Best FJ40 Upgrade Ever (3 Viewers)

[FloridaLife]

The heater was from a 17 place Chevy van. Was free. Cost $5 for the 3 speed fan switch, $5 for the cut wood to build the box and $5 for the hoses to connect it. I can drive around in 25 below in shorts and tee shirt with the windows down. Somewhere I have pic's of 5 of us cross country skiers standing shoulder to shoulder at the ambi doors with the heater going in a 30 below white out - I could close my eyes and it was just like being on the Mediterranean.

That's awesome! Gave my wife and I a good laugh! I can picture it.

 

[FloridaLife]

Your use of the 40 sounds like a perfect canidate for Electric Power Steering.
Relatively easy bolt on the can be completed in a few hours.

Thank you. I watched a couple of YouTube videos where they did that. Neither were FJ40's (an old jeep wagon and something else). One used an electric pump for a Mini Cooper, and the other used a pump for a Volvo I think?

Which electric pump would you recommend, and best place to get it?

 

[Shark56]

If you are not going off road the electric steering is a quick swap

Electric Power Steering for '73 and later Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40

Your opportunity to enjoy a leapfrog in technology and enter the Tesla age! A complete kit to convert your Land Cruiser FJ40 to electric power steering. Developed by EZ Electric Power Steering using components produced by Koyo and NSK, both made in Japan and affiliated with Toyota.Compatible...

www.cityracerllc.com

It does fine offroad as well. Hard core stuff could be a problem, but I have run Blue and Black trails with both of mine on 33's. But I think 33's are the limit for tire size in the rocks.
For every day driving, beach driving, fishing excursions, it is by far the easiest way to get power steering.

 

[Shark56]

Thank you. I watched a couple of YouTube videos where they did that. Neither were FJ40's (an old jeep wagon and something else). One used an electric pump for a Mini Cooper, and the other used a pump for a Volvo I think?

Which electric pump would you recommend, and best place to get it?

I have built 3 units using a motor from a Saturn Vue, (Japanese Koyo motor).

City Racer sells a ready to bolt in unit. Price is really not bad at all when you consider the time a ability to do it yourself.
There are stronger options such as Sag., 80 series, mini truck ect. But the all involve a lot of fab work.

Electric Power Steering for Land Cruiser FJ40

Your opportunity to enjoy a leapfrog in technology and go straight to the age of the Teslas! A complete kit to convert your Land Cruiser FJ40 to electric power steering. Developed by EZ Electric Power Steering using components produced by Koyo and NSK, both made in Japan and affiliated with...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[pb4ugo]

I have been thinking a lot about doing that. Which kit did you use? Where / how did you mount the pump? I have a '71 JF40 (build date Dec '70) and a '78 2F that does not have a factory mounting location for a pump.

Cruisermatt has a really nice power steering conversion that they do. Very well done.

I prefer Scout type P/S which includes FJ60 or FJ80 boxes too. It's actual P/S and IMO, less obtrusive than having a sag box out front and hacking the front crossmember to make it fit. There is plenty of stock bracketry available to adapt a pump to an SBC.

 

[Shark56]

Better link with a lot more info on the electric steering.

DIY Electric Power Steering

OCTOBER 2020 - UPDATE - HAD A PROBLEM W/ ONE OF THE SPLINED CONNECTORS. SEE POST WITH UPDATE HERE- > LINK I recently bought a 1978 FJ40. I live in a congested city w/ tight parking and often parallel parking. It was a chore to park. After doing some research on the possible options I decided...

forum.ih8mud.com

Fixed the link

 

[FloridaLife]

Mini truck. all I had to do was replace the PS mount on the frame with a mini truck box mount I would suggest having it rebuilt by west texas off road before you install as the ones out there probably are work and have shafts that will need some attention to clean them up and seal right.if you have a 78 block the PS mount should bolt right up on the left side.

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[brian]

A full tank of gas.

 

[FloridaLife]

Mini truck. all I had to do was replace the PS mount on the frame with a mini truck box mount I would suggest having it rebuilt by west texas off road before you install as the ones out there probably are work and have shafts that will need some attention to clean them up and seal right.if you have a 78 block the PS mount should bolt right up on the left side.

