Started working on stripping the truck down for the SAS..

It took me a couple hours (by myself) to remove the front driveline (halfshafts, front diff and front driveline)

Yesterday I took out the upper and lower control arms. Here is the result.



I will post more pics over the coming days as the truck comes together.

So far there the teardown has not been difficult and anyone with basic tools can do it.

Some things you will need to make life easier are :
Good 3 ton floor jack and matching stands
Pry bar
5# Hammer
Angle Grinder (with both cutting wheel and grinder)
Sawzall (I am using a DeWalt)
Good weather (truck wont fit in the garage)

See ya in Moab!

What needs to be cut off? I thought it was a full bolt on deal?

I had my truck looking like that in about an hour when we did mine. That part was actually kinda fun.

Wow, a bit close to Moab for that kind of work isnt it? Little time for testing and tweaking.

You have to cut out the mount for the lower control arm. No need for it and it gets in the way.

That’s a deceit start air tools make quick work of all the bolts. Really not that hard just tedious, but wait until the cutting/grinding then the fun really starts

Might be interesting/tricky with just a sawzall & grinder, especially on the passenger’s side with the motor mount. Glad I used the plasma cutter, some thick stuff/tricky spots.

DR in-line is what you have to cut/grind, last one is the upper shock mount gone.

Good luck man, mine should be rolling tomorrow
Brian

That'll definitely void your warranty

It's awesome to see some real hardcore mods going on. Keep up the good pics.!

-hutch

Ya, I remember cutting all that crap off mine....I thought it stayed with the Calmini kit.

Have fun Carlton. Hope you don't encounter any bugs along the way.

looking at those pics put that stupid intro in my head...."monster....monster garage"

Damn you Brian!!!!!! You were supposed to call me when you didi this. I wanted to help.

Jason

That first picture is awesome... funky lookin but awesome.

A driveway SAS install, NICE!

Carlton/Brian take lots of pics, can't wait to install my first kit on someone's X.

I bet you guys can't wait to get to Moab and test them out.

It will look better in a few days :-)

Yea.. I was afraid it would not make it out of the garage after the swap :-) Praying for nice days!

Those pics are from the Calmini "how to" book.. those are not Brians.. Run quick and you can still help I bet!

Awesome!!

Good deal and good luck..

Looking good guys. I't looks like there will be 4 of us with the Calmini SAS. (Brian, Carlton, Me, Calmini).
BTW, my braking system is working great. Modding the Chevy MC is the way to go.

-Doug

A couple update pics.

I got my front diff guard installed and both of the shock hoops are in place.

Diff protection


Passenger side shock hoop.


Both hoops went in with little effort. There was one hole on the passenger side that I smoothed out so the threads were not hitting it.

The most difficult thing thus far has been the removal of the front LCA mount. Pain In The Ass.

If you have access to a cutting torch get it. I did the entire removal with a grinding wheel, cutting wheel and a Sawzall. With those it took me two days on and off to get the damn mount off.

I will keep the updates coming.

7 days to Moab.

So you've gotten everything but the good weather huh?

Looks like this is your only chance cause its gonna start raining again. I'd love to come down, but I'm on call this weekend and have to stay by home.

Keep the pics coming though. Maybe you can start an album somewhere.

Wow,

Looks like a lot of work but fun though!!! Looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks.
What size tires/gears/and locker did you use?

Tim

Plasma cutter - even better.

From earlier today.

I have all the new cross members in place and have the axle under the truck.





I should have the long arms in place by tomorrow as well as the coilover and other junk.

At this point I don't have any doubt that I will have the truck ready for Moab.

CM,

Yeah now another monster garage build, in < week put my X members on this weekend, went in like butter.

The bolts for the middle X member where a bit fun on top with the tight space, getting a wrench in took some positioning & smaller fingers.

Just picked up the tie rod [ES2223R] to stock pitman arm and will be putting that on tonight. Kind of dark in the garage for pics but when I roll it out I'll snap a few during the day.

My shocks and coils came separate so I had to take the shock head apart and reassemble to get the coils on. The top rings adjusts the ride height; about ½ to 1" from the top is what I was told.

What are you doing for the rear?

BTW make sure to use a 10mm flare nut wrench on the hard brake line when removing the old & connecting the new longer lines.

Looks like it's coming together terrificly, Carlton. Have fun playing with that in Moab.

Man this kit is awesome and very easy to work with, rolled mine into the garage last Thursday and it will be done by tomorrow.

The engineering & design that went into this kit is nothing short of brilliant, everything goes together beautifully and I managed to put it on rather quickly considering I just spent a few hours here & there squeezed in between working 10hrs days and all the family things I have going on. Talk about beefy everything from the shock mounts, to the long arms and x members are super heavy duty/thick.

Brian