3 Link, Currie Rear Axle, Rear Coilovers and Long Travel IFS FJC Build (and more)

[FJNewb]

Central Texas trailer trash - truck up on blocks, license plate zip-tied on!

Haha. I put the license plate on after getting a fix it ticket for not having it on there. I put it one with 4 zip ties took a picture and sent it in with $20.

Intended to take it back off but 4 months later and its still on there! All be it with one less ziptie

 

[1911]

I put the license plate on after getting a fix it ticket for not having it on there.

I've had three vehicles in recent years without front license plates and driven them all over the state and beyond -

Wife's two-seater red Lexus covertible: been stopped but no mention of missing plate.

My 40: never been stopped (for any reason - helps that it's difficult to speed in it ). Didn't come with a front plate when I bought it. Finally installed a front plate when I got my Radio Operator plates.

Wife's Sequoia: drove it for YEARS and 90,000 miles with no front plate until finally stopped by a state trooper in the middle of nowhere (rural Comanche County) and given a warning and asked nicely to put it on.

The results of clean living I guess!

Thread hijack over.

 

[mhslacrosse22]

I'll take two please! Great job this far. I cannot wait to see the final product. However for most of us there never is a "Final" product. It's always, 'Well I need a new locker' or 'I want more lights.' The mods are never ending!

 

[FJNewb]

I'll take two please! Great job this far. I cannot wait to see the final product. However for most of us there never is a "Final" product. It's always, 'Well I need a new locker' or 'I want more lights.' The mods are never ending!

This should be it for the next couple years. There might be an electrical or lighting mod here or there, but for the main part it would just be upgrading any parts that break (ex. heat treating gears in the front dif next time around if I have issues).


If I actually master driving the thing and learn to drive it hard enough to see the drawbacks of a 3link we make rework the suspension a bit....but that would be several years down the line.

 

[mhslacrosse22]

This should be it for the next couple years. There might be an electrical or lighting mod here or there, but for the main part it would just be upgrading any parts that break (ex. heat treating gears in the front dif next time around if I have issues).


If I actually master driving the thing and learn to drive it hard enough to see the drawbacks of a 3link we make rework the suspension a bit....but that would be several years down the line.

Well no mater what happens, thats one sexy FJ!

 

[FJNewb]

Dave framed the shocktowers yesterday. Clean job!

 

[mazder]

Camburg setup is much nicer than the Total Chaos all around. Yeah I would definetly agree with that! Back when I was building up my prerunner Camburg is who I went with...Just was built a whole lot better in my opinion lot stonger...Guy was telling me Chaos kits are designed to brake before your frame gets damaged. Dont know about you but I would rather deal with a bent broken frame than a broken lower arm leaving me stranded... @ least with the Camburg design you would be able to limp home, call the insurance get a new ride and put your kit back on.

 

[South Park FJC]

Camburg setup is much nicer than the Total Chaos all around. Yeah I would definetly agree with that! Back when I was building up my prerunner Camburg is who I went with...Just was built a whole lot better in my opinion lot stonger...Guy was telling me Chaos kits are designed to brake before your frame gets damaged. Dont know about you but I would rather deal with a bent broken frame than a broken lower arm leaving me stranded... @ least with the Camburg design you would be able to limp home, call the insurance get a new ride and put your kit back on.

Interesting point, one important factor is the quality of the uni-ball used. A 1" uni-ball is the industry standard which makes it easier and most likely cheaper to purchase a high quality replacement uni-ball and they are not cheap. Camburg is using a 1.25" uni-ball which are less common than 1"; from what I've come to understand Total Chaos uses a high quality 1" uni-ball. When it's time to replace the uni-ball I have ability to easily locate and find a good price on a high quality replacement. I strongly looked at both company's but went with Total Chaos because of their history and the variety of 1" uni-ball bearings available.

 

[Capt Sensible]

^^^ Assuming the company still exsists why can't you get a 1.25" uni-ball from Camburg when it's time to replace your 1.25" Camburg uni-ball?

 

[FJNewb]

Interesting point, one important factor is the quality of the uni-ball used. A 1" uni-ball is the industry standard which makes it easier and most likely cheaper to purchase a high quality replacement uni-ball and they are not cheap. Camburg is using a 1.25" uni-ball which are less common than 1"; from what I've come to understand Total Chaos uses a high quality 1" uni-ball. When it's time to replace the uni-ball I have ability to easily locate and find a good price on a high quality replacement. I strongly looked at both company's but went with Total Chaos because of their history and the variety of 1" uni-ball bearings available.