View attachment 3719980

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View attachment 3719982

Thank you, and thanks for the pics. It is not here where I can look at it (on a pallet at the mechanic's waiting for the paint and body shop to finish), but the seller said this particular '78 2F block was not factory drilled and tapped for a power steering pump mount. I'll have to double check it. I did see a kit on Ebay that uses a mini truck steering box from a 1979 - 1985 Toyota Pickup 4WD or 4Runner 4WD and the pump mount bracket bolts up by removing the front 2 driver's side head bolts, bracket over the holes, and put those 2 head bolts back and re-torque. The only problem is that I was planning on using my freshly powder coated 1F air cleaner but the pump would be in the way. I could, however, find a 2F air cleaner and use it, or just use the tiny aftermarket one that is already on it. I'd just prefer one of the OEM air cleaners and bigger / better filter. See pick:

I have built 3 units using a motor from a Saturn Vue, (Japanese Koyo motor).

City Racer sells a ready to bolt in unit. Price is really not bad at all when you consider the time a ability to do it yourself.
There are stronger options such as Sag., 80 series, mini truck ect. But the all involve a lot of fab work.

Electric Power Steering for Land Cruiser FJ40

Your opportunity to enjoy a leapfrog in technology and go straight to the age of the Teslas! A complete kit to convert your Land Cruiser FJ40 to electric power steering. Developed by EZ Electric Power Steering using components produced by Koyo and NSK, both made in Japan and affiliated with...

forum.ih8mud.com

Thanks for the info. I was reading the Sag instructions yesterday and that seemed like a lot more work and my welder and tools were stolen years ago, plus I don't know that my hands would be steady enough for it these days. And, I'm not a big fan of how the Sag conversion looks, with it right out in front in plain sight.

 

[FloridaLife]

I prefer Scout type P/S which includes FJ60 or FJ80 boxes too. It's actual P/S and IMO, less obtrusive than having a sag box out front and hacking the front crossmember to make it fit. There is plenty of stock bracketry available to adapt a pump to an SBC.

SBC - Yeah, I miss my 1969 Chevy 1/2 ton SWB Fleetside C10. Working on or doing anything to that SBC was so nice and easy. A trip to a salvage yard and very cheaply I added power steering and A/C. I should have kept that truck. Someday for a wedding gift I could give 1 son the pickup, and the other the FJ40.

 

[FloridaLife]

Better link with a lot more info on the electric steering.

DIY Electric Power Steering

OCTOBER 2020 - UPDATE - HAD A PROBLEM W/ ONE OF THE SPLINED CONNECTORS. SEE POST WITH UPDATE HERE- > LINK I recently bought a 1978 FJ40. I live in a congested city w/ tight parking and often parallel parking. It was a chore to park. After doing some research on the possible options I decided...

forum.ih8mud.com

Fixed the link

Thank you, very much.

 

[FloridaLife]

In my previous "New to the FJ40 Scene" I had posted some picks, and some guys pointed out it had a lift kit, with 3 leafs added to the front, and 2 leafs added to the back, and there was a CCOT HFS Lift Kit sticker on the back liftgate glass. My Gen 3 4Runner was the perfect height to comfortable get in and out of, but I sold it and my motorcycle to help fund this FJ project. Having had surgery on both hips 39 years ago, and 3 low back surgeries in the recent past, cruisermatt recommended I remove the lift and it will ride better for me. While I really like the look of a lifted FJ40 with some good beefy tires, for what I'm going to be doing with the FJ40, I'm thinking I'm going to take cruisermatt's advice and remove the lift too.

And, I'm looking forward to experience of the 2F and 4 speed (converting from 3 on the tree to 4 on the floor, with an overdrive unit), if clutching becomes too painful on my hips and/or low back, then I'll do an SBC / automatic transmission swap.

 

[1MOA]

It does fine offroad as well. Hard core stuff could be a problem, but I have run Blue and Black trails with both of mine on 33's. But I think 33's are the limit for tire size in the rocks.
For every day driving, beach driving, fishing excursions, it is by far the easiest way to get power steering.

TLCA member who installed it on a stock open open 76 40 with 31's ate two motors on trails here in VA and he was not running hard stuff at all green/blue trails. it was a well set up truck and he a gentle wheeler as well. I drove it and liked the feedback it gave both on and off road but everyone might have different experiences with it.
What I did like was when it failed he was simply driving a manual steering set up again and it didn't drag at all.

 

[ChargedFZJ]

My vote for the electric power steering. I went with the Toyota Archives - Ez Electric Power Steering - https://www.ezpowersteering.com/car-brand/toyota-en-us/ kit with the speed sensitive potentiometer on my ‘75 FJ40.
Easy install and works awesome with existing steering setup.

2nd is the mini-truck disc brake conversion on my ‘65.

