All you long-distance FJ40 drivers (1 Viewer)

[Robert LaDuke]

A month after I finished the resto on mine I took it on a 1500 mile trip to the Redwoods and back. Trip was great. Thought the engine was a tad on the loud side, but never having owned a 40 I thought it must be normal. Got to the Redwoods fine. Drove around a bit. Headed home. Got within 50 miles of home and started to lose a little power. Made it home but could tell something wasn't quite right. Turned out to be the shop that did the rebuild on my engine flipped the headgasket. 1500 + miles with no oil to the top end! The shop redid the head and I reintalled correctly.

 

[CruiserStuff]

I love Humboldt......went to college at HSU and had a blast hunting and hiking, etc. I'd love to do a trip back up there in a 40.....feeling pretty envious of you LaDuke....

 

[Robert LaDuke]

I love Humboldt......went to college at HSU and had a blast hunting and hiking, etc. I'd love to do a trip back up there in a 40.....feeling pretty envious of you LaDuke....

Humboldt is awesome! I need to pay it another visit soon.
My oiless trip was to Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Different type of redwood but equally majestic.

 

[lowndsy]

A month after I finished the resto on mine I took it on a 1500 mile trip to the Redwoods and back. Trip was great. Thought the engine was a tad on the loud side, but never having owned a 40 I thought it must be normal. Got to the Redwoods fine. Drove around a bit. Headed home. Got within 50 miles of home and started to lose a little power. Made it home but could tell something wasn't quite right. Turned out to be the shop that did the rebuild on my engine flipped the headgasket. 1500 + miles with no oil to the top end! The shop redid the head and I reintalled correctly.

unbelievable.. try that on any other car and see what happens. 1500 miles isnt far off what some cars rate as time between oil changes!

 

[fj40_73]

33 tires
Air lockers front & rear
4" SUA Spring lift
Saginaw Power Steering
Edelbrock Carb w/ Off Camber Fix https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/249108-edelbrock-carb-off-camber-fix.html
Crate 350
NV4500
OroinHD
MetalTech Family Cage

Go down the freeway around 72mph @ 2100 RPM, very stable and nice, with plenty of juice left over for getting around clumps of cars, to that sweet empty spot on the freeway where there are only a few cars. WTF is it with people who all like to drive in big cluster F#$%s when 100' ahead there's no cars?

 

[FineWynsFJ40]

I was up till 1 a.m. a couple years ago prepping my truck for its inaugural voyage up to Drummond Island (1000 miles round trip). This was when I was restoring it, first time it had been driven more than a few hundred yards in 2 years. I had to pick up the proof of insurance from out agent on the way up, then continued on for the next 500 miles to Drummond. That trip was a riot! Although, 1 hour from home on the return trip, I pulled up to a stop sign and went to take off, and she would not do above idle without missing and stalling. We had to leave it overnight (as luck would have it, it was 2 miles from deer camp!) and bring it home the next day. Turns out the points went bad, but I didn't know enough about vehicles to realize this. Overall it was a successful trip.

I have since removed the cherry bomb muffler, installed the hard top & doors, soundproofed & weatherstripped her, and done a few more things to make her more livable. This includes a tiny little radio head unit with iPod input hooked up to a "cute" little 100W amp powering two marine 6.5" speakers in the back, helps with the monotony. I regularly drive it 85 miles one way to visit the fiancee at her college, through city traffic and on the expressway going 55 the whole way. She is bone stock, 1F, 4 speed, 4.11 diffs, 30" tires. Cupholders and radio are a luxury. I am in the process of rebuilding the front knuckles & replacing all bearings. Having a nice, tight steering setup is crucial.

Drummond Island:

How she is now:

 

[Robert LaDuke]

unbelievable.. try that on any other car and see what happens. 1500 miles isnt far off what some cars rate as time between oil changes!

It sure gave me confidence to take her on long drives. Since then I have done several 400 to 600 mile trips with no problems to speak of. Took her to Joshua tree last year.

 

[yotawheeler]

i would say i drive and wheel my BJ42...i drive 60 miles to school and back (30miles each way) and im probably going to be taking it on about a 1000+ mile trip inna few weeks as well. truck is pretty much all stock except for the 2" lift and 31's she does about 50mph on the highway no problems and will do more but i dont like revving that little 3B any higher than that. and anybody in my club (VI cruisers) can vouch for the fact that i wheel my trucks pretty hard... then drive them out of the bush and back to school.

if i were to change anything it would be to drop in a 5spd and a turbo but other than that i love driving it the way it is (yes even with armstrong steering)

 

[90 Weight]

leaving tomorrow in the 40 on a 70 day, 5,000 mile journey up into the pacific northwest.... will report back in a few weeks with some details and on the road fixes for the noise....

thus far, dynamat, carpet pad, carpet, clear rtv, truckers tape and plans for a loud set of speakers directly behind each seat.....

stay tuned.

 

[bursabaju]

Have a nice journey

Have a nice journey..
We are waiting for the pictures.

Good Luck

leaving tomorrow in the 40 on a 70 day, 5,000 mile journey up into the pacific northwest.... will report back in a few weeks with some details and on the road fixes for the noise....

thus far, dynamat, carpet pad, carpet, clear rtv, truckers tape and plans for a loud set of speakers directly behind each seat.....

stay tuned.

