1968 FJ55 Local East Coast Swine Transfer (2 Viewers)

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Where in Maine??
Bar Harbor. I grew up here and my wife and I have a place. Spending a few more weeks post-Navy before life starts up again down in NH.
 
Back to the Pig. With KM3s running somewhere just south of 31" in diameter, per @wngrog thread here, what are the collective thoughts on buying a bigger running 31x10.5? My Maxxis have run true to size, as do my Yoko G003. About $60-80 less per tire. I don't have to support BFGs false advertising. I've always been happy with Maxxis and so far the Yokohamas. ??

Or, stop screwing around and just lift it already?
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Back to the Pig. With KM3s running somewhere just south of 31" in diameter, per @wngrog thread here, what are the collective thoughts on buying a bigger running 31x10.5? My Maxxis have run true to size, as do my Yoko G003. About $60-80 less per tire. I don't have to support BFGs false advertising. I've always been happy with Maxxis and so far the Yokohamas. ??

Or, stop screwing around and just lift it already?
BFG%20KM3%20Pig-XL.jpg
i switched out the fuel door with one I had with more paint, the original had more "patina" you are welcome to it if you like
 
A lot of people are really into what you have right there👆
I do like the combo, just pondering all options. 48 hours until I need to make the call.

A lot of us have the @cruiseroutfit kit and it will ride better than your current air bag plan.
The kit is about perfect for 33" tires


Georg @orangefj45 and I have discussed it. The big decision point/phone call is Monday morning when the plan gets finalized

The KM3 is a smallish 33 but it’s still bigger than a 31....

I’d get the most rubber overdrive possible. Get big 33s

I need to get over my BFG aversion, especially if I stay with the stock suspension. No good reason for it, though in my wheeling experience I've seen a fair number of pinch flats with them. And never found KO to be useful in New England mud. But, KMs are a great tire.

Big 33s are definitely not going to fit with the stock suspension. But big Maxxis and the OME set-up...

Tires are like wheels! Personal preference! I've been running BFGs on everything I've owned since 1980 and can't count more than 3 flats!! So, you know what I'm sticking 😏 with 😉

My favorite tires were my Cooper STT Pro. Just plain great at everything. Of course, they replaced a set of Goodyear MT/R which wouldn't stay round overnight and never could be balanced. Tire opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one. :deadhorse:
 
Georg @orangefj45 and I have discussed it. The big decision point/phone call is Monday morning when the plan gets finalized
The easiest part of of you installing that lift kit will be Monday morning when you tell Georg to get it done!

The day I installed mine with 33" tires, FYI it settled some after a few hundred miles.

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How it sits now with 35"s
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Pig update. Talked to @orangefj45 this morning. Decided to mostly do the grocery getter refresh with safety upgrades.

Stay old school and leave the 3 on the tree.
Stay with stockish ride height. OME Shackles will go on. May try an extra leaf in the rear.
33x10.5 BFG KM3 on the OEM steelies.
Power steering conversion looks good, so just TRE there
Front knuckle/disc conversion
Power brake booster being added

Georg has an excellent interior shop across the street from him, so I could knock another item off the list while it's there. Do I continue the old school theme and have the benches redone?
 
Georg has an excellent interior shop across the street from him, so I could knock another item off the list while it's there. Do I continue the old school theme and have the benches redone?

Yes; and let me know what you go with. I eventually want to reupholster mine with as close to OEM as I can find. Quite a bit of funk (aka dry rot) in these old seats. I bought some SOR camo seat covers so that I could comfortably drive mine around. Seats looked OK but felt otherwise.
 
So, I did say mostly grocery getter ;)

If anyone is following my 61 FJ40 thread, you'll know this saga. For those not, I've been rehabbing a pair of 1978 axles for my 40 so I can do a disc brake upgrade. Front was in decent shape, and I have a rebuild kit from @cruiseroutfit in hand and a rebuilt 3rd coming from @gearinstalls.com that just finished today.
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The rear axle was a totally different story. From the outside, it looked like a fairly clean housing by New England standards. That's where clean ended.
Brakes. Well, those get muddy, maybe it's still OK. This was the drier side
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Look more closely at the bearings
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Like someone had thrown in the harbor here for a season. This caused the axle shafts to look like this
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3rd was possibly tolerable for a unit going in a front axle. But to go to all that work and drop in this POS, tough to do.
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So, what the hell does this have to do with Pigs?

