FJ40 stock height reference measurement help. (2 Viewers)

[Mieser]

Hello.

I was wondering if anyone with a near stock FJ40/45 could help me out with a few reference measurements.

I am building a bit of a hybrid custom thing....



I have chopped and cut a lot of the body in different places. I am just looking to figure out basically what 'stock' height was.



How about a measurement to something like this? Or perhaps the bottom of the windshield frame? or windshield hinge?

Thank you for the help.

 

[Mieser]

How about to the top of the door post at the belt line of the body? Would that be easier?

 

[JohnnyC]

Did you look here?

Link: Toyota Dimensions & Drafts

 

[Mieser]

Did you look here?

Link: Toyota Dimensions & Drafts

I have looked at most of those drawings, I even converted some of them to a vector file and scaled them in a CAD program. I don't have a lot of the surfaces they are measuring from on this vehicle.....

It would be nice to have a few measurements from other FJ40s in the real world to compare to....

 

[DTSkyCop]

Here are some pics from my STOCK 40... Hope these help?? I got the tape measure as close as I could to body as I was measuring... These are as accurate as I could get by myself! Last picture is the bottom of the windshield..!

 

[Mieser]

That helps a lot, thank you.

That helps confirms what I was thinking. My creation seems to be sitting very close to 'stock' height at full bump with 40" tires. Stock FJ40 tires are about 28"dia? That would be a difference of 6" in radius.....my uptravel should be about that once the springs are back in. Interesting.

 

[DTSkyCop]

Those tires on your 40 are definitely monsters... Love the look of that thing for sure!!

 

[Mieser]

Those tires on your 40 are definitely monsters... Love the look of that thing for sure!!

Thank you. It should be a really fun little truck when its done.

 

[oldschool4wheeling]

Im curious.

What is you plan for this rig?

I don't guess I have ever seen stock height with 40 inch tires on anything....

 

[Mieser]

Im curious.

What is you plan for this rig?

I don't guess I have ever seen stock height with 40 inch tires on anything....

Plans? This thing is an evolution of my last project.....



I rebuilt my 1942 Willys MB a few years back. It has been a great vehicle, but if you can't learn and build something better your not trying. The flat fender was in a similar way......low, big tires, wide, high flat belly, front weight bias, etc. It works VERY well for an 85" wheelbase and a 35" tire. It basically has no-lift other than the tires. I had to move everything around to make that happen.

I have done a lot of 'wheeling and traveling in it over the last few years. I only live a few hours from Moab, UT and there is a lot of other great 'wheeling in this area. I also started doing some longer distance trips in it....

I did a 2000 mile trip from Colorado to Montana and back with about 300 miles of backcountry deep snow wheeling in 2013
2000 miles of nervous nirvana.... - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

I was invited to go on Ultimate Adventure in 2014 with 4-wheel and Off-Road magazine and they even let me come back for round two for the 2015 Ultimate Adventure also. I actually drove the old flat fender a total of 3150 miles in 2014. In 2015 I had to boogie out east with a trailer and was only able to do about 1300 miles that year in the old thing because of work commitments.

This new build is an evolution of what I have learned over the last few years....better, bigger, longer, stronger, faster, etc.

I want something that still had a simple classic old feel, but capable of interstate speeds like a modern vehicle. My flat fender goes 60mph and you are open to the elements. This new truck should go 80mph down the interstate with the cruise control on and will have a completely weatherproof modular hard top. I like being able to have an open vehicle only sometimes, the road noise and buffeting wears on you. I really wanted to have a lockable hard top system, with glass windows,that I could convert into a mostly open feeling cabin with good viability without having to leave anything behind. I am designing the top so the doors come apart and the rear window panels are removable.

A bit more wheelbase will allow me to play around on a few more of the longer and steeper things in Moab. My flat fender will do pretty much all of the book trails in Moab, but it has to go around things like Widowmaker on Metal Masher and the newer large Rock Pile climb on Pritchet Canyon. I want to check a few more things like that off my list....

I am going to try a small pickup-esk body on this one also. I didn't like the seating position in most of the normal small trucks....or rather my old knees don't really like sitting on the floor with a flat seat seat cushion. I wanted a more upright seating position. My old jeep is TIGHT and I need more space. The standard joke is that you don't get in...you put it on. I also didn't want a 'large' body. The FJ40 is about 63" wide behind the doors, that seemed too big to me honestly, so I pie cut the floor and pulled the doors in parallel to each other. That left me with a tub that was about 56" wide. I think that will be a really good width. The tires stick out a lot and will protect the body to some degree. The 'corners' are also going to be very small with minimal front fenders and a small step-side style bed.

On big trips I also wanted a bit more cargo space and room for a full size spare tire that didn't get in the way as much. With my flat fender I ended up having to stand the spare tire up in the rear cargo area, and actually stored gear inside the spare tire. While this works really well most of the time in function, the reduction in visibility is rather annoying. On the new truck the spare tire will fit flat in the bed so it is out of the way.

Ok....that is enough of a book I guess....aye.

I have a build thread going in two other places. I don't really get on Ih8mud as much as I would like. I'm not really too brand loyal.....

Jumping ship... - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

Blender, My LX450/FZJ80 + FJ45esk + GM + Land Rover crazy concoction - Expedition Portal

 

[oldschool4wheeling]

I was thinking while i wrote my first post "That is rubber overdrive if I have ever seen it". You mentioned 80 mph, and I dropped my phone, shewww, too fast for me! I like the ideas of driving what you brought..gives wheeling more of an adventure.

