well thats not a very fair comparison if the SAS does not have atleat lockers either, I.E. apples and oranges.

yes the solid axle will be stronger there is no doubt about it, its simple geometry there. The IFS is designed for better road capability; better ride and better handling ability basically( dont jump yet, im not saying the solid axle cant handle or have good road manners either, remember i have a SAS rig).

you can make the drop bracket stonger by boxing in the cross members, but the question's are more like how much wheeling will you be doing, and with 35's you will want around 6" of lift. with you saying you dont want any body lift, finding a 6" lift for the ifs is going to be even more expensive and higher chance of bending those brackets if you take it wheeling more than logging roads.

Since i have done more than a few SAS, including my own truck which i daily drive, i would go for the SAS. with that budget you can do at least the suspension up right and put gears and lockers in a budget as well, especially if going to 35's. Atleast get the gears first and than work on lockers for more serious wheeling. If you dont do the gears, before you know it its time to replace a clutch, and you will be lugging the engine all the time and wont be able to use all of your gears, also if you have an automatic it can very easily take that out to.


so to sum it up, and i know this one from experiance as i have put the big rubber on her and am trying to save up for the gears, make sure you are going to go all the way with it. most people just think its all lift and big tires and dont relize all the other parts that need to be upgraded as well.