for so much towing or weight capacity.
The rear is not all there is to the rating.
Good luck.

 

oh yea I totally understand, 10.25, stronger, im running 37's currently. im debating going more mudder or more pre runner. im equal on either, but I want a more comfortable ride. my trucks my DD currently but that's changing soon. I would still like to be able to tow within a half tons capacity, 2 horse horse trailer, the boat, nothing major. I want it to be street legal (don't want to have to tow it just to wheel), itll more than likely be my weekend driver/wheeler. So not trying to write yall a book here, but I want a smoother ride, but still usable off road. kinda like the raptor, comfortable on road, decent off road, still able to tow. but I am partial to the simplicity of the straight axel. that answer your q's?

 

Now we know what your wanting to do.
It's in the realm of custom conversion so I can't offer anything to advance the cause very far.
The truck's gross combined weight rating it likely to be not much over 10,000 lbs in stock form so the motor has only so much torque to offer and transmission reliability.
Low gear ratio will do quite well as long as everything else holds up to the intended use.
Good luck with it.

 

Long travel you'd be better off buying a kit and installing it yourself since you can weld and do the extra fabrication over designing everything from scratch. A lot of r&d goes into those. It can be done, but you may end up spending more money doing it yourself over buying a kit that's already tried and true. Price wise depends on exactly how much travel you want, what parts you use, etc.

Of course you could go sas and use coilovers instead of leafs and still maintain a pretty decent ride quality. Cost more than doing leafs but it rides better.

 

4 link front with a nice set of coilovers and a Dana 60, job done!

 

trimble, that's the dream isn't it? I'm poor currently or id be right there with it. :P I was thinking d44 out of a 79 bronco? first year with disks right? id like a d60 but everyone ive found near me is going to run me 900 bucks. what would you think about it? I have zero experience with axel tolerance. id plan on running 40's at most. more likely 38's. I don't crawl, I do some mudding, mountain driving, little snow here and there. hope this is enough info.

the kits Im seeing for the long travel are 4200 ish, without shocks, or the coils. any input here? ideally id like to end up under 2 ish. that number is somewhat movable.

 

If you want to go long travel I'd budget around 9-10k+.

Even for sas which can be done cheaper because there's a greater availability of used parts out there, 5k would be a better starting budget.

2k isn't going to cover much when it comes time to get parts that you need to buy new .

 

im thinking for a sas, leafs would be cheaper (as much as id love a 4 link d60 and coilovers). Buy a set of 10 inch lift leafs on craigslist or from a buddy in our 4x4 club. Weld my hangers on according to what the leaf length is (chevy ford dodge wouldn't matter), than weld perches on the axle. that's put me out with a front axle (d44 or front axle from a 79 bronco) at 600 ish to get to this point right? is that far fetched? than itd be down to shocks, steering and driveline right? I have no idea about the steering set up. correct me on anything if im wrong?

What about the tolerances of the axles?

 

subscribe to dezertangers or racedesert. More knowledgable crowd

 

What about wheels and tires?

 

Will do edwardsjr1, thanks

And wheels, for a 5 on 5.5 are cheap, just run steels, and I have a set of those already, and as for tires sell my current wheel and tire combo to pick up a larger set of mt's, or similar tire that has a longer wear life than a bogger. expecting to spend about 500 there, and sell mine for 400. which other than steering brings me to about a 1000 bucks. 200 for front axle, 400 in tires, and 400 in brackets and springs. (im fabbing my own brackets, and getting used lift springs) .when this swap all comes together id run the 9" rear out of a bronco, hopefully I can get front rear and steering out of the bronco and have the full set up). I am not however including the price of this rear end in the sas, because im sas-ing the front. not the rear.