AA Ron's FJ40 refresh (1 Viewer)

[Skeet]

Next on the list is going to be a new 2.5" HFS lift I ordered from CCOT. Not sure when it'll be here but I'm furloughed from work for a little while so I should have a little time to throw it on there.
I'll make sure to document the work and progress on here. I did do some research for lifts and felt like that was the one I wanted to use. Oddly enough there isn't a ton of HFS reviews on ih8mud, at least that I could find, I hope that's not a bad sign that I made a mistake . So my hope is to do a decently extensive write-up with pictures and progress for this lift for anyone who might be thinking of doing their own as well as height and ride, etc.
Stay tuned.

Question for anyone reading,
I have the lift, I have a engine gasket kit from Mark's Offroad @65swb45 (thanks Mark), I have some radiator hoses to replace, I have some motor mounts, and then if I keep going down the rabbit hole I would want to replace the clutch and possibly rebuild the transmission/tcase with new seals as well. In what order should I do these things that would make the most sense so I'm not taking off and putting things on over and over? Also is the engine/transmission/tcase a pretty huge job that I should get some expert help with or is my minimal learning skills good enough to dive into?

With the videos from @orangefj45 and @OTRAMM, the right kit, FSM and the thread by @Vae Victus, you can rebuild the trans/transfer. You’ll have to take one set of bearings to a machine shop to be pressed off/on unless you have a shop press.
Replace the clutch, rear main seal and have the machine shop turn the flywheel.

 

[airon23]

I have been very happy with the HFS lift on my 1977.

Your 40 is looking great!

Thank you for that. It is definitely a labor of love.

 

[airon23]

Horn hasn't worked since I bought the RustySmurf, or rather it works, but intermittently, so I pulled off the steering wheel cleaned off the points of contact but it still didn't do the trick. So I figured I would start from the source and work my way back. I had no idea there was even a horn relay until I checked the wiring diagram and then went into the hood and sure enough there it was. So I figured it could be a bad relay, but it also looked a little rusty and corroded so I figured let me just see if cleaning these connectors does the trick. Several minutes after sanding the points and removing the rust I plugged it back in and works like a charm every time I press the horn. Lesson learned, start with the easy solutions and work your way up as needed.

Oh and this came in today! New 2.5" HFS lift. I'll be putting this in over the weekend.

 

[airon23]

I started in on the lift yesterday and today and got most of the way through it by myself. It was pretty tough and I'm pretty sore from the whole ordeal, but I had a lot of fun doing it.

For starters the lift is the HFS with 2.5" shackles. I will say first impressions were that the leafs are pretty beefy and much heavier than the old Man-a-fre 2" lift that was on there. That thing must've been 20-30+ years old at least. The guy I bought it from owned it since 1984, I'm guessing this lift is from sometime around then.

Here's how it went...

First all the goodies that came with the lift

 

[airon23]

I was excited to get started, as you might imagine, so I forgot to get a before measurement on the front of the vehicle, but here's the measurement for the rear with the old leafs and lift from the floor to the roof line.

Here is the old lift kit installed before tear down.

A side by side comparison of one of the front leafs

Old shocks have been removed.

 

[airon23]

Rear leafs off, now for the new stuff...
Some of the nuts and bolts were very difficult to come off as they had rusted pretty good. Once again living up to it's name of RustySmurf.

 

[airon23]

As you can see from the looks of these they have been run hard, enough so that when I was pulling the driver side front leaf off it just started falling apart with the bottom 2 leafs.

Anyone have any use for a "gently used" 30 year old Man-a-fre lift, hit me up.

 

[airon23]

So I've heard different things as for the orientation of the shocks when mounted boot side up vs. down. I'm still not sure which is the right way but I ended up installing my shocks boot side down and here's why. I started with the driver's side front shock and if I were to install it boot side up then the shock would be hitting the steering linkage rod that runs directly behind it (if nothing else at fully extended). Whereas installing it boot side down seemed to fit better. I think it may have been ok with clearance once sitting on tires, but again not knowing which way was the right way I made the executive decision knowing I could always go back and change it if necessary.

So after that I just figured they all need to be uniform so they all went on that same way, boot side down.

 

[airon23]

So here's the semi-mostly-finished project. It's mostly finished, but I do need to go tighten a few things up because I ran out of time

This was the first time I've ever installed a lift and it was mostly about what I expected, but harder and and just more strenuous than anticipated.

I haven't even driven it yet for the reason of tightening things up but if feels good when I sit in it and bounce it up and down on the leaf springs. I'm looking forward to that maiden voyage on it at which time I can give a review on how it rides.

