Builds Just bought my first 60 Series...my 1986 FJ60 Build (3 Viewers)

[yotadude520]

Now that she's running I've ordered the 10 million heater & radiator hoses so I can replace them as they are original. As I'm waiting for parts I'm starting to fix some of the smaller things - first being the window regulator. For some reason I have a feeling I'm going to be replacing all of them on this thing.

While I had the door panel off I noticed I my 60 must've gotten the special edition lightweight door handle to improve it's 30 second 0-60 time. Explains why it wasn't working

Once I got the regulator out I could see it was fubar'd pretty good. The gear checked itself out after almost 40 years of dutiful service. Pour one out for the fallen regulator fellas.

My parts should hopefully be in on Friday from the stealership, so until then I'm taking a break from the 60 and regressing back to working on mini trucks like I have my whole life - going to be installing A/C in this 85 for a friend of mine. These FJ60's are money pits, so need to rack up the dough where I can.

 

[yotadude520]

Made a trek up to the fiery hellhole we call Phoenix this weekend to meet up with @Cruddz, who was nice enough to sell me the axles out of his FJ62. Tucsonans & Phoenicians grow up being told that one city is better than the other, and while I have held that belief for most of my life I have to say Phoenix has grown on me quite a bit, and Phoenicians aren't as rude as I was led to believe, as evidenced later in this post.

I got up to Phoenix a little bit after 1 thinking pulling the axles would be a two hour job at max. We were going to cut the brake lines, undo the leaf springs and roll them out - easy peasy right? The drivetrain had already been removed out of this 62 along with the steering linkages which would make it even easier.

We started by getting some tires under the frame to support the body using a primo Toyota forklift to jack up the 62. I have to say, my desires to own a forklift and get forklift certified have definitely increased after this weekend. I also have heard being forklift certified helps with the ladies some.

With the truck jacked up safely it was time to start disconnecting the shocks, shackles, and the emergency brake cables. We were able to get the shocks & shackles disconnected easily, but it was the passenger side rear pin holding the e-brake cable to the backing plate of the drum that gave us trouble. That mother ****ing piece of s*** stupid ass pin had somehow welded itself. With no tools to cut the e-brake cable, we headed off to Ace Hardware in Cruddz' sick 60's FJ40 to get a cutting wheel.

At the first red light in this thing, a very nice older red Chevy Suburban with blacked out tint rolled up alongside us. As he rolled down the window we were hit with the strong skunky smell of marijuana. The gentleman behind the wheel commented on how nice it was to see a classic driving and then was kind enough to offer us the blunt he was smoking, which he described as "moon rock". We both politely declined his generous offer and he went on his merry way but the act was a nice reminder that not all Phoenicians are bad people. No stranger in Tucson has ever offered me a hit of their moon rock.

With the cutoff wheel in hand we were able to get the rear axle removed without much fuss and we moved on the front which was even easier, but it had taken us a solid 5 hours to get them out. Thank you for your sacrifice, FJ62.

These axles were covered in so much gunk that the nuts on the top of the knuckles looked like round rivets. Luckily for me, Cruddz has got a hot water pressure washer so I took advantage of this opportunity and used it to get these things cleaned up.

By the time we got the axles cleaned and loaded up the sun was just dipping below the horizon.

The fruits of our labor:

Unfortunately for me, my night was far from over. I hit the road again and headed up to Scottsdale to meet a gentleman on Facebook who had stock wheels for me. He's got a badass 1985 Fj60 with a LS swap he is in the middle of completing, we shot the s*** for a few minutes and then I headed home.

While it was a full day's journey full of ups and downs, I have no complaints about my time in Phoenix. I can't thank Cruddz enough for giving me a hand with the axles, and I'm getting closer to a point where I can drive this thing daily. I've already ordered a knuckle rebuild kit, new calipers & pads, brake hoses, Man-A-Fre heavy duty tie rod kit, and new OME lift kit from @cruiseroutfit. I'm going to rebuild the knuckles during the week after work and hope to install the axles this weekend with some nice 33x10.50's on the stock wheels. Stay tuned.

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

 

[yotadude520]

I've done plenty of front end work over the course of my life but never had the luxury of rebuilding the knuckles on an old Toyota. What an experience it is.

Isn't there supposed to be a s*** ton of grease in here??

