HJ45 (2H motor) complete vehicle rebuild thread

[73fj]

Hey man, sounds like you will be passing through my town on your way to Alaska, being there is no other route to Dawson Creek at mile zero. If you need a place to wrench, rest , BBQ.....or whatever, let me know, we are hardcore Cruiser folk and would love to see your Troopy.

 

[vincent85]

Hey that sounds awesome! Do you have contact info I can save to build my trip manifest? I would love to drop by!

 

[vincent85]

Hey that sounds awesome! Do you have contact info I can save to build my trip manifest? I would love to drop by!

This is my FB for my build and documentation of the journey: https://www.facebook.com/overlandveterans.org?ref=bookmarks

This is my website I made for the journey: www.overlandveteran.com

 

[73fj]

You can e-mail at cruiserdog1@gmail.com, or PM me here and I'm fixin to like your FB page

 

[geoffnlp]

We forgot one of the most important questions, What kind of dog are you bringing along? LOL. Also a good Bible is a good read on the cold nights you are going to be facing.

 

[west aussie]

yes dont forget your bible. my copy was handed down to me from my late father. it has been very well read!

 

[vincent85]

Oh trust me I got mine printed out along with the body/chassis manual

 

[vincent85]

Hey guys,

Been a while since I last posted, I will add more pics soon. I have been real busy. I have the frame and body completely torn down and the body is off to be blasted and primed. I will need to do body work on the body when it gets back to fix the rust holes. The frame is being painted starting tomorrow after I blasted it myself and I hope to have the suspension on this weekend. After that it will be putting on the power train. I will be ordering a auxiliary fuel cell and many more parts in January to get this 2H running again.

 

[vincent85]

I am also in the middle of figuring out what lockers and gear ratios to use for my axle rebuild. I am using the long birfield axle shaft/30 spline kit for the front axle and putting new seals/bearings all the way around. I am also looking to put a Detroit locker in the front/rear.

I am a little confused on the stock tire size, this has a big part to play in the gear ratio needed for when I put on my new acquired 31's that will be going on.

Okay I found a posting on this forum that states the stock tire for the Cruiser in my year range is:

205/75 R15, that comes out to a 27 inch and some change diameter tire. So I guess if I am running 4.11 stock gears now and I wish to go up to 31 inch tires, it would make sense to jump up to 4.55's or even 4.88's.

Here is the formula used to figure this out:

New tire diameter / Original tire diameter X Original gear ratio

So 27 / 31 = 1.1481 x 4.11 stock gears = 4.77 gear ratio. You can only use 4.56 or 4.88 so I guess it is up to me at this point. Any thoughts?

 

[1tontoy]

What is your desired highway cruising speed and at what RPM? Do you want to cruise at 65MPH and 2800-3000 RPM? Or, would 65MPH at 2200-2500 be better for you?

Since you have H55 and a turbo diesel, a great combination is 3.70 gears (FJ60 diffs) and 33's for good around town power and good highway power without pegging the RPM's. That's what I run on my HJ47 Troopy with 1HZ-T and H55F and am very happy. Lot's of others on the forum run the same combo in a turbo diesel.
So, going to 4.56 or 4.88 and 31's will only slow you down on the highway and probably give you way to much low end torque. In general, you would go to 4.56 or 4.88 if you wanted to run larger tires like 35's. HTH!

P.S. Detroit in the front is not a good idea because of the way it behaves on the street when making tight turns and can cause serious front end wear unnecessarily. The rear behaves weird too and chirps when turning sharply - again, unnecessary friction and wear. Really, ARB lockers are the best for your application since you will rarely need to be locked in the rear much less fully locked front and rear. Plus, you'll have onboard air.

 

[vincent85]

I agree I think my stock gearing is more then enough. I am running the 5 speed behind my 2H with turbo/liquid to air intercooler. My friend who is a engineer by trade keeps screaming to regear, but I agree with you it just seems like to much low end torque.

I don't ever plan on using bigger then 31 inch tires so my 4.11 should be more then enough. You said 3.70 gears is that stock or did you regear that? I thought the axles (or at least in my 79), came with 4.11's in the full-float axles.

I hear you on the Detroits, I keep fighting it however I think you are right on this one. I was even thinking to cut cost put a Detroit in the front, because I can turn the hubs and allow free play and just reselect when conditions permit. Then having the ARB in the rear. I guess the best setup that I keep thinking about and you mention is the ARB. Just kind of sucks that the front locking hubs would be pretty much useless at the point.

