ARCHIVE FZJ40

[IPOR]

Just curious how does a hybrid vehicle like this get titled/registered? Is is as a 40 or 80? I guess it might vary by state.

Good question. I registered mine to match the FJ40 vin tag on the door because it's the first one anyone is going to look at. I'm emmissions legal for the year of the motor in the event that they realize the motor is from a newer vehicle.

Lance

 

[soenke]

in Germany the frame number counts...so our truck is 1993 like the HDJ 80 donor -would have liked the 1979 form the J4 better...

Lance, I wonder about all the tube fender builds combined with sliders and cages wich are common in the states.. what I have seen the tubes are welded to the frame and attached to the body forming the fenders ? doesn´t that brake when the chassis is flexing going routh terrain? (I have seen the tube fender in your shop is just a fender using the original mounts)

 

[Waggoner5]

I built my truck 3 years ago and have really put it through the ringer. All of my trucks fenders, sliders and cage parts are welded to the frame. The 80 series chassis is very stiff and I have seen no cracks or breaks anywhere.

 

[soenke]

Hey Gary,

yes I have been thinking about your great build, seem as if it works with the 80 frame and perfekt suspension,
but what about the J4 based builds driving washboad pists and flexing ?? just wondering.

PS fired up the new engine? I like youre truck , gave us the guts to start with our projekt

 

[ChuckB]

Good question. I registered mine to match the FJ40 vin tag on the door because it's the first one anyone is going to look at. I'm emmissions legal for the year of the motor in the event that they realize the motor is from a newer vehicle.

Lance

Lance,

Thanks, that's exactly why I'm asking. I plan on ending up in the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia at some point and would love to have YOU do this for me on with a 40 or 60 !!!!

 

[IPOR]

EDIT: also, one question, in one of those pictures it looks like the roll cage bar comes down and connects to the floor right beside the brake pedal. It looks really close. Is that just a camera angle or is that going to be a issue?

Probably camera angle. The pedal clears with room to spare - but remember it's just a brake pedal, not a clutch as you would have in a standard 40. This cage would clear the clutch pedal too - we build a lot of MT cages here and never have problems. The only time I've had to relocate pedals to clear a cage was when we installed one into a RHD FJ40 - that was tight!

Lance

 

[IPOR]

in Germany the frame number counts...so our truck is 1993 like the HDJ 80 donor -would have liked the 1979 form the J4 better...

Lance, I wonder about all the tube fender builds combined with sliders and cages wich are common in the states.. what I have seen the tubes are welded to the frame and attached to the body forming the fenders ? doesn´t that brake when the chassis is flexing going routh terrain? (I have seen the tube fender in your shop is just a fender using the original mounts)

Technically speaking I suspect the frame number counts here as well. I own both donor vehicles so if there's a problem at least I'll have the option of correcting the registration. It could ultimately be problematic if I do because in the US airbags became mandatory in 95.

ChuckB - if you're registering in CA you should do some research first. It may be best to start with a donor that is a 93-94 if you need to register it as the 80.

Lance

 

[IPOR]

Lance, I wonder about all the tube fender builds combined with sliders and cages wich are common in the states.. what I have seen the tubes are welded to the frame and attached to the body forming the fenders ? doesn´t that brake when the chassis is flexing going routh terrain? (I have seen the tube fender in your shop is just a fender using the original mounts)

My front fenders do not use the original mounts because they are 40 fenders on an 80 frame. They are bolt on and have multiple attachment points to ensure they can take the abuse I will surely put them through. My rear fenders are welded to the body and to a subframe below the body that supports the roll cage and makes up the 6 mounting points to the frame.

No cage can guarantee your safety in the event of an accident, it's all about moderating the risk to a level you're comfortable with. I have a strong cage attached to the body and subframe. The body and subrame are mounted to the frame via urethane mounts to reduce the amount of vibration transmitted to the cab. Ideally I would have more rigid mounts to the frame - for example 4 bolts at each mounting point and no urethane body mounts. Again, I realize my setup is not perfect, but it's about reducing the risk of injury and it does that very well.

In situations where a roll is likely I will pull cable - that's why I spent all the $$ on the winches. Remember too that this is my (soon to be) daily driver and weekend warrior... I have the FJ55 buggy for hardcore wheeling.