It was nice being able to look up and remind myself why I'm covered head to toe in dirt and grime

After hammering the cone washers with a brass punch I was able to get the knuckle caps off. I'd honestly say this job isn't too bad but cleanup is extremely time consuming, especially with as much gunk I found on my axle. I had good luck using Gunk spray, a wire brush, some elbow grease and brake cleaner.

I was trucking along until I noticed that my knuckle balls have seen better days and had a little bit of rust pitting on them.

I sanded them down with 100 grit and went over with a wire wheel a few times. The pitting is still there to some extent but it's completely smooth to the touch so the seals won't get caught up on it.

I love how Toyota included notches to hit the trunnion bearing races out - made it easy to get them out and they went in just as easy. I re-used the original shims on the arm & cap and the spring scale readings were acceptable. I re-installed the axle, packed it full of moly grease and called it a night since I didn't want to piss off my neighbors any more than I already have. I'm going to cut the rivets that hold the hard brake line off of my dust shield as I'm going to be running a hose straight to the caliper and I'm sure they wouldn't be pleased hearing an angle grinder at midnight.

In my exhausted stupor on Saturday after buying the axles I bought a Yukon rebuild kit on Amazon vs the Sumo brand - comparing pictures of the two I thought everything was there and the Yukon kit could be here quicker.

All in all it's been a good kit, minus two things - it doesn't include a new metal split ring that goes on the back of the knuckle or the backing plates. I cleaned mine up with a wire wheel and am forced to run it, but was something I was not pleased with. Bummed I can't be like everyone else and have shiny metal on the back of my knuckles. Oh well, the price I pay for being impatient.

I dropped the wheels off at Discount Tire earlier this morning to get new rubber, and am going to get the dust shield installed and then will disassemble & reassemble the other side up to the same point as the next step will be knocking out studs to replace my rotors and wheel bearing races.

 

[yotadude520]

My knuckle journey continued into the weekend and I was able to get the rotors and new lugs installed on Saturday morning, with the last remaining items being installing the tie rods & plumbing the brake lines. I decided to wait on that as my donor axle was missing a hardline that I would need to salvage off of my SOA axles and conveniently @Garrissey rolled over to help get the rear axle installed.

Pulling the rear axle was largely uneventful and we made very good time. Aside from a small snafu on the emergency brake line we were able to get everything disconnected and removed pretty easily. We unbolted it at the spring hangers and dropped it down with two jacks onto some wooden harbor freight dollies. We then installed the new rear leaf springs, put the new axle onto the dolly, rolled it under and before we knew it that bad boy was installed.

One thing I worried about was being able to get the truck high enough with the new suspension to get it off the jack stands. While we were able to get it done, I can't deny it was definitely a little sketchy.

Rocking that reverse stinkbug look

At this point we had indulged quite a few garage beers and were feeling extremely ambitious. We took advantage of this to remove the front axle, which was done in record time.

But like all good things, this momentum and ambition eventually came to an end. With it getting dark, and a drunken mishap on my part while installing the shims we decided it was time to call it a night, although I went to bed incredibly pleased with our progress.

Feeling refreshed and with new determination the next day I got right back to work on the Land Cruiser first thing in the morning. I was greeted by my mess of a garage. Seriously, looks like a warzone in there.

I was able to get the tie rod drag link on the axles as well as the calipers, hard lines & new soft OEM soft lines. The Man-A-Fre heavy duty steering kit is really well made and came with new 555 tie rod ends. This thing should feel pretty sturdy going down the road.

With one axle swap already under my belt, the front one went in much easier.

Jacked it up and installed the shackles & u-bolts and BAM! Ultimate Makeover LandCruiser edition was over. It looks like a 60 series should IMO.

I've still got to install the front shocks, tighten & torque everything, grease it all and bleed the brakes but she's on four wheels and looking great. I'm taking a break from working on it for the next few days while I chase turkeys around but hope to have it driving by the end of next week.

In other news, I have also just found a brand new H55F locally, so that will be the next big install. I'm going to allow myself to enjoy the cruiser for a few weeks before I put that in but am excited to see how it does with the 4.11's & 33's.

 

[yotadude520]

Just got back from turkey hunting and am ready to get back onto the 60. While the SOA to SUA conversion was a big step, I had my friend get off all the old oxidation and this was the conversion I was most excited about. She cleaned up great!

I've got to torque all the suspension components and then am going to start working under the hood. Have quite a laundry list of things to do there but am getting closer and closer to driving this ol gal daily.

 

[hiss]

Hey this is James with the LS Swap. Good to read through the build - and thanks for the motivation on mine. Inching closer every day!