 

[1tontoy]

If you forsee dirt to pavement back to dirt back to pavement driving, you will want to leave your hubs locked but not necessarily want the front diff locking like it would with a Detroit style locker. With an ARB, you leave your hubs locked, then go into 4WD and engage the front ARB *only* when you need to be locked up front. I can understand the desire for something fully mechanical like a Detroit versus having air lines and needing air for the ARB's.

3.70 are stock in FJ60's and bolt right into a FF 40 axle. 3.70 will give better "streetability" with a turbo diesel and the H55, most noticeable in 1st and 5th. You might actually use 1st gear with 3.70. 4.11 is stock in HJ47 and I never used to use 1st gear except if starting out on a steep incline.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

I guess the best setup that I keep thinking about and you mention is the ARB. Just kind of sucks that the front locking hubs would be pretty much useless at the point.

How does the ARB air locker make the locking hubs useless?

 

[vincent85]

I guess now that I think about it Rufus it does not, all the hubs do is allow the front wheels to be manually disconnected from the front half shafts.

 

[Michael B]

Vincent,
It sounds like you are making good progress. I'm putting 3:70's from an FJ60 into my 45 with a 2H and 31's. I'll let you know how it works in my truck. Hopefully I will have it back on the road tomorrow. I just need to hook up the Donaldson air breather (thanks for the part number) and put the exhaust on it. I have previously used a 5 speed in my 40 running a 2F with 4:11's and 33's. I never used first gear on the pavement. You really need to post those pictures my friend!

Michael <><

 

[vincent85]

Sounds good! My friend keeps yelling at me that I need to put 4.56 or 4.88 gears in, according to the formula he is right. In higher elevations it will be nice, but I want a blend of off-road capability/street easy riding. I am debating if I should put 4.56 gears in or just leave the stock 4.11's. I will be using the 5-speed, I just want to keep the RPM's down and the MPG's decent. I am not sure at this point. I guess the only good thing if I go to 4.56 gears is that if I ever want to go to 33 inch tires I can.

I want to see how you hook your Donaldson up! I am excited to install mine, it should be awesome.

I am in the middle of putting the lift/axles/engine on the frame now. Once the engine is back on I will post pics with updates.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

I have run 33s with stock 4.11 gears and an H55 on a turbo H and a Turbo 3B. It seems like the ideal combination to me for 5th gear highway speeds and comfortable exhaust temps. It's under-powered climbing hills and the spacing between gears is large in terms of RPMs.

I think that ideally you want your cruise speed to be at peak engine torque for best fuel economy. Is that 2200 RPM? 2400? I don't know. On a trip like yours I would think that fuel economy would be very important. For off road you will be going slow, 1st and 2nd gear sometimes in low range. The 'ideal' final drive ratio doesn't really matter in these off-road circumstances. You will have the torque and grunt to move a very heavy vehicle slowly over the terrain.

I spent a lot of time in Baja on beaches in my Troopy. On a 10,000 mile trip I never once wished I had different gearing either off-road or on the highway. (but I also have ARB air lockers and a Toybox.)

 

[vincent85]

Rufus,

Good input. I am not even running 33's I am running 31's so even more so. I will be running ARB air lockers front/rear as well with my H55 and turbo setup. I agree with what you are saying I will be running in a lower gear with my transmission in allot of these places anyways. I just want the RPM to be at a comfortable range while have a balance of MPG/Low end torque. I guess a good way to tell would be to get the truck together and running and drive it and see where the RPM's are at with the stock gears. I will not be able to check for the elevation issue and weight, but it will give me some baseline idea.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

But if you're doing ARBs, bearings, axle seals, etc., that would be the best time to go a gear swap if you're leaning that way. Doing a gear swap in the rear with a full floater rear end is fairly easy. But the front end is a lot more involved. If you're inclined to do a gear swap just do it the first time.

On 31s I don't see any reason at all to change the final drive ratio, especially since you have an H55. Your friend is pushing you to swap gears on a truck that originally didn't come with an overdrive 5th gear or a turbo. If you had a non-turbo 2H and a 4speed you might consider a gear change. But there's no logical reason to do so running 31s.

Say you were swapping in a 350 Chevy instead of the 2H, you would want to drop to a numerically lower ratio like 3.70s (or less) to get your RPMs into the sweet spot for that engine.

 

[vincent85]

I agree, I don't think my friend is accounting for the overdrive 5th gear or the turbo which with a naturally aspirated engine helps with the elevations and lack of power when climbing.