The Rebirth: FJZilla 2.0 (1 Viewer)

FJZilla · May 22, 2016

Well, she's ALIVE! Got to dive FJZilla 2.0 Saturday. Definitely needs an alignment :-( Handled like crap but love the height. Here are some pics.

View attachment 1262179

FJZilla · May 22, 2016

And since I know some of you guys like rear ends more, this ones for you.

ExpoGeorgia · May 23, 2016

Great start brotha, hopefully a photo shoot is in the works! Keep us updated

FJZilla · May 23, 2016

ExpoGeorgia said:
Great start brotha, hopefully a photo shoot is in the works! Keep us updated

I was thinking photos after front and rear bumper install with sliders and paint job. Want he to be pretty before she is fully exposed.

jcardona1 · May 23, 2016

FJZilla said:
I was thinking photos after front and rear bumper install with sliders and paint job. Want he to be pretty before she is fully exposed.

That's the whole point of a 'build' thread

Do you have the air bumps installed in those pics? Steering looks good, we need more pictures!

FJZilla · May 23, 2016

No air bumps yet. Going to do body work first so I can see where the tires can go and and mount the bumps as close to perfect as I can. Right now, with fenders fully intact and such an offset wheel, I can't go high enough to see where the axle should stop. As far as pics go, I'll try to do better. Rig is 60 miles away in friends shop. When I'm there, I'm working. Not a lot of time to sit back and admire the work let alone snap a pic. Once its home, photos til the end of time. Sorry guys.

jcardona1 · May 23, 2016

FJZilla said:
No air bumps yet. Going to do body work first so I can see where the tires can go and and mount the bumps as close to perfect as I can. Right now, with fenders fully intact and such an offset wheel, I can't go high enough to see where the axle should stop. As far as pics go, I'll try to do better. Rig is 60 miles away in friends shop. When I'm there, I'm working. Not a lot of time to sit back and admire the work let alone snap a pic. Once its home, photos til the end of time. Sorry guys.

I followed Brian's advice for setting the height of the bump stops, and that was fully stuffing the axle equally on both sides because bump height is very different when you compress the axle equally vs when you compress on side at a time. I doubt the tires would even touch the fenders before the axle/steering/links makes contact with the frame (when stuffing both sides at the same time).

I then used the built-in bump stops in the coilovers to limit the individual up-travel on each side during articulation. On my setup, when one tire is fully stuffed there's still plenty of room between the air bump and the landing pad. If you use the air bumps to limit individual articulation at each wheel, you won't have anything to stop the axle from crashing into the frame during full compression on both sides.

FJZilla · May 23, 2016

Great advice. Wish it came with the instructions :-(. Wait, what instructions. This kit isn't a paint by numbers? Crap.

FJZilla · May 24, 2016

Alignment done. will scan later but here is what we came up with.

jcardona1 · May 24, 2016

Get that caster to +7º!

FJZilla · May 24, 2016

jcardona1 said:
Get that caster to +7º!

So, stupid question, but why? Will that impact my pinion angle?

jcardona1 · May 24, 2016

FJZilla said:
So, stupid question, but why? Will that impact my pinion angle?

It would, but the general consensus is +6-7º degrees of caster produces the best road manners on taller lifts and linked rigs. If you try to keep fulltime 4WD the driveshaft won't be happy. That's why I didn't put the driveshaft back in until I did the part-time 4x4 conversion. Now my driveshaft doesn't spin when driving surface streets so there's no issues with the pinion angle.

You may also have to play around with your toe-in. I started at 1/8", think I ended up going to 3/8 even 1/2" toe-in. Fine-tuning the suspension was very tedious as it involves tires coming off, jack stands, making changes, test driving, repeat all over again.

A digital angle gauge will help a ton when trying to set caster. I have this little guy and it's a life saver! http://www.amazon.com/Wixey-WR300-Type-Digital-Backlight/dp/B00T6YZ0K6?ie=UTF8&keywords=digital angle gauge&qid=1464124398&ref_=sr_1_3&sr=8-3

FJZilla · May 24, 2016

As of right now, aside from being sloppy due to no sway at all, she drives great.

As for Part Time, its been done. My issue is I need the Cruiser to be able to go 50MPH in 4 wheel drive for those occasions of high speed dune running and when we get the occasional snow down here.

jcardona1 · May 24, 2016

FJZilla said:
As of right now, aside from being sloppy due to no sway at all, she drives great.

As for Part Time, its been done. My issue is I need the Cruiser to be able to go 50MPH in 4 wheel drive for those occasions of high speed dune running and when we get the occasional snow down here.

Yeah makes sense. Your uses are very different from mine. Give it a try with additional caster. If you find it drives better, might need to get a custom double-double cardan driveshaft made so that it works with the pinion angles - if you like how it handles with more caster.

FJZilla · Jun 21, 2016

So, been a busy few weeks so sorry for the lack of updates. Since the last post we cut some fender wells a bit larger, sprayed some Raptor Liner, and found a snorkel.