Sas or locker?

[CaptainMorgan_SOS]

Actually rugged rock has a h233 front axle housing for wd21, that might be able to work with an xterra. It says they are built to order so it might be possible to do it. Granted its not cheap just for a housing, but if you had a rear axle laying around to pull the parts from it could possibly be an option

https://ruggedrocksoffroad.com/niss...-57856.html?osCsid=fptjh86fljjtu6t87gj2okifj4

This is actually what I am doing for mine. It should be coming in on Monday. Once Steeevo gets back from KOH, the teardown and build up should be on.

You have to look at some other things with that housing as well though... You not only have to buy the housing, you also have to buy the front end kit, hubs, inner shafts and steering knuckles. So, is it the cheapest route? Hell no. But it lets you match up your gearing perfectly between the front and rear axle and it can be made to your exact measurements that you need. I am not able to get the front locker as of right now, but I'll be throwing the LSD from the rear axle in the front. Rear is getting an ARB.

And as for highway driving... this IS my DD (granted, I only drive about 1-2 miles a day). I'll even be driving it from CA to southern NM here in about a month and then to Moab from southern NM in May. But that's also part of the reason for going with this setup; I wanted something I could comfortably (relative) drive to the trails, spend all day out there, and then drive back.

Sorry for the thread jack, but back to your question; you could spend about $2500 to lock it, front and rear, or plan on at least doubling that budget (even trippling it) to go for a SAS. But it really all depends on what you want to do.

 

[Grandpa X]

After reading this thread I can't believe I got sucked into this conversion. Please forget I was here. Thanks...

 

[xterraminator]

My point all a body lift does for an xterra is to allow for 33" tires to go under. It will not get you any more clearance underneath. If you want to go over bigger rocks and general overall more clearance then the only right solution is to do a SAS and add 35"+ tires. The other option and its kind of expensive and that is go with longer control arms giving you slightly more clearance and more flex. A SAS coilover, 3-link, radius arm will give you insane flex and just an overall better offroad vehicle. I drove a stock xterra for 2 years with a PML but afterwhile my ability to try harder riding was flatlined. Could not keep up. This is the very reason I am doing a SAS. A SAS also requires that it be set-up right, right angles etc... very important. A body lift on a SAS makes it too high bringing the center of gravity.

 

[CaptainMorgan_SOS]

But, depending on where you wheel, you may not necessarily need the extra clearance. You may see much more mud than rock. If that's the case, I'd go with the lockers. If you are looking for clearance for climbing over boulders, ledges, articulation points, etc., go with a SAS. So I guess it depends on where you wheel and what you are looking to get out of your rig as to what mod you think you should do.

Another thing people don't really think about as an extra cost of going with a SAS is the cost of new tires/wheels. I know I didn't initially, even though I should have. Price out some 33s and then price out some 37s... holy cow. That price difference was a shock to me, but it's too late to turn back now

 

[Grandpa X]

fun fun fun

 

[Alpine Spirit]

If its gonna hit underneath... put a tire on it, lock the locker and use the slider as its designed. Rub the hell out of it.

 

[granitex]

So what you are telling me is that I should actually use my sliders??? Not just look cool having them,, this is all news to me.

 

[greengoon]

What's everyone hate against solid front axles and highways? I mean, a lot of vehicles run solid axles on the highway. I never ran highway speeds because I have a second vehicle but still, I could run 60-65 mph no problem on 37's, you could run 70-75 easy on 35's and lower. I personally have solid front axle and 2 lockers, just because I need them, anything less and I'll get left behind in an instant.

My rig is my DD and I drive 70+ on the highway all the time. My coilovers make the ride just as smooth as it was stock. I also live in the desert down washboard roads so my car handles the daily abuse well. I did my swap after I broke an A arm.

Doing an SAS with lockers may be a bit of money up front, but it will save you in the long run if you plan to push you rig.

 

[Xado89]

I personally prefer a solid axle when driving on the highways. I know there's a MAJORRRR weight difference between the X and my old F250 but that had SFA and leaf springs up front. I liked the feel of it. If I were to sas the X i'd go leafs for sure. That's also because I don't intend on wheeling hard enough to justify coilovers/springs. Leafs you can swap in and out for a fraction of the cost. I think they are more predictable too on the trail than a coil in terms of flexing wise. Regardless, that F250 was on 37's and stock drivetrain and I ran 90-100MPH on the highway with no issues. People sure got out of the way, though I'd also only swap out the front axle and keep the H233 rear. I've bounced off that sucker a couple times and it just keeps taking the punishment. In that aspect, if it's not broke don't fix it. I'd just swap the front with a HP44 or something if that's the right axle I'm thinking of. I'd prob never go bigger than 35's either. I would also think that if SASing the front you could still keep SUA on the rear if you did it on the front? or would it rake? I've never seen one, maybe that's why?

 

[NMTerras]

Some of you are being buttheads. You know who you are. :kewl:

Cap'n Morgan's custom diamond h233b is the prototype for the gen1, based on steeevo's pathy. If it works out it will be part of a SAS kit you can order from rugged rocks. Gonna be more than 2.5k though. There are other folks around who have developed some pretty cool setups, and you can find pretty much step-by-step threads of how they got to SAS awesomeness if you look just a little bit, on this forum and elsewhere.

Discussion is great, but just remember not all information is good information.

 

[NMTerras]

My point all a body lift does for an xterra is to allow for 33" tires to go under. It will not get you any more clearance underneath. If you want to go over bigger rocks and general overall more clearance then the only right solution is to do a SAS and add 35"+ tires. The other option and its kind of expensive and that is go with longer control arms giving you slightly more clearance and more flex. A SAS coilover, 3-link, radius arm will give you insane flex and just an overall better offroad vehicle. I drove a stock xterra for 2 years with a PML but afterwhile my ability to try harder riding was flatlined. Could not keep up. This is the very reason I am doing a SAS. A SAS also requires that it be set-up right, right angles etc... very important. A body lift on a SAS makes it too high bringing the center of gravity.

33" tires in and of themselves give you more clearance. Yes, SASing your rig is the optimal solution for xn crawling your gen1, but some other corrections are in order. You can make pretty significant upgrades within the confines of IFS for significantly less money than it takes to properly SAS your rig. New UCAs and some beefed up steering is a good start. Check out xterror04s rig, and graniteX ... They can keep up. Anyway, what is the "right" solution for you may not be for someone else.
Now hurry up and finish that frankenSAS you got goin....

 

[NMTerras]

This is quite entertaining...

:dies:

 

[Kuzmovka]

So I like my sfa on my yota just fine but it has some issues on the highway. If you do the swap right and have the right safety pieces, like balanced tires, stabilizer, and sway bar then it's not so bad, just have tight steering. They're plenty safe. Ifs rides a bit better in my opinion, but then that's kind of the point of ifs. It's just as capable as sfa to a point. It's beating a dead horse guys. The battle cannot be won

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

 

[SteeevO]

Locked IFS vs SAS?
.
.
.
I interpreted that as.... Do you want to go rock crawling?