FJ 62 SOA begins!

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SWEET very nice job ....
 
engine mounts

hey there Chicago and millions of followers :)

:censor: ing well done and thank you for your detailed write up,

I'm from Cape Town (south africa) and have been following your build for a while now,

i,m planing a complete rebuild for a truck(put an offer in to get a 1989 fj62 3f yesterday) and have been doing a lot of research here and on a couple of other sites,
i found one here in Cape Town that has done a SOA and went to look at it (to purchase) but after following your thread i decided to do my own build.

here's some pic's on this site of his truck in action http://therock.homedns.org/cruiser/set2/index.html

and also a short thread from a local forum of him doing the SOA, http://www.landcruiserclub.co.za/cms/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=97
i think you will have to sign up to view the pictures,

what i did come across but like a fool i cant find the post is that with the SOA and the huge wheels the guy was breaking his left engine mount a few times,

my question to you guys (yes all of you)
have you come across this problem before and how does one overcome this?

i have been racking my brain about this and i got a little picture in my head to some how put 2 mounts on the chassis linking them up with heavy gauge angle or flat bar back to the engine, (it's in my head and will have to draw it to explain :D)

but once again well done really gave me hope and encouragement to do mine

thank you and all your followers

Robert

p.s engine mount problems found the post , "Another thing, engine mounts.... very important. Especially the front left, get a spare, make sure it's OEM, not a repaired one, I've lost 3 now. Eventually I have resorted to welding chains to the mount that when it breaks, the engine doesn't climb out the bonnet any more."

and another "I would definitely not hard mount the back of the gearbox, that would crack under the torsional load. If you see a 45's mount, you will see it's quite long and extends to above the chassis. Yep, I seem to regularly break my mounts, and end up strapping the engine down. Part of the problem is due to me regearing the diffs, I am running 4.88:1 ratios, it is better suited to the 35" tyres."
 
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Thanks YOU ALL, for the props on the build! Its comforting, especially since when i started, I had NO IDEA as to what the hell I was doing!
You all made this thing do able for me!
ANYWAY,
I took it in for an alignment this morn, and my adjustment was off by 3/4 of an inch, so they straightened it out for me. After, I was able to really feel the rig driving down the street...
I have a slight pull to the right, which Im assuming is due to one of the castors being off a bit...Kinda bugs me but not a big deal, and there is a slight shimmy in the steering wheel between 40 and 50 MPH...NO IDEA what that is about! Any suggestions?
I took her out to the dirt by my house with the intention of measuring for shocks...
I ended up screwing around for an hour or so, not finding anything I could get a good solid FULL STUFF/ DROOP measurment off of.
So, I spent that time enjoying being back in the rig off pavement for a bit. I went easy, just rammping up hills and stuff.
I was AMAZED at the difference between the two set ups. Rides much nicer over the dirt road (although bouncy with no dampening), There as NO wandering in the front end (except the right pull), no bump steer and the articulation, even the little I did, was night and day!
I couldnt get a good ramp up to where just one tire was stuffed and the back end was still relatively level...
To be honest, I was expecting to feel the increased COG a LOT more, and Im pleasantly surprised that I really cant feel the difference all that much. I did get on some side hill while "testing" today, and when I thought I was getting a little too close for comfort...I got out of the rig and saw I had all fours on the ground!
Man I stoked!
Here are some pics for ya's! I still had a ton of room to go before stuff in these pics!

Thanks again folks!

Chicago
SOApics 107.webp
SOApics 108.webp
 
a few more!
SOApics 109.webp
SOApics 111.webp
 
and the last 2!
SOApics 113.webp
 
I hate to break it to you, but that nice shiny bumper isnt long for this world if you are gonna wheel it hard. Might want to sell that soon....

edit, oh yeah the truck looks great!
 
wouldnt DL this one for some reason!!!:confused:
SOApics 112.webp
 
I hate to break it to you, but that nice shiny bumper isnt long for this world if you are gonna wheel it hard. Might want to sell that soon....

HE HE!
The end caps are on by a THREAD!

Chicago
 
hey there Chicago and millions of followers :)

:censor: ing well done and thank you for your detailed write up,

I'm from Cape Town (south africa) and have been following your build for a while now,

i,m planing a complete rebuild for a truck(put an offer in to get a 1989 fj62 3f yesterday) and have been doing a lot of research here and on a couple of other sites,
i found one here in Cape Town that has done a SOA and went to look at it (to purchase) but after following your thread i decided to do my own build.

here's some pic's on this site of his truck in action http://therock.homedns.org/cruiser/set2/index.html

and also a short thread from a local forum of him doing the SOA, http://www.landcruiserclub.co.za/cms/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=97
i think you will have to sign up to view the pictures,

what i did come across but like a fool i cant find the post is that with the SOA and the huge wheels the guy was breaking his left engine mount a few times,

my question to you guys (yes all of you)
have you come across this problem before and how does one overcome this?

i have been racking my brain about this and i got a little picture in my head to some how put 2 mounts on the chassis linking them up with heavy gauge angle or flat bar back to the engine, (it's in my head and will have to draw it to explain :D)

but once again well done really gave me hope and encouragement to do mine

thank you and all your followers

Robert

p.s engine mount problems found the post , "Another thing, engine mounts.... very important. Especially the front left, get a spare, make sure it's OEM, not a repaired one, I've lost 3 now. Eventually I have resorted to welding chains to the mount that when it breaks, the engine doesn't climb out the bonnet any more."

and another "I would definitely not hard mount the back of the gearbox, that would crack under the torsional load. If you see a 45's mount, you will see it's quite long and extends to above the chassis. Yep, I seem to regularly break my mounts, and end up strapping the engine down. Part of the problem is due to me regearing the diffs, I am running 4.88:1 ratios, it is better suited to the 35" tyres."