^^^ Assuming the company still exsists why can't you get a 1.25" uni-ball from Camburg when it's time to replace your 1.25" Camburg uni-ball?

There are several companies that offer 1.25" uniball or larger...so the statement above can be quite misleading.

They are not hard to procure by any means. Are they used less frequently than a 1"....in OEM/normal aftermarket applications yes, but not elsewhere (custom setups and even aftermarket links). The cost difference is ~$10 between a 1.25" and 1", not what I'd consider a substantial difference. For that $10 you are also getting a joint which handles 10,000lbs more radial load and 2,000lbs more axial load.


I haven't heard of anyone with FJs having issues with their TC uniballs and doubt they will, it seems to be a well made product. However, from a design standpoint...compare the TC uniball spacer to the way the Camburg is designed and you'll see where the real value is in running theirs for the UCA, the added strength is just a side benefit imo.

 

[Radd Cruisers]

Dave framed the shocktowers yesterday. Clean job!

How the heck did he stamp the covers for the shocks?

Looking choice...

rob

 

[pman]

Then out comes the lefty and in goes some modifications to the drivetrain tunnel to fit an Atlas 2 + crawlbox.

Im curious as to why your doing an Atlas 2 and a crawl box instead of an Atlas 4?

 

[FJNewb]

Im curious as to why your doing an Atlas 2 and a crawl box instead of an Atlas 4?

1. Noise, something that sounds like "rocks in your transfer case" isn't ideal for a daily driver.

2. Issues that they've had with the Atlas 4. Only recently have they gone back into production with them and I don't know that they've been back out on the road long enough to prove those have been worked out.

3. Availability...when the Atlas 2 arrives it will have been 2.5 months and those are typical production items for them. They were backordered big time on the Atlas 4 so production times for those are likely in excess of 5-6 months.

4. Design of the alternative NWF crawlbox was better than what you get with the Atlas 4 imo.


Crawlbox showed up this week, unfortunately the orignal 1-3 week ship time for the atlas is still 2 weeks out, 2 months later.

 

[FJNewb]

How the heck did he stamp the covers for the shocks?

Looking choice...

rob

Sorry, missed your post. You are the first person to actually notice that and comment!

When I saw the pics I couldn't believe how sweet they turned out..definitely wasn't expecting them to look like that. He actually did it with a bead roller!! I had thought I just overlooked the stamps in the shop or that they had some friends that did em.

 

[LT]

Camburg setup is much nicer than the Total Chaos all around. Yeah I would definetly agree with that! Back when I was building up my prerunner Camburg is who I went with...Just was built a whole lot better in my opinion lot stonger...Guy was telling me Chaos kits are designed to brake before your frame gets damaged. Dont know about you but I would rather deal with a bent broken frame than a broken lower arm leaving me stranded... @ least with the Camburg design you would be able to limp home, call the insurance get a new ride and put your kit back on.

This statement is in fact not true and whoever was telling you that was filling you with a load of misinformation just to sell you a Camburg kit. As a Total Chaos wholesale dealer and have personally raced with Total Chaos there have been no failures to the A arms. The factory frame will bend or crack before a TC a arm would break.

Recently 17 Total Chaos equipped vehicles traveled a total of 8000 off road miles in 4 days with zero failures. You can read up on it here 11th Annual LOCOS MOCOS Nevada Adventure

Here is also a Total Chaos equipped Class 6 VORRA desert racer who has been running the same kit for the last 3 years. I have ridden in this truck and the driver thoroughly abuses his Toyota truck in every race. Up until now he was using a 3.4L v6 and beating guys with v8s.
YouTube - ‪2010 Koenig racing VORRA fallon 250‬‏

 

[BMThiker]

I think this one is more to LT's point (sorry for the hijack, but this is a cool "inside the wheel-well" video)

 

[FJNewb]

This statement is in fact not true and whoever was telling you that was filling you with a load of misinformation just to sell you a Camburg kit. As a Total Chaos wholesale dealer and have personally raced with Total Chaos there have been no failures to the A arms. The factory frame will bend or crack before a TC a arm would break.

