Hey All,
I am hoping someone can point me in the direction of an easy fix.
The brakes were shot on my 73 FJ55 when I got it and as part of the fix i decided a disc front end was in order. It came in the form of a complete front diff from a 1978 FJ55 and the Specialist Landcruiser wrecker who charged me two arms and a leg for a "ready to go" "Bolts straight in" front Diff. Was not only lying about it being in good nick but also about the bolts right in bit (the joys of interstate internet purchases) . But now I am many $ in and stuck.
The calipers, pads, brake lines and rotors were all completely fxxxed so they got fully overhauled (caliper rebuild with new pistons and seals, new pads, new soft AND hard lines and new rotors.) I Fitted new hub seals while we were in there and of course some nice new diff oil and a pinion seal. The front brakes alone now owe me the same as the purchase price of the Landcruiser.
We had to swap the diff centre's over because the tailshaft flange was totally different and the pinion Splines were tghe Early vs Late variety. Annoying, but no biggie there.
So its all bolted up and the last bits to put on are the Tie rod ends......... (insert Expletive a Sailor would blush at) as that's where it turned to s***.
The Taper on my original Tie rod ends is a narrow tapper. Maybe 12mm diameter at the top. The steering arms on the late model Diff need a much thicker taper on the Tie Rod ends. I cant swap the Steering arms on the housing over as the mounting bolts are very different in size. So I am stuck at the Tie Rod end OR attempting to fully rebuild the old Diff housing with all the new bits and that does not appeal as it had a collapsed bearing or two in it and I am not sure I can even fit the disc hubs onto it anyway.
The FJ62 TieRod Ends are thicker so they might fit the steering arms BUT the threaded end that they bolt into the drag link with is a larger diameter thread thread. I have no idea if the drag link from a later model anything else will be the right length but a new drag link may be part of the answer.
SO I am hoping that some of the far more knowledgeable than I may be able to let me know if there is a Tie Rod end I can use, a known combination of parts I have to use or am I destined to replace much/all of the steering now just to use the complete assembly of "later" model larger Tie Rod Ends.
The aftermarket parts catalogs only show one Tie Rod end for the FJ55 range so I assume the disc front/later/whatever version I now have are not that common. I have the Genuine Toyota 1969 to 1980 Parts list here that I am about go over, but it wont tell me thread sizes or the size of the taper.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
I am hoping someone can point me in the direction of an easy fix.
The brakes were shot on my 73 FJ55 when I got it and as part of the fix i decided a disc front end was in order. It came in the form of a complete front diff from a 1978 FJ55 and the Specialist Landcruiser wrecker who charged me two arms and a leg for a "ready to go" "Bolts straight in" front Diff. Was not only lying about it being in good nick but also about the bolts right in bit (the joys of interstate internet purchases) . But now I am many $ in and stuck.
The calipers, pads, brake lines and rotors were all completely fxxxed so they got fully overhauled (caliper rebuild with new pistons and seals, new pads, new soft AND hard lines and new rotors.) I Fitted new hub seals while we were in there and of course some nice new diff oil and a pinion seal. The front brakes alone now owe me the same as the purchase price of the Landcruiser.
We had to swap the diff centre's over because the tailshaft flange was totally different and the pinion Splines were tghe Early vs Late variety. Annoying, but no biggie there.
So its all bolted up and the last bits to put on are the Tie rod ends......... (insert Expletive a Sailor would blush at) as that's where it turned to s***.
The Taper on my original Tie rod ends is a narrow tapper. Maybe 12mm diameter at the top. The steering arms on the late model Diff need a much thicker taper on the Tie Rod ends. I cant swap the Steering arms on the housing over as the mounting bolts are very different in size. So I am stuck at the Tie Rod end OR attempting to fully rebuild the old Diff housing with all the new bits and that does not appeal as it had a collapsed bearing or two in it and I am not sure I can even fit the disc hubs onto it anyway.
The FJ62 TieRod Ends are thicker so they might fit the steering arms BUT the threaded end that they bolt into the drag link with is a larger diameter thread thread. I have no idea if the drag link from a later model anything else will be the right length but a new drag link may be part of the answer.
SO I am hoping that some of the far more knowledgeable than I may be able to let me know if there is a Tie Rod end I can use, a known combination of parts I have to use or am I destined to replace much/all of the steering now just to use the complete assembly of "later" model larger Tie Rod Ends.
The aftermarket parts catalogs only show one Tie Rod end for the FJ55 range so I assume the disc front/later/whatever version I now have are not that common. I have the Genuine Toyota 1969 to 1980 Parts list here that I am about go over, but it wont tell me thread sizes or the size of the taper.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
