[MDH33]

ROTW MDH33’s 1973 FJ40

Wow, my turn already! I was hoping to get more mods finished so I had more to share. Oh well, here’s some details anyway.

I’m Martin Huber, I live in Evergreen Colorado and I’m a member of the Rising Sun 4x4 Club.

Here we go, my ROTW thread for Feb 11, 2008.

I’ve had this FJ40 for about two years. It’s the third one I’ve owned, the previous two were a ’78 with SOA on 35’s that I rolled back in 1993 (RIP), and the other was a stock ’73 that I had to sell while commuting in college (1996). I moved to Colorado in 2005 and picked up an ’85 FJ60. The 40 came around not long after. I use both the 60 and 40 as daily drivers, but the 40 gets all the weekend trail duty as well. It was a strong runner when I purchased it, and it has continued to be a very reliable rig. I haven’t had to do much to it mechanically and have focused most of my attention on making it a little more trail friendly.

My ’73 40 is equipped with a ’77 2F mated to the stock three speed trans and TC. It has a non-usa spec ’69 2 barrel, MSD ignition and a Man-a-fre 6 into one header. All the smog stuff has been removed. I also added an Aussie Locker in the rear. Everything else is pretty much stock aside from the lift, early split hood, Recaro seats, and ’78 rollbar.

I am running a 4” Downey SUA lift with 1.5” shackles in front and 2.5” shackles in the rear. I replaced the ubolts and added ubolt skids and stainless break lines when I was working on the lift. Current tires are Super Swamper LTB’s, 34x10.5-15 on stock steel rims. It rides down the road happily at 65 but is more at home on the trail.

Less text, more pictures!

Here’s a pic of the day I bought it. It had a mismatched hardtop and street tires which I quickly removed.



I replaced the tires with some 31” AT’s and took the top off. Ready for summer.





It came with a Bestop that I used for awhile after removing and storing the hardtop. Here’s some pics from the Rising Sun Triple Bypass run, still sporting the 31’s.









2007 was the first year I attended Cruise Moab. Prior to departing, I did the suspension work, a full brake job, added the 34’s and replaced the Bestop with an Ehsan Pakistan OEM replica soft top that I bought from Sputnik. Here’s some photos from CM ’07.















In 2007 I lead the first Rising Sun “40’s Only Run”. Hopefully we’ll make it an annual event. I admire All Landcruisers, but wheeling with a crew of 40’s can’t be beat. It seems that there are fewer 40’s on the trail every year as they either succumb to rust or become garage queens. Cheers to all those who drive and wheel their 40 and keep them on the road and trail.










Future projects on my to-do list: Rebuild/replace the TC. Add a 4 speed trans. Mount a factory PTO that I have, which will include modifying the header and exhaust. Add an auxiliary fuel tank. Repair some rust and repaint.

Thanks for reading.

[JohnnyC]

Great pics...top looks much better than worstop

[rockcod]

Nice! I like the stock look, yet slightly modified.

[dgangle]

Nice and smoking cool pics.

[splitshot]

Good looking rig, how do you like the Downey springs?

[MDH33]

Originally Posted by JohnnyC

Great pics...top looks much better than worstop

I love my top from Ehsan! It's actually quieter than the hardtop too.

Originally Posted by rockcod

Nice! I like the stock look, yet slightly modified.

Thanks, it's always been my plan to keep it looking as stock as possible while doing stealth upgrades to make it more trail friendly.

Originally Posted by dgangle

Nice and smoking cool pics.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by splitshot

Good looking rig, how do you like the Downey springs?

I like them. Inexpensive and pretty good ride. They ride really nice with some weight in the back. I have noticed a little bit of settle in the rears compared to the front.

[motoloco]

Nice truck!

[boombapslappy]

Very nice! That's the look I'm going for as well.

[AKcruiserfreak]

Wow! Great looking rig. The mods are well-thought out as well.

TK

[JJS]

Good looking rig.

[yzftaco]

Great looking 40, and Beautiful country!

I so want to go to CO some day....

[sivart7208]

great looking rig and great pics!!
what kind of 34's are those?

[tglaser]

That's a tough looking 40. I like it.


I'm thinking of installing a 2F and mating to a 3 spd transmission and trans case...anything serious I should watch for? How has it been for you?

[Trollhole]

Very nice.

[MDH33]

Thanks for all the positive feedback.

Originally Posted by sivart7208

great looking rig and great pics!!
what kind of 34's are those?

Super Swamper LTB's

Originally Posted by tglaser

That's a tough looking 40. I like it.


I'm thinking of installing a 2F and mating to a 3 spd transmission and trans case...anything serious I should watch for? How has it been for you?

No issues, it's pretty much a direct bolt in if you already have a 3 speed in your 40. I still have the early aircleaner assembly in place as well so you can't immediately tell it's not the original F under the hood.

[Aussie FJ40]

beautiful scenery,and a neat 40,like it

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi All:

Martin, nice rig!

Thanks for sharing all those great photos!

So, what do you think about the 'Swamper LTBs? It appears that you've put a lot of miles on them, both highway and off-road.

Regards,

Alan

[73fj]

Those Swampers are perfect! Nice truck

[FJFOOL]

I really like the look you've achieved !! The tires and lift look great, as well as the top. Thanks

[LQ9 4D]

I dig it. love the meats.

[MDH33]

Lots of comments and questions about the SS LTB's.

My take on these tires are that they look great on a 40 and fit well with the stock rims. I have manual steering and the skinny width helps keep things manageable in addition to fitting up into the wheel wells when articulated. They perform excellent on the trail and are very durable with extremely tough side walls. These are bias ply tires, so they ride pretty rough on the street, but not terrible. I rarely try to push it over 65. If you have a good tire shop balance them, they are not bad at all and not as loud as you might think. They do wear very quickly on the street, however, and I wouldn't expect to get more than 10-15K miles out of them. They are pretty inexpensive too, so replacing is not as much of a hit to the wallet. I bought a set of 5 and have been rotating the spare through regularly.

Overall, I would say they are a great trail tire, but definitely not a good choice for a daily driver, or someone who's used to riding in an 80.

[DanS HJ-45]

Looks great Martin! The Ehsan top without a doubt looks better than the heepish best-top.

Some excellent pics of it too!

Dan

[Jacket]

Very nice Martin. Love the LTB's!

[Bodean]

Very nice. Great pics! I wish I lived out there.

Later,

[4RUNNY]

Awesome 40. I love the mostly stock look. I want to model my future build up off your cruiser.

Brian

[BC40]

Very nice truck, an inspiration.

I can see why you plan to swap in a 4 speed considering the combination of the 3 speed with 34's.

[FJ40zen]

Nice Martin!

[bsmith123]

Yup, that's the correct look for an FJ, I'm looking forward to getting my paki top, way better than the others looks good.

Man I dream of a run like that! The scenery is amazing!

[Sputnik40]

Beautiful! Nice uncut, and that top looks perfect on it .

Jealous of the scenery - damn nice.

[FJROSS]

Great looking stock rig, and beautiful scenery. Did you end up using any caster shims with that size lift and shackles? I was also wondering if it happens to fit in a 7ft garage anymore?

Thanks Dave