I have the Saginaw power steering also on my ‘65 but with 33” tires it feels too light. I tried to tighten it but it fails to return to center if adjusted too much. May work better with larger tires. With the amount of time and components needed for Saginaw steering I recommend highly the electric power steering.

 

[FloridaLife]

My vote for the electric power steering. I went with the Toyota Archives - Ez Electric Power Steering - https://www.ezpowersteering.com/car-brand/toyota-en-us/ kit with the speed sensitive potentiometer on my ‘75 FJ40.
Easy install and works awesome with existing steering setup.

2nd is the mini-truck disc brake conversion on my ‘65.

I have the Saginaw power steering also on my ‘65 but with 33” tires it feels too light. I tried to tighten it but it fails to return to center if adjusted too much. May work better with larger tires. With the amount of time and components needed for Saginaw steering I recommend highly the electric power steering.

Thank you. Everyone has provided some great information today!

I've also thought about a disc brake conversion, but CCOT says on their site the reason they don't carry a disc brake conversion kit is because if the drum brakes are properly maintained and adjusted they work great and there is no need. However, I'm still tempted because I still remember well how 'fun' it was working on my '69 Chevy's drum brakes.

Who's disc brake conversion did you go with and recommend?

 

[FloridaLife]

My vote for the electric power steering. I went with the Toyota Archives - Ez Electric Power Steering - https://www.ezpowersteering.com/car-brand/toyota-en-us/ kit with the speed sensitive potentiometer on my ‘75 FJ40.
Easy install and works awesome with existing steering setup.

2nd is the mini-truck disc brake conversion on my ‘65.

I have the Saginaw power steering also on my ‘65 but with 33” tires it feels too light. I tried to tighten it but it fails to return to center if adjusted too much. May work better with larger tires. With the amount of time and components needed for Saginaw steering I recommend highly the electric power steering.

I just went to the link to check out the electric steering. It looks like it is for '72 and up. Mine is a '71. Would it work? If it matters, instead of using the 3 on the tree I'm converting it to 4 on the floor.

 

[FloridaLife]

I have built 3 units using a motor from a Saturn Vue, (Japanese Koyo motor).

City Racer sells a ready to bolt in unit. Price is really not bad at all when you consider the time a ability to do it yourself.
There are stronger options such as Sag., 80 series, mini truck ect. But the all involve a lot of fab work.

Electric Power Steering for Land Cruiser FJ40

Your opportunity to enjoy a leapfrog in technology and go straight to the age of the Teslas! A complete kit to convert your Land Cruiser FJ40 to electric power steering. Developed by EZ Electric Power Steering using components produced by Koyo and NSK, both made in Japan and affiliated with...

forum.ih8mud.com

City Racer's kit is for a '73 or newer.

I have a 1971 Toyota FJ40 with a build date of December 1970. It originally had a 1F (or F) engine and 3 speed manual transmission with the shifter on the column. However, I am changing it to a 1978 2F engine with a 4 speed transmission with the shifter on the floor (transmission tunner / cover).

I see that the EZ electric power steering conversion kit is only listed for 1972 and newer. With me changing the shifter to the floor, would the EZ kit work for my 1971 FJ40, or are there other things that would stop it from working?

Also, in that other thread link I saw mentions of $2,000 but then saw other references to $600. I glanced over things again but I still didn't see $600 anywhere. Is it the conversion rate from their currency over to US Dollars that makes it $600?

With you sourcing the electric power steering out of a Saturn Vue, what all components did that get you, and what all else did you have to source, and do? Does it work with your OEM steering box, or do you have to source another steering box too? And FYI, a '71 does not have a rag joint. The column runs straight directly to the steering box.

Thank you,
Don

 

[brian]

Unlikely.....completely different steering column.

 

[ChargedFZJ]

I just went to the link to check out the electric steering. It looks like it is for '72 and up. Mine is a '71. Would it work? If it matters, instead of using the 3 on the tree I'm converting it to 4 on the

I just went to the link to check out the electric steering. It looks like it is for '72 and up. Mine is a '71. Would it work? If it matters, instead of using the 3 on the tree I'm converting it to 4 on the floor.

The electric steering comes completely with a column the just replaced the OEM column. I’ll have to look at both my 65 and 75 fj40 to see if it would work for both older and later models.

 

[FloridaLife]

Unlikely.....completely different steering column.

Ah! I think I found a solution in one of the threads someone mentioned above. They spoke VERY highly about Ken at ePowerSteering.com and looking at their website they even make kits for those with column shifters (even though I'm removing mine and putting it on the floor), and it's less than half the price.