if i had a colorado to SAS i'd be happy to tackle it. unfortunately, my colorado is 3/4 dropped. as for basic SAS information, her is what i can tell you.

here is a little of what i know, for my application and the other rigs ive helped build.

select a donor axle. complete WMS to WMS. depending on what you select, with leaves, i recommend going shackle reversal right off the bat. i didn't. wish i did.

if you go coil, you need to be thinking about a panhard bar, and how you're going to mount it to the frame AND the axle tube. Remember, keep the panhard as parallel as possible to the drag link.

using 70's era ford radius arms, and mid 90s ford radius arm brackets makes for a pretty painless install IF you are smart enough to grab a 70s era ford axle. the high pinion d44 out of 78-79 broncos is a great candidate.

leaf or coil spring the front. either one is about as complex as the other.

you will need longer brake lines, new shocks. As for the shocks, its gonna sound funny, but don't buy them til the truck is sitting on the new suspension. you will have almost no way of guessing how tall the rig will be, and will be unable to accurately select a piston length until completion.

you will likely need to find a compatible PS pump. not sure on colorados, but with my ranger IFS, the rack and pinion setup runs on much higher pressure than saginaw steering and the like, so i had to swap in a 91 ranger PS pump so i didn't frag my 96 f150 power steering box.

when you build your steering links, i used 1.5" OD .250"wall DOM with weld in inserts and 7/8" shank 3/4" eye HEIM joints. my steering is BEEEEEFY. if you do this- you will need to very slightly hone out the hole in the knuckle for the bolt. apart from that, you really just need normal stuff- soap marker, fishing line for plumb bobs, brake parts cleaner, a welder, a torch, a grinder, air tools, and normal stuff a moderate to skilled mech would have in his home garage.

OH! plate steel. if you leaf spring it- you'll need to make all type of custom brackets and whatnot to hand your desired spring hanger off the colorado frame. i went with chrysler factory YJ front spring hangers, and semi outboarded them by 1.5" which required some creative bracket mfg. my shackle hanger up front, truth be told, is more plate bracketry, and a 3" section of YJ front driveshaft, which flawlessly fit my chosen bushings. sorry, can't remember the part #. my front shackles are BlueTorch Fab 6".

geeze man, i know it sounds like a lot- but i got the axle under my truck for around $700. GEARS AND LOCKER COSTS EXTRA... but that is something you have to decide based on your needs, budget, and skill level. if you do your reading on pirate4x4.com, and really plan and research, and ask the right questions, not only will you be able to confidently tackle this- but i'd bet CASH you'll find locals who will want to help and participate.

=) every offroad guy (except prerunners and sand guys) love a solid axle swap! And even those guys probably still like it- even though long travel IFS and TTB and twin i beam suit them better. good luck and feel free to ask me anything you want to know.

TX blackout wrote:
select a donor axle. complete WMS to WMS. depending on what you select, with leaves, i recommend going shackle reversal right off the bat. i didn't. wish i did.


Been thinking/researching about this quite a bit the last few months. Just read a good article the other day that pointed out a setup where shackle reversal will actually work against you. If your setup is spring over with relatively flat leaves, a shackle reversal will actually cause the axle to move forward under compression rather than rearward as the reversal is designed to accomplish. This is because of the fact that with the flat spring the horizontal distance between the eyes becomes shorter in both compression and droop. With a more arched spring, the horizontal distance between the eyes becomes longer under compression and shorter under droop. Bottom line is, you have to do a lot of planning and make sure you design a whole system to work together.


TX blackout wrote:
using 70's era ford radius arms, and mid 90s ford radius arm brackets makes for a pretty painless install IF you are smart enough to grab a 70s era ford axle. the high pinion d44 out of 78-79 broncos is a great candidate.


If you use a Ford front axle you're going to have to change the xfer case too because the Fords are driver side drop, where our are passenger. What I've found is that a mid to late '70s Chevy truck Dana 44 will work out just about perfect if you shorten it enough to replace the long side axle shaft with the long side from a late 70s Wagoneer. I don't have all my figures in front of me, but as I recall this will end up being just about 65" WMS to WMS. Too wide to suit some, I'm sure, but perfect for what I want. I measured mine with the wheels off and found that the Rear is 63" WMS to WMS and the Front is 62 7/8".


TX blackout wrote:
leaf or coil spring the front. either one is about as complex as the other.


could you go into some more detail to explain that? Seems like the coil/link setup should be way more complicated to ever get set up right.


TX blackout wrote:
you will need longer brake lines, new shocks. As for the shocks, its gonna sound funny, but don't buy them til the truck is sitting on the new suspension. you will have almost no way of guessing how tall the rig will be, and will be unable to accurately select a piston length until completion.


Absolutely!


TX blackout wrote:
you will likely need to find a compatible PS pump. not sure on colorados, but with my ranger IFS, the rack and pinion setup runs on much higher pressure than saginaw steering and the like, so i had to swap in a 91 ranger PS pump so i didn't frag my 96 f150 power steering box.


Would it be possible to install a regulator in the hi pressure line to drop the pressure before it enters the box?


TX blackout wrote:
geeze man, i know it sounds like a lot- but i got the axle under my truck for around $700.


Doesn't really sound like much when it's all said and done. For perspective, go to Car-Part.com and price out a salvaged axle, then price shipping to wherever you are from wherever it is. I'll guarantee you it will end up costing almost that much. Then you can go to currieenterprises.com and pass out when you find out how much a custom one will set you back! $700 is pretty sweet actually.

what your saying about the shackle reversal applies to reversal done on existing frame/suspension set ups. it in no way applies to a blank slate custom fabbed set up. the occurence yu are referring to would require flat springs AND poor shackle angle. when taking measurements, and looking at where to hang the shackle, you want it to have close to 45* ride height AFTER springs settle. that mean it'll be a bit more vertical when you install it. also- having the axle come forward isn't a big deal. thats exactly what it does in a stock setup anyway- so occasionally achieving maxe down travel, and having the axle shift MAYBE 1" forward will be okay. If you hang them correctly, it shouldn't be an issue, but like i said, even if it does a little, on occasion, thats better than every time by design.

i actually had no idea which side drop the colorados had. so GM went back to pass drop huh. lol commies. well that gives you the option to run as states, up til 87 chevy front, or up til 91 in suburbans, depending on the year, wagoneers had both pass and driver drop, old cjs had pass...

as for coil vs leaf. the coils were actually pretty easy. select an axle if you can that comes from a coil sprung vehicle and you save yourself some time. after that, like i said, you don't need a TJ-esque link set up. the ford radius arm set up is EEEEASY. you just buy c-bushings, fab coil buckets (super simple) place them wherever you want on the frame, , install radius arms on c bushings, and determine where on the fram rail (near the tranny x member) you'll need to install a radius arm mount. i'm attaching a few crappy pics.

i'm not sure about the regulator on the PS line but i'd sure be interested in hearing any info you find out.


i'm kinda excited about having an indirect hand in a colorado SAS. who is gonna be first to do it?

Wouldn't a solid axle off the early yota's work?They are still a 6 lug axle with lots of aftermarket support.The only thing is you would lose your ABS in the front.Still trying to find a way to make that work with a SAS swap.