[Twisty]

A few quick pics from a recent weekend out at Landcruiser Mountain Park. Had a pretty good weekend. Went to Camp Rd after setting up camp on friday arve. Had a shocking run up(picked a shit line the whole way) but with the lockers front and rear it crawled it the whole way, just constantly had wheels off the ground, as the pics show below.

After pulling up at the top but the 40 started pissing out oil....The sump gasket had been leaking for a while now (i put it on dodgy) and once i got it on the steep angles it would pour out the back and fill the bellhousing. Then once you got flat again it would all drain out. This this pretty much put an end to doing any steep tracks for the weekend.

Saturday just did Claw Gorge, Test Track, with no dramas, then Cruiser Canyon to finish it off. Ended up having a go at the rock ledge at the end after watching Guts and Boof crawl up, but didn't listen to the navvy and ended up getting stuck on it. Since the shorty was pointing straight up, the whole sump emptied into the bellhousing and onto the clutch. Guts had a little oil there, which got it back to camp, where I parked it for the rest of the weekend.

I ended up getting another 4 litres off a random guy on sunday for $20 (thanks heap mate!) which got it home fine. Clutch was slipping pretty bad but for the whole trip home, but has come good now.

Heres the few boring pics I got on the weekend.

About to leave home.


Pig Pen Stump, front end is working heaps better with the longer shocks, the springs open right up now.




Test Track

[Twisty]

Cruiser Canyon

[Twisty]

Heres the pics Celtlux took of Camp Rd.....

[Twisty]

Couple more pics from Crusier Canyon....this is where I lost all of what little oil I had left in the sump. Still haven't driven this bloody thing yet....next time for sure!

[Twisty]

Got something cool done this week. There is a guy on the coast that has bought a 3d printer, which is mainly used for for doing Architectual Display models of fancy houses. We were trying to get a model done of a industrial subdivision I designed which had a large amount of earthworks. The design program I use for civil design coudln't spit out files as a solid object, so it wouldn't print it, but then I had a chat to him about the bar I done up for the 40 in solidworks. A day later and he dropped this off, so cool! Need a RC 40 to put it on now.

Ignore the funky colours, he was just playing around with them, but each part can be done in any colour you want. The fog lights inside the bumper were built by the printer, but becuase I didn't have any brackets on them, they fell out. If I had a left a small gap between the ligth force and the cover you would have been able to take the cover off and see the lense behind it.




Its a bit fury and rough as he used old hardner on it. New hardner would leave it all perfectly smooth.




You can just make out the lightforce stickers in real life, bit hard to see in the pics but.

[4x4 Station Wagon]

WOW!!! Nice 40....... I have been beating around the idea of what silver would look like....... Then i have been beating myself up on white top or not........ Now i know looks sweat!!! Dammit dont dent that thing.. LOL

[shorty 40]

man that thing is ultra sweet just love the colour scheme that new bar is gonna look mean once it hanging from the 40 keep up the super thread

[Twisty]

Originally Posted by 4x4 Station Wagon

WOW!!! Nice 40....... I have been beating around the idea of what silver would look like....... Then i have been beating myself up on white top or not........ Now i know looks sweat!!! Dammit dont dent that thing.. LOL

Thanks mate, I love the colour of it too, specially with the white bezel and roof. As for the dints, yeah, I'm trying not to LOL.

Originally Posted by shorty 40

man that thing is ultra sweet just love the colour scheme that new bar is gonna look mean once it hanging from the 40 keep up the super thread

thanks...all the 3mm parts of the bar got lasercut last week. As its getting done for free I have to wait for them to be cutting the material sizes I need, hopefully not too far away but.

[Twisty]

I'm ordering some new custom springs for the 40 tomorrow from Dobinsons in Rocky. Heres dodgy screen pics from autocad of how they will be setup. Thats shown with 37" tyres, but I'm going to run 36x12.5 TSLs now.

