FJ45: 35's Vs steering rod arm

[Casper87]

Gday

Iv just brought a 78 FJ45 yesterday and have decided to put some 315/75/16 on her but have found out i cant go full steering lock as the boots are hitting the steering rod arm thingy.

The suspension is as far as im concerned, stock.

Has anyone else had this problem and what have you done about it?

Would a suspension lift help the problem?

Heres a picture of what i mean

Cheers
Josh

 

[CycloSteve]

Wheelspacers will help, but may just move the problem to the outside. 315's are wide for sure.



Steve

 

[Leaping Deer]

Is it factory powersteering? If not do a powersteering conversion using an FJ60 and get rid of that draglink. You'll probably want powersteering with wide tires anyway.

 

[Fast Eddy]

1/4" spacers will help some, and/or adjust your steering stops. A lift will not help and may make it worse. Those are very big tires for that steering setup.

 

[45Kevin]

I had 33x10.50's on mine. It did the same thing. I don't know what the backspace was, and I did not have wheel spacers.

That draglink boot will be shot in no time. Make sure you grease it constantly.

The tires also hit the fenders when fully flexed.

 

[reddingcruiser]

Yep, those are big tires for a stock steering/suspension set-up. Wheel spacers will get the tire away from the steering. What backspacing do you have on the wheels? I have the same size tire, but my set-up is WAY different. You will have more issues, as you are currently configured, when you try to do any serious off-road driving.

 

[Casper87]

Thanks for the info mate.

I dont really want to put wheel spacers on her as the boots stick out past the guards already. In saying this, i realize i cant put in the wider 60 series diff either. Bugger...

Redding: what steering/suspension setup do you recommend? I will eventually put a power steering setup on her, i just didnt realise a 60 series setup shall fit on the 40s. I am also thinking about a 2" spring lift then possibly looking at 2" extended greasable shackles, depending on how it looks and how much play i get with the new suspension. Is that a wise idea?

Im in Carnarvon WA, OZ, atm so parts up here are not readily available...

 

[grayfj40]

The back spacing should be 3.5", I think that your back spacing is about 4".
You can run these tires on a 8" wheel.
If you get wheels with the correct back spacing it should solve your problem.

PS. Adding lift is not going to help you out with this problem.

 

[Fast Eddy]

I'm not a fan of longer shackles, but a 2" lift will give you some good fender clearance. The '60-series PS is doable, but you'll still need some custom tie rods and other parts. A '78 won't have the holes drilled for the PS pump, so you'll have to figure a solution to that.

Is this the rig you bought? carnarvon wa australia - Google Maps Gotta love the Google.

Found this nice '60 down by the harbour too: http://goo.gl/maps/MYDV

 

[Casper87]

Haha nice google find mate, but nah, i gots the 45 ute.

What do you mean by back spacing? Is that similar to the wheel/rim offset?

Josh

 

[Fast Eddy]

Haha nice google find mate, but nah, i gots the 45 ute.

Lots of good stuff in that little town: carnarvon wa australia - Google Maps