Right now I am thinking of either starting the process of doing a SAS or lifting my rig as an IFS.. Part of my problem is I am living at home now and I don't really have open reign on storing parts in the garage.. But I know that sooner or later I am going to convert my X to SFA just need to know if it would be better to just wait and save up $$$$ for the SAS or lift it IFS and then work on the SAS.. If I do lift it IFS and later want to sell my IFS lift it won't exactly be easy because Im on an island and not that many people here run lifted xterras.. another what do you think lift it IFS or just wait and do an SAS..

If I had it over to do again, I would have went SFA.

I have a LOT of money in my IFS that would have put me more than 1/2 way to the SAS kit.

Here's my suggestion:

I think modding your X should take a backseat to getting yourself a place. It's hard to have a modified vehicle without your own space to work on it.

I recommend that you DO NOT get the IFS lift if your planning on SASing.

1. Tires
2. Sliders
3. T-bar crank and sliders
4. Skid plate(s)
5. Bumper
6. SAS
7. Winch

Good luck

Well, to take a different view... You could do the IFS lift but build the back of the truck exactly like you would for a SAS so that you are wasting nothing on that. In the front get some of the longer travel UCAs (SLR or AC)and decent T-bars.

You may not be able to sell it for as much used in HI as you could here but people love to lift thier trucks and someone would still buy it. If it would be a year of 2 before you can SAS then you get to drive a lifted truck untill then for the money you will lose on the front end parts only (probably only a couple hundred bucks after you sell them used.)

If you think you would be doing a SAS in the next little bit if you don't IFS lift, then certainly don't waste the time or money. If you think it will reasonably be a year or 2 then I would do the IFS lift in a heartbeat. Take a loss on the parts when you sell them used later down the line and consider that the cost of having a lifted X before you could SAS.

You will enjoy the heck out of it!

Personaly, I spend $150 in gas and 8-10 hours in the X at least once a month to get to and from the fun wheeling spots here. Taking a $200-$300 loss over a couple years so that I can run an IFS lift untill I can SAS is a pretty minor expense and worth every penny.

Are you lifting it to put bigger tires on it right now? If so go with a body lift, you will get much better clearance between the tires and the body plus you will need BL to fit 35's with the SAS.

You can always try and find a garage for rent and split the cost with a couple of friends to store your parts.

Right now I am looking at just doing the IFS lift and waiting for the SAS to build parts/space. I mainly want to do the lift to have more ground clearance so a BL is in the works as well as a three inch SL.. If I want to try and use the same components that are in the SAS kit as in the SL kit should I just stick strictly with Calmini parts or will Revolver Shackles work with the Calmini SAS kit if I plan on having leave springs all around..

The ONLY thing that is going to gain you ground clearance is bigger tires, to fit bigger tires the easiest and cheapest way is a body lift...plus a body lift actually moves the body up higher so there is less chance of damage when wheeling.

If you know you want a SAS forget the IFS lift completely, spend the money on a Dana 44 now and start building it with gears/lockers/new u-joints etc.

Or spend the money on t-case gears, there is little else out there that gives you more bang for the buck and helps compensate for the larger tires offroad.

The question really is this.

Do you plan on staying 'on island'? If so, then lift the IFS. If not, the SAS thing would make sense.

If you plan on rock crawling, then the SAS is the way to go. But mudding the sugar cane/pineapple roads does in no way justify the SAS and money necessary to modify your truck.

But you can always sell the lifted IFS parts pretty quickly. So while you're doing the SAS, you can be getting some of the money back fast.

On island or off, that's the real question. Because even if you had your own place on island, would it really be big enough to work on it there, and store parts, etc.?

Ideally I would like to get off island and eventually live somewhere on the mainland.. But I want to get out of College and get a job to save up some $$$ and job experince before moving.. Don't get me wrong I really enjoy living in Hawaii but living on an island and not getting to drive somewhere different is getting old. Hopefully I will eventually meet you guys in Moab..