fj40 rock crawler build

[bulldog11267mad]

hey every body my name is seth. i am 18. me and my dad bought a 73 fj40 and we are turning it into a off road car. we have the four link all hooked up and working, with 17in travel bilstein shocks. we pulled it appart and are in the process of building it up. here are some pics of what we have done so far.

[LC_Hamma]

Allright dudes, lookin fawesome!
Just read an article in TT about a father & son build. It seemed the father exceeded his budget waaay high, but the experience building the rig with his son was priceless Hope you guys don't blow your budget & have a great build Post up some larger & close up pics too.......

[2badfjs]

very nice!!

[bulldog11267mad]

oh its getting really expensive but its worth it. we also have a pure hydrolic steering that we are installing. just tonight around 11:00 pm i finished building my front bumper. i will post a picture of it later i didnt take a pic yet. we are going to have 3 winches on it 2 will be able to attach to the axle so when it is driving on the road you can tighten up the suspension so it will handle betting and it will bring the car down to a legal ride height. we have built everything so far except the shock and the hydrolic. but the hole four link we did not buy any kit.

[bulldog11267mad]

this is a pic of the rear end.

[scott67fj40]

Cool, hope to see more pics later of the progress.

[fj40forlife]

may I ask what kind of drive train you going to use? and tire size

Thanks

[bulldog11267mad]

i am going to run the stock engine because it runs so good. i am puting on a 4 speed from a newer fj40 with a three speed transfer. and i am thinking about getting a toy box from marlin crawler. i am going to run the stock axle housing with chromoly insides.

[LC_Hamma]

and i am thinking about getting a toy box from marlin crawler. i am going to run the stock axle housing with chromoly insides.

Sounds like you & yer dad have done the research & are *qualified builders Most importantly, what steering knuckles you gonna run? You know about the stud shearing problem right? Lets see a closeup of the front & rear frame link mounts. I had to custom make some headers to raise them up & outta the way for my 4 link front due to lack of frame space - I'm runnin an LC big block too

[bulldog11267mad]

um im not sure i know there is a couple different ones but im not sure wich one is the strongest. here is a pic of the frame four link mount

[LC_Hamma]

I see you went below the frame. I had to go outside the frame on 2 of the front mounts. I tucked the other 6 mounts inside the frame. You got a pic on how you're clearing the oilpan with your triangulated front link mounts? Since you have full hydro., will that negate the use for a panhard? I've *heard some don't run one w/ that steering setup.

On the strengthened knuckles, the only options I know of are the Six Shooters or the minitruck/ ARP stud kit. Or, since you guys are fabbers, I'm sure you could add a 5th stud to existing one's & see how long that holds up. I have dreams of having some knuckles made from billet or welded pieces with massive studs.

[bulldog11267mad]

this is the only pic i have of the oilpan. it clears by about 1 inch. sorry i don't have a better picture.

[bulldog11267mad]

pic

[bulldog11267mad]

this is the picture of the bumper i just finished building minus the grinding. i think it will go really good with the car.

[CRUZR66]

Heres some advice, don't use all Hiems on your four link if your going to drive it on the street, Get some Builder ball Joints or Johnny joints, I made the mistake, i now have to change out all my Hiems to half builder balls and half new Hiems, i went with the Expensive Hiems also, after 5 years they are all loose inside the joints and rocking on me, no longer a tight four link, I'm having to change my mounting holes also,

[bulldog11267mad]

hey here is an update. i got a warn powerplant dual force HD 12,000 pound winch for a xmas present. so i had to do some work on my front bumper to make it work so here are some pics. the frame is almost done hoping to have it painted in 2 weeks or so.

[Dusty]

looks good. keep going.

[rockcruiser]

What brand of heims are you running ? I have 3 years and 20,000 hard miles on mine and they are still tight as when I bought them. But they were suspention grade ... and expensive...

[bulldog11267mad]

mine are QA1.

[rockcruiser]

If you are using 5/8 40,000 lb. you should be fine. cool build by the way

[bulldog11267mad]

i am using those.

[woody]

good choice on the QA-1 stuff...I've run their 5/8 bore 3/4 thread stuff for many years and have yet to need to replace one.

nice build, keep the pics coming!

[stevecast]

I running 1" w/1 1/4 threads fk stuff that should last right. oh yea nice bumper/build

[74fj40]

Originally Posted by LC_Hamma

Allright dudes, lookin fawesome!
Just read an article in TT about a father & son build. It seemed the father exceeded his budget waaay high, but the experience building the rig with his son was priceless Hope you guys don't blow your budget & have a great build Post up some larger & close up pics too.......

he then passed on the budget problem down to his son


Really cool build by the way. it truly is a great experience to have such a cool project with your father, I hope you enjoyit just as much I did and still do.

[bulldog11267mad]

ok im almost to the point that i have to paint the frame. and i what some opinion's on what color. the fj will have a yellow paint job so i need a color that will go with that.

i was thinking a nice dark blue. what do you think?

[rockcruiser]

I prefer lime green myself... he....he....but blue would look cool....

[stevecast]

not red. youll look like your sponsered by MC Donalds
but i would say black just in case of future mods to the frame, you never know. just my opinon tho. more pics would be nice

[bulldog11267mad]

here is a picture that i drew of what i am aiming for.