I hear guys talk about this all the time on here and i thought wow what the heck are they doing to break that. I run the living crap out of my track and have not have any problems... until yesterday. I was out wheelin last night and was out for about an hour and climbed a new hill. When i got to the top i heard a big BOOM and a bunch of grinding and i knew what happend. I had a buddy crawl under to look and he said there was gear oil every where i told him not to worry bout crawling under cause my worst fear was confirmed.

Now comes for the hard part. should i go SAS or go back to IFS and risk this happening again. I just sold a vehicle so money is sorta not an issue. I need some info on the swap, I am prolly going to use a D30 cause i can get one dirt cheap and can get 5.38 gears for it. Then comes the rear, i am leaving it stock for now but i need 5.38 gears for it. does anyone in the aftermarket offer them? I have done some searching and not found anything. i have thought about going back to suzuki but that would be wasting a little money that is not needed. i have YJ springs so i will prolly use those instead of going coils so i can keep the cost to a mininum.

Then on the other hand i stick with IFS have my 4X4 back quick. If that IFS breaks again then i am back where i am now(which i dont want to be). By the time i get a metal housing out of a vitara(that in its self is hard to find around here) and buy gears for it and whatever else.


 i think it would be more cost effective to go SAS not neccisarily right now but in the long run. I would like a little input from you guys hear on the board. You guys have a lot more experience in this department than i do and would like to see if you can sway me either way. So IFS or SAS and what are the pros and cons of both?

If you stay IFS, You have two choices:

Replace the axle housing with another aluminum one

I just happen to have a spare...     However, I wouldn't  go that route - especially if you like to wheel the "wee" out of your truck.


Replace the axle housing with a Steel one.

Calmini Anvils are nice and tough but a bit expensive.

The Suzuki XL-7 has an almost identically sized STEEL axle housing.  You can get one from a dealer OR you might be able to find one at a salvage yard.  Check out this ZukiWorld link for more information:

http://www.zukiworld.com/month_090103/feature_sidekickdrivetrainimprovements.htm

... and yes, I have this link in the searchable database at Ack's FAQ...    just do a search for xl7.

Hope this helps!

The Suzuki XL-7 has an almost identically sized STEEL axle housing. 

Except for the XL-7s that have an almost identically sized ALUMINUM housing, of course.

The details for year/configuration identification of which has which is all on the board, but in case you're not planning to do any research, don't just blindly purchase someone's "XL-7 housing" without first verifying that it is, indeed, steel...  (example:  my '02 automatic XL-7's was/is aluminum)

I would go with the SAS, cheeper, stronger, and simple.

A dana 30 wont work for your application, the diff housing is on the right side (looking from the front). A toyota axle or samurai axle oh the other hand would be on the correct side.
If you wanted to run the gearing that your saying, you might want to go with a sammi axle, plus it will stay the same width as your current rear end.  But if you want to go with the overtop strength and gain more width you could go with toyota axles front and rear.
Plus a toyota axle is way stronger than a dana 30 and if you ask any hardcore toyota guy they will say a toyota axle is stronger than a dana 44.


Amilla

put longfields in a toy axel and it's as strong as a D60!

a waggy D44 is also a good option for the SAS ... at 58" WMS it's a nice size

I have done some research and i am going SAS. the Dana 30 is on the correct side, that was the first thing i checked. The width is the closest if you go with a 82-86 Cj D30 it is at 56 inches. the only problem is they offer 5.38 gears for them and i cant track down any 5.38 gears for the rear. I dont want to change the rear end. its good and strong enough for me and i dont want to "fix" it if its not broken(honestly i cant afford it financially or the down time,its my DD). 

Heres a link to a similar swap:

http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=17298.0

SAS all the way then!

It should be plunty strong if is going to just be your DD, and if not heavaly abusing it.

What gears are currently in the rear end right now?
If you cant find 5.38 gears for the rear would it be out of the question to just go to a differnt gearing all together? 
I know pretty much nothing about dana gearing options so im not sure what gears they offer, is it possile to find matching gears at all?

Amilla

There lies the problem i can get 5.38 gears for the dana easy. The problem i am having is finding gears for the stock rear.

By the way i got a dana for FREE last night

Hmmm whats the closest gear to a 5.38 that you can get for the rear end?
I belive if its within a certin ammount you can run two differnt gears...but they gotta be pretty dam close.

Thats what i like to hear!
I also got 3 Toyota front axles and 2 rear axles fo FREE
and a bunch of other stuff that will be used to put toy axles unda ma sammi.

Whats the gear option thats one down from a 5.38's for the dana?
Do they do 5.29's?

Amilla

I have got 5.13s which is the closest that i can get, but i am not too crazy about running different gear ratios cause in the winter i am on pavement and thats not good on parts.

put 5.125 in the *free* D30 and be good then.

5.12 and 5.13s are close enough to where it shouldnt make a noticible difference.

Amilla

yukon gear sell 538 gears

put 5.125 in the *free* D30 and be good then.

I would put 5.13s in the front if they made them. If you can find them i would put them in but i have done some searching and cant find any.

you need to start calling junkyards and asking if they have any 1991 4door sidekicks. they were the only year with 5.38's