Best FJ40 Upgrade Ever (3 Viewers)

[Fj40owen]

@Fj40owen … so this is you? I saw the actual post months ago on Tic-Toc and was very intrigued by it…nice job!

I thought it was Instagram…I don’t know much about social media stuff

Awesome, thanks for checking it out. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

 

[domgon1]

I will probably upgrade to power steering and disc brakes.

 

[3Speed40ForLife]

I actually spend my time taking off the "upgrades" and returning my 72' to (mostly) original. I'm one of those nerds that likes to off road with hub caps.

The mods I'd do again:
1. Bucket seats with 3 point seat belts
2. Cup holder (this could be best ever)
3. Front disc brakes
4. Aviation intercom headsets
5. Radiator drain valve w/ universal hose adapter

 

[FloridaLife]

I will probably upgrade to power steering and disc brakes.

Eventually I may switch to disc brakes, but I'll wait a while and save up some money.

When I started this thread I was curious what upgrade would get the most responses. It turned out to be power steering. So I started looking at what it would take to do that with a traditional power brake system (power steering box, mounting, a pump, hoses, brackets, steering linkages) and the cost, but then a couple of guys said they went with electric power steering. You can do that fairly easily for less money, so that's what I did. It is a little bit more of a pain in the neck if you have a 1971 or older (mine is a '71) because the steering shaft runs all the way from the steering wheel to the steering box in 1 straight shot, so I did mine without removing the steering box & shaft. I just cut out a section the correct length. Here is where I got the kit from: Straight Electric Power Steering Kit - ePowerSteering - https://epowersteering.com/purchase/product/straight-kit/

 

[JohnnyC]

IMHO the disc brakes are the first and second would be power steering

The drums being not self adjusting is a PITA... DD for any amount of time youĺl need to be adjusting the drums every 3 months or so...
I had 4 wheel drums...every 3-4 months had to re-adjust them...and then one time i went about 5 months and had not adjusted them... a gang of elderly blue-hairs raced out of a side road, when i my slammed on the brakes it wasn't doing too much to stop... i swerved to avoid collision... 2 wheels left the ground\ and almost rolled it. I thank God I didn't roll or better yet plow thru them...that's when i went to 4 wheel disc (thanks again @stainless40/45 )

I don´t know what hurt more ....my heart pounding... my white knuckles or the vinyl seat that sucked up my due to pucker factor 10

Power steering is a big.... but armstrong steering was fine... just time consuming off road

 

[FloridaLife]

IMHO the disc brakes are the first and second would be power steering

The drums being not self adjusting is a PITA... DD for any amount of time youĺl need to be adjusting the drums every 3 months or so...
I had 4 wheel drums...every 3-4 months had to re-adjust them...and then one time i went about 5 months and had not adjusted them... a gang of elderly blue-hairs raced out of a side road, when i my slammed on the brakes it wasn't doing too much to stop... i swerved to avoid collision... 2 wheels left the ground\ and almost rolled it. I thank God I didn't roll or better yet plow thru them...that's when i went to 4 wheel disc (thanks again @stainless40/45 )

I don´t know what hurt more ....my heart pounding... my white knuckles or the vinyl seat that sucked up my due to pucker factor 10

Power steering is a big.... but armstrong steering was fine... just time consuming off road

What is the best / least expensive way to go discs? I bet there are lots of options out there.

 

[pb4ugo]

Stk Toyota style disc 40 brakes up front with fine spline birfs. I'm fine with GM calipers in the rear

 

[raymond2335]

Just curious for all you FJ40 experts / owners out there, especially since I'm new to the FJ40 scene and still have never driven one yet, some of you have had yours for many years and/or multiple FJ40's over the years... what would you say is The Best Upgrade you have ever done (or had done) to your FJ40?

Just curious for all you FJ40 experts / owners out there, especially since I'm new to the FJ40 scene and still have never driven one yet, some of you have had yours for many years and/or multiple FJ40's over the years... what would you say is The Best Upgrade you have ever done (or had done) to your FJ40?

