From FJ Cruiser, to 80 Series, to GX460 (3 Viewers)

[r2m]

Overall it was a decent. Lift is in, Panhard bar is in, KDSS spacers in, wheels and tires on.

Still have some rubbing to deal with, I guess to be expected, but I thought I cleared all the places I'm rubbing so that's not instilling confidence in me.


The rears were not fast in comparison to the front...

1. Passenger front, very difficult to get sorted. Without dropping the sway bar, it was very very tight to get the Ironman shock in place and seated.
2. Driver Rear, top shock bolt. INSANE. Such little clearance to get the tools I needed in there. Needle nose vice grips worked until it actually started to see some torque. Then it would just spin. I ended up having to take some material off, and also modifying my crescent wrench to fit to finally get it. It's not the cleanest, and needs some touchup with a sanding pad and some paint, but it's in there. Passenger side went 100x faster, it felt like there was more clearance, but maybe I just learned from the driver side. I still had to take a bit of material off to fit my tools in there.

Other than that, it went as smoothly as I could have hoped. Ran into issues here and there, but normal stuff for the most part.

As noted on another thread, 6 or 12 ton jack stands are highly recommended in my opinion if you need full droop when raising the vehicle. To get the vehicle high enough to achieve fool droop, 3 ton jack stands are not tall enough.

Need to get an alignment and also find some more garage time this week. The garage time is the hardest thing for me to find as of late.

So far, pleased. This things is tall. Giving me 80 series feels looking at it from the rear.
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Where's the rubbing? Done a BMC yet?

 

[FJlandCruiser]

Where's the rubbing? Done a BMC yet?

I think the rubbing is plastic. I did the BMC, and as far as I can tell, tires clear BMC fine. I didnt trim much plastic away from the front side up front. So thats where I think the issue lies. Or, the first issue.

Curious, however, once a plate is welded onto the BMC, I think it may rub that plate if it's not welded in the way it needs to. If it's welded on top of the cut, then that will eat into the clearance that I cut away.
If that makes sense...?

 

[r2m]

I think the rubbing is plastic. I did the BMC, and as far as I can tell, tires clear BMC fine. I didnt trim much plastic away from the front side up front. So thats where I think the issue lies. Or, the first issue.

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Curious, however, once a plate is welded onto the BMC, I think it may rub that plate if it's not welded in the way it needs to. If it's welded on top of the cut, then that will eat into the clearance that I cut away.
If that makes sense...?

If you're referring to the "pinch" weld, then you'll need to pound it as flat as possible. I use a baby-sledge hammer. Similar to this: 3 lb. Hardwood Drilling Hammer - https://www.harborfreight.com/3-lb-hardwood-drilling-hammer-67817.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12169518939&campaignid=12169518939&utm_content=114845767897&adsetid=114845767897&product=67817&store=226&gclid=CjwKCAiA_6yfBhBNEiwAkmXy5zgq5Tn6XfB-WWscnrG3V8EnVzfgmtqiuLJ2twak5jv-6C3cGSB4RxoCTbUQAvD_BwE
With these last set of tires (315/70R17), which I really didn't want, but the only size during COVID, I was getting rubbing when I had none at all with my old (275/80R17) tires. The main reason for the rubbing now is that these 315/70R17 tires are wider. I had to have my caster moved forward and remove some of the wheel well liner on the front fenders. I still get rubbing, but very light at lock-to-lock. Can't wait to get back to my old size. It was the perfect size for my setup.

 

[FJlandCruiser]

If you're referring to the "pinch" weld, then you'll need to pound it as flat as possible.

The pinch weld is folded. I didn't fold it all the way flat, but as I could tell it is folded down plenty enough to clear.

If I need to fold it down more, I can easily. I used a 4 lb, short handle sledge for the hammering. Worked nicely.

 

[FJlandCruiser]

Had my first little shakedown weekend this past weekend.
Hit some pretty minor “trails” more like dirt roads. But was still great.

1. I love this thing
2. I’m still getting some slight rubbing on the body mount, I think.
3. The most concerning issue, I’ve got a metal on metal clanking sound that comes when I hit a bump going ~25 mph.
The noise is not loud. I’m if I have my windows up, I cannot hear it.

I got under the truck today, thinking it was going to be a fairly obvious find. But I’m stumped.
3.a it sounds like it’s coming from driver side front. But don’t know for certain.

• All suspension parts are torqued down, nothing I can tell is loose.
• Sway bar was checked both front and rear, cannot see any signs of potential contact spots.
• I removed the stock skid plates (had to to check out the front sway bar) and it also seems to be a non issue. Didn’t think it was, but still checking things out.
• I’m completely stumped as to what this noise could be.

It’s not very loud, but it definitely is there.
I think that when I put a sharp left hand steer in, I hear it also even if I’m on flat ground. But it’s been hard to test that with limited time.