4x4rob,
I havent heard of this...One of the more seasoned guyz might be able to shed some light on this topic though. It sound plausable that it could happen, but I donno. I hope not:eek:
Thanks for posting up, adn when you roll on your build, do a thread on it!
The pics of that white 62 look great!
Im un clear...do you have a 62, or are you gearing up to buy one?

Chicago
 
CONGRATS!!! :cool:

Its a long process for sure. I've referred quite a few folks to this thread already as you have done an excellent job documenting all the steps. Customers always inquire as to why SOA conversions cost so much from a shop, "I mean afterall its just as easy as flipping the perches and getting some longer shocks right?" :D There are alot of little items that will nickle and dime you until the end, especially when you starting considering gears/lockers, etc... which the rig will need after the taller tires.

Congrats again, glad to hear its on its own power again!

That was one of my first thoughts on SOA..."all it is, is re mounting the perches and flipping the springs...what's so hard about that?!"
I know now!

Chicago
 
Looking Good

Hey Keith,
Nice job on the 62, and the pictures look great. Thanks again for the hospitality while visiting Reno.
Donn:beer:
 
Looks great Keith, I bet you are still smiling. Wished you could have been on the trail with us today.

Jack
 
4x4rob,
I havent heard of this...One of the more seasoned guyz might be able to shed some light on this topic though. It sound plausable that it could happen, but I donno. I hope not:eek:
Thanks for posting up, adn when you roll on your build, do a thread on it!
The pics of that white 62 look great!
Im un clear...do you have a 62, or are you gearing up to buy one?

Chicago

Good morning Chicago (sun 8h20) :)

hope you are now having lots of beers, :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:

i will try and get some more info for you about the engine mounts,

once i start i will do a link in my first post to your thread as i think it will save a lot of questions and answers (me still amazed about the details of your thread)

i have put in an offer to purchase a fj62 with a 3f motor on friday and will get an answer by latest tuesday (hold thumbs me)

rob

p.s keep your thread alive by posting all the little snags you have
 
Its raining here in Reno today, but I HAD to get the shocks measured for, so I found a loading ramp over in the next town of Sparks...
Took the rig over there to do a little INDUSTRIAL PARK WHEELIN!!!
I didnt get FULL stuff, but real close...
The front:
Full extended= 31 in
compressed= 22.5
4 inches remaining to the bump stop (still had more trave to do)

The rear:
extended= 22.5
compressed=18
4 inches to the bump stop

Here are the pics!
SOApics 115.webp
 
more
SOApics 114.webp
SOApics 116.webp
 
last one
SOApics 117.webp
 
Nice.. gotta love wheelin parking lots ;)

on the motor mounts, the only thing I can think of is that the spacing of the engine mounts on a 60 (one on the motor and one on the tcase instead of motor and BH) is stressing the mount enough due to frame flex..

Doing a springover tends to make a person take his rig places they might not typically. So there will be additional stresses...

I have not seen a motor mount sheared directly from doing a springover.
 
Lookin' good Keith!

You mentioned a vibe between 40 and 50mph. Does it feel like tires or driveline? Get everything broken in and then see how it feels.

FYI: BFG & GY MT/R's are tough to get balanced so they are smooth at all mph/rpm bands: The bigger they are the tougher it gets. RoadForce balancing (Les Schwab on Virginia across from the RSCVA) helps alot...although that's only good until you chunk a couple tires ;) . I am running the ceramic beads in all 4 of my 35" and it helps alot...not 100% perfect but the closest my MT/R's have ever been...
 
Lookin' good Keith!

You mentioned a vibe between 40 and 50mph. Does it feel like tires or driveline? Get everything broken in and then see how it feels.

FYI: BFG & GY MT/R's are tough to get balanced so they are smooth at all mph/rpm bands: The bigger they are the tougher it gets. RoadForce balancing (Les Schwab on Virginia across from the RSCVA) helps alot...although that's only good until you chunk a couple tires ;) . I am running the ceramic beads in all 4 of my 35" and it helps alot...not 100% perfect but the closest my MT/R's have ever been...

Dan,
Thanks for bringing that up!
Ive been wracking my brain going through everything I did, trying to think if I did everything right.
The vibe is in the steering wheel only! When I mentioned it to the alignment guy, he said that the only thing that causes that would be the tires mot being balanced...
I was thinking is might be the wheel BS, maybe I set the bearing pre load wrong, I didnt toghten the rod end good...PARANIOD!
Its a slight vibration, but in the hyper obsessive state that Im in a loud fart in the cab would freak me out!
I crawled under the rig and re checked my angles, and the castor is off by about a degree from one side to the other. I donno how that happened...bad angle finder read maybe...

That makes me feel a bit better!

Thanks,

Chicago
 

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