 

[airon23]

Oh and here's the final measurements side by side...

Before:

After:

So about 1"-1 1/4" gain as compared to the old lift. Which I'm happy with since I didn't want a huge lift by any means. 2.5" seems like plenty for my look and feel, along with how I will be using it.
Again that is not compared to OEM suspension, there was already a pretty tired Man-a-fre 2" lift on there before.

 

[airon23]

Looking great. I’ve always liked your 40.

Where did you get those side mirrors? I’ve also got a ‘76 and have been told that they are no longer available. Mine need to be replaced.

haha sorry a little late but I just went back and saw this comment again. Probably meant to respond but forgot.

The larger side mirrors came with the truck when I bought it, but the mirrors were cracked and rusted on back. I bent the back round plate that screws onto the mirror when I was pulling them off. I nearly tossed them until I also heard they were not available. I think they may be salvageable with some work, but for now I just bought the round ones that are available that are quite a bit smaller, but they seem to work ok.

 

[oldschool4wheeling]

Looking GREAT!!! Glad you stayed with the Sky Blue!!

my 2 cents.....Im not sure what is the right way to install shocks or steering dampers, but I always try and keep them from collecting water, mud, dirt inside the shock housing. So I mount the housing side up and the shock body down.

 

[airon23]

Went back and found the title from the previous owner...

Looking GREAT!!! Glad you stayed with the Sky Blue!!

my 2 cents.....Im not sure what is the right way to install shocks or steering dampers, but I always try and keep them from collecting water, mud, dirt inside the shock housing. So I mount the housing side up and the shock body down.

View attachment 2286969
View attachment 2286970

Thanks the color grew on me more and more shortly after I bought it.
Still don't know the "right way" but your reasoning does make sense. The good thing is that most of that stuff is still not tightened down all the way so it'd be easy enough to switch them around, not that shocks are "hard" to remove and reinstall.

I appreciate the comments.

 

[Honger]

We need some driveway poser shots of the overall vehicle look... c'mon!

 

[airon23]

haha yeah I know I just got busy and didn't finish tightening the last of things up, but I will here in the next day or 2.

 

[fixoldthings]

I purchased my 1976 FJ40 summer of 2016. I've taken a slow approach to making it right and I'm doing what I'm calling a "refresh" not a restoration. I drive it usually on weekends mostly for fun, but there are definitely some things that need fixing.

The "refresh" is mostly because I can't afford to take it down to the frame and restore it. Also I would like to drive it and enjoy it rather than watch it sit in boxes and stored in my garage or shed in pieces. Here's a few pics when I first bought it...

View attachment 1888963

View attachment 1888964

View attachment 1888965

I like what you're doing.

 

[SteveH]

Great story and photos here. Good work!

 

[Curtice]

With the videos from @orangefj45 and @OTRAMM, the right kit, FSM and the thread by @Vae Victus, you can rebuild the trans/transfer. You’ll have to take one set of bearings to a machine shop to be pressed off/on unless you have a shop press.
Replace the clutch, rear main seal and have the machine shop turn the flywheel.

I need to do these rebuilds too. I have the kits (from Cruiser Outfitters), just waiting to get to that part of my build. Are there links to the videos? AA Ron - when you get to it, let me know, maybe we can work through it together.

 

[EStein]

I started in on the lift yesterday and today and got most of the way through it by myself. It was pretty tough and I'm pretty sore from the whole ordeal, but I had a lot of fun doing it.

For starters the lift is the HFS with 2.5" shackles. I will say first impressions were that the leafs are pretty beefy and much heavier than the old Man-a-fre 2" lift that was on there. That thing must've been 20-30+ years old at least. The guy I bought it from owned it since 1984, I'm guessing this lift is from sometime around then.

Here's how it went...

First all the goodies that came with the lift
View attachment 2286042
View attachment 2286043
View attachment 2286044
View attachment 2286045

New parts are my favorite! Seriously rewarding! Just looking at all those clean shiny parts makes me jealous!

 

[EStein]

So here's the semi-mostly-finished project. It's mostly finished, but I do need to go tighten a few things up because I ran out of time
View attachment 2286054

This was the first time I've ever installed a lift and it was mostly about what I expected, but harder and and just more strenuous than anticipated.

I haven't even driven it yet for the reason of tightening things up but if feels good when I sit in it and bounce it up and down on the leaf springs. I'm looking forward to that maiden voyage on it at which time I can give a review on how it rides.

I was sore for 3 or 4 days after replacing all my bushings, shackles, and pins. It’s a tough job to do alone! Nice work.