SAS Advice & Expectations

[Brawndo_99]

Hi all,

New member but longtime reader. I’ve been collecting parts to SAS my 99 Tahoe for the past year or so. I take it wheeling fairly frequently, but it’s also my daily driver, so my hope is a nice riding daily with some serious capability.

I’ve acquired 99% of the parts, axles are almost together, I’m just preparing to start disassembly in the next week or so. I wanted to ask your input on the plans, what type of ride quality can I expect, and any lessons learned you may have!

- 78/79 Ford D60; 5.13; ARB; 35 spline; Yukon hubs; Chevy disc conversion
- 14 bolt rear, 5.13; ARB; el dorado discs; pinion guard & 3/8 diff cover
- Skys Crossover steering
- ORD pitman arm
- 1 ton drag link (plan on standard steering, not high steer)
- 241 swap
- Superduty front driveshaft shortened
- 1350 u joints front and rear
- ORD shackle flip rear + 1.5” offset blocks
- ORD 47” 2” lift Alcan front springs
- 37x12.5r17 Baja Boss AT’s on Dodge 8x6.5 wheels

Any advice from those that have done this before they’d like to impart? Maybe things that went poorly or you’d do differently?

Any thoughts on the ORD 47” ride quality? My hope is a soft ride, good for dirt roads.

Lastly, I noticed my exhaust will need modified to clear the rear hanger on the pass side, and the fuel lines will need re-routed to clear the driver side rear hanger. Does anyone have pictures of their solutions for these issues?

Thanks all!

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[0xDEADBEEF]

I just wanted to say Welcome! and "it's got electrolytes."

 

[b454rat]

I'll comment later, too tired and have to get up at midnight....

 

[AirMdwn]

Sounds like you got a great plan and parts, hell yeah!
I’ve got custom 47” ORDs in the 6” flavor. Not horrible off road, but I wouldn’t call it a soft ride. It was a noticeable improvement compared to my previous 47s. I recently took the bottom leaves out of the pack and they ride very well off road now. I wouldn’t go to 52s because I don’t want the body roll on the road to the trail and don’t want to loose out on approach angle.
Exhaust modification is necessary for clearance, I’ll try to get some pics of mine in the next couple days, need to snap some pics for another member working on his SAS too

 

[b454rat]

Forgot bout this lol. 52s arent really gonna sacrifice approach angle. My Yukon has 1" lift 52s, and still sits behind the bumper. Barely had to trim the valance.

 

[AirMdwn]

Thats not bad at all. But when I’m tryin to fit a fullsize down a jeep trail or follow buggy lines, I want all the clearances I can get

 

[Brawndo_99]

Sounds like you got a great plan and parts, hell yeah!
I’ve got custom 47” ORDs in the 6” flavor. Not horrible off road, but I wouldn’t call it a soft ride. It was a noticeable improvement compared to my previous 47s. I recently took the bottom leaves out of the pack and they ride very well off road now. I wouldn’t go to 52s because I don’t want the body roll on the road to the trail and don’t want to loose out on approach angle.
Exhaust modification is necessary for clearance, I’ll try to get some pics of mine in the next couple days, need to snap some pics for another member working on his SAS too

That’s great to hear! I just finished the NP241 swap this past weekend. I took a few days off to get the SAS done. I’m plan on cutting into it Thursday.

I might just pull the bottom leaf out the pack to start and see how it turns out. I know I’m super picky about ride quality. Good advice, thanks for the tip! What shocks are you running up front? I know your lifted a bit more than I plan to be, but I’m curious what you found works well. Does your stock steering box keep up okay?

I think my biggest concern at this point is the e brake engagement on the el dorado rear calipers. Has anyone run those?