FJ80 axles under my FJ40

[fawndog]

Well after doing this swap I can tell you that the cut and turn would seem easier (I did it mostly for the HP front). The steering was a bit of a challenge , but with help from Luke at 4x4 Labs, I got something working quite nicely for dailey driving duties (trail duty remains to be tested). The brakes are a huge improvement and I'm still using the 40's master cyl.
Shackles remain at stock width.


4x4 labs arms, soa, on 40 axles
This old front had 4-5 degrees caster and the yokes on the ujoint were making contact.

This front was swapped out for a FJ80 HP

Here with 15/12.50/37's

and after on 315/70/17s

The rear goes under pretty easy

can't use 15" rims on 80 axles without serious spacers so these were taken off.

bonus rear disk and full float axles made doing gears and ARB easy (this third was welded)

wish they left the plate on the rear disk setup

Front HP, soa, 4x4labs custom drag link, 4-5 degrees caster

inner studs welded to pumpkin

4" drop pitman arm

The finished setup with 17x7.5 FJ wheels

Overall not much wider (total wms +7") but the fj wheels brought the footprint in a bit.

 

[LandCruisers4Life]

Did you think about rotating the axle housings to give less angle? That looks bad.

 

[Mace]

my god that is huge..

Okay, do you have a CV front driveshaft?

If so, point that dam pinion up at the tcase or it is a complete waste of time.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Holy WTF on the front driveline angle. You also need a longer slip joint.

Maybe I'm missing something, but how is this better than FJ60 axles with a cut and turn? Plus with Luke's high steer, you get the tierod behind the axle anyway, and it's protected by the springs.


With that said, I could see the advantage of an 80 series axle in the rear of the 40, but set up like this on the front, bent drag link and all, I'm skeptical. Also, why the lift blocks, and no track bar. You can still break an 80 series pinion.

Also, the rear shocks--why did you attach to the spring plate-that gives up all of your articulation because of the short shocks needed to run it.


A for effort, but it looks like a candidate for the scary steering website. No that's too harsh, but check it out anyway. The dog leg drag link is a common theme.

http://128.83.80.200/taco/scarysteering.html

 

[alvarorb]

Maybe I'm missing something, but how is this better than FJ60 axles with a cut and turn?

Bur can you get ABS?

(just kidding)

Alvaro

 

[LC_Hamma]

There are so many things I don't get about this setup:
Leafs ILO coils that were already set up for that axle, lift blocks, COG way too high, no CV's, smaller front ring gear than the stock LC one you took out, no WB stretch to lessen d/ shaft angles, etc.
Looks like you tried to bandaid the project with the steering linkage & severe angled shafts

 

[greenfox]

What the fawk


I don't mean to be a ass but what made you do it like that? The fj80 axles are a good idea but you missed the point of putting the axles to good work. I hope it works out for you.

 

[homchz]

Blocks in the front?? Sure they are welded(they are welded right?), but at least cut an arch in them. I would not trust those welds to hold.

 

[fawndog]

my god that is huge..

Okay, do you have a CV front driveshaft?

If so, point that dam pinion up at the tcase or it is a complete waste of time.

yes, but that would change the caster, and I wanted to get away with not doing a c&t. I know I should have done that on the 40 axle instead now.

Did you think about rotating the axle housings to give less angle? That looks bad.

The rear was pointed at the t-case -2 degrees, the front is explained above, I didn't have enough confidence to c&t the front.

Now after driving it and knowing the how it feels (measurements were good) I'll c&t the next one. Plus I have a spare axle to work on now which makes it easier.

 

[VTFJ40]

Have you flexed it out yet?

 

[fawndog]

Holy WTF on the front driveline angle. You also need a longer slip joint.

Maybe I'm missing something, but how is this better than FJ60 axles with a cut and turn? Plus with Luke's high steer, you get the tierod behind the axle anyway, and it's protected by the springs.


With that said, I could see the advantage of an 80 series axle in the rear of the 40, but set up like this on the front, bent drag link and all, I'm skeptical. Also, why the lift blocks, and no track bar. You can still break an 80 series pinion.

Also, the rear shocks--why did you attach to the spring plate-that gives up all of your articulation because of the short shocks needed to run it.


A for effort, but it looks like a candidate for the scary steering website. No that's too harsh, but check it out anyway. The dog leg drag link is a common theme.

http://128.83.80.200/taco/scarysteering.html

Yes that's why I tried the HP route, it made the angle much better. (I think you're referencing the first pinion pics right?)


If I had 60 axles within driving distace c&t'd already, I would have snached them up in a heart beat.

Those are not meant to lift, they became the new spring perches.

As for the rear shocks, these are the old sua ones. We flexed this setup and measured. It didn't flex very much, but those shocks extend past the maximum flex point.

 

[fawndog]

There are so many things I don't get about this setup:
Leafs ILO coils that were already set up for that axle, lift blocks, COG way too high, no CV's, smaller front ring gear than the stock LC one you took out, no WB stretch to lessen d/ shaft angles, etc.
Looks like you tried to bandaid the project with the steering linkage & severe angled shafts

These were already stripped and under a mini truck with leafs, so no coils.

