building a full width cruiser???? (1 Viewer)

[ironpig70]

building a 70 fj40 with a dana 44 front 12 bolt rear i outboarded the front end and i cut the rear springs perches off and bought new so they are "stock width" since i'm running an auto and felt ny rear driveline was a little on the short side i used chevy 63" springs and shoved my rear end back 6-7".

so heres my list of questions if you can answer any or all i'd appricate it very much.


1) why remove the stock shock tower and use ford?? and what year of ford works best??
why is this better than the stock towers??? since i moved the rear end back should i just make up a new crossmember and remove the old one or keep it in because its a support of some sorts???

2) how close to 90% are you suppose to keep your shocks???

3) how steep of a rear pinion angle can i safely achieve(it will be street driven)????


thanks for any help or insit you can provide and if you have pics or drawings that would be great

 

[Mace]

1) ford towers are longer. They allow for al onger travel shock. bout any year from early 70's to the late 80's
I believe the part number is in the tech pages somewhere.

2) 90%??
You mean 90*? as close as is practical. A bit off does not hurt anything..

3) Turn itup and over fill it. You will be fine.

 

[woody]

1> the front Ford tower is an easy way to install longer shocks, usually 14" stroke shocks will fit. See the "tech trivia" link at the top of all the site pages for the part number and application. They are cheap too....

In the rear, keep the stock support, move the shock mounts from ahead to behind that support, and locate the axle-side as needed. I'll guess the shocks will mount slightly ahead of axle centerline, rather than 1-2" back like they do stock.

2> 90%? I assume 30-35% uptravel and the balance downtravel for stroke, but it varies a great deal per rig. If you mean the angle of the shock, the more verticle the better for damping control....also, I'd do gas-charged shocks over "normal" ones in a heartbeat....VERY pleased with the Bilsteins I run now.

3> see http://www.4xshaft.com for info on pinion angles....angle is irrevelant.....angle of pinion relative to angle of t-case output is critical. If the pinion points straight at the t-case output, you run a CV type rear shaft. Otherwise, the down angle of the t-case (say, 3*) should equal the up angle of the pinion (again, 3*)

 

[ironpig70]

In the rear, keep the stock support, move the shock mounts from ahead to behind that support, and locate the axle-side as needed. I'll guess the shocks will mount slightly ahead of axle centerline, rather than 1-2" back like they do stock.


woody my concern here is that i moved the rear end back 6"- 7" so they would be no where near 90 degrees they would be at more near a 45 degree angle. will look into the ford towers.


and thank you for the link i need one of those double cardigan shafts. not going to weld in my new perches till i get my shaft but was trying to gauge what is to extreme.

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi All:

Jeeze! I saw a poor FJ40 once that some guy had swapped Chevy pick-up axles (10 bolt) and P/S onto. It looked rather wierd, with axles that stuck out too far and p/s gearbox outboard of the frame rail!

Swapping in a Dana 44/ Chevy 12 bolt is not any stronger than a stock 30 spline TLC axle. At least go with full-floating Dana 60s!

regards,

Alan
Seattle

 

[bustanutley]

woody my concern here is that i moved the rear end back 6"- 7" so they would be no where near 90 degrees they would be at more near a 45 degree angle. will look into the ford towers.

If I'm reading this correctly I think that you are confused. The Ford shock towers are used up front to achieve a longer shock. As for the back the only way to get a longer shock back there is to go through the floor or go with a crazy and on the shocks.

Here is the part number for those towers:

E5TZ-18183-A

 

[fj40charles]

Hi All:

Jeeze! I saw a poor FJ40 once that some guy had swapped Chevy pick-up axles (10 bolt) and P/S onto. It looked rather wierd, with axles that stuck out too far and p/s gearbox outboard of the frame rail!

Swapping in a Dana 44/ Chevy 12 bolt is not any stronger than a stock 30 spline TLC axle. At least go with full-floating Dana 60s!

regards,

Alan
Seattle

I agree. For the amoun of troble involved in installing different axles, go with 1 tons and be done with it.

 

[Mace]

The nice thing about doing the D44/12 bolt is that swapping to a D60 is basically a plug n play deal...


BTW, you can run the ford shock towers on the rear. It is tough unless you have FW axles tho..

 

[bustanutley]

Do they fit within in the rear wheelwell? Thats pretty wild, seams like you would end up rubbing on the shocks even with full widths.

 

[Mace]

It all depends on how you mount them. I have my current shocks in the fenderwells and do not hit.

Gotta remember that a cruiser axle is 55" wide
rear full width is 67" or so.

That is a lot of extra room

 

[hammerhead]

You mean 90*?

Naw, I think he means 90°...

 

[LC_Hamma]

Hi All:

Swapping in a Dana 44/ Chevy 12 bolt is not any stronger than a stock 30 spline TLC axle. At least go with full-floating Dana 60s!

regards,

Alan
Seattle

Couldn't agree more! Now, if your only reason to swap is to get wider axles for better link locations, I can see that. Or if you're planning to go lower than 4.88 gear ratio & get rid of pesky birfields, I can see that too.

 

[HI^C]

yes and no, yes and no

plug and play yes and no.

if your going to do it do it once!

WORST case run 3/4ton front like d44hd and 14b rear (or 60, 70, 80 )
then upgrade to the 60 front later

STRONGLY agree with staying away from 1/2 tons

63s on a fj40? wow, i have seen one, but do think that is too long of a spring for the 40. spend more time on the shackles or frame mounts then on the actual tires.


PICS of rear fenderwell mounted shocks? interesting. you have my email