I agree with LT. The Total Chaos product is a quality option and nothing I saw from it gave the indication that it would fall apart. It seemed well built and quite robust.

My biggest dissapointment is the travel numbers they advertise are simply incorrect. Their 2" kit is well shy of 11.5" of travel, when I enquired about this they tried to tell me it was an issue with my bump stop (We were cycling the kit w/o bump stops or springs, so that definitely is not the issue). The issue is purely the design.

1. A 285 tire will hit the plastic fender on uptravel an 1.5" before the full 11.5" is acheived.

2. The UCA uniball spacer would hit the fender well at 10.5" of travel (with the fender removed). Even if you chop out the fender well to allow it to go higher, you only get another degree or so before max misalignment or the LCA uniball touches off on the rotor.

If they advertised 10.5" of travel on that kit I wouldn't have any issue. But for a kit that claims 11.5" there are some serious design flaws. Based on my experience with the TC 2" kit and knowing the 3.5" was the same basic design principles, I knew it wouldn't meet its advertised travel numbers either.


Hence why I decided to go with the Camburg product. Comparing kit to kit the Camburg is far better in design than the Total Chaos. For anyone looking to buy a 3.5" kit, take my recommendation and learning and go the Camburg route. It lives up to the advertised travel numbers and the biggest issue you'll have is finding CVs that can handle that much wheel travel. If I'm spending that much on a 3.5" kit I want to make certain I'm going for the one that enables the most travel while still offering a robust solution.

2" for the FJC AllPro and TC are your only options.

 

[Radd Cruisers]

Sorry, missed your post. You are the first person to actually notice that and comment!

When I saw the pics I couldn't believe how sweet they turned out..definitely wasn't expecting them to look like that. He actually did it with a bead roller!! I had thought I just overlooked the stamps in the shop or that they had some friends that did em.

I use to do all my own work including body work and can appreciate the smaller things.....

Rob

 

[FJNewb]

I pulled the lefty out a couple weeks back and its awaiting shipment tomorrow. Not sure if I mentioned that anywhere previously. Anyways I had an Inchworm Lefty 4.7 gears - busted it last October...upgraded the gears to choromly and ordered a spare case with chromoly gears and chromoly 30 spline outputs front and rear...imo thats the only way the Lefty will survive if there's any chance you have an odd lead foot every now and then. Talked with a quite a few people who had output shaft failures of failures of the 4Lo gear sets.

The chromoly gears held up quite well compared to the normal Marlin gears, but the Lefty case simply is a bit too low in some situations. I really wanted something in between the 1:1 & 4.7:1. I wish I could have kept it cause it really is a nice product, but I couldn't justify dual cases which would require me to mess with the gas tank

Thats why I went the route of the Atlas + NWF crawlbox..its a bit shorter than the dual yota cases would be as well as has a bit more strength overall.


The Atlas plate came in this week and Dave went to work installing it.

The Marlin Seal gets tossed and you have to pull the coupler shaft off the transmission output. When I installed that coupler I scratched my head thinking this thing is going to be damn near impossible to get back off. Unforunately for Dave he was the one who had to pull it off.

A broken pair of channel locks, a couple of different attempts with the slide hammer (notice the welds on the body), and finally welding on a nut to use with the slide hammer and it came off. Inchworm couldn't give me a spec on how far that coupler needed to be installed when I put the one lefty in two years ago, so I'm wondering if I put it on too far. Just a heads up to those folks installing Lefty's hopefully Inchworm or Marlin has a more precise number in regards to how far the coupler needs to go over the output shaft (especially if you ever need to pull it back off).

This bearing needs to be pulled for the Atlas spud shaft.

Inside the tailhousing, bearing comes out this way.

Transmission tail shaft

Atlas spud

Tailhousing reinstalled

Adaptor plate mocked up

Not sure how fond I am of removing that bearing for the Atlas spud, but we'll see if it causes any issues in the long run. I know a few FJC folks have been running them for a few years now w/o issue.

 

[FJNewb]

Swung up to the shop last Friday. Fitting the shifters for the Atlas will be a bit dificult, but Dave's working up some options.

I'm much less concerned about removing that bearing after seeing how close the NWF crawlbox bearing is to the transmission output...one nice thing is it actually has a second bearing on the crawl box output, so that its not completely dependent on the TC bearing and splines to locate and support it. Hopefully it will also help it run a bit quiter.