Clearing up som SOA concerns.

[BigRed08]

I've been reading up on the SOA conversion tech on here. I've held off posting some of the stupid questions and just spent all nite searching, lol, kinda sucks that everyone puts "SOA" in their sigs and a search results in a million hits!

I own and FJ62. My first concern is driveshaft length front and rear. I dont plan on doing a C&T right away. so i'm leaving the pinion angle where its at. i expect some vibration but this is not my daily drver. i just want to know if the shaft will work and not split apart on flex.

I plan on buying some cut and turned housing froms profits or some other such dealer and building new axles from there. thats hy the C&T isnt an immediate concern.

Second, Steering. Mine is a bit worn. could stand new and plan on doing all this with the axle, but money is tight and the rebuild will be a slow process. I'm looking at the hy steer arms from JT outfitters (local shop for me) i think that will keep my geometry correct. Is there a better option out there? anything that may solve my geometry issue and worn tie rod end problem at the same time?

Finally, clearanceing the crossmember. I've spent some time today under the truck and for the life of me, cannot see ANYTHING that is going to come in contact with he drive shaft. is there something i am not forseeing here ?


well, had a nother thought as i was typing that. U Bolts. i assume my stock ones will not longer work. how are you guys setting up the ubolts? are you reusing the u bolt pad/shock mounts?

 

[CruisinFJ60]

i would / am gonna buy a kit from Ruff Stuff Specialities

its very complete and BEEFY! HERE is a link

 

[CruisinFJ60]

do not re-use your old u bolts
if you are talking about THIS hy steer kit from jtoutfitters then no it will not solve your problem with your tie rods needing replaced. this is the arms only

would buy something like the Marlin kit
or the Trailgear Kit

both of these offer complete kits

 

[BigRed08]

Thanks. The trail gear stuff looks like the best option. I am assuming when they say "IFS steering box needed" they are not refering to FJ 60s

Their no questions asked warranty sounds appealing. anyone had to deal with this?

Thanks for replying guys, i didnt even know Marlin did a whole kit, and i didnt even know trailgear existed. There's been so much i've read about fj's since buying mine, its hard to take it all in and make sense out of it.

 

[goodtwin]

I did the cut and turned housing from profitt's about 4 years ago and it worked great. I just cut and turned it again myself, about 3 months ago. The reason that I did was because my springs were shot and then when I replaced them the truck was alot higher. I know that wasn't in your questions, but I just wanted to let you know that so you can think about what spring option you also want to do right now. As far as steering goes, I'm running the marlin kit and it works great. I'd like to try the 4x4 labs arms because of how cool the geometry factor is but marlin's kit works well.
And my front drive shaft wasn't too short after I used the c&t'd axle from profitt's but it is almost too short now. I'll probably get them both lengthened here eventually. But I don't know a great deal about fj62 driveshaft angles and whatnot. I think that they're a bit less extreme.

 

[BigRed08]

Thanks for the info Goodtwin, i wouldnt have thought about wornout springs screwing with the measurements. Thats good info to know when i build the front axle.

I like the 4x4 labs design because it moves the rod behind the axle. I'm into RC crawling and thats something we do with the 10th scales to keep them from getting caught on the rocks.

 

[chicago]

On my 62, Im still using the stock front shaft without any issues except a bit of a vibe when in 4WD at speeds. I would clearance the u joints a bit for piece of mind. I do plan on eventually getting a DC front shaft made in the near future. I AM running a custom made DC in the rear. There was just no way around it.
As far as the hy steer...I used Marlin's kit and have NO COMPLAINTS with it, and the price was good too IMO.
Ive got a bunch of pics of my SOA if you need any!
You shouldnt have to do anything to the x member.
Are you using stock springs?
If so, you might wanna consider a long AAL in the packs.

Good luck

Chicago

 

[BigRed08]

okay, so ive read that the long springs are better, but why do you suggest an AAL? to help with spring sag, or will the forces being pushed on the spring be so different with the axle underneath that its necesary?

 

[chicago]

okay, so ive read that the long springs are better, but why do you suggest an AAL? to help with spring sag, or will the forces being pushed on the spring be so different with the axle underneath that its necesary?

It helps with spring sag.
Ive seen many a photo of the stock packs flattening out. SOA is a lot more stress on the packs that SUA. Im moving into my second wheeling season SOA with the stock packs and ALL's, and theyve maintained shape VERY well, and I dont pack particularly light especially when wheelin for a couple days while camping on the trail.

Chicago