 

[tmarx]

Recently ...

Packed and ready ..

Meeting the others

On the banks of the mighty Orange river ...

 

[bursabaju]

A Beautiful Journey

Wow, it is so beautiful out there.
Very Beautiful Toyota Landcruiser 40 Series, Church, Palm Trees.

Nice camera shot, too.
I think that you use Nikon camera, don't you?

I really like the panoramic view.

Waiting for other pictures.

Enjoy a beautiful life..like in heaven.

Recently ...

Packed and ready ..

Meeting the others

On the banks of the mighty Orange river ...

 

[Southeast Overland]

Heading out Aug 7th on an appx 3,000 mile trip from SC to MI and back in my SOA Pig on 35's.

She has a rebuilt 2F, 4.11s, 35's, Rancho adjustable shocks, new IPOR seats, 100 sqft of QuietCrap, Reflectix, new exhaust (needs to be a bit quieter) and a headliner will be installed before this trip. She's not whisper quiet, but she'll do!

Pics in my build thread in my sig line.

 

[1911]

In May I did about 2,500 miles to southern Utah, a week of wheeling in the Abajo Mountains and Canyonlands, and back home. All without a hitch - 40 ran like a sewing machine the whole time.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Recently ...

...

On the banks of the mighty Orange river ...

That looks a lot like Death Valley.

 

[esh]

I am still in the testing and finishing phases, but have recently built my 40 to be a distance driver, pretty hardcore wheeler and reliable. It has been well-built over time by Mudrak and Butch Lewis (RIP), but has also been wheeled hard, so I had a lot to fix when I got it.

Currently it is running an H42/toybox/split case and in this phase without flipping springs or moving the rear axle back, mostly to make a fuel tank easy. The rear needs extending, with better pinion aiming to give a longer rear driveshaft and no binding, but that means a few other things to do.

The H42 gives closer highway gear ratios for driving than the H55 but without on overdrive. The 35s and 4.56 get it closer to stock (might be better with 4.11s, but the 4.56s feel pretty good and engine is revving ok up to 65). The 4.7:1 toybox gives me about 130:1 final ratio with tires included. 4w disc, good power steering, York OBA, now a rearl MT family cage, MT skid/drivetrain cradle, and super beefy MT trac bar for climbing. Have to desmog it and finalize an exhaust. I hope to give it a long distance test it in late August when I'm back from exploring trips in the wagon. So far it is a pretty decent runner.

 

[SchobTime]

I am about to do a Rubicon round trip from VA ~5500 miles .. 3FE/H55F - pwr steering/brakes on 33s ..

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

I am about to do a Rubicon round trip from VA ~5500 miles .. 3FE/H55F - pwr steering/brakes on 33s ..

View attachment 2379564

Dude this is an epic way to revive an old thread. I’m in MD - if you decide to do it again maybe my 40 will be able to tag along. Needs more lift/tires/gearing/fuel injection for rubicon. I don’t trust my carb to get over the Rockies...

On a related note, I run my FJ40 200mi round trip to Rausch creek and back a couple times a year. I also took it 160+ miles one way out to Gore, VA last year, wheeled it harder than I’d intended to, and drove it 160mi home after.

The 350 makes interstates loud, but bearable. I can do 70 under duress so I’m not getting run out of the right lane. I’ve still got stock springs, 31’s, and stock gearing, and a rear lunchbox locker.

 

[Josey1972]

Ive owned 3 80’s, an 89 mini crawler and a 1976 40. I built one 80 with all the gadgets. The other two were mostly stock format. The 1976 is a wheeler (350/SOA/37’s/cage etc) that I’m turning into a drive to the trail/travel truck. Fast forward to today and there are no 80’s in the stable. My father had a CJ5 that I used to romp around in. The ’76 is now being readied for something epic (my secret for now). There is a certain nostalgia for me with the 40 Because of that CJ. Is it less comfy than the 80? Yep, by a long shot. Is there anything more rad that cruising with the doors off and curtains up? Absolutely not. The 40 will probably still be in the garage when I’m gone. No vehicle in my life has brought me as much pleasure as the 1976. Once I get the work done to it there will be a trip. I’ll post up here when it happens. Great thread and I hope to see many more 40’s on the road.

 

[POPO AGIE]

My 1978 was my daily driver and used it for some long distance travel. When I worked in the Portland, OR area, it would take me two days to drive from Green River, WY. And drove 1000 miles around CO for a long change weekend and I was exhausted when I got back to Green River. But I did do long distance driving with it, but I have not driven it since 1991 I don't remember the noise level being really bad, except when the valve needed to be adjusted at over 40K. I ran N-78 Ground Hawgs for a while and didn't notice the noise from them until I put them on a half ton Dodge.

Doing a reverse shackle on the front really helped when it wants to follow the ruts in the interstate highways.

During the build I will install an H55F and spit transfer case with a 3:1 low range for both highway and off road and will have the ability to handle the speed limits in Wyoming. I will update the steering to power steering and with 4 wheel disc brakes it should be more predictable on the highway. I may have to use my earplugs since I don't tolerate a lot a noise after a career of working on Steam Turbines.

I am looking forward to driving it again.