By far.... Howell throttle body fuel injection. Best $1400 I've ever spent. essentially a sniper system only half the money. Once I got it wired up.... runs 100% better. No choke, no adjustments, better mileage, Good support. just turn the key, it starts, idles fast until its warm then returns to normal idle. I built this "73 for my daughter as a college graduation gift. she's learning manual shifting now. I don't want her to have to worry about choke, carb issues. I also installed front disc brakes. soft top and 33s. (shes on the east coast) I'm still road testing it looking for issues.

 

[FloridaLife]

Stk Toyota style disc 40 brakes up front with fine spline birfs. I'm fine with GM calipers in the rear

I thought about disc brakes when I first got my '71 FJ40 a few months ago. But, I saw on CCOT's website that they do not sell a disc brake conversion kit because if the drum brakes are done properly they work just fine. I did not realize that the drum brakes were NOT self adjusting. That surprised me. Even my 1969 Chevy pickup had self adjusting drum brakes. I "think" 1971 was the first year of Power Brakes on the FJ40. Did 1971 get self adjusting drum brakes too, or no?

I did a Google search and it said the FJ40 first got disc brakes in the front in 1976. Does that sound correct? Just wondering what to search salvage yards for.

And for anyone running disc brakes in the rear, did you use the same brakes birfs and splints as in the front, or different?

 

[FloridaLife]

By far.... Howell throttle body fuel injection. Best $1400 I've ever spent. essentially a sniper system only half the money. Once I got it wired up.... runs 100% better. No choke, no adjustments, better mileage, Good support. just turn the key, it starts, idles fast until its warm then returns to normal idle. I built this "73 for my daughter as a college graduation gift. she's learning manual shifting now. I don't want her to have to worry about choke, carb issues. I also installed front disc brakes. soft top and 33s. (shes on the east coast) I'm still road testing it looking for issues.

@raymond2335 Oh good to know! I looked at the Sniper setup but it was out of my price range. If I can ever get this thing done enough to drive (STILL at the paint and body shop ) I may have to drive it as is until my wife's memory fades a bit on how much I've spent on this, but eventually I will want to put fuel injection on it. I just searched and went to the Howell website and searched for Toyota FJ40 but there was no match. They have 74 Universal Kits. Which one did you go with? And any problems bolting up to the OEM intake manifold?

You must have a GREAT daughter! Tell her she has to make straight A's in order to get it.

"IF" I can win the lottery, or my AI stocks pay off big, then someday I'd like to find a 2nd one and give one to each of my 2 sons on their wedding day as a wedding gift. They could keep it and enjoy it, or sell it and put the money down on a house. Hopefully FJ40's will be with a chunk of money by then.

 

[pb4ugo]

1976 was the 1st yr for frt disc's. Rear self adjusting brakes happen sometime in the 80's. For Toyota front discs you'll need all the parts from the knuckles out.
Knuckles, spindles, hubs, rotors, lockouts and birfs. You'll want to rebuild the knuckles too. Either find the parts or a complete front end. Cruiser outfitters sells knuckle kits and bearings, along with other vendors. Rear brakes require brackets for the calipers and rotors that the centers have been machined out to fit the rear axle. Some vendors may offer the brackets and machined rotors. The Calipers are from a mid to late 70's Monte Carlo or a GM equivalent. You'll need a adjustable proportioning valve for the rear circuit. There are folks who sell aftermarket frt brakes that bolt on also, but in my opinion is a short cut and doesn't address the coarse spline birfields and servicing the knuckles. Go to FAQ's at the top of the section and scroll down to frt ends. In FAQ's there's also a link at the top Tech Links. There plenty of articles. And I know you'll hate to hear this. This subject has been covered extensively. Search knuckle rebuild, or frt disc brakes, FJ60 brakes, etc. Rebuilding the knuckles goes hand in hand with the swap.
There are also differences in knuckles, the early disc knuckles are probably fine for your purposes and you can use your old steering parts.

 

[Engineer8000]

If you get parts from a mini truck, the 79 brake rotors are different than later years.

