fj40 tear down and build up

[Dennis]

finally found my camera cable . here we go.
Inserting text I cannot figuer it out. some one help!

[Dennis]

First I will start with some repair, repair ,repair and when I am done with that I will do some more repairs.
before it is on the road it will get the following treatments.

35" boggers w/ bead locks
SOA
Lockers
6" strech
89 350 TBI
SM465
Disk brakes on all 4 corners (mini truck front knuckles)
Winch
Dual Optimas
PS conversion
Plus many other mods as they come to me when the wife and wallet allow.

Here is some more pics.as the tear down proceds . after removing the tub the out come was grim. I am having a heck of a time posting pics. Maybe some one can show me how.

[Dennis]

soa and shackel inversion completed today swaped the springs end for end . that put the wheel base at 100.5. motor and power steering box will be here during the week will rebuild axles and convert to mini knuckles next weekend if money will permit.  Plan to mount ps box next weekend also.

[Dennis]

Rear caliper mounts made . Will clean up and paint tomorrow. hopefully pick up the bearings , calipers and rotors on sat.  Check out the link bellow for updated photos.

[Dennis]

Picked up t-case (thanks Bret) , Front mini truck axle , Mini Ifs power steering box , and some steel for axle gussetts today.

Stripped down the front 40 axle and tossed the farts into the ever growing fj40 junk parts pile.

 Started the swap of the mini truck parts. This is mock up only I may still have to turn the front knuckles so I am waiting for all the seals and bearings untll last.

Assembled rear axle today lost a c-clip so it is not done. Waiting on bearings and seals till all the work is done.

Tommorow I will work on axle gussets and power steering box.

Hope to get the cowel on tommorrow and pick up the motor and trans also. Will start mocking the mounts next weekend.

Still a lot of work left If any one wants to come and help it would be appreicated for as my buddy that I ride and work on projects with has landed his self in jail and will probaly be there a long while .He is looking at 3 to 5 . NEW PICS UP.

[Dennis]

Here is a teaser pick to see more go to the myspace link bellow.

[redrustbucket]

Good lord you've been busy. keep it up and you'll be on the trails before the new year.

[Dennis]

So far all the work has been done by me and my 2 kids Anabel 7 & Jacob 4 what little help they are. Anabel my oldest is the photographer . And she is not afraid to take pics . She totaled 105 pics today and I deleated half of them. Jacob is my tool chaser it gets frusterateing at times if you know what I mean . They mean well. The only peace I get is when I weld I run them off to the back yard. Jacob has already had UVKT(ultra violet kerotosis)welders flash burn from watching .

[redrustbucket]

Ouch! Done that a few times myself.

[Dennis]

Finished front brake conversion today. Mounted ps box . Atempted to build brackets for mini truck fronts to the rear of my cruiser. So far not working. No more till next sunday which will be pulling motor out of doner truck and possibaly set it in the cruiser.

[Dennis]

I need a pitman arm for a toy box with no or very little drop.

[zucruisers]

i hope you sleeved the holes in the frame to mount that box, and those bolts should probably be fine thread grade 8 bolts, there's a ton of pressure in a steering box mount, im sure most of the toy vendors like marlin, trail gear, all pro, etc. sell a flat pitman arm, but with that box the arm faces rearward, and with it at the spot that you have it mounted, it looks like its not gonna work very well, the pitman arm is going to hit your bumpstop

oh and btw, there's absolutely no question about it, you're going to have to turn your knuckles, a lot!

[Dennis]

The pitman arm is not keyed I plan on clocking the arm in the foreward position. I have reinforced the inside of the frame with 3/8 plate and I will use 1/2 grade 8 bolts.The frame has large holes there preveting sleaving. Now that I think abought it I will cut out the existing steel and replace it with 3/8 plate and sleave it.

[zucruisers]

The pitman arm is not keyed I plan on clocking the arm in the foreward position.

i realize its not keyed, but if you turn the pitman 180 degrees from where its supposed to be, it will not work, when you turn the wheel left, the truck is going to turn right, and when you turn right, the truck will turn left...that box is going to have to be moved forward, remounted and you should definitely plate the outside of the front at least, along with sleeving the holes too, make sure you use fine thread bolts to mount it, coarse thread likes to work itself loose for steering box bolts

[Bret]

I can't go look right now, but you may be able to run the drag link behind the axle and use the mini-truck box with crossover knuckles, I think the FJ80 is set up like that.  Otherwise you can use the FJ60 box, it has the pitman arm facing forward so when you turn the steering wheel to the right the wheels will go that way too.  The FJ80 pitman arm is almost flat.  Based on the picture it would work for you.  The clearance you want to check is with the spring-over the springpack doesn't come up and contact the pitman arm under compression.

http://www.ottindustries.com/

Has a few aftermarket options that may interest you, but they aren't cheap.  The 80 pitman may be a cheaper option.