Sadie's 140 build (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Feb 24, 2014
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I've been meaning to post this thread for years, but time has a way of getting away from you when you're having a good time. With the truck finally going under the knife with Trail Tailor, I figured it would be a good time to share this story.

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That's Sadie. I found her on the side of highway 160 in the Navajo Nation, back when I was driving an FJ40. Picked her up and she's been the best dog anyone could ever ask for. The 40 wasn't the most comfortable ride, but it more or less got the job done and we had some pretty epic road trips in the truck even if it left us stranded from time to time.

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I never saw it coming but I met someone who was one of a kind and for the first time I started thinking about settling down. First priority was to come up with some money for a ring. The 40 was the nicest thing I owned, and it had increased a lot in value since I bought it. In fact it had more than doubled and it would bring enough to buy a really, really nice ring. I felt like the ring was a do it once and do it right kind of thing, so I put the 40 on craigslist and the very next week it was gone. I still miss the 40, but it was all for the best and I would do it all over again if I had to.

Fast forward a couple years and we were engaged (the ring did the trick), doing some medical work in Cambodia. We were getting tired of living out of suitcases and figured it was time to go home to the states soon. Only problem was that I had nothing to drive when we got home, so I found myself cruising ih8mud and ebay. I knew that the 40 wasnt the best daily driver, and with a soon to be wife and maybe some kids down the road it would be kind of nice to have something more modern.

It wasn't even a week after I started looking that i saw this beautiful FJ60 on eBay. It had spent most of its life in New Mexico, looked to be in great shape with no rust, and was clearly well loved by its owner. I kind of hemmed and hawed, and before I got the nerve to bid on it the auction ended and it had slipped away. I kicked myself for a week, until it popped up again on eBay. I wasn't going to let it get away this time, so I stayed up until the middle of the night in Cambodia waiting to place a last minute bid, and for the grand sum of $11,000 and change I won the auction.

The only problem was that I was approximately 8833 miles away from the truck, had no flights booked to go home, and wasn't too excited about wiring $11,000 to a complete stranger for a truck I had never seen. I offered to place a deposit and pay the rest when I got back to the US, but the seller was adamant that I either wired the money in full or it was getting relisted. I just couldn't let the truck get away (again), so I took a leap of faith and wired the full amount to the seller, praying that I would actually receive a truck which looked vaguely like the one pictured in the eBay listing when I made it back stateside. It was a long month of waiting and wondering if I had made a huge mistake...
 
Well I got lucky because the seller was truly a man of his word, and the 60 was even nicer in person that it was in the pictures. We flew out to St Louis two days after getting back to the states, and made the long drive from St Louis to Phoenix. Other than some stuff coming loose on the rack, the truck ran like a top the whole way.

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Well, not quite the whole way. I was so excited that I had scored this great deal on the truck that I forgot to check the fuel gauge and ran out of gas outside of Afton, Oklahoma. Luckily it was just a two mile hike to a gas station. Can't quite blame that on the truck though. On the plus side, Sadie was a big fan of the air conditioning. That was an entirely new concept for her.

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It wasn't long before I had some 4Plus bumpers and new wheels/tires fitted to the truck, and it was off to Moab to test it out. We ran into some small issues along the way, but nothing that a little downtime and hand tools couldn't fix.

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Overall, the 60 performed like a champ. It handled everything that I could throw at it with ease, and a level of comfort that would have been unimaginable in my 40.

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After many years and adventures, the 60 was starting to really show its age. The A/C stopped working a couple years ago, it struggled to do 65 on the highway flat out, and minor issues seem to be popping up with increasing regularity. It was becoming a pain to drive, and it was mostly gathering dust and getting in the way. There are a couple of guys I work with who like trucks, and the consensus was that I should get rid of the 60 and get a Raptor with all the bells and whistles. And that was very tempting, and very practical: I could go down to the dealer (this was before covid, mind you) and drive away in a new truck that was fast, comfortable, and had a warranty to boot. Undeniably the most practical option when you are busy with work and family, and don't have a whole lot of time to spend on a project truck.

There were a couple of instances when I needed to tow a trailer that I came close to going down to the dealer and pulling the trigger on a new truck, but I couldn't part with the 60. Practicality be damned: the 60 may not be the truck that I need, but it's still the truck that I want. I just needed to find someone who could help me make my 60 into a comfortable, reliable, and modern truck that would last me another 35 years.
 
Almost a year later I am glad to share the happy ending to the story of my 60. I had been kicking around the idea of getting it restored, but had read a fair share of horror stories from owners who had handed over not insignificant sums of money to "cruiser experts" only to receive in return a poorly executed and half finished product. I stumbled across a post from ih8mud member DougFJ62 detailing a beautiful, well thought out build by @TRAIL TAILOR. I messaged Jason Reeves that same day, and by the very next day we had agreed upon a basic scope of work and my deposit was on its way to hold a spot at Trail Tailor for my build.

Working with Jason is such a pleasure. He is the rare person in this automotive business who does exactly what he says, when he says he is going to do it. Beyond the usual Trail Tailor treatment, I had lots of special requests for my truck and Jason was kind enough to listen, give some pointers, and we ended up with an end result that was even better than what I had in mind. Everywhere I look on the truck, there is an incredible amount of attention to detail and you can see that this was built with an appreciation for craftsmanship and attention to the smallest detail.

The truck is an absolute peach on the highway: it is fast, smooth as butter, and has an audiophile quality sound system to help the time go by. Off the pavement, it is incredibly capable and made it to the Top of the World in Moab without breaking a sweat. The new suspension and wheel/tire combo roll over most anything, and the ARB air lockers help it climb like a mountain goat. It's a true Swiss army knife and is equally comfortable making trips to the office as it is climbing mountains.

All in all, an incredible job by Jason, Tony, and the team @TRAIL TAILOR . Looking forward to keeping this truck on the road for another 35 years.
 
Got the interior all buttoned up, now she's really ready to rock and roll! Cant say enough about how much I love @TRAIL TAILOR 's work. This truck is an absolute dream to drive every day.
 
Nice rig…….what was the cost on this one ?

Jason
Thanks! When all was said and done, it was well over 100k but I went overboard with the details and this was based on pre-covid pricing. Jason at Trail Tailor can give you updated pricing since it varies so much with how much you want done on (and I am sure labor rates have changed).
 
What mods did you choose to make? I see a GM v8 and manual transmission. I also see the coil springs, did you switch to the 80 series axles?
 

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