First Cruiser build 79

[Boing]

My first cruiser, & I am going to build it...
A little background I have been building & wheeling mini-trucks & samurai's for more than 8 years. I consider my self some where between novice and intermediate fabricator...

Pictures of the victim, traded a guy a pretty clean solid axle x-tra cab for it... Bondo and all... Yes I know the grill is on upside down I'll fix it later right now its not a concern...

Correction a 77

Picked up a pair of FJ-60 axles, tore the front down immediately...

Cleaned up the housing so it would be ready for the cut & turn and spring over, also removed the diff studs because they looked pretty beat & ran a tap through the housing to clean up the threads....
Currently Redline has the housing doing the cut & turn, I have never done that so thought I would let someone who has done it more than once, do it right...

Then cleaned the knuckles up and bead blasted them, of course it had to sprinkle a little that day before I could pull them back into the garage. I'll hit them one more time...

Since I am still collecting parts for the spring over & Redline still has the front housing I am starting on another front.

Went to the junk yard and pulled a tbi wire-harness, throttle body miscilanious sensors, and ecm(1227747)... Wire harness as I got it home,

After two nights of working on it, removed every thing that isn't needed, and labeled it all up...

The excess...

I am awaiting Downey to get in another set of throttle body adapters (can't believe I am actually going to buy something from that company...)

Just ordered 4x4labs front frame reinforcement, also ordered a saginaw box (6529)

 

[Boing]

Looking for someone that can burn an e-prom, I have access to a file that will supposedly make the 40 run better on tbi...

 

[79fj40]

Thanks for posting. please keep it up. I currently am doing a 79. I have the body off and am replacing the rear frame member and gussets at the moment. since i am learning as I go and reading as much info here as I can. I don't want to post my own progress as I am slow.
Thanks for sharing yours

 

[thecrazygreek]

What kind of rig did you grab the wireing harness off of? Year Make and model please...

 

[Boing]

Harness came off of a 1990 s10 pickup, throttle body and sensors came out of a 89 blazer (that had a 4.3)

 

[4x4 Station Wagon]

I am sure you are fully aware but you havent mentioned it yet so I will just incase. Are you planning to move your springs out?? I think you have to inorder to run the front 60 axle. Disregard if you are just using the knuckles on your 40 axle that obviously wont be a problem.

Good trade and great momentum so far this will be fun to watch!! Oh and WELCOME

 

[Boing]

I did know that the spring width is different, but I appreciate the heads up, I am sure I will learn a bunch more as time goes on... looks like they have to be out boarded 1.25" or 5/8" on each side...

Yeah I will be out-boarding the front springs in order to match the 60 housing... The 60 housing has the same spring width as the mini trucks so it should work out just fine. Mini truck's flex great at that width and they weigh alot less than a 40


I have been debating on which front springs to use, my plan is to plate the frame rails and get the steering box mounted and then decide on leaf springs, I have read the the 40 front springs are 199 lbs/in which isn't a bad rate however the springs are short... I have a set of rear mini-truck leafs that have been fully rebuilt (by me) that test at 196 lbs/in (fairly close) but are 48" long so they should ride/flex better, they also have an anti wrap leaf in them and offset center pin...

I Will decide on which leaf springs once I get the other stuff finished, I would prefer the longer leafs however I am not dead set on it.... One down side to the factory 40 leafs that I see is that they have tiny bushings where as the mini trucks are much bigger...


Any & all help, information, & criticism is welcome in my thread... Lemme know...

 

[4x4 Station Wagon]

I am certain you are fully aware but judging by your previous info you are actually planning to wheel this thing so dont forget to flip your springs if you stay with stock to push your front end forward and get away from having the bumper out there two miles infront of the tires!! Also that brings up another thought about how much will you gain from longer springs when you end up with your axle so much towards the front of them???? I dont know I am just simply bringing up a point to consider. If you are looking for crazy flex which you seem to be you might check out the hardcore section on this site. I havent looked it over that much but with a three link I could only imagine how wicked an FJ could be since the front bumper could be flush with the front. (Not saying it has to be there are a lot of guys on here that do just fine that way)

I built what I think is called a three quarter elliptical suspension (AKA goofy leaf) on a jeep one time for a friend and it helped with droop by about three inches plus took a bit of the suspension bind out. The only problem is I really think his needed a track bar to be completely road friendly and he didn't want too.....

 

[rockcrawler]

Looking for someone that can burn an e-prom, I have access to a file that will supposedly make the 40 run better on tbi...

eprom or eeprom? if you can't find someone closer to you I can probably help you with that but I'll need the part number to be able to tell you for sure.

