It's been years since I've hung around here...I sold my FJ-40 to another member on this site back in '05 or '06 
Since then I graduated from college, got married, bought a house, bought a Ford Powerstroke and ran it on vegetable oil for about four years. Having a one ton diesel was nice for the first two years in the house since it was basically a never ending project. I also installed a wood furnace and began hoarding firewood which gave the helper springs and E-range tires a good workout. The truck is a regular cab though so now that the family consists of me, my wife, our two month old daughter, and a 70 lb chocolate lab, the old bench seat is er...a little tight. Her Corolla is not much better. The car seats are so big these days that the front seat has to be pushed WAAAAAAY up in order to fit it. The stroller her MIL bought us doesn't fit in the trunk, etc...it just ain't workin. Long story short, the Powerstroke is going up for sale, she's getting a new or lightly used small SUV (RAV4/Ford Escape, etc...), I'm getting the Corolla as a DD. I still need a truck (firewood, general hauling, deer hunting, bad weather commuting, etc...) though which is where the '91 comes in...
My uncle passed away at the young age of 49 and this was one of his prized possessions:
He left it to me-we had some good times in that truck. In fact, he taught me to drive stick in it before I bought my FJ-40. It's a bare bones DLX-no power options except steering, 22RE, 5 speed, etc...nice and simple. The plan is to build it into a no frills firewood hauler/hunting rig that can also pull a small trailer when needed. I'm really looking forward to using it over the fullsize actually because you can practically take it down a quad trail. The Ford needed a super highway cut through the woods to get anywhere if you didn't want to rub a tree or scratch the paint. Here's the plan:
22RE rebuild/recondition - I did a basic tuneup (plugs, wires, cap, rotor, PCV, air filter, oil change, Seafoam top end treatment, etc...) but the engine is using about a quart every 500 miles. I'm pretty sure it's the head (valve guides?) because it pulls hard up the hills so I don't think there's a loss of compression. In any event, I'll be doing a leakdown/compression test to find what's really wrong and either rebuild it completely or just have the head redone with an Engbldr 261C cam.
Gears/tires - In the interest of keeping it on the low buck side I'm going to hunt for 4.88 3rds out of a 4Runner with the auto/31" tire package. Most yards I've seen only want between $75 and $100 for 4WD 3rds. That way I can pull them and install them myself-no expensive new R&P and no setup labor charge. I'll use the money I save there to pickup an Aussie locker. Tires will be 33/12.5s-with any luck I can find a used set from someone who traded up on the cheap. I'll be pretty close to stock gearing with the 4.88s.
Suspension - I found a good website which detailed one way to clear 33s with (almost) no lift. This guy did it with a t-bar crank, lift shackles in the rear, and very minimal fender trimming. I don't want to hack this truck up anymore than I have to. Instead of a lift shackle in the rear I'm going to do what is known as a ZUK mod over at Yotatech. Basically it involves shoring up the rear leafs with a coil spring between the bumpstop and the frame. It sounds kind of nuts until you read the testimonials from folks who have done it. The right length/spring rate will give me not only lift in the rear but also greater weight capacity in the bed.
Looking forward to getting back with the Toyota 4x4 crowd. I had my FJ-40 for almost 10 years and still miss it every day. I probably won't be doing too much hardcore wheeling in the pickup, but I'm counting on it to get me to some of the hairier spots for wood cutting and hunting that are too tight for the big trucks. I actually took the truck (cheapo bologna skin tires and all) to one of those spots recently and it surprised the hell out of me. It was a skidder trail down a power line ROW with some washouts, rocks, mud, etc... As well as it performed 100% stock I can't imagine what it will be able to do with actual mud tires, more ground clearance, and a locked rearend!
Since then I graduated from college, got married, bought a house, bought a Ford Powerstroke and ran it on vegetable oil for about four years. Having a one ton diesel was nice for the first two years in the house since it was basically a never ending project. I also installed a wood furnace and began hoarding firewood which gave the helper springs and E-range tires a good workout. The truck is a regular cab though so now that the family consists of me, my wife, our two month old daughter, and a 70 lb chocolate lab, the old bench seat is er...a little tight. Her Corolla is not much better. The car seats are so big these days that the front seat has to be pushed WAAAAAAY up in order to fit it. The stroller her MIL bought us doesn't fit in the trunk, etc...it just ain't workin. Long story short, the Powerstroke is going up for sale, she's getting a new or lightly used small SUV (RAV4/Ford Escape, etc...), I'm getting the Corolla as a DD. I still need a truck (firewood, general hauling, deer hunting, bad weather commuting, etc...) though which is where the '91 comes in...My uncle passed away at the young age of 49 and this was one of his prized possessions:
He left it to me-we had some good times in that truck. In fact, he taught me to drive stick in it before I bought my FJ-40. It's a bare bones DLX-no power options except steering, 22RE, 5 speed, etc...nice and simple. The plan is to build it into a no frills firewood hauler/hunting rig that can also pull a small trailer when needed. I'm really looking forward to using it over the fullsize actually because you can practically take it down a quad trail. The Ford needed a super highway cut through the woods to get anywhere if you didn't want to rub a tree or scratch the paint. Here's the plan:
22RE rebuild/recondition - I did a basic tuneup (plugs, wires, cap, rotor, PCV, air filter, oil change, Seafoam top end treatment, etc...) but the engine is using about a quart every 500 miles. I'm pretty sure it's the head (valve guides?) because it pulls hard up the hills so I don't think there's a loss of compression. In any event, I'll be doing a leakdown/compression test to find what's really wrong and either rebuild it completely or just have the head redone with an Engbldr 261C cam.
Gears/tires - In the interest of keeping it on the low buck side I'm going to hunt for 4.88 3rds out of a 4Runner with the auto/31" tire package. Most yards I've seen only want between $75 and $100 for 4WD 3rds. That way I can pull them and install them myself-no expensive new R&P and no setup labor charge. I'll use the money I save there to pickup an Aussie locker. Tires will be 33/12.5s-with any luck I can find a used set from someone who traded up on the cheap. I'll be pretty close to stock gearing with the 4.88s.
Suspension - I found a good website which detailed one way to clear 33s with (almost) no lift. This guy did it with a t-bar crank, lift shackles in the rear, and very minimal fender trimming. I don't want to hack this truck up anymore than I have to. Instead of a lift shackle in the rear I'm going to do what is known as a ZUK mod over at Yotatech. Basically it involves shoring up the rear leafs with a coil spring between the bumpstop and the frame. It sounds kind of nuts until you read the testimonials from folks who have done it. The right length/spring rate will give me not only lift in the rear but also greater weight capacity in the bed.
Looking forward to getting back with the Toyota 4x4 crowd. I had my FJ-40 for almost 10 years and still miss it every day. I probably won't be doing too much hardcore wheeling in the pickup, but I'm counting on it to get me to some of the hairier spots for wood cutting and hunting that are too tight for the big trucks. I actually took the truck (cheapo bologna skin tires and all) to one of those spots recently and it surprised the hell out of me. It was a skidder trail down a power line ROW with some washouts, rocks, mud, etc... As well as it performed 100% stock I can't imagine what it will be able to do with actual mud tires, more ground clearance, and a locked rearend!
