It's a money pit...it all adds up, and adds up and adds up. What you think it's going to cost, will end up triple or more.
You need to do alot of research, or have some buddys that can help you out. You don't want to compromise saftey anywhere in a project like that.
Ya gotta love your Pathy or it's better to find another vehicle with a solid axle or a 4runner that you can SAS because of the kits/parts readily available for them. However, the Calmini kit will be out soon so that's good news.
It requires a ton of your time and is highly distracting to whatever else you are doing. Plus you're out of a vehicle if you don't have another one. Then you have to de-bug it...a litte more money spent here and there. But I'm extremely happy with mine. I'm glad I did it. I spent a year collecting parts, but I would probably spend more time to find better deals to save money. Taking your time is the key.
I spent approx. 3K Cdn on parts alone. (what's that, about 1500.00 Us? Lol )I also swapped out the rear diff which adds to the cost, but still was cheaper to re-gear and get a locker for it than re-gearing and paying for Nissan Gears. Most of the parts were used. In fact anything I could get used, I got. Then if needed, I rebuilt the diffs with new bearings, seals, etc. Gears, carriers, new inner seals and install for the gears cost 1400.00cdn because I had them done with the diffs on the Pathy. Much, much cheaper to take the diffs in before hand to get set up. Would have been about 3/4 the cost. Drive shafts were also pricey items. Tires and wheels, used. Shocks, breaklines, drag link were all new. Steering box (Scout II Saginaw box), leaf springs front and rear were used. I only paid like 60.00 for the springs total. The bushings for them cost more than that!
I payed to have it welded so add $$ on top of it.
The coil Pathyn in the picture is probably around 4K in parts which includes the custom out sourced work. He had a pitman arm custom made while I used a Jeep pitman arm. My steering components were also cheaper as I used Chevy off the shelf components. That also includes new rims and tires.
You can do it much cheaper, it just depends on what you want. If you can find diffs with the gearing you want, then that's a huge savings right there. Don't go high, and your driveshaft costs are cheaper. Cross members can be a pain to do too. I have one more I'm going to add.
Leafs are easier to setup. Coils are very nice, but require more time to get things to fit because of the nature of the setup.
