FJ40 stock height reference measurement help. (1 Viewer)

[Flipper1938]

I like the idea of no lift....you are making me re-think doing a springover

 

[Mieser]

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....

I will have to look and see what I can find, do you have a link to the build by chance?

Here is about how much space I have....



The white poster board is going to be the shape of the final tub size. I will be cutting the frame off some. I will be building a fuel tank that fits behind the axle. The fuel tank is going to be about 13-14" front to back so I should be able to cut the frame off just past the tire for a great departure angle. With the longer wheelbase it is pretty easy to get up onto things where the departure angle becomes very critical.

The bed I am making will be almost like something you would see on a 1940s truck with a 'step-side' design. It will be very similar to this one done by Chris Durham a few years back. It will be all 1/8" 5052 aluminum.



I think the box portion of the bed will be about 42" wide and 50" long front to back. I want a smaller bed that doesn't get in the way on the trail, but is large enough to lay a full size 40-42" tire down flat. With the tire flat in the bed, the visibility and center of gravity will still be very good. I hate looking over my shoulder and not being able to see anything. With the rear top panels removed I should be able to look over my shoulder and see the passenger side rear tire no problem.

 

[Mieser]

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..

Yes. I am using a 6L80E transmission. I bought a low mileage complete pull from a wrecked truck. I have the 2013 5.3L all-aluminum LC9 engine with the factory 6L80E. All from the same vehicle. I'm not building an Ultra 4 car. The stock 6L80E should be more than strong enough for this application with proper cooling. The gearing in them is fantastic. 4:1 1st gear and a .67 6th. The most fun thing about them is that the gearing is very broad. I will have 54:1 gearing in low range and will still be able to do 70mph in low before 6th gear redline. That will be really fun in the desert, sand, and mud. It will also be very nice not to have to do the high to low to high range shuffle on the trail between difficult parts of the trail. I will also be retaining the stock tap shift function which should be very fun to play with.

I just chopped a FJ40 tub in half and am building my own FJ45-esk tub. I also 'pinched' the tub at the doors to reduce the overall width down to about 56" wide. That was pretty fun.....

 

[Mieser]

I like the idea of no lift....you are making me re-think doing a springover

I generally always look for ways to move the wheel openings around to find more space for larger tires. Sometimes it takes a LOT of moving!

That is only one part of the equation however, but I think a very good space to start. I also try and raise the engine/transmission/transfer case up until the belly can be completely flat to the bottom of the frame. It is also nice to find as much up-travel in the suspension as practical. If the axle can't go all the way to the bottom of the frame I will look and see if I can move anything to make that possible.

 

[Flipper1938]

I generally always look for ways to move the wheel openings around to find more space for larger tires. Sometimes it takes a LOT of moving!

That is only one part of the equation however, but I think a very good space to start. I also try and raise the engine/transmission/transfer case up until the belly can be completely flat to the bottom of the frame. It is also nice to find as much up-travel in the suspension as practical. If the axle can't go all the way to the bottom of the frame I will look and see if I can move anything to make that possible.

Sounds like you are building a street rod or a bagged low rider.

 

[RAYJON]

Dans build,

D'animal 1964 FJ45 SWB Finally


Should give you some ideas for the tub,

I Like the bed design you chose,

 

[Mieser]

Sounds like you are building a street rod or a bagged low rider.

Ha.....I do build vehicles lower than most people. My old flat fender has been called a 'lo rider' by a few people....

1942 Jeep Willys MB - Low Rider



Overall this seems to work fantastic for me. I have pretty much the same clearance in all the right places as a 'normally' built vehicle.....good approach and departure angles, good belly clearance, good up-travel.....all with the same size tires. The only real drawback I have found is deep deep water....



(I don't recommend doing that!)

In the end I think it is worth it to build a vehicle like this. The lower stance and seating position typically handle much better on the road and promote a better feeling along with more predictability in the chassis to the driver.

Plus it looks cool.

 

[Weber Sarge]

Those '92 W250's are highly sought after around here , great workhorse of a truck .
Cool build , btw...
Sarge