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Yes.I'm pretty certain but just want to verify - do the suspension work (if I decide to go that route) before having drive shafts altered, right?
Thought you might say that. Again, depends on what future you see for this 40.Wow. Those are indeed expensive.
I'm going to guess "Burbank Springs". Long gone for good reason. The bushings were odd, as I recall. Larger than early OEM but smaller thanI certainly do not! It's on 39" tires right now but I will probably settle on 33s down the road.
I don't actually have any idea where to begin on lowering it though. I've added some pics of front suspension as well - feel free to suggest where to start on lowering this back down a bit (4" overall)? The front shackles are 5.5", the rear ones 4.5".
Front:
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Rear:
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Regarding the springs - no idea about their vintage. Is there a way to identify them?
Yes, I'm in Alaska. I'm familiar with Mark Whatley, by reputation anyway. Thanks for the recommendation.
You have driveshafts from two generations. The one with the external snap ring is 73 and earlier. The other, with internal snap rings will use u-joints from 1974 all the way up through the FJ80 series and first gen Sequoia. Either driveshaft can be used as long as you match the bolt pattern on the driveshaft to the corresponding pinion or t-case flange. The flanges are available in all the bolt patterns for the front t-case output and differential pinions but I don't know what's available for the t-case drum. Some or the drums are showing up out of China but I've only seen pics that appear to be a fine spline which would suggest a drum for the 81 and later 40s that had different t-case shared with the 60 series but used a t-case e-brake. Chances are good with theGreat questions. Now that I've fixed the bezel, I'll provide some further info.View attachment 3876066
Without getting too longwinded about it, although I come from a Toyota family, I prioritized bicycles over automobiles for most of my life. I helped my father work on our vehicles growing up (up to and including swapping transmissions), but only really became interested in vehicles long after I left home. I lived in England for a lot of my 20s and 30s where there is an old Land Rover rusting away in every back field. I always wanted to fix one up but never had the time or space. That's changed recently, so I bought this old thing.
Skills: I'm a decent bicycle mechanic. I've recently acquired a mig welder, which I'm learning to use. I have a shop and tools.
Intended use: the journey is the destination on this one. This FJ40 is a tool to help me learn how these systems work and how to work on them. I don't have any serious off-roading experience (although I beat the hell out of my 1990 4Runner in high school running around the backwoods and creeks in the Ozarks) and no intentions of making this thing super off-road capable. I have a Tundra which is my main transportation and hunting rig. I'd mostly like to take this thing apart and put it back together a lot better than it was. Having said that, this is Alaska and it's got to be able to get me where I'm going, through the snow and over the mountain.
I'm not in a rush. I towed this thing home in January and started reading the forums and bought a Haynes manual and watched a lot of YouTube (40channel and Project Wrong Way and others). I replaced the battery and turned the engine over for the first time last weekend when the sun came out. The fuel line was pretty far gone and it pissed out a lot of gas in the driveway. I replaced all that and now that it's dry and running. I checked the compression and got 120-125 psi in every cylinder.
It's missing the rear drive shaft, but it came with these (all too long). Pretty soon I'm going to take the canopy off and pull it into the shop. Where to start? View attachment 3876065
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