I ordered the Spare Wheel Carrier Hinge Pins Upgrade Kit from Roger at City Racer for my 81 FJ40 thinking it was going to be a piece of cake to install. First let me say, the kit is a work of art. It is extremely well made and worth every penny. Its not cheap, but you get what you pay for...and in the case of this kit even more.
I took on the project to solve the persistent rattling in the rear end. I resorted to installing two racquetballs between the body of the truck and the frame of the spare tire holder...and this worked for the most part, but every time I swung the carrier open I had to chase the balls down the street
Then while ordering some parts from City Racer I stumbled on this item...reading the install tips I figured it would be a simple afternoon install...so I ordered a Carbide Bur from China (Amazon) and went to town on the welds. It didnt take long for me to figure out I was out of my league so I called a friend with a small shop.
In his words...This little project has proven to be a solid challenge! The pins were completely seized in the brackets. In the interest of protecting paint and giving myself more room to work with, I shaved off the head of the pin so it came out still pressed into the bracket. My bur bit was not effective so with a drill press I carefully removed the spotwelds. For final pin removal it took a 25ton press to get it out of the bracket.
About 8 hours later...its perfect. One of the best upgrades Ive done to the FJ40...the kit is solid and completely overbuilt for the task. Happy to say she is rock solid, silent and racketball free.
Thanks Roger for supplying all the s*** we need...but this one is just amazing. Now where is our OEM style floor mat?
Before Racketball trick:
I took on the project to solve the persistent rattling in the rear end. I resorted to installing two racquetballs between the body of the truck and the frame of the spare tire holder...and this worked for the most part, but every time I swung the carrier open I had to chase the balls down the street
Then while ordering some parts from City Racer I stumbled on this item...reading the install tips I figured it would be a simple afternoon install...so I ordered a Carbide Bur from China (Amazon) and went to town on the welds. It didnt take long for me to figure out I was out of my league so I called a friend with a small shop.
In his words...This little project has proven to be a solid challenge! The pins were completely seized in the brackets. In the interest of protecting paint and giving myself more room to work with, I shaved off the head of the pin so it came out still pressed into the bracket. My bur bit was not effective so with a drill press I carefully removed the spotwelds. For final pin removal it took a 25ton press to get it out of the bracket.
About 8 hours later...its perfect. One of the best upgrades Ive done to the FJ40...the kit is solid and completely overbuilt for the task. Happy to say she is rock solid, silent and racketball free.
Thanks Roger for supplying all the s*** we need...but this one is just amazing. Now where is our OEM style floor mat?
Before Racketball trick:
Last edited: