- Thread starter
- #201
Builds 77 FJ40 Build, It begins...and may take a while
- Thread starter franklin40
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- Thread starter
- #202
tried to do a dry fit of the axles. I have the wrong freaking hubs. I asked the wrecker to pull a set of 4 runner hubs from an 86-95. no idea what they gave me but it's not the right ones. the guys at diamond axle have been superb for customer service. they said they don't even know what I have but its not the right ones. hopefully I can get some correct ones this weekend. my adapter kit appatently showed up at my office so I'll get it Wednesday and see if it's really going to work. it's nice to be moving forward again albeit slowly trying to collect the correct parts.
Glad to hear your adapter kit finally showed up! Now get that thing put together...
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- #204
adapter plate, starter, egr delete and remote oil filter stuff!! time to get building
edit: I was waiting for one from 4x4labs as I had written earlier. i was on their website and they've taken the chevy adapter off as something they offer. they still have it for mini truck transmissions but no chevy anymore. that's probably why I waited so long. probably had no real intention of making more. oh well. they still have a lot of other good looking stuff I still want to buy!
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that looks very nicely done
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- #206
I'll hopefully know how well done it it this weekend. I'll out things together for a dry run ( no clutch etc yet, just bell housing to adapter and tranny). I'll get the transfercase on too and then see if I get the proper hubs maybe I'll even get the axles together. then it'll be starting to mock things up finally I. terms of suspension position, steering etc. I'll need to buy some plate steel and square tube to make motor mounts and cross members but that would be fun.
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- #207
at the wrecker right now. looks like I got the right hubs. the other ones look like they came off a pathfinder. I had to show them what I needed. so much for "guys who know stuff about vehicles"
I'll give them credit though... they swapped them with no extra charge 4 months after I bought them. good people
I'll give them credit though... they swapped them with no extra charge 4 months after I bought them. good people
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- Thread starter
- #208
i think the adapter kit is going to work. i spent more time putting an axle together last night but trialed the adapter.
i'm going to try to get the engine, transmission and transfer case bolted together this coming weekend. then assemble the front axle and i'll be in business to try to get the drive line and suspension all hung from the frame!!
here are a few mock up photos. no seals or gaskets yet and no brake hardware yet.
ill post more in-depth install pictures and description when i actually assemble them for the last time! i love finally working with NEW parts! not all rusty and stuck!!!
i'm going to try to get the engine, transmission and transfer case bolted together this coming weekend. then assemble the front axle and i'll be in business to try to get the drive line and suspension all hung from the frame!!
here are a few mock up photos. no seals or gaskets yet and no brake hardware yet.
ill post more in-depth install pictures and description when i actually assemble them for the last time! i love finally working with NEW parts! not all rusty and stuck!!!
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- #209
spent some time dry fitting the front axle. I am switching to shorter birfs so I can run asin hubs. one of the birfs got gualed up taking the hub off (which also broke the hub housing) when I took them off the axle. I have a new birf outter that I was going to swap on but realized I don't have any abs pipe laying around to seperate the inner from the outter. I'll have to get some this week.
on the other hand the moment I've been waiting for nearly two years finally came...
the engine and tranny are finally mated!!! this is again a dry fit and no clutch and flywheel are in there yet but the adapter seems to fit!!
on the other hand the moment I've been waiting for nearly two years finally came...
the engine and tranny are finally mated!!! this is again a dry fit and no clutch and flywheel are in there yet but the adapter seems to fit!!
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- Thread starter
- #210
here are a few picture of the adapter kit going on...
and for good measure...
with the atlas on!! there's a gap between the transmission and transfer case though. I have to check with advanced adapters about that. otherwise I have a driveline!!!
and for good measure...
with the atlas on!! there's a gap between the transmission and transfer case though. I have to check with advanced adapters about that. otherwise I have a driveline!!!
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- #211
wow I look at these pictures and my shop looks like a disaster with all the parts laying around. even I wonder how I can build anything in that mess. I guess it's soon time to reorganize it. I'll need the room in the next couple weeks to start mocking the frame up!!
simply focus more on your project - if you focus enough, the mess just disappears from view (this works well for me)
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- #213
so far so good. i mean what mess!!
i just picked up a transmission mount and some rectangle tubing and 3/8 inch plate steel. getting ready to make motor mounts and a transmission crossmember. jetranger here on mud made a nice specimen i'm going to pirate a little and build one myself. just trying to get all the stuff i need to make a full day of it. i have a week off work coming up and may actually make some progress over a couple days if i get a few days on my own in the shop. also got a length of pvc pipe to pull my birfield apart. front axle will be this weekend i hope. then i can start stacking all the misc parts that came off the few specific parts i needed to the side and prepare to get rid of them. just stuff that i can't use on my build like old rusted rotors and busted birfs etc. start to organize a little for the big build!!! i need some room to move the frame around. i need to get a tranny jack next week and i should be pretty much good to go tool wise. now i may find that i need to drill some holes in my 3/8 plate steel in very specific locations. i MAY need to get a new floor stand drill to do that. my bench top one burned out a few months ago. at least that's what ill tell my wife and see if i get away with it!!
superbuickguy you got a new avatar picture. is that your rig in a finished form?
i just picked up a transmission mount and some rectangle tubing and 3/8 inch plate steel. getting ready to make motor mounts and a transmission crossmember. jetranger here on mud made a nice specimen i'm going to pirate a little and build one myself. just trying to get all the stuff i need to make a full day of it. i have a week off work coming up and may actually make some progress over a couple days if i get a few days on my own in the shop. also got a length of pvc pipe to pull my birfield apart. front axle will be this weekend i hope. then i can start stacking all the misc parts that came off the few specific parts i needed to the side and prepare to get rid of them. just stuff that i can't use on my build like old rusted rotors and busted birfs etc. start to organize a little for the big build!!! i need some room to move the frame around. i need to get a tranny jack next week and i should be pretty much good to go tool wise. now i may find that i need to drill some holes in my 3/8 plate steel in very specific locations. i MAY need to get a new floor stand drill to do that. my bench top one burned out a few months ago. at least that's what ill tell my wife and see if i get away with it!!
superbuickguy you got a new avatar picture. is that your rig in a finished form?
yep
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- #215
I got in touch with advance adapters about the gap between nv4500 and atlas. they said I just need to pull the rear tranny seal so the output shaft can seat deeper. I then just use some rtv around the mating surfaces and it becomes the rear seal. I'll do that later when I'm ready to permanently mate them. that way I keep the tranny sealed for now.
I'm also starting to put my front axle together. I started with parts off my disc brake hubs but then put the larger knuckle pattern knuckles on. I also put the shorter outer birfs on so I can go to the short aisin hubs. does it matter if I use my fj40 wheel hubs and rotors or do I need to use the mini truck wheel hubs and rotors. they look the same in terms of depth and mounting surface of the rotor but are just a little different shape.
hoping that tomorrow I'll get to start organizing and positioning the frame in my shop to start mocking up suspension and motor mounts. my tranny mount is wrong so I need to find the right one. then I should be ready to build a cross member.
I'm also starting to put my front axle together. I started with parts off my disc brake hubs but then put the larger knuckle pattern knuckles on. I also put the shorter outer birfs on so I can go to the short aisin hubs. does it matter if I use my fj40 wheel hubs and rotors or do I need to use the mini truck wheel hubs and rotors. they look the same in terms of depth and mounting surface of the rotor but are just a little different shape.
hoping that tomorrow I'll get to start organizing and positioning the frame in my shop to start mocking up suspension and motor mounts. my tranny mount is wrong so I need to find the right one. then I should be ready to build a cross member.
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- #216
here's what an upside down frame would look like on the axles. I played around a little with lining up spring hangers etc but realized that my old hangers won't work with the size of spring bushings I have so I ordered some new hangers and I'll have to get some spring pins. then I'll start the tacking process to get evrrything lined up the. do a final weld around everything. I'm still trying to find ways to keep the COG down so I may cut some areas that double up on metal which would make things taller. we'll see how fancy I feel like getting. here's the difference in springs I got from alcan
these are the front. pretty much same length but are built 1inch under stock height to mimic a well broken in stock spring.
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- #217
these are the rears. all are 60 series width and the rears are 60 series long
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- #218
I went to a aftermarket truck store and asked for some spring pins. they said that all they use is grade 8 bolts for all their lifts. I've read things about greasable springs being weaker and breaking though I've never had this happen. am I lookin for trouble just using a good quality bolt? I know they came from the factory with out greasable pins but I've always liked the idea of having the bushings move on the pins. I have to use 9/16 bolts which are smaller than the stock 15mm pins so I dont want to get even weaker by using a greasable pin that's too small to have appropriate strenght
I guess they're right that it would be weaker, but next time they tell you that - ask them what the rating is for a 7/16 grade 8 bolt, and a 7/16 grade 8 greaseable bolt. I'm sure they'd tell you that they heard it on the internet.
The grade 8 bolt has a shear strength of 7/16" grade 8 bolt is 36,000+ lbs (meaning, you'd have to hit a wall with your 2.5 ton FJ40 at 7.2g to get it to break)... drill an 1/8" hole in the middle and the bolt strength would, at worse, have a shear strength of 19,000 lbs. Thus, you have to hit something at 4g to break it. In either case, your issue won't likely be a bolt failing.
And with that said, each rear tire on a C2, C3, and C4 Corvette ride on a 1/2" lubeable bolt. (meaning it has a shear capacity of at least 38,000 lbs.)
tl;dr is if you size the bolt, increase the size by whatever the hole size is in the middle and you'll have the same strength as you with smaller bolt without the hole. There is argument that a hollow bolt would be stronger as long as you increase the diameter by the size of the hole.
with that said, with a lubeable bushing, you wouldn't need to worry about bolt strength.
*oh, and on a leaf sprung vehicle those fail numbers would at least a 1/3 low because there are 2 bolts per spring.
The grade 8 bolt has a shear strength of 7/16" grade 8 bolt is 36,000+ lbs (meaning, you'd have to hit a wall with your 2.5 ton FJ40 at 7.2g to get it to break)... drill an 1/8" hole in the middle and the bolt strength would, at worse, have a shear strength of 19,000 lbs. Thus, you have to hit something at 4g to break it. In either case, your issue won't likely be a bolt failing.
And with that said, each rear tire on a C2, C3, and C4 Corvette ride on a 1/2" lubeable bolt. (meaning it has a shear capacity of at least 38,000 lbs.)
tl;dr is if you size the bolt, increase the size by whatever the hole size is in the middle and you'll have the same strength as you with smaller bolt without the hole. There is argument that a hollow bolt would be stronger as long as you increase the diameter by the size of the hole.
with that said, with a lubeable bushing, you wouldn't need to worry about bolt strength.
*oh, and on a leaf sprung vehicle those fail numbers would at least a 1/3 low because there are 2 bolts per spring.
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- #220
ok so next question... I am getting the spring hangers tacked in place and of course nothing is stock so I'm putting them where I think they'll fit best. my outriggers for the rear springs aren't quite as wide as the stock ones so my spring to spring distance is 3/4 of an inch narrower that stock. will this matter (remember I have new axles and can position my spring perches where ever I want) in terms of stability/leaning around corners. I could build out riggers that are larger but is it worth the effort? or should I try to widen the spring position beyond stock? not widening the axle width, just where the springs are being hung.