Wait... did I post this thread in the hardcore corner?... I hope the moderator doesn't bust me down to the softcore corner for this!

Lance

 

[Waggoner5]

I registered mine as the 96 donor. Frame numbers, engine numbers etc were too much to try to make it a 65. I don't see the reason to title it as anything else unless emissions or the airbag thing becomes an issue.

 

[IPOR]

I registered mine as the 96 donor. Frame numbers, engine numbers etc were too much to try to make it a 65. I don't see the reason to title it as anything else unless emissions or the airbag thing becomes an issue.

That was my initial intent, but fear of airbag complications with the 95 registration swayed my decision. If I had it to do over again I would still buy a 95+ for the smarter transmission and hope for the best. It would be an easy decision if you had a 94 or earlier.

Speaking of grey areas... Gary - didn't you run no catalysts with cat deletes for the second O2's with the FZJ drivetrain? Did that ever become an issue for you? What are your plans for the UZJ exhaust (sorry if I missed something in the project x thread!).

Lance

 

[Waggoner5]

I ran no cats and fooled the second 02. I am not sure on the exhaust yet for the V8, but fooled the second set of 02s on the 2UZ also. I plan on a simple 2 into 1 exhaust with a Magnaflow muffler dumping out in front of the rear tire just like the 1FZ was.

 

[Waggoner5]

Hey Gary,

yes I have been thinking about your great build, seem as if it works with the 80 frame and perfekt suspension,
but what about the J4 based builds driving washboad pists and flexing ?? just wondering.

PS fired up the new engine? I like youre truck , gave us the guts to start with our projekt

I really like the 80 series suspension for just about everything with exception of really heavy weight carrying. In that application, I don't think anything would better than leaf sprung rear suspension. Of course if a truck weighs that much, you wouldn't put it in a super flexy situation that could break something.

 

[Volcano cruiser]

I have a strong cage attached to the body and subframe. The body and subrame are mounted to the frame via urethane mounts to reduce the amount of vibration transmitted to the cab. Ideally I would have more rigid mounts to the frame - for example 4 bolts at each mounting point and no urethane body mounts.

Lance,
A quick question. I know that you guys are MT installers. Where can I source the urethane body mounts for the cage that you are referring to? I didn't see them listed on the MT site. If I was back home I'd have you guys do the install of my full cage but down here I'm going to have to get my local guys to handle it and I've found it best to give them everything that they'll need up front.
Thanks,
John

 

[IPOR]

Lance,
Where can I source the urethane body mounts for the cage that you are referring to?

You just need the front and rear frame mounts, aka frame ties. (my FZJ40 has a fancy subframe that serves this purpose)

Your stock 40 body is already mounted via (rubber) mounts. Adding the rigid frame ties will transmit a little more vibration than stock - but not much. The stock 40's didn't get much in the way of vibration damping body mounts - my FZJ40 (built many years after the original 40) did.

On stock bodied 40's I highly recommend installing frame ties with any cage. The MT ties are simple, inexpensive and are a direct fit for the MT cage. (oops, sorry Mark Hawley, I thought was that a thumbs up symbol... Seriously folks, he makes great stuff, I'm happy that we carry his line.)

Lance

 

[IPOR]

Pics of the body right before going out for paint.

Lance

 

[IPOR]

Pic of the shifter adapter during mock up and fuel tank with straps after final install.

Lance

 

[IPOR]

Here we've got the body off the frame and are welding in nutserts for trans tunnel, floor supports, etc. After this we took the body over to the paint shop to have the cowl blasted down to bare metal, finish body work, seam seal and paint.

Lance

 

[IPOR]

Finished installing the rear battery and winch this weekend. I had originally planned on running a full size winch and had picked up this cool winch fairlead from Cruizilla. The 9.0RC has a 4 inch drum though, and needs a fairlead with a smaller opening. I really wanted to run the land cruiser bezel fairlead so I tig welded up some aluminum inserts that bolt into the back side of the opening to direct the cable onto the 4" drum from the 8" fairlead.

Lance

 

[IPOR]

Couple close up pics of the new winch fairlead, and first pic of painted parts. I had a bunch of the underhood brackets painted in matching pewter too - just to clean up the engine bay.

Lance

 

[Tapage]

very impresive ..