Doing SOA over Christmas Break! The never ending saga!!! (1 Viewer)

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Update:
Finally helicoiled the messed up caliper bolt hole on my driver’s steering knuckle. The spare knuckle I have had the same problem so I did both. Thanks to Ross I was able to do it for free since he had the tap, helicoils, drill, and installation tool. I had to hunt down a guy at work to borrow a ½” chuck drill to fit the bit to make the pilot hole for the threads.

I also spent 4 hours grinding and fitting the plate that holds two extra studs. This will attach to the top of the knuckle allowing me to weld it on and have 6 stud knuckles to match the 4x4 labs 6 stud arms. I hope it’s worth it in the end. Phil has mentioned in the past that he has exploded a knuckle using ram assist. This scares me because I’ve beefed up the studs to the point where they won’t shear so I’m wondering what the next weakest link in the steering system is.

Next up is a full axle rebuild so I’ll be ready to put in under next time I’m at my Dad’s shop. Business trip next week and two more planned in the next month or so as well. I need to get moving if I want to get this done for SnT 09. I’d hate to miss the huge gathering at the Dunes.
 
Randy88FJ62 said:
Update:
Finally helicoiled the messed up caliper bolt hole on my driver’s steering knuckle. The spare knuckle I have had the same problem so I did both. Thanks to Ross I was able to do it for free since he had the tap, helicoils, drill, and installation tool. I had to hunt down a guy at work to borrow a ½” chuck drill to fit the bit to make the pilot hole for the threads.

I also spent 4 hours grinding and fitting the plate that holds two extra studs. This will attach to the top of the knuckle allowing me to weld it on and have 6 stud knuckles to match the 4x4 labs 6 stud arms. I hope it’s worth it in the end. Phil has mentioned in the past that he has exploded a knuckle using ram assist. This scares me because I’ve beefed up the studs to the point where they won’t shear so I’m wondering what the next weakest link in the steering system is.

Next up is a full axle rebuild so I’ll be ready to put in under next time I’m at my Dad’s shop. Business trip next week and two more planned in the next month or so as well. I need to get moving if I want to get this done for SnT 09. I’d hate to miss the huge gathering at the Dunes.
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Are you talking rear/front or both axle rebuild?
 
Rear is alredy done and rebuilt. I only need to weld the perches on to set the pinion angle. I am talking about the front axle.
 
Working on AAL's and other front axle tidbits.
leafspring1.jpg

dustcover.jpg
 
Glad you're still moving on this. Mine got a Toybox and H41 since you last posted. Will you be ready for the wagon run in June?


I was just in Claremont last weekend (in my FJ62!). I'd like to see what you've got going.
 
Cruiserdrew said:
Glad you're still moving on this. Mine got a Toybox and H41 since you last posted. Will you be ready for the wagon run in June?


I was just in Claremont last weekend (in my FJ62!). I'd like to see what you've got going.
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You should have stopped by and got your gas tank. If i'm not done by June then I got bigger problems. I'm moving really slow but steady.

And yes, that is a dust shield. Only FJ62's got them; gives us superior braking :rolleyes:
 
I have the whole week after Christmas to work on my SOA. I’ll be starting on it Dec 23rd. Anyone interested in helping is welcome.

Dave,
I need help setting the rear pinion angle before I weld the perches. I’ll have the AAL’s ready to install in the rear. I also need help with the front ford shock tower mounting. Other than those two items I feel pretty confident I can finish the brakes myself. I ordered the extra U-bolt I needed from Ruff Stuff so I should have that ready to go too.

The front axle is already under the truck and the steering is already connected (not torqued down.) Once the rear axle gets set I feel the rest is relatively small potatoes.
 
This past saturday Dave showed up and helped me install the front ford shock towers. Now onto the rear shocks and then brakes and then driveshafts and then it's driveable (ignore run on sentence.)
 
Done.
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
I don't believe it.
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GLTHFJ60 said:

How do you like the truck?
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I drove it to my offroad meeting last night. I was apprehensive to take it on the freeway with no sway bars. I hit 75 mph with no problems and thankfully no vibrations! High speed turns or fast turns on the freeway are tough as the body sways a bit. I will definitely be putting the sway bars back on asap. The tire noise is minimal with the Goodyear MTRs. Engine runs fine although it did smoke like a mf for the first 10 mins of driving. The rear sits way too high so I hope the springs with MAF long AAL’s settles. If it does not settle then I will be running stock springs in the rear so they sag and lower the rear end. Suspension seems too stiff on the freeway so that will have to be tuned a bit. The articulation does not seem to be very good so that will have to be tuned as well. Passenger front tire rubs on inner fender wall so I will have to bash in the wall or add spacers. I hope to avoid spacers at all costs first. All in all I am just happy to have it on the road and driving again. I will be doing my shake down run this weekend at SnT so that may reveal any other issues. Brakes are slightly spongy so they will need to be rebled yet again. The ebrake mechanism is not hooked up although I did mount the first half of it with a welded bracket so that’s not too far from being completed. The ARB air compressor needs a home. It’s laying in the engine bay next to the passenger firewall now. To sum it all up, the SOA is done but the performance of the SOA is far from compelte.
 
Those springs need to be broken in. Flex it out so the driver front spring is flat, leave sitting there overnight. Next day flex it out so the passenger front spring is flat, leave sitting overnight. It'll flex much better after that.

That said, I took out my long AALs up front to gain more flex and lower the truck a bit. Now while sitting, my springs are a hair over flat. I like it.
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
Those springs need to be broken in. Flex it out so the driver front spring is flat, leave sitting there overnight. Next day flex it out so the passenger front spring is flat, leave sitting overnight. It'll flex much better after that.

That said, I took out my long AALs up front to gain more flex and lower the truck a bit. Now while sitting, my springs are a hair over flat. I like it.
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I'm using stock springs in the front and they are a good height. The rears have the AAL's. Good idea on the flex overnight thought. I'll have to try that.
 
Almost exactly two years.....sheesh!


Glad you're done. Cut those bolts!
 
:clap::clap::clap:
 
It was good seen that truck again and so damn hi too..
I only saw it once before when you drove it and compare to the way it sits now.. I think it used to be a lowrider !!:flipoff2:

Good to see yah driving it again eh !!!
 
SnT shake down run went well. Broke my upper driver’s side ford shock mount. The reason it broke is because I put a horrible weld on it. Was able to find a ready welder and put it back on with no trouble. I bent my passenger side front leaf spring. I assume this happened when I would hill climb and nail the bottom of the dune too hard if it wasn’t a smooth transition. The rear spring packs with long MAF AAL’s sit too high although it did settle slightly so I won’t touch those for awhile and see if those break in. Driving without sway bars on the road is interesting and different. I will definitely want to put those on for road driving. I installed and wheeled with the stock front driveshaft. I had no issues with it falling out or being too short. I don’t see an excess of splines sticking out when it sits so I’m going to stick with it as is for now. Articulation was minimal and I was not impressed. I will have to tune the suspension somehow to get more droop so that this will actually work in the rocks and not be a tippy pain in the butt.

New list of things to do:

Extend sway bar links
Beef up front leaf spring packs with long AAL’s or long leafs from spare stock packs.
Finish hard mounting all brake lines.
Complete the rear ebrake install with the chevy calipers.
Trim long ubolts
Retorque ubolts, steering studs, lug nuts, etc.
Find and order longer rear driveshaft bolts due to thicker CV shaft flange.
Hard mount arb air compressor instead of letting it sit in engine bay.
Chase down slight air leak in air locker line to that pump doesn’t have to come on constantly.

The list never ends but that’s the basics.
 
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