Brand New to the FJ40 owners club, no longer a dreamer!

[grich575]

Hello All!

Lurking around here for a couple of weeks as my search was on for a FJ40. Have wanted one since the early 90's and was never in the place to get one. So, after a lot of years living the extreme sports life, motor cycle & dirt bike racing, wake boarding, skating, etc. I find myself in the position to have something I have wanted for a long long time.

Sadly, I have wanted an FJ40 for what seems like forever but I never dove in to the technical details of one until last week. This forum is AMAZING!!

One suggestion: An Acronym page in the FAQ. It took three days for me to figure out what SOA stood for, not really but it seemed like it.

Need some help as I am not sure all the mods and what may be necessary to change.

1976 FJ40 with 327, no idea the year.
Has SOA conversion and front disc brakes, not sure if these are stock.
35.5/12.2/15 tires

I will be adding power steering and a roll bar in a couple of weeks. Thanks so much for the detailed info on both of the subjects!!

My questions start with the steering linkage, is this oem or not? The steering sucks, pops, sticks, creaks - acts exactly like a 34 year old steering system should with what looks like little maintenance - notice fluid leaking from knuckles.

Enjoy the pics - thanks in advance for letting me use you guys like rented mules!!!

Right front - steering linkage & leaky knuckle

Left front - linkage and leaking knuckle

Front suspension

Pulley on motor - plan to run p/s pump from here

Thanks again! I look forward to many years of contributing to this place.

 

[TCSTARK]

Welcome to MUD ********!!! (newbie salute)

Congrats on your purchase! I love the color! I can totally relate to your post. I too have always wanted a FJ40 for years and finally bought one last August. This site is simply amazing and it will help you get the confidence to work on your mechanical skills!

Power Steering Links:

John Smith's thread provides a detailed laundry list of parts required (with part numbers and vendors) as well as a detailed write up of his conversion. GM Saginaw Conversion

My Saginaw Power Steering Swap

Romer's thread is awesome for it's detailed step by step write up. This will help you with the dismantle of the manual steering as well as the install of the Toyota Mini-Truck gear box.

My Mini-truck Power Steering Install

I started a thread requesting more guidance on the PS pump bracket. True to form, a mud memeber came to the resue. This will give you detailed pics of the pump bracket install.

Saginaw Pump Mounting Question


Mud member Orange45 provides brackets for either set up and is a well respected resource. You will see alot of references to the wdorry brackets... This is the guy you need to go to. Period.


Good luck!

 

[alkarich]

Welcome and don't forget about the bezel!

 

[hellbent40]

hey there
nice looking rig to start with...
soa is not stock and the steering is not stock.... looks like someone upgraded the tie rod ends... see if you can grease them and see if the creaks go away...


cheers adam

 

[DSRTRDR]

welcome

oh, by the way, your bezel is upside down

 

[Roboosfj40s]

I have that older hood on my 78. I like it much better and a better grade of sheet metal too! Love those older 327's

 

[Cordarin]

Welcome!! I am a noobie myself, and have a basket case 73 to fix up, looks you bought in considerably ahead of me! lol good luck with the PS mod, thats on my list for the future so I will be interested to see what your experience is. Cheers!

 

[73fj40lc]

Welcome to Mud. The acronyms can be confusing at times but makes posting easier and faster once you have learned them. Looks like you have a good list of mods that you want to do. I would suggest that you take a little time and thoroughly research these mods before you start. Most of us have done mods only to find out later on that there is a better or cheaper way to do the mod. You can spend alot of money on your 40 and in the end still not get what you are really looking for. There have been alot of threads on stupid mods that previous owners have done or mods that current owners didn't like after they did them. The best advice that I can give to a new 40 owner is to slow down and really learn about your 40 and the mods that can be done. Then learn about the vendors on this site and elsewhere to get the best price and parts available. In the long run you will come out way ahead.

 

[bikersmurf]

Welcome!

Always try to overplan before you start changing things. Modifications to modifications will kill your budget.

 

[grich575]

Thank you for the welcomes and the advice. Spent most of the day yesterday going over the 40 and then had to play in a little mud.

