Has anyone in Centeral, OR done a SFA swap? I'm in the planning stages and need some serious advice. Has anyone done one around here?

A member up in Seattle has, ARBSeth. He was one of the first, and it turned out great! He sold a few months ago, though he still pops onto the forums occasionally. Your best bet for info is the SFA forum.

Unless you are familiar with suspension geometry, and know how to weld, you'll need a good 4x4 shop for the work. Thats where a majority of the price comes from.

Basic things you will need: a front drivers side drop high pinion axle, same width as the rear. A rear axle if you want to upgrade it. Steering box, new brake system and lines/calipers to tie into whatever type of axles you went with. A long arm kit for a TJ. TJ suspension brackets. Springs. and a custom HEAVY duty belly pan that pretty much covers the entire undercarriage for all the suspension components to mount to.

It all adds up with labor, most are running 15-20k to do the swap. OHV_KJ who I believe is getting free labor from a buddy who runs a shop is still looking at near to 10k now if I remember correctly.


The big question is if you NEED a SFA... A KJ running 32's with a locker in the rear, and LSD up front on a top quality lift lift will get over darn near anything.

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- Mike
'12 JK

Jeep Tech Files

Now, I got to thinking about this last night. I got stock F/R diffs atm, with the intention of putting ARB air lockers, and possibly regear the front diff. The whole reason I was looking at the swap, was the issue of how durable stock diffs are. So heres my list I got, before I thought about a SAS. Here it goes: ARB diff lockers both front and rear; ARB bull bar; Warn Winch; K&N Intake; Rocky-road Rock Father Suspension or a Frankenlift (Still looking for it, was thinking about 2.5inch); Flow master exhaust; Allied Beadlock rims with Mickey tompson Baja Claw (Size to be determined); Hood Louvers, Line-X; Yellow Top battery (Already Installed); Rock sliders; Underbelly Plate; ARB Comp. DIff Cover; Tranny, T-Case Gaurd, Kilby Gas tank Gaurd; and all the necessary recovery tools needed. That would be a pretty darn good rig, but the only thing I'm unsure of is if the front diff, is able to take the abuse.

Good list so far, Few points.

Rocky Road, has a pretty bad track record here. Customer service is awful, and their products are not the best designed. The rockfather lifts have been improved, but they originally had one of the worst lifts on the market. The frankenlift nets more than 2.5" of lift also. I got 4.5" after it settled.

Arb's are great, but epensive, for the front, with our diff, a LSD is acceptable. The whole problem with our diff is when it looses traction, and then suddenly regains it. Has a tendency to crack in those conditions. An LSD or Locker, will help prevent a loss of traction. Haven't heard of a diff breaking yet with an LSD or locker installed, only open.

Everything else looks good though.

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- Mike
'12 JK

Jeep Tech Files

I say get the DTT for the front, you can get one for the KJ for $387 shipped

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1980 Jeep CJ7 Buggy
SOA, D44/ FF14B, SBC 350, SM465, NP205, 108" WB, 37" MTs

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Thanks for the input, I'm going to hold off on the SFA for now. I talked with the guys at Rocky-road about the Rock Father.... I wasn't happy with them. THey just kinda of scooted around my direct questios about it. So, I'm doing the Frankenlift. I'm going to start ordering parts:P, I'll take tons of pics and keep ya'll updated. Maybe by the end of the summer (Due to Wildland Fire Fighting) we can get a trail ride set up.

Sweet sounding plans. Good choice on the Frankenlift too. It is fantastic. Looking forward to your build.

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My Jeep Build ----> Big Black

I heard trail ride!

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- Mike
'12 JK

Jeep Tech Files

Mmmm trail ride, mmmmmmmm. Has to be after fire season tho:(, for me that is.