Best FJ40 Upgrade Ever

[knuckle47]

A few months ago @1911 made a comment that struck me. I was thinking about getting the Procar seats from Summit racing and I did. He said something like … those seats have 50 year old dead foam cushions. He was absolutely correct.

My seats were recovered and looked darn nice with matching fabric door cards. I changed the door cards and the seats and those seats look like stock seats, and are actually cushioning the ride plus they have headrests and fully recline.

 

[knuckle47]

That being said… I have both original seats… cosmetically they look great. As for cushions, they are original, not crumbling, just flatter bounce than the procars.

All of the hardware is attached ready to bolt on to the 1975 style stock frame. Seat belts are off and reused on the new seats. Door cards are easily re-useable. Drivers side and a “map pocket”

If someone is interested, just pm me with an offer. I can pack and ship them if you’re not local. I’m not listing them in the classified section yet…this is just a passing thought as I stare out of the window at the snow falling and the dogs going crazy outside

 

[FloridaLife]

If we are talking upgrades, sometimes something simple really makes all the difference….(koito headlight upgrade is also a simple no brainer)

View attachment 4073910

Good point. I'm planning on LED headlights too because when I converted my motorcycle to an LED headlight it had better light than my 4Runner. I'm also converting ALL other light bulbs to LED, including the instrument cluster, turn signals, side markers, and brakes. No more of bumps & vibrations making filaments go bad.

 

[FloridaLife]

That being said… I have both original seats… cosmetically they look great. As for cushions, they are original, not crumbling, just flatter bounce than the procars.

All of the hardware is attached ready to bolt on to the 1975 style stock frame. Seat belts are off and reused on the new seats. Door cards are easily re-useable. Drivers side and a “map pocket”

If someone is interested, just pm me with an offer. I can pack and ship them if you’re not local. I’m not listing them in the classified section yet…this is just a passing thought as I stare out of the window at the snow falling and the dogs going crazy outside

View attachment 4074209

Do your dogs like playing in the snow like that English bulldog we saw enjoying sliding down a hillside covered in snow?

 

[knuckle47]

Do your dogs like playing in the snow like that English bulldog we saw enjoying sliding down a hillside covered in snow?

I think they THINK they like it, but they don’t stay out more than 15 minutes…and we have 3 large towels aside to dry them off…one of them gets like snow balls. The silver and black lab don’t get balled up with snow but the golden does

 

[charliemeyer007]

My wolf dogs loved the snow. They would stand on the edge of the hill, looking down - working their ears - then leap into the air, land nose first in like 5' of snow - disappear completely and pop out of the snow bank 50' down with a mouse in their face. Comical to watch.

 

[raymond2335]

Beautiful pics! I love being near the water. Which island are you on? I spent about 1 hour in Hawaii one time. LOL! True. We stopped there to refuel on the way to Australia. It was in the middle of the night so I didn't even get to see any pretty scenery from the airplane window.

Great pics

 

[65swb45]

I thought I had posted to this thread before, but a thread search did not yield what I expected.

Saginaw power steering, hands down. With a well-tuned suspension, it almost makes lockers unnecessary. Last weekend in the Calico mountains.

 

[matzell]

I thought I had posted to this thread before, but a thread search did not yield what I expected.

Saginaw power steering, hands down. With a well-tuned suspension, it almost makes lockers unnecessary.View attachment 4077210

Off all the choices, Saginaw is still my favorite set up.

 

[FloridaLife]

For those of you who said you did Electric Power Steering, I've got a question for you. Do any of you also have a V8? Maybe an LS? If so, was the steering column/shaft and/or box in the way? If so, how did you overcome that? Thank you.

 

[FloridaLife]

My FJ40 is a 1971 with a build date of December 1970.

Based on responses in this thread I also decided to convert the front brakes to disc brakes. I purchased everything needed from a 1976 FJ40 to convert mine to front disc brakes. When doing that, will everything bolt up, or will there need to be some grinding or modifying of anything?

And on the rear drum brake cylinders, if they have 9mm fittings and I replace them with cylinders that have a 10mm fitting, will they bolt up? Same bolt pattern?

Thanks for any info.

 

[45Dougal]

Best upgrade to my tool box..
Write the spanner sizes big enough to actually see them without the obligatory over-50 reading glasses...

Simple thing saves me a lot of time.

 

[FloridaLife]

Best upgrade to my tool box..
Write the spanner sizes big enough to actually see them without the obligatory over-50 reading glasses...
View attachment 4133065
Simple thing saves me a lot of time.

That's a good idea!

 

[Gas axe]

Both the box and the Hydraulic drift brake are really practical.

 

[FloridaLife]

Both the box and the Hydraulic drift brake are really practical.

View attachment 4137409

I've been trying to decide if I should put my in the under the driver's seat toolbox when I'm driving it, or a quicker access box, or I've seen a couple of setups that you mount to the lower dash and holds your like a quick holster or one I saw holds it with a magnet.

