40 Rear Frame Advice/Thoughts Needed

S4Cruiser · 04-16-09, 09:36 AM

My 40 has a near perfect frame except in the rear - where the gussetts mount to the crossmenber. It's not that bad but needs attention. My first thought was to do some clean up hopefully see that it would be ok and POR15 it for the time being.

Well the more cleaning I did the worse it started to look. Now I'm leaning towards replacing the rear two gussets and crossmember with these;
- eBay Motors: TOYOTA LAND CRUISER--Landcruiser FJ40 R.Frame SUPPORTS (item 260358553306 end time May-07-09 16:23:38 PDT)=
- FJ40 Rear Frame Member (This one already has the holes for mounting my 4+ bumper/tire/cooler carrier)

The spring hangers and rest of the rear frame are super solid and look good.

The one trick is I'd "like" to do this with the body on the frame. I really don't want to remove the tub...

Any insight, suggestions, advice. Help is something I'll definitely need if I take this on. I've got the tools and if not I'll just buy them

.

Pics -

krzyabncanuck · 04-16-09, 02:25 PM

As you seen in my build mine was even worse than yours. I had gotten the pieces from the same place on ebay and have not mounted them on pernamently yet but they seem to be a good fit, as all of the holes line up. I also got the rear frame piece from them.

As for doing it with the tub on i am not too sure about. I took an angle grinder to my rivets and they were still a pain to get out. Hopefully some one else here has tried with the body on.

southerncruiser62 · 04-16-09, 02:32 PM

Just thinking out loud here but what if you left it alone for now, maybe coated with POR-15 and then ran a scab plate from where the gusset came into the rear crossmember on each side, bolted it out from the crossmember side in the bumperett holes and hitch bolt holes....structuraly improving it in the interim till you plan to take the bed off?

S4Cruiser · 04-16-09, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southerncruiser62

Just thinking out loud here but what if you left it alone for now, maybe coated with POR-15 and then ran a scab plate from where the gusset came into the rear crossmember on each side, bolted it out from the crossmember side in the bumperett holes and hitch bolt holes....structuraly improving it in the interim till you plan to take the bed off?

This was another option that I had in mind too and after looking at the 24 rivets that would need to be ground off I might take this route. Seems much easier and should get me by for a year or so until I get the urge to take the thing apart and get the entire frame blasted and painted.

mdemeglio · 04-17-09, 08:00 AM

Downey also sells the rear bumper/frame.

Downey Off-Road

1969cruzer · 04-17-09, 08:19 AM

All you would really have to do is jack up the bed off of the frame, with the body mounts unbolted and then go at it with the grinder. I would take the extra step now and get the new steel in place instead of letting that stay there. It could end up messing up your rear frame horns that butt into the cross member. Just my 2 cents since I am working from the ground up and ran into that same problem when I first started this whole project. As I ground off the rivets on the top of the cross member to the frame, The frame was much worse and that continued to more and more to where I am now. The downey part looks pretty beefy and nice but gets away from the stock look a little. Just depends on what you want to do.

S4Cruiser · 04-17-09, 11:55 AM

I looked at it again this morning and anything other than replacing them now would not be good enough and would eat at me until I fixed it. So at the least, I'll be replacing the gussetts...we'll see how the crossmember looks after I grind, drill, hammer, grind, drill, hammer, grind, drill, hammer, grind, drill, hammer, the rivets for the gussets out.

1969cruzer · 04-17-09, 10:34 PM

Good luck and slow and steady. Grind the heads flat and then drill. That is what worked best for me.

rutbeer · 04-18-09, 06:17 AM

You may want to see if someone with a smoke wrench will hit those rivets for you. I have done the grind/drill/punch method and it takes forever. I had a friend in Atlanta torch off my rivets for my steering box (previous truck) which took all of about 5 minutes, then a quick bump with a sledge.

S4Cruiser · 04-18-09, 03:36 PM

Got the rear gussetts off this afternoon. They were definitely shot where they mount to the rear crossmember. Wasn't too bad of a task to get them off. Used a center punch, drilled out the center of the head of the rivet, hit it with a rivet chisel on an air hammer and then used the air hammer to knock it through.

The crossmember should be ok and I'll just replace the gussetts. I little wire wheeling and POR15 should do the trick.

krzyabncanuck · 04-18-09, 03:45 PM

Looks good man.

Think you will be good now.

GarnerFJ40 · 04-19-09, 08:33 PM

Don't look at mine.... Nobody wants to know the evil that is lurking underneath...

S4Cruiser · 05-06-09, 05:03 PM

I wire wheeled, sanded, degreased with trisodium phosphate, treated with ospho and POR15'd the rear 1/3 of the frame. Looks much better now and the rust should be stopped for a while with the POR. Not sure if I want to top coat the POR or just leave it. I doubt the frame will see that much sunlight and the truck is garaged.

I started bolting up the new rear gussets this afternoon and they are a pain to fit. One side went in eventually with a little dremel work to get the holes to line up perfect. The other side is a bit more of a challenge. I've given up for today in hopes that it somehow line up perfect in the morning...but I doubt it. My measurements are equal from each frame end to the bolt holes and the gussets are the same measurements so I'm clueless to why it won't align...

Anyways here are a couple pics of the POR'd rear frame.

Mtbcoach · 05-06-09, 05:52 PM

Looks really good Jon. I'm with you in there are times that giving a stubborn situation some time and space makes things go together easier...

mtweller · 05-06-09, 08:31 PM

Lookin' good Jon.

R

southerncruiser62 · 05-07-09, 04:22 AM

Jon looking good, so did you get the bender?

S4Cruiser · 05-07-09, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southerncruiser62

Jon looking good, so did you get the bender?

Not yet - still thinking about how much I want to spend. It seems like they very from a little to a whole lot. Any suggestions?

southerncruiser62 · 05-07-09, 07:12 AM

Go with a floor mounted unit, I will check and see what Christopher is using in his shop, I believe he said it was around $800 for the bender and the 1 3/4" die.

S4Cruiser · 05-07-09, 05:10 PM

Finally got the other gusset fitted and mounted. A little cutting and grinding was all it needed.

I can finally rest easy now that it's fixed the right way...

mtweller · 05-08-09, 08:41 AM

NICE!!!!!

R

Mtbcoach · 05-08-09, 08:50 AM

Yup, looks pretty sweet. Job well done...

krzyabncanuck · 05-08-09, 04:01 PM

Darn that looks good to go now for along time.