Adjustable caster modification final picture (1 Viewer)

[Beowulf]

Brian,

I am very curious if this will allow a truck to be adjusted from 50mm OME (2"+) to J-OME (3+") to something approaching the 6" Slee springs.

Have you had a chance to find out the range of caster correction this mod will provide? (Wishing and hoping....)

Any feedback on durability while wheeling with this mod? Does it hold the caster adjustment OK? Any stress on the welds?

-B-

 

[clownmidget]

Bump again, Brian, as I am progressing along Beo's track. I picked up the used stuff at a yard a while back and have been waiting for some more conclusive results before I rip into it. Shedguy (aka Darren) got me thinking about keeping the stock arms and machining out the rear bushing holes to fit a pair of the OME castor correction bushings to effectively lengthen the arm a bit there, continue to run the OME castor correction bushings in the front holes and then add your idea of the plates in order to run the 6" springs and still get it in proper castor. I don't know if I've just hit too many fumes in the garage though...
Mike R.

 

[bjowett]

I will try to get it on the rack this week... stay tuned!

 

[bjowett]

Since Gary posted a nice picture of the Slee Plates showing the position of the tierod in relation to the arm....along with a final spec of 6 degrees, it's safe to say that the adjustable mod could give an adjustment from 0 up to 6 degrees with J springs... and anything in between.

 

[clownmidget]

Re: castor correction

Since Gary posted a nice picture of the Slee Plates showing the position of the tierod in relation to the arm....along with a final spec of 6 degrees, it's safe to say that the adjustable mod could give an adjustment from 0 up to 6 degrees with J springs... and anything in between.

Damn Brian, after 3 months you really do hate front end alignment shops don't you!!

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Bjowett how about an update on your panhard/ball joint set-up. How many miles do you have on it? How has the joint held up?

 

[bjowett]

Solid axles are not that difficult to get in spec.... now my S4 and wife's Touareg are a different story!

I've run the Cruiser about 3k miles this year, much of that is offroad, no issues. I really do not forsee any problem, a quick refresher picture to show the size of the joint... compare it to the FJ80 TRE you depend on every day.

 

[TraiLex]

Here is the first installment of how to build an adjustatable caster system for your FJ80 radius arm front axle. Toyota has graciously supplied us with most of the required parts to perform this mod from the cam bolts to the metal brackets they ride in.

The weld on brackets could be fabbed up and the cam bolts purchased from Toyota. However, purchasing the the lower front frame chunk from an 86 - 95 Toyota IFS mini truck or 4-Runner 4x4 will give you all the required parts and run about $10 - $20 from a salvage yard.

Picture of the mini frame section.

Picture of the lower bracket sections which were cut from the lower frame section and new cam bolts (the old bolts were a bit crusty).

Part #'s for cam bolts (2 of each)
Cam assy, camber 48190 35020
Cam, camber adjuster 48198 35010
Nut 90179 16005

More to come later today or tomorrow.

More... well, a little bit.... The weather was just soooo nice today, I decided to take off on a mountain bike ride with my father. I did manage to slot the stock brackets for increased caster. OOooooooo, ahhhhhhhh..... try to pick your axle up like that with a stock track bar connected, note angle of joint.

Despite the offer for another bike ride, I chose to stay in the garage this afternoon. In the picture below, you can see the mini brackets installed with all gusseting and such. They are rather easy to place on the existing bracket with a few tacks. The top of the slot on the mini bracket aligns with the bottom of the stock hole, if it was still there... lmk if that is not clear. Large gussets are run rearward and forward. I decided to sort of 'box' the front to help the bracket resist the twist that articulation induces, this should help prevent tearing or cracking of the welds. More later.

Here is the completed mod... I'm sure a few things were left out, I will ad them as I remember. Another bonus to the mod is the ability to change the pinion angle, although it obviously will change caster at the same time, a happy balance could be reached. Ask any questions if you have them.

Not trying to wake the dead but is there any chance we could get some refresher pics of your adjustable caster mod. Seems as though the original pics have been eaten by the incanet gremlins.
Thanks