 

[Boing]

Yeah I do intend to wheel it, that being said I don't intend to wheel it hard... I have another project that will handle that duty...

I am shooting for 100"-102" wheelbase, that could be daily driven. (I only live 8 miles from work, however it could turn into 25 miles before the years end)

I want the suspension to work well & be balanced, it doesn't need to have mongo amounts of flex at the cost of driveability. So it will stay leaf sprung for now...


The below is a good point, I am doing some research on which leaf springs to use I'll take any and all input/opinions...

Also that brings up another thought about how much will you gain from longer springs when you end up with your axle so much towards the front of them???? I dont know I am just simply bringing up a point to consider.

 

[John Smith]

Not sure if it matters to you but the truck in the pictures sure looks like a 78 or earlier 40. Is your fuel tank inside or under the truck and is your parking brake on the floor or under the dash?

 

[Ron B]

Not sure if it matters to you but the truck in the pictures sure looks like a 78 or earlier 40. Is your fuel tank inside or under the truck and is your parking brake on the floor or under the dash?

I was thinking the same thing. My 79 has a square bezel and larger gas door.

 

[Boing]

My title says 79, however you guys would know more than me when it comes to cruisers... The tank is in the truck underneath the passenger seat & the ebrake is under the dash...

 

[Boing]

So after some more research it appears my information about the leaf springs being 199 lbs/in is way off, so I wont be using the springs I built for the front of the truck...

Using a spring calculator these are the numbers I came up with, the low number represents a good taper or diamond cut the higher number represents strait weight without good taper or diamond cut.

The calculator has always been a bit higher (in my experience) than what my leaf springs have turned out to be, but its close. I have made several different packs for mini-trucks over the years using the calculator and they always wound up being a little less than what the calculator predicted (never less than 18 lbs/in though)... That is if these measurements are correct...

FJ-40 Front: 19.875" - 23.8125" long, 2.75" wide, 1 5/8" thick, 7 leaf, 238-252 lbs/in
FJ-40 Rear : 19.875" - 23.8125" long, 2.75" wide, 1 7/16" thick, 6 leaf, 202-216 lbs/in

FJ-55 Front: 22" / 22" long, 2.75" wide, 1 5/8 thick,7 leaf, 238-252 lbs/in
FJ-55 Rear : 23.75" / 23.75", 2.75" wide, 1.888" thick, 8 leaf, 210-224 lbs/in

FJ-60 Front: 21.5" / 21.5" long, 2.75 width, 1 3/16" thick, 5 leaf, 178-193 lbs/in
FJ-60 Rear : 22.25" / 25.375" long, 2.75" width, 1 9/16" thick, 6 leaf, 210-223 lbs/in

 

[79fj40]

In my 79' the tank is under the rear tub and the e-brake is on the transmission hump (its a 4/79 production). you can check the plate on the inside of the drivers door. it should tell you the month and year of your truck.

 

[Boing]

Haha ran down to the truck to check it and see, plate reads Oct of 77, scared me so I ran back upstairs to check the vin number... Vin is the same, must have got screwed up awhile back (the plaque is faded and hard to read...)

 

[John Smith]

Haha ran down to the truck to check it and see, plate reads Oct of 77, scared me so I ran back upstairs to check the vin number... Vin is the same, must have got screwed up awhile back (the plaque is faded and hard to read...)

If you want true peace of mind check to make sure the VIN on the front passenger side frame rail also matches the plate on the door.

 

[4x4 Station Wagon]

The good knews is that now the fj60 axles are a bigger upgrade to you then they previously were! Now you are gaining the larger knuckle bolt pattern....

 

[Boing]

I have been waiting on some parts to arrive; have ordered 3 steering boxes & have yet to get the correct one (currently awaiting Napa, should be in tomorrow)

Also ordered a TBI adapter from Man-A-FRE, tried to order one from Downey however they apparently went out of business. Downey didn’t mention that they were going out of business, they said to just call back next week and they should have one in, joke was on me….
In the last week or so I have also picked up new back doors, mine has ambulance doors, I now have the hatch with lower doors also in very good shape that I will add a later…

 

[EWheeler]

Looks like you are on the path to building a solid rig. I am just finishing up an almost identical build (minus the TBI). I ordered my box from AutoZone and got the correct one the first time (6529) and they also had better pricing than NAPA up here. Life time warranty box.

I did a shackle reversal & used rear 60 springs front & rear. The rear 60 springs are longer than 40 springs, cheaper than 55 rears, offset center pin so you can flip in the rear and gain a bit of wheelbase, and have larger bushings that can take more abuse. Take a look at this thread & PM me if you have any questions.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/288279-60-rear-springs-40-shackle-length-question.html

Hopefully see you on a local trail here someday soon!