 

[FloridaLife]

@raymond2335 Oh good to know! I looked at the Sniper setup but it was out of my price range. If I can ever get this thing done enough to drive (STILL at the paint and body shop ) I may have to drive it as is until my wife's memory fades a bit on how much I've spent on this, but eventually I will want to put fuel injection on it. I just searched and went to the Howell website and searched for Toyota FJ40 but there was no match. They have 74 Universal Kits. Which one did you go with? And any problems bolting up to the OEM intake manifold?

You must have a GREAT daughter! Tell her she has to make straight A's in order to get it.

"IF" I can win the lottery, or my AI stocks pay off big, then someday I'd like to find a 2nd one and give one to each of my 2 sons on their wedding day as a wedding gift. They could keep it and enjoy it, or sell it and put the money down on a house. Hopefully FJ40's will be with a chunk of money by then.

I got in touch with Howell and even though I didn't find it when I used their search function they do in fact have one. If anyone else is interested here is the link to it:

#K247T - Toyota Land Cruiser TBI Conversion Kit

Marine City, MI – March 10, 2015 – For fans of the classic ’55-’91 Toyota Landcruiser, replacing the troublesome carburetion system with state of the art electronic fuel injection required a custom build that could end with questionable results. Enter Howell EFI who has come to the rescue with a...

howellefi.com

 

[cruisermatt]

I got in touch with Howell and even though I didn't find it when I used their search function they do in fact have one. If anyone else is interested here is the link to it:

#K247T - Toyota Land Cruiser TBI Conversion Kit

Marine City, MI – March 10, 2015 – For fans of the classic ’55-’91 Toyota Landcruiser, replacing the troublesome carburetion system with state of the art electronic fuel injection required a custom build that could end with questionable results. Enter Howell EFI who has come to the rescue with a...

howellefi.com

skip that garbage. you'd be better off buying a new OEM 2F carb for less which would install in 10 minutes and will run perfectly for 15-20 years.

 

[diesellibrarian]

Good point on the lights regarding the snow. I had not even thought about that. But now that I'm retired and in Florida, if it snows here then I will know that Hell has frozen over!

 

[76FJ40]

I had the head off my 2F due to a burned valve so I had the head milled 0.080" while it was in the machine shop. Noticeably more power from the higher compression.

 

[sggoat]

Which power steering conversion kit did you go with? Where / how did you mount the pump? I have a '71 (build date Dec '70) FJ40 and will be using a '78 2F which does not have a factory pump mount location.

Good point on the lights regarding the snow. I had not even thought about that. But now that I'm retired and in Florida, if it snows here then I will know that Hell has frozen over!

Pensacola just got 6" of the white stuff- Gainesville has some, but not sticking yet--I live in Alva--near Ft Myers--will be 29 deg on Sat

 

[swixtt]

skip that garbage. you'd be better off buying a new OEM 2F carb for less which would install in 10 minutes and will run perfectly for 15-20 years.

Where to get a one of these that are new?

 

[cruisermatt]

Where to get a one of these that are new?

I keep them in stock.
Email to order.
www.CruiserMatts.com

 

[Aloha Jen]

Eventually I may switch to disc brakes, but I'll wait a while and save up some money.

When I started this thread I was curious what upgrade would get the most responses. It turned out to be power steering. So I started looking at what it would take to do that with a traditional power brake system (power steering box, mounting, a pump, hoses, brackets, steering linkages) and the cost, but then a couple of guys said they went with electric power steering. You can do that fairly easily for less money, so that's what I did. It is a little bit more of a pain in the neck if you have a 1971 or older (mine is a '71) because the steering shaft runs all the way from the steering wheel to the steering box in 1 straight shot, so I did mine without removing the steering box & shaft. I just cut out a section the correct length. Here is where I got the kit from: Straight Electric Power Steering Kit - ePowerSteering - https://epowersteering.com/purchase/product/straight-kit/

Do you have that E power steering installed completely? Any chance you can give a review of how well it works on the road? Any photos of the finished product installed in your 40? Thanks!!