Front - Diff moved forward 4 inches, and spring 3 inches longer than my current ones (total length of new spring 49.6")


Rear - Rear shackle mount moved back 4 inch, diff moved back 5 inches, and spring 8.5" longer then my current ones. (total length of new spring 53")


I wanted to check how having the diff 4" foward will effect my steering and just to see what it looks like. So yesterday I undone the u-bolts and slid the diff foward 4" and re-clamped it.
I really like the look of it, but I think I am going to have to re-drill the steering box mounts and move the box forward about 1" to stop the drag link and tie rod hitting. Heres a few pics.
Shitty picture, but show how far the diff went forward. Looks a little funny with the rear in the std. spot, but with it back 5" it should look a lot better.


First flex test was done with the trolley hack to get an idea of how bad it might be. Couldn't get full travel out of it but.


You can see the diff has travelled up past where my bumptsop would usally limit the travel and the steering arms haven't touched yet, so I may get away without having to move the steering box.


Arms end up in line with each other from above.

[Twisty]

With it all looking ok I took it across the road to the dirt pile for a proper flex.









All going well I'll be installing the new springs next weekend :armsup:

[Gib009]

good job with the build up mate, had a keen eye out for a 40 when i first saw yours in the mag! Ended getting a BJ71 instead though, which is still great! I am keen to see the new springs. If you dont mind me asking how much do custom springs set you back because i am after longer springs on mine for some more flex.

[Twisty]

Thanks Gib.....new spring posts coming soon! Mine ended up costing $1200 as they were a full custom pack. I believe its a fair bit cheaper (like $400) if you can work it around there std 2" lift springs with longer mains.

[Twisty]

Well I've had the new custom springs from Dobinsons for a couple weeks now, and as anyone who seen my other thread "can you have too flat a shackle angle" things didn't quiet go to plan. Turns out when using autocad to see how much longer your new springs need to be to get a 45 degree shackle angle there is a fine line between it working, all just collapsing till the shackles botton out.

Some pics of the progress and where its up to.

4 new shiny springs! One of the clamps on the bottom pack was on the wrong side so had to flip that leaf.


Will the help from Dave at Dixon Race Engineering I got some high clearance u-bolt plates done. They are lasercut and pressed out of one piece, then the gussets welded up. The rears also have built in lower shock mounts in roughly the same position as standard. If they all work ok on mine Dave will be selling these soon, probably as a group buy to keep costs about half of what others charge.


Heres the difference the plates make (still need to trim the u-bolts)
Std. Front setup


With the high clearance ubolt plate. Could make them even higher but the u-bolts didn't have enough thread. Am sure it would be possible to buy some that do but, and lift the nuts up higher again.


Std. Rear Setup


Highclearance ones.

[Twisty]

Front springs were meant to be a bolt in job, so did them first.

Old vs New Fronts


But when I went to lower it all back onto its wheels it keep dropping till this happened.


Shackles just collapsed until the hit the bumper....seems I ordered the springs too long! Even though all measurements in autocad match what is there is real life. Started looking into ways to fix it, Dobinsons were happy to shorten them if I freighted them back to Rocky. Also looked into a shackle reversal, but it doesn't seem worth the effort. Easiest fix is to relocate the fixed hanger back a little and loose a 1" of the 4" the front diff has come forward, and will be doing that this weekend. This will also have the benefit of fixing my castor finally!

Next was the rears, was meant to just flip the rear shackle mount 180 degrees (moves it back about 4") and the springs would bolt up, but once again my measurement were too long, so I had to move it another inch back, so it just sticks out past the std. rear bumper. A custom rear bumper will be done asap now to help cover it all up as it looks a little wierd at the moment.

Old vs New Rears

[Twisty]

Will hopefully get the front all sorted this weekend, then look into driveshafts and shock mounts, front fenders, rear quaters, flares etc...so will probably be 4 weeks or more before its on the road again.

But here what it looks like (front still bottomed out on the shackles) with 9" extra wheelbase over stock....98" total.