COG too high? True... seemed like a good Idea at the time to recycle as much as possible when we did the first SOA/reversal. This is as low as we got, with the old SUA lift springs tunned for a daily driver.
Sure do have CVs it wont drive without them.

I know smaller ring gear seems like a step back. but now it's done and I can think of plenty of people using them for harder use than this one may see.

The rear is streched 2" from spring flip.

 

[fj40_73]

send your fj40 front axle to Curt at Cruiser Outfitters.-http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/customfab.html

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]Rotated Front Housing - $225.00 with your core axle housing
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]- $150.00 with your CLEAN core axle (see details below)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1] - $325.00** without core (FJ40/45/55/70)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]- $325.00** without core (FJ60/62)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]- Shipping is ~$45-65 to the continental US

[/SIZE][/FONT]and Fix that rig, it would be sad to see it left as a sidewalk abortion. The rig looks to be in decent shape. JMO
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][/FONT]

 

[Cruiserdrew]

OK-I would step back from the abyss here.

Front axle:

If you want to run this, and I'm not recommending it, the first thing I would do is get some real perches and weld them on properly. That will drop your front end about 3 inches. That will help that wacky driveline angle.

Then, I would take those lift blocks out of the rear, and build a wrap bar. Otherwise the first time you flex this out, you will break the pinion off.


On further consideration, that rear axle could be made to work OK. Just loose the blocks, and point the pinion exactly at the t-case, and run a CV shaft. You need a wrap bar though.

The front---That looks scary set up like that. I would stop now, get that axle out of there and go with a more conventional set up. Someone will die with your front like that if you are serious about driving it. FJ60 axle housings are pretty common, and you can get it turned pretty cheap. Right now, your tie rod is a skid plate for the axle. That is never going to work. Your pinion angle is way too steep, and a bent drag link like that---That's not good either.

With that much lift, and unturned axle, keeping your caster right (a good thing) means your pinion is way too far down, even with the high pinion set-up.

The real advantage to using high steer, is getting all the delicate parts in good alignment, and above the springs. Kinda like in this picture (sorry about the dirt).

 

[fawndog]

On further consideration, that rear axle could be made to work OK. Just loose the blocks, and point the pinion exactly at the t-case, and run a CV shaft. You need a wrap bar though.

How would you address the rear height being 2" lower than the front. (same problem with the 40 axles)

Also the 3x2 box is welded onto the perch. So what's the problem there?

Thanks for your insight, It seems that I could only get this kind of good info after doing the swap. I'd love a high steer for the 80 but the OTT arms are made for coils, if they were longer/higher I would see them working on a leaf spring rig.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

How would you address the rear height being 2" lower than the front. (same problem with the 40 axles)

Also the 3x2 box is welded onto the perch. So what's the problem there?

Thanks for your insight, It seems that I could only get this kind of good info after doing the swap. I'd love a high steer for the 80 but the OTT arms are made for coils, if they were longer/higher I would see them working on a leaf spring rig.

A real perch will stick up minimally from the axle. That drops your front, which you need badly.

On the rear, take the blocks out, welded or not. If you've dropped the front, you will have some room to drop the back. If you need to, you can adjust ride height differences with a longer shackle or different springs.

In the final analysis, I think this is just the wrong front axle for this truck. The 80 series knuckle arm is mounted too low, so any attempt you make at getting the steering right is doomed. An FJ40 or 60 axle, on the other hand, mounts the steering arm high. With a custom high steer arm, you can get the drag link AND the tie rod above the springs to a position of relative safety. Off the road, your tie rod in this set up is not going to survive, no matter how carefully you drive.

You obviously want wider, and given your height, that's good, FJ60 axles are 3 inches wider than FJ40 axles, and you could run wheels with less back space, or even 1 inch wheel spacers. Either would be better than your set-up.

Here is a decent set of perches for not too much $$:
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/precut-unadjusted-spring-p-56.html

Cut them to the shape of your axle housing.


Edit-One last thing--I measured my track width on my 40 set up with FJ60 axles, and on my 80. It's only 1 1/2 inches different, so you are not gaining much with the 80 axle, and you are giving up a lot, particularly in the steering. You can make that rear work well for your needs. but not the front. Start looking for a 60 series front axle.

 

[CruzrDave]

I've been toying around with the idea of 80 series axles on my own project. My only concern has been the offset of the rear diff. Its inset more then a 40 or 60 rear axle. Do you have a pic from the rear axle showing the drive shaft lined up with the T-case? I'm just curios how the shaft lined up left to right.

 

[atoyot]

I know it's been commented on but how is your driveling at highway speeds? You need bigger tires. It looks a little silly and dangerous being so high on tires to small for the hight. JMHO.

 

[Colorado Boy-74-FJ40]

X2

Did you think about rotating the axle housings to give less angle? That looks bad.

I was thinking the same thing, He's gonna eat Ujoints

 

[atoyot]

oh and the cut and turn is necessary