:hmm:

:popcorn:


:smokin:


:idea:

I got talking with Georg after sending him the horror show pictures you see above. Talking about things like lockers. How I'd had air leaks and compressor failures in the past with ARB. How much I wished Harrop made a semi-float e-locker. How I like to do things once and do them well, and it was killing me. And then the solution suddenly materialized


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Georg has FJ40 Full float axles imported from down under. Suddenly, I had a known good rear SF axle with rebuilt brakes on the FJ55 that could be a donor for the FJ40. The grocery getter gets a stealth full float so I can run an e-locker (Eaton now makes one), self adjusting drums with FJ60 parts, a real e-brake if I choose to hook it up, and just score a few oddball points as well. I don't have to source axle shafts, rebuild this rusty POS housing, brakes, and use the questionable 3rd. It ALMOST makes sense economically. Not really, but refer to the earlier posts about cruiser math.

Super long story short, Chuck gets a full float.
 
It can't be that bad. He didn't have to tell me about the FF just sitting there waiting!

Path of least resistance and damn....honestly....it’s amazing he gets anything done with 14% of the Cruiser community Georgling him all day
 
I've wanted a Pig for a while. I blame @wngrog and his parts-o-pig/ Warthog thread for getting it started. Finalized by touring this sub-forum and you fine gentlemen. Since I live on the east coast, there are essentially none out here. I troll the ads on Mud, on the Facebook Land Cruiser pages, etc. Mainly, I watch the deals go down on the west coast and wish I could grab one of them. But, how the hell can I buy a pig sight unseen from the east coast? Crazy, yes?

A month or so ago, I found what looked like a decent Pig in California. Orange, V8 conversion, listed as a 5 speed. Rust didn't look too bad. I posted this in the classifieds, wishing I could go sweep it up but figuring someone could go get it. I think it was the next day, @Pigeaten posted his new addition to his Pen, Ornch.

I was happy to see it go to a good home, and once again disappointed that it wasn't mine.

A few weeks go by, and another Pig pops up.

In California again, of course. Knowing @Pigeaten was at least somewhere nearby, and was generally up for a Pig rescue roadtrip, I shot him a quick message to see if he was up for a roadtrip to have a look at this beast for me. A big ask, but I was starting to suffer from swine fever. I didn't need cowbell, I needed steel pig goodness. As an aside, in my message, I asked if he might be willing to sell the 1970 FJ55 he'd picked up in Oregon from @Guster. I'd followed that deal as well, sorry I missed it.

As luck would have it, Ornch made @Pigeaten's sty overfilled. He felt sorry for the easterner living in rust land, and thankful for pointing out the post selling Ornch. The blue pig was mine!

@Guster found this Pig via craigslist in Oregon. Dragged this home
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And proceeded to do a ton of work. Build thread here
Eventually this went up for sale Pig sale thread
This was picked up by @Pigeaten via, I believe, a 13 hour road trip. Brought back to its new home in California. Got some hubcaps and a mirror, and a little love. From there, is the purpose of this build thread.

With all that as intro, this is my new Pig.

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so i do have a little sellers remorse, this pig(Chuck) runs like a top. Feeling a little insecure with the sty being partially filled, But navydivedoc has been lurking around awhile, Chuck is going to a good home-Enjoy my brother in swine

At least for now, the 3 on the column stays. I learned to drive in a 61 impala with that set-up. It's so rare, I can't bring myself to change it...yet anyway.

The Pig Karma is strong on this deal, and I am very appreciative. Chuck will have a warm, dry home with everything he needs. BTW, I never did get the backstory on that name. Care to share?

Congrats @navydivedoc, glad to see Chuck will continue to live on through the forums. I bought the pig from the son of the previous owner. The dad had passed away a while back and his name was Charles so that's why I named the pig Chuck.

Shoot, this is a great story!
Lots of rich Pig history and lots of the Cruiser community involved! I love it.
Can't wait to read more, but my dogs are getting antsy for their walk.

BTW, what is the story w/ your user name? USN? Diver? MD? All the above?
 

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