[Twisty]

Forgot to post these pics too. Jackass did the lasercutting and bending for the new front bar a few weeks ago Cheers Mate . The automatic press thing stuffed up the bends on the top piece, but that will be easy enough to fix. Just waiting on Chris to come down on his next trip south then Kane from Komited Kustoms will weld it all up, then will get Brooksy to add some tube work.

[Twisty]

Little bit more progress....Got the fronts rear fixed mounts out over the weekend, rivets suck :bad-words: But got there in the end. Found the easiest way is to do a heap of cuts over the head of the rivert with a cut off wheel on the grinder, then smash it off with a cold chisel. Had to drill some out as well, which a slightly smaller drill bit then the rivet seemed to work best (10mm bit)

Anyway, kane called around this arve and tacked them into the new position, then we bolted it all up.

Can see how far the mount has come back in this pic by the hole in the mount compared to the hole in the chassis. The springs were 75mm longer then my old ones, and the fixed mount has come back 50mm, but I'm not sure if its enough.


New shackle angle...which is nice, but with me lightly jumping up and down on it I can bottom them out on the bumper.


I do think it does look a little more in proportion with the front diff back 2" from before, specially with the 33s. (Diff is 2" forward from stock).

[Twisty]

All spring mounts now fully welded in, moved the fixed mounts at the front another 20mm back from above (70mm total), and shackle should settle to a perfect 45. Front diff is now only 1" forward from standard , which I'm going to leave for the time being. Decieded to wait and see what size tyres I end up with, and how the tube front guards turn out and move it to suit then. Saves mucking around with shock mounts and steering in the front for now, but I will need a driveshaft spacer.

This weekends progress was just cutting the remainder of the moulded in flares. So much bloody bog in the rear panels, is a pain in the arse, and the whole garage is covered in white dust. Also test fitted the TJ Flares, which I'm not really a fan of.

Bog flares!


Flare gone, but plenty of bog left.


All smoothed out, still a bit of tidying up to do....I haven't trimmed the rear of this arch to shape yet.

[Twisty]

Test fitting the TJ flares, which look ok from side on.


But a sh!t from front on....a wider diff might make it look in proportion.




Cant get them back far enough to be centred over wheel either.

[Twisty]

I definetly dont want to run the TJ flares for good now, they just dont look right. I plan to get Brooksy to make some tube ones, but wont have the $$ till next year as I wanna get tube front gaurds, rear flares, sliders, and get him to add some tube to the front and rear bars, and hopefully a cage too.

These are what I'll get done for the rear.



So not sure wether to fit the TJs as a temp thing, or just run some garden edge flares for now?????

[uted]

Go with the garden edging. The Tj flares look pretty ugly. My 2c

[croozy]

maybe these would have looked alright dave.
MAF FJ40 Extra Wide Extra Long Fender Flares

[Twisty]

Originally Posted by uted

Go with the garden edging. The Tj flares look pretty ugly. My 2c

yep, agree with the TJs, am scapping the idea of them now. Funny thing is I always thought they looked good on just about every other 40 I've seen on here that has them fiited.

Originally Posted by croozy

maybe these would have looked alright dave.
MAF FJ40 Extra Wide Extra Long Fender Flares

Yeah, seen them, probably too $$ by the time you get them to Oz. Have been pretty keen on tube rear ones ever since seeing the pic above, and it looks like I'm getting a deal too good to pass up on some tube, so the rear flares might happen pretty soon.

Plan is now to get a 37" tyre up here and weld in some panels into the wheel arch to restore the stock wheel arch shape, but just back a little bit, cleared up to the top of the tubs (as is in the pics belows) and with enough clearance for 37s. Will then start sorting some tube style flares.

They hacked up wheel arch now.


How I will get the panels done.

[Twisty]

Got the driveshafts sorted during the week, went through Farrows Shafting Service, great price and service, had them done the same day.

Farrows Shafting Service - Balancing Equipment &/or Services in Nambour, QLD - yellow.com.au

Bolted them in this morning, then double checked all the u-bolts etc and took her out for its first drive, without any shocks for now, hoping to get those mounts sorted this week, but need to get the exhaust moved first for the rears......