Im no expert on the latest and greatest builds. But where I come from, Appalachian Mountains, everyone 4 linked and had articulation out the wazoo. That is why I was curious about your build. Yours is more of a ground hugger with little articulation.

It looks sharp.

 

[Mieser]

I was thinking while i wrote my first post "That is rubber overdrive if I have ever seen it". You mentioned 80 mph, and I dropped my phone, shewww, too fast for me! I like the ideas of driving what you brought..gives wheeling more of an adventure.

Im no expert on the latest and greatest builds. But where I come from, Appalachian Mountains, everyone 4 linked and had articulation out the wazoo. That is why I was curious about your build. Yours is more of a ground hugger with little articulation.

It looks sharp.

Thanks you. I like building different things. Essentially, the new truck is running a 'stock' 80-series chassis. The picture above is at full bump with the springs and bumpstops removed sitting on an engine setup table. The final ride height will be about 6" taller once it is as final weight with the springs back in it....at least that is my hope. The 80-series chassis has room for about a 10.5-12" travel shock so it should have plenty of flex off road.

80mph is the goal for modern interstate travel.....with cruise control! My flat fender only goes 60mph because of the gearing. The new truck is running a double overdrive 6spd automatic with a modern v-8 engine. Since I was able to keep the 80-series chassis very close to the stock suspension and steering geometry it should drive like 'stock'. The only real variable is the big dumb tires. It will be interesting to see how that works out. I run 39s on my old dodge truck with no lift and a bunch of fender sectioning. That has worked well for me.

 

[oldschool4wheeling]

I was just reading about your "2000 mile trip........." Looks like a blast!

 

[Mieser]

I was just reading about your "2000 mile trip........." Looks like a blast!

That was my favorite trip to date. I learned a lot and had a blast. 13 days living out of a classic flat fender was life changing.

 

[Flipper1938]

Wow, you've had some cool projects. I skimmed the threads on my phone......definetly plan on killing a day thoroughly going back through them.

 

[Mieser]

Wow, you've had some cool projects. I skimmed the threads on my phone......definetly plan on killing a day thoroughly going back through them.

Thank you. If you're really bored....

My old dodge. Basically just big tires on a stock 92 W250 dodge with the Cummins/manual by sectioning all the fenders.
Project: Doitall Dodge - Expedition Portal

My 1942 Willys MB what I rebuilt a few years back.....changed everything by was going for a lost concept kind of thing.
Rango....1942 Willys MB - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

The links for the threads on the new truck are above.....the FJ45-esk body on a FZJ80/LX450 chassis with a bunch of other random stuff.

 

[RAYJON]

like the 80 series frame what are you doing to the suspension and axles?? I have a fj80- fj45 combo I'm working on not going 40 inch tires 35-37 max.. how about a side view...

 

[Mieser]

like the 80 series frame what are you doing to the suspension and axles?? I have a fj80- fj45 combo I'm working on not going 40 inch tires 35-37 max.. how about a side view...

I apologize, I don't have a picture like that yet. I have the project sideways in my shop and I can't get more than a few feet away from it in that direction. The body is also fairly incomplete at this point. I cut the FJ40 tub off just past the door pillar. I am working on roughing out the new body and will try to get a picture like that soon.

I am using everything as far as axles, suspension, and steering out of the donor 80-series. The LX450 donor I used has the factory e-lockers option also. Overall I am very impressed with the 80-series chassis......decent axle width, narrow front frame for tire steering angle, good suspension travel, full float rear axle, forward swing steering system, 4 wheel disc brakes, good wheelbase, strong frame, etc.

Because I am changing so many things with the body in regards to the front fender and front axle position, I had no problem fitting a 40" tire with the stock 80-series suspension. I pulled all the springs and bump-stops to confirm that I had enough clearance at full metal to metal suspension compression. The only real hiccup was that I will need to change the shape of the grill to accommodate the tires near full lock steering. The corner of the grill below the headlight. That change will look something like this when I am done....



I also moved the FJ40 body as far back as practical. The face of the grill is basically just in front of the stock steering box on the 80-series chassis. From what measurements I could find, it looks like the front axle is about 2" forward of the stock FJ40 position at full bump. The radius arms actually cause the axle to shift backwards at full bump. At ride height the front axle would be almost 2.5" forward of the stock position. This gave me plenty of clearance for the tire to turn lock to lock and not hit anything. I think that is 35 degrees of steering on the inside tire.

Depending on what you would be doing for a powertrain that may not all be practical. I am using a GM LS truck engine and positioned it where I wanted to match the body and frame to clear everything at full bump. I also wanted a completely flat belly pan in this car. The crank pulley just clears the front axle and everything is flush to the bottom of the frame. It will have a large flat belly pan made out of a single sheet of 1/4" thick 6061T6 aluminum.





I hope that helps. If you have any specific questions on how the FJ40 style body fits on the 80-series chassis fire away. I don't know much, but it looks like this one is working out pretty well so far.

 

[RAYJON]

Nice, thnks for the expanation, it will be a great rig when you are done. If you are using the 6l80, someone did a great writeup on pirate on them. Some minor stuff but a really stout trans..

Mine is similar with a ls-4l60 i shortened the frame 6" at the rear trailing arm hanger, havent mocked up the body like you did. Have a ratty fj40 tub here was thinking of buggy cutting it for the 106" wb i have now. Just throw it together and save the fj45 tub for something else..

 

[RAYJON]

Ohh when you get to body ideas look at what d'animal did with his fj45 on a fj60 chassis. You could do the same with a truggy bed.. with 112" of wheelbade you have alot of room to fill....