UPDATE 10-21-03

SAS BUILD-UP PROCESS

What we thought was Gold, turned out to be almost completely worthless. This '77 Jeep Wagoneer had it's front Dana 44 diff. located on the passenger side of the vehicle and this just will NOT work with the '01 Nissan T-Case. The only thing of value on the old Jeep was (maybe) a rear Dana 44, But Definitely a set of "Flat-Top" Knuckles...YEAH!!!!

Flat top knuckle straight off of the '77. OH Yeah...BOTH Waggys also came with cv (constant velocity) driveshafts!!! Hell YEAH!!!

Then, a friend I used to work with sold me his 1981 Jeep Wagoneer for a whopping $200!!! How 'bout that chit. AND...it came with a 3" Rough Country suspension lift,AND...the 360 V8 runs smooth,AND....there's a Dana44 in the rear AND...Alas, you can see the diff. is located on the driver's side.HOORAY!!!

One of the first steps was to re-locate the spring hangers from the '82 Jeep and adapt them to my '01 Frontier CC. At this point in time (09-18-03) you can see the IFS still fully mounted ONLY to be cut away in the next couple of weeks!!!(Ha,Ha,Ha....)

You can see all the new stuff on and ready to go except for the pitman arm and other steering components. You can also catch a glimpse of my High Clearance HD Diff. Cover. The first pic you can see how the suspension was resting w/ the Teraflex Revolver Shackles on and w/ the leaf springs at their original 8" arch. Since I thought this may be a bit overboard for height issues, I took my spring packs down to my local spring maker (Cambria Springs) and had my spring packs re-arched to a 3" arch. I just hope it doesn't sit too low now, but we shall see!!!I just got done masking off the drivers & passengers side doors as well as the headlights. I then went on to mask off the entire hood & windshield so the painting could be started.

Just a little comparison of my stock IFS at regular ride height w 3" SL & 1.5" BL & FG Fenders..., and my NEW Solid Axle Frontier shown with NO jackstands!! Pretty BIG difference I'd say!!

Here you can see how the big 3x5 1/4 in. thick wall square tubing went from ONE piece of straight metal into a masterpiece, welded & hand crafted by my ace mechanic - Mark Kaufman. You can see how we're slowly sanding, puttying, & priming it repetitively. Yeah it's a slow process, but the finished product is going to be well worth it!!!

Some pix of Mark's own fabrication. That big main bumper (right under the headlights) is 3x5 box that's super-thick!!!

The rear bumper is going to be made up of the same 3x5 square tubing as the front. See those holes??? Those same random holes were found in the front bumper before...you guessed it...my boy Mark welded 2" washers in them AND THEN welded the 1/2" hole shut. I grinded them down. Next was primer, putty, sanding, putty, sanding, primer, then painting. (wipe sweat from forehead) Woooh!!!!!! And...NO, the bumper will NOT sit how you see it in these pix. It will be welded fast to the stock bumper mounts so that it can be removed as if it were the stock piece.

Just an updated pic of the bumper again, as of October 13th, 2003. There was a scrap, rusty piece of 1x1 lying around, so I asked Mark to cut the ends the same angle the 3x5 was cut to, and then place it right where the bottom of the license plate will be. (right in the middle) I think it's gonna look pretty PHAT!!!

Just updated pix of the front and rear bumbers. I really like how everything turned out!!!! Sorry you can't really see it...I'll get better pix tomorrow or sometime!!!

Isn't that amazing?!?!? From old,rusty Crap...to new, painted BEAUTIFUL machinery. You can also see a glimpse of my High Clearance Crane HD Diff. Cover.

Yes...It's the man, the myth, the master...Mark Kaufman. Here he's seen doing some engine work and standing happily next to my baby. He does excellent work for reasonable prices!!

New Teraflex Revolver Shackles installed on my SAS'd '01 Frontier. I was loving that Wire Wheel so much I got a little carried away...aka...I even cleaned, primed, & spray-bombed my axles!!! (I know I'm nutz!!!)

My man Mark just painted these last night (10-16-03) and they look "marvelous"!!!! He's no paint professional, but I think the fenders & the bumpers turned out Awesome!!!!!

Parts Mike custome draglink w/ 7/8 Chevy ends. I also got his (partsmikeparts.com) Passenger Side Flattop Knuckle w/ Super Arm. This steering ROCKS!!!! The tierod is the stock '81 Jeep (blue Waggy) tierod. I really like how it attaches to the knuckles. It mounts from the topside down through (kastle nut's on the bottom). Nice & high...up out of harm's way!!! I'm LOVIN' this kick-ass BEEFY x-over steering system!!!!!

Spencer of SLR took a stock pitman arm and HEAVILY REINFORCED it for me for my custom SAS Project!!! Thanx Spencer!!!!

We mounted the front shocks last night (10-18-03) That white chit is just masking tape. I just taped them up after painting them so that they wouldn't end up getting all scratched up throughout the mounting phase. You'll also notice the wee little 28" stock Wagoneer wheels/tire combo we used while it was sitting in the garage.

Passenger side...freshly installed, then all I had to do was remove the tape, attach the reservoir, then ziptie the brake line in the gap between the shock body & the reservoir.

Had to burn the original SLR traction bar U-Bolt plate tabs off, and I asked mark to re-weld them in FRONT of the axle....once again: to Improve Ground Clearance!!!

Driver's side DONE. Now on to the other side. (No, Mark is not pissed off, he's just temporarily blinded by the sun) AND the passenger side DONE!! Keep in mind that I still need to paint the traction bars/u-bolts/axle.

You can see the same SLR (National Spring) leaf packs and the "new" 3 inch blocks from the Rough Country suspension lift (that was on the Jeep) that we welded to the spring perches to provide 6" of lift (but keep in mind the Teraflex Revolvers...1 to 2 inches of lift) AND my own custom U-Bolt flip kit.