Anyway, seems as though all the effort has been worth it. The ride is super smooth, soaks up big bumps nicely, am really happy with it. Only drama is the bodyroll, really leans over when cornering....Will see how much having shocks on improves it, but it might need an extra leaf all round yet to get it a little safer.
Also seems the castor has come good now, with the old springs, 2" extended shackles, and 3 degree wedges I was still at -2 degress castor. (Factory is 0 degress, but should be +2 to +5 now it has p/steer) Now with the axle more centre on the spring (and not up on the arch of the spring) and the rear fixed mounts down a little on the chassis it defineltey doesn't wander as much. Need to get out out on the highway to check for sure but, haven't been over 80km/hr yet.

Few pics.

[Twisty]

Finally got the shocks sorted today and got to have a decent drive. Am absolutely stoked with the ride! Soaks up bumps great, and castor it back to good now for the first time I've owned it. Can actually have 1 hand on the steering wheel at over 80km/hr now!

Front shock mount just involved flipping the std. mount 180 degrees (only needed to gain 1")


Just used some rhs to mount the rear shocks on the other side of the existing cross member. Leaned them in a extra 30mm at the top too.


Bottom mount on the high clearance u-bolt plate.


Back view now.

[Twisty]

Now the cool pics






With my ugly mug.

[Twisty]

Some comparo pics from the old custom springs to the new.

Old with no shocks


New with 12" travel Shocks


Old with No Shocks


New with 12" travel Shocks


Looking at that I think its gained a lot more then I thought it would....specially since it shocks fitted with the latest pics and old pics was with no shocks. Was all worth it for the ride alone but.

[Twisty]

Well a lot sooner then first planned, the 40 is getting a new EFI donk. Seen this pop up in the for sale section on Outerlimits today and decieded it was too good a value to pass up.





Ford 250 EFI Cross Flow, rebuilt approx 6000kms ago with balanced crank, flat top pistons, port and polished head, extractors etc. Also get the full conversion kit, radiator, thermo fan, two 4spd's, xfer case, and driveshafts. Will wait till I can sell my 3f, then slot this in and hopefully get lot better driveability and economy.

[Twisty]

Picked up a trailer full of bits on saturday. Huge thanks to RAY185 and Dougster for coming up and doing a compression test and then helping to load it all up. All cylinders were within 5-10 psi and around 195psi.

Not sure when I'll swap it in yet. Wanna sell the 3f currently in the 40, and the couple of 4spds and xfer that came with the new motor. Also got to sort a fair few bits I'll need before it can go in (new clutch, spark plugs, paint motor, relocate the p/steer pump, modify the new radiator to a twin pass setup so both hoses can be on top, surge tank, efi pump and lines, probably other bits I haven't thought of)

Hopefully once thats all organised get the swap done and back on the road within a week or two from pulling out the 3f.

[Twisty]

Well after selling my 35" TrXus mud terrains I've finally decieded on the new rubber. Was originally planning on going TSLs or Iroks in around 36-37", but after changing my mind 1000 times I decieded to get Boof's old 35x13.5 BFG Krawlers. Anything bigger then 35 will cause too many issues gearing wise, and probably breakages. I need to be able to keep using 33s on it for around town, so re-gearing the diffs isn't possible, and xfer geares are too $$$ (why dont they make xfer gears for 40s for the price they do for hilux's Will also be getting some Staun internal beadlocks fitted at the same time, can't wait!



Have also cleaned up the motor, a degrease and a pressure wash brang it up sweet.


Pulled all the green bits off to get re-powdercoated....want to do it in the same style, but probably a metallic gun metal grey.


Was nice and clean inside!


Have ordered a heap of new bits for the motor to fit before installing (with help from RAY185, thanks ). Got new leads, spark plugs, water pump, thermostat, rear main, some other gaskets, all new clutch stuff, efi fuel pump and filter...and some other bits in pieces. Still not sure when I'll swap it in yet, am not driving it cause of a lack of rear flares, so might do it sooner if I can sell the 3f (probably help if I advertised it )