Things I found:

A completely empty steering gear makes for hard steering, with it full of fluid, the 40 now pulls to the left. Much easier to maneuver though. Gear leaks pretty bad but the p/s upgrade will take care of that.

1 tre is missing the grease fitting, another you can not get to with a traditional grease gun. Both on the pass side where the creaking is coming from.

This forum is amazing, I think I mentioned that once already but I had to say it again. The amount of detailed info is nothing short of spectacular and I thank each person involved posting it up and then the mods for keeping it organized.

The reason I say this is I have some knuckles is serious need of rebuilds. I have the Chilton manual but nothing is better than the detailed pics and info here. Plus the parts lists and vendors as well. We are moving to a new house with a work shop in a couple of weeks so this fix will take place at the new house and this give me plenty of time to collect more newspaper, paper towel, and then some more newspaper and cleaning supplies. Thanks for making the prep so easy.

Found the bolts, holding what I believe is the cover for rear facing pto drive on the tc, only finger tight. Two near the bottom are stripped and the others tightened up fine. Cooked on gear oil is like putty.

Wire tied through the bolt holes to hold the soft top on is not the recommended way to mount it.

I know I am going to find a lot of amazing stuff on this thing and I don't plan to list it all. That's part of the fun of owning one of these, I can imagine.

 

[piecemeal]

Welcome !!

What's holding your Optima Yellow-top down??

 

[grich575]

Welcome !!************

What's holding your Optima Yellow-top down??

Magic..... custom magic but magic non the less.

That will be fixed before it is driven again. Thanks for noticing, I have been looking at all the big stuff and looked right over that.

 

[skidplate]

Welcome! It's good that you can drive it. Everyone has their own approach to upgrades and modifications. I got mine running reliably and safely. 16 years later... still doin' stuff to it as money and time and allow! Enjoy the ride!

 

[Rockets2000]

Welcome to the madness!

 

[mustardfj40]

Welcome to this exclusive FJ40 club!

 

[Walton]

Welcome to Mud brother.

 

[KOOTENAY KRUZER]

I think the best thing is to fix what is not working right (i.e. the steering) and live with the vehicle for a while to find out what you do and don't like about it - this may not change the items already on your to-do list, but it may change the priority order.

 

[grich575]

Thanks again everyone for the welcomes. Been a busy week getting ready to move, business, and planning mods to the 40.

Thank you guys for suggesting to drive it a bit to see what really needs to be done. Took it out a couple of times and as soon as a load was put on the engine in the dunes or mud, the temp stayed at or above 210. Not where I wanted to see it so I opted to install a Taurus fan. Picked up the fan for $35 and set it up like one of the tech posts on Pirate. Had to move the radiator forward an inch or two so I took the original radiator mounts, turned them around and switched sides. After some heat from the torch and a new bend they work perfect bolted in the factory hole.

New hoses, a new belt, new upper supports, fan mounting brackets, and a turbine of a cooling fan and we now run at 190-195 while wheeling. May need to upgrade the rad when the heat hits here in FL but for now we will see how it goes.

Power steering was going to be first on the list but it's really not that bad with oil in the gear box. Knuckle rebuilds are going to be first on the list once we get in the new house in 2 weeks and then on to servicing the the trans and t/c. New u-joints and bushings for the entire suspension as I found the cause of the major creaking, metal on metal as there are no bushings anywhere......

Can't wait to dive in to the bigger problems and get things done, not sure if things are really ever done on these things...

 

[65swb45]

A lot of guys badger newbies to post pics of their trucks just out of curiosity, but in your case as you can see, the pics you posted have already led to some good advise [e.g. battery hold down]

Now that you've decided to focus on the knuckle overhaul [which I think is a good place to start] I think you should take a step back and consider finishing the SOA properly before installing the new components.

Your pic shows a very heavy drop in the front driveline, which to me means there was no cut and turn. While the debate continues, the fact is that your driveline is almost maxed out and is going to put stress on the front pinion and the front of the t-case that will not work out well for either of them...in your case. My .02

Take some time and research some of the cut and turn threads on here before you go any further.

Best

Mark A.