So here's the deal. I own a 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ62 and recently bought a 2003 XL7. The Toyota has about a 3" spring-under lift with new-ish aftermarket springs, and is running near-new 33x10.5R15 BFG A/T's. It has been for sale for a while but I haven't had anyone come through with the cash yet. I bought a 2003 XL7 to replace the Cruiser as our future family wheeler. The XL7 is currently stock. I've been thinking hard about lifts, body lifts, regearing, lockers, and bigger tires, and the overall durability of the finished product. I know most guys that are doing solid axle swaps right away go to coil/link setups but I have seen one XL7 with a SAS/leaf setup, and I was just reading the latest edition of Petersen's 4WOR and there was a 2008 Jeep JK with leaf sprung Dana 60's, so clearly it can be done and is being done. I'm questioning the rationale of spending anywhere from $300 for spacers to $1300 for a full suspension kit, plus another $200 for a body lift, just to fit 31's on the Zuk, and then be stuck with CV's that may be pushed to the limit, and no rear locker available. Since I already own the Cruiser I was toying with the idea of just removing the axles and springs from it and then parting or scrapping the rest of it, and then setting it up under the Zuk. Can someone talk me out of this before I get into something way over my head?

Pros:
Solid front axle
Stronger steering due to conventional steering box and linkage design vs rack and pinion
Front and rear lockers and multiple aftermarket gear ratios available
Leaf springs are tougher than coil springs for carrying passengers and cargo over rough terrain and simpler to fab up mounts
Spring-under means less axlewrap
Strength and durability of Toyota axles is greater than Suzuki axles

Cons:
Rear diff is offset to the passenger side, may cause driveline vibes
Springs are under the axle, reducing ground clearance and approach/departure angle
Will need to be regeared immediately, as factory FJ62 Cruiser gears are 4.10:1, would need to be around 5.39:1 for 33's
Steering box location / geometry is over my head

Keeping in mind my estimated budget for keeping it closer to stock would be about $3500 (3" lift and new struts, 2" body, 5.13 3rd members, 31" tires) It probably wouldn't be worth it, but I just want to bounce this idea of some other people to check my sanity.

What sort of wheeling do you want to do with the XL7?

Probably nothing hard core enough to justify doing a double axle swap, especially considering this is to be our family vehicle. Northwest style trails. I talked to a 4x4 shop and they didn't recommend going this direction. So I'm back to dreaming of the Altered Ego 3" lift with a 2" body lift.

For light wheeling I would just go with a pretty standard lift form Altered Ego.  The full axle swap is fun but unless your trying to break axles not sure if it's worth it.