Giving an old 40 a new lease on life: a build thread

[Goldbug]

Thanks! I’m away from the 40 at the moment so I can’t take a look at the exact part numbers, but for the tie rod its 100% untouched oem. For the drag link it’s comprised of: 1 LHD 70 series drag link, 1 LHD 70 series relay rod, and 1 LHD FJ40 Driver Side tie rod end. The 70 series drag link has the same taper as the 60 series so it fits the 60 series power steering pitman arm. It’s also shorter than a 60 series drag link from what I’ve seen. No cutting required so far. Only problem is where the the tie rod end connects to the long tie rod end with eye on the passenger side, there’s not enough thread for the castle nut to fully go on. Still trying to work that out. If you want I can get some more pics of this set up tomorrow.

Very interesting! I found an old thread suggesting this would work but it never really concluded. More pics and part nos would be awesome. Thank you

 

[YotaRecon97]

Very interesting! I found an old thread suggesting this would work but it never really concluded. More pics and part nos would be awesome. Thank you

FJ40 Driver Side Tie Rod End: 45046-69035-J
FJ70 Relay Rod: 45045-60H01
Since there were never any 70 Series in the states, I'm having trouble finding individual part #s for the tie rods. I ended up purchasing kit 094-01-Z1L-KIT from Specter Off Road. A bit of a waste since I only needed one part. I was just happy everything lined up fine.

And here's the Achilles' Heel of the whole set up that keeps it from being 100% bolt on and go. There's not enough thread on the tie rod end to completely engage the castle nut and let the cotter pin go through. I've got some ideas but haven't gone through with any of them yet. Currently thinking of just trimming the face of the eye on the one end so the tie rod end seats deeper.

 

[EWheeler]

FJ40 Driver Side Tie Rod End: 45046-69035-J
FJ70 Relay Rod: 45045-60H01
Since there were never any 70 Series in the states, I'm having trouble finding individual part #s for the tie rods. I ended up purchasing kit 094-01-Z1L-KIT from Specter Off Road. A bit of a waste since I only needed one part. I was just happy everything lined up fine.


View attachment 2906947View attachment 2906948
View attachment 2906949View attachment 2906950

And here's the Achilles' Heel of the whole set up that keeps it from being 100% bolt on and go. There's not enough thread on the tie rod end to completely engage the castle nut and let the cotter pin go through. I've got some ideas but haven't gone through with any of them yet. Currently thinking of just trimming the face of the eye on the one end so the tie rod end seats deeper.

View attachment 2906955

You're gonna get all kinds of naysayers about touching OEM steering parts with anything other than your hand (ie, a grinder).

I suspect that the way this is supposed to work is the tapered tie rod shaft should bottom out inside the female tapered hole. If that is the case, and you are "tight" in the taper, you would have to remove material from the backside, no? Doesn't look like there is much to remove? How about drilling two small holes, 180 apart from each other below the castle nut slots, through both the nut and the tie rod shaft and using some stainless wire to safety wire the nut from being able to move? Could probably get away with just a single hole and double up the stainless wire.

 

[YotaRecon97]

You're gonna get all kinds of naysayers about touching OEM steering parts with anything other than your hand (ie, a grinder).

I suspect that the way this is supposed to work is the tapered tie rod shaft should bottom out inside the female tapered hole. If that is the case, and you are "tight" in the taper, you would have to remove material from the backside, no? Doesn't look like there is much to remove? How about drilling two small holes, 180 apart from each other below the castle nut slots, through both the nut and the tie rod shaft and using some stainless wire to safety wire the nut from being able to move? Could probably get away with just a single hole and double up the stainless wire.

That might actually work out better, thanks for the pointer!

 

[EWheeler]

That might actually work out better, thanks for the pointer!

Another alternative, and maybe the best option really, would be to get a reamer with the proper taper on it, and just ream the taper deeper into the the tie rod end body.

 

[Goldbug]

Thanks guys. I'm also debating having a drag link fabbed up that would be compatible with a 60 series end on on end of it and a 40 series on the other end. But if you can get the 70 series castle nut on, then that seems a simpler solution. I'll be watching this space...

 

[jesus888]

Sub'd... interested in how this goes... more updates please!

 

[YotaRecon97]

Sub'd... interested in how this goes... more updates please!

Thanks for the interest! Unfortunately since my last post life has gotten pretty busy (getting engaged, buying a house...), and I haven't made much progress on the 40.
Last major thing I did was about a year ago, but I'm hoping to make some progress this summer.

Got the engine and transfer case mounts tacked in place and mated the transfer case to the transmission. Angle of the pic makes it look like the front driveshaft would hit the transmission pan but it does clear.

Also not pictured but I did get some Ford shock towers ready to go. I'm currently working on fabricating a bracket to support the shift linkages for the transfer case since the stud from the 1F is no longer there.. It'll utilize the four holes from the old 3 speed transmission mount on the frame. Should see some pics of that later this month.

 

[-MaTTi-]

FJ40 Driver Side Tie Rod End: 45046-69035-J
FJ70 Relay Rod: 45045-60H01
Since there were never any 70 Series in the states, I'm having trouble finding individual part #s for the tie rods. I ended up purchasing kit 094-01-Z1L-KIT from Specter Off Road. A bit of a waste since I only needed one part. I was just happy everything lined up fine.


View attachment 2906947View attachment 2906948
View attachment 2906949View attachment 2906950

And here's the Achilles' Heel of the whole set up that keeps it from being 100% bolt on and go. There's not enough thread on the tie rod end to completely engage the castle nut and let the cotter pin go through. I've got some ideas but haven't gone through with any of them yet. Currently thinking of just trimming the face of the eye on the one end so the tie rod end seats deeper.

View attachment 2906955

I used the same 70-series rod and rod end. I reamed the 40-series stock tie rod end’s hole a little to get that 70-series rod end fit.

Very easy and I got that reamer cheap from ebay: 8mm to 46mm Spiral Taper HSS Morse Taper Shank Milling Reamer 1:10 Select Size | eBay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/263879985226
12-16 mm = 14 mm is the right one.

Edit: it’s morse cone but works ok even in regular cordless drill.

 

[YotaRecon97]

I used the same 70-series rod and rod end. I reamed the 40-series stock tie rod end’s hole a little to get that 70-series rod end fit.

Very easy and I got that reamer cheap from ebay: 8mm to 46mm Spiral Taper HSS Morse Taper Shank Milling Reamer 1:10 Select Size | eBay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/263879985226
12-16 mm = 14 mm is the right one.

Edit: it’s morse cone but works ok even in regular cordless drill.

Thanks for the info! I’ll definitely have to pick that up.