What is the story behind the drift brake?

And I'm curious what is in the leather case on the left? It looks vintage.

 

[FloridaLife]

I've been trying to decide if I should put my in the under the driver's seat toolbox when I'm driving it, or a quicker access box, or I've seen a couple of setups that you mount to the lower dash and holds your like a quick holster or one I saw holds it with a magnet.

What is the story behind the drift brake?

And I'm curious what is in the leather case on the left? It looks vintage.

AND, even the freaking under the driver's seat toolbox was gone! I had to source another one off of Mud.

 

[1911]

When I travel in my 40, I prefer to carry on my person. That way I don’t have to worry about it when I stop for gas, go to the bathroom, or leave the truck unattended for any reason. And if I ever needed it, it would always be close at hand and would know exactly where it was, and could draw without looking away.

 

[FloridaLife]

When I travel in my 40, I prefer to carry on my person. That way I don’t have to worry about it when I stop for gas, go to the bathroom, or leave the truck unattended for any reason. And if I ever needed it, it would always be close at hand and would know exactly where it was, and could draw without looking away.

Yep, makes sense. For years I carried an HK in a shoulder rig under my shirt with 2 full extra mags on the opposite side, and my button up shirts looked normal but 2 of the buttons had Velcro so I could quickly reach through and pull if I needed to, which came in very handy! I could do that again, but now I have a belly hand to carry. The problem is that with my surgery and being ordered zero activity and no bending, twisting, pulling, pushing, or lifting I got too heavy and it isn't comfortable to carry. So, after the last doctor's appointment and getting on the scales I got and decided "OK, dang it, when I was younger I used to cut weight when I needed to, so now is the time to do it again!" So, I've been eating right and have cut 19.4 pounds (with little to no exercise) in just a hair under 2 weeks, and I need to keep at it and drop another 23 and a half pounds and I'll be back at 155 which is a much better and much more comfortable weight for me, and a belly band holster will be comfortable for me.

 

[knuckle47]

Back through out the 1990’s I rode to Daytona Bike week with a good friend of mine from NJ. Usually a nice 2 day ride but depending on weather …going down was great as it got warmer and warmer. Usually had minor regard for speed limits and never had any issues. After about 11 years of this same trek I find out in North Carolina that my friend carries a .38 in his tour-pak. Hey wtf… but had we ever gotten stopped, we’d all be in jail.

That next morning we’re are heading down I-95 in South Carolina doing about 85. I’m road capt. and there are 6 of us. In my rear view mirror I can see a blue flashing light ( state troopers) about 1/4 mile behind us. My brain is racing for an excuse as I know we’re busted. Slowed down to 60 and pretended to be cool…the trooper flys by us in the left lane, gave a thumbs up. Pulled into one of rest areas to shake the adrenaline off and get gas.

Smiley passed about 11 yrs ago. A long term die-hard biker with a huge set of cohones. One of the nicest people you could ever have met with a .38 in his motorcycle

 

[FloridaLife]

Back through out the 1990’s I rode to Daytona Bike week with a good friend of mine from NJ. Usually a nice 2 day ride but depending on weather …going down was great as it got warmer and warmer. Usually had minor regard for speed limits and never had any issues. After about 11 years of this same trek I find out in North Carolina that my friend carries a .38 in his tour-pak. Hey wtf… but had we ever gotten stopped, we’d all be in jail.

That next morning we’re are heading down I-95 in South Carolina doing about 85. I’m road capt. and there are 6 of us. In my rear view mirror I can see a blue flashing light ( state troopers) about 1/4 mile behind us. My brain is racing for an excuse as I know we’re busted. Slowed down to 60 and pretended to be cool…the trooper flys by us in the left lane, gave a thumbs up. Pulled into one of rest areas to shake the adrenaline off and get gas.

Smiley passed about 11 yrs ago. A long term die-hard biker with a huge set of cohones. One of the nicest people you could ever have met with a .38 in his motorcycle

That's a GREAT story. I can picture it. During my time here, halfway between Lakeland Florida and Orlando, after I finished restoring my bike (and she sounded soooo good and rode even better) I wanted to ride over to Daytona bike week but dang work got in the way. Never made it before the doctor and wife said it wasn't safe. BTW, I'm on a new med for only 10 days, I volunteered, actually begged and persisted, to be the guinea pig my pain management doctor, and for the first time in years I am PAIN FREE and tremor free! It is from Vertex Pharmaceuticals and called Journavx and is a non opioid non addictive medication for pain that blocks the pain message from getting back to the brain. An hour and a half after the first dose my wife came to check on me, and I was pain free and had tears of joy. Here's my mistress, Jolene (my wife named here) before I sold here. I also had a matching set of full quill ostrich saddle bags to go with her, and that headlight was a pretty neat trick. It was LED, and when you leaned to go around a curve or if you turned it lit up additional LEDs to light up the dark area of the curve / turn.