"Last Minute" FJ40 build (2 Viewers)

[mudtoy67]

For the first time in years, something on this rig has actually been put together.

Got the rear crossmember welded in tonight.

measure, measure, measure, weld, weld, measure, weld, weld, measure, check level, weld, weld, weld, weld, weld, weld...

 

[mudtoy67]

Got the rear bumper built. I'll leave the ends unfinished until cage time...I'm thinking the rear tubes of the cage will be outside the fenders to protect the tail-lights and will mount to the bumper ends.

The holes on either side of the receiver are for hitch pin clearance. I'll put in a half of a square tube on either side to close it back up behind the pin hole.

 

[redcorn]

Just my .02...
I'd shoot for a specific wheelbase and let the bedsides follow suit.
106" is really a well rounded length for comp rigs as well as all around trail busters.

Might save the grief in reassembling the Luv bedsides.

Looking good though...stay cool

john

 

[mudtoy67]

I agree, ~106 seems to be the magic number these days. From the start of the chop, I've been looking at 105" wheelbase, though I'm toying with the idea of slightly less since I'll only be running ~35" tires in the beginning. I think I'm probably going to leave the bedsides solid for now, but I'll probably go ahead and cut out the wheel well from the remaining panel and save it in case I feel like doing it later.

 

[fj40forlife]

im trying to get 107-09 area but kinda hard with out moving the frame. using stock leafs up front flip with the front mount right in the edags of the rail up front and 55 rears with about 2 in add to the rear of the frame thats pretty much the bumper. but going to mount the shackle on it

 

[mudtoy67]

Guess I kinda let this thread go by the way-side. My wife gave birth to our first child back in September, so I've been pretty busy.

Picked up a 9" from a friend. Plans are to narrow it to 57" wms, swap to 4.56 gears, weld or spool, back brace, shave, and some sort of disk brakes. I want an e-brake, so I'm thinking since I already have the d44 disk parts I might see about making an adapter bracket. If they won't work I may look more into the Ford 8.8 disk brake swap.

Also finished the caps on the inside of the rear bumper.

 

[mudtoy67]

Spring hangers done. I'll make some nicer shackles once I get it back on its wheels and figure out how long they need to be.

 

[mudtoy67]

Almost done shaving the front axle. I used the "bucket method" I saw in another build thread to mark the housing.

With some cleaning up and the old drain plug hole filled.

3/8" plate for the new skid. I don't think I'm gaining a whole lot of clearance, but the skid will be nice for sliding over rocks. Looking back, I don't think I should have extended the cut into the front cover, but should have stopped where the cover meets the housing. It's going to be a bit difficult to get a nice transition from the cover to the plate without a lip. Should be ok though.

 

[AKcruiserfreak]

Very clean job on the axles! going to have to remember the bucket trick.

TK

 

[mudtoy67]

Finally an update!

Skid welded in

I picked up some ring gear armor. It was made for the 8" pickup axle but with a little massaging fit just right. Butting it up to the skid also smooths out the transition.

Guard tacked up

I had to make some small filler plates at the corners of the skid

Everything welded up and smoothed out

 

[mudtoy67]

Picked up a Marlin knuckle gusset kit. The upper one seems a bit overkill but it also serves as the shock mount.

Lower tacked up

Upper tacked up

All welded up. I left the end of the upper near the knuckle bearing unwelded because it will probably need to be ground some to clear the knuckle felts/wipers.

I decided to relocate the fill plug a little higher. With the pinion rotated up I lose a bit of oil capacity. I started to put it near the top of the cover where it would face up but decided not to. For one the high steer would be in the way when I go to fill it, also I would need to make some sort of dipstick to check the oil level. I used a Ballistic weld in bung.

I cut the old plug out with a hole saw then filled it

New bung installed

You can see the difference from the inside

 

[mudtoy67]

Couple more pics of everything cleaned up

This should be it for the fab work on the front axle. Only thing left to do will be to fab up a truss/brackets to mount the hydro assist. I probably won't do that till later in the build.

I've got about 99% of the parts I need to put this axle back together. Georg (OrangeFJ45) hooked me up with the Marlin gusset kit and a bunch of other parts. I need to start cleaning things up for assembly...somehow I've got to figure out how to make an axle out of all this crap...

I've also been working on the Ford 9" swap. I was going to use the housing I originally picked up, but after cleaning it up a bit found a lot of pitting. I feel if I'm putting so much time into this thing I should get a housing that doesn't look all pitted after it's cleaned up and painted. I've been through a couple other housings since then that just didn't work out...seems I've got a bit of a Ford 9 graveyard going.

 

[mudtoy67]

Well, hadn't made it quite as far as I hoped. I had been gathering all the little odds and ends and took a day off from work thinking that I could have a complete axle by last Sunday. Unfortunately (for the FJ anyway) I found something that used up a bunch of my time...we bought our first house! I won't bore you with the details about the house, but the best part is two garages: one 2 car attached and one 2 car detached shop!

Last weekend I got everything in that pile a few posts back organized and started cleaning things up. Took a wirewheel and a stripping disk and got the housing down to bare metal. I installed the knuckles to figure out where I need to trim the marlin gussets. Came out to about 1/2" from the edge of the upper race. They still make contact at full turn, I need to grind the "point" off and make a straight edge from the weld to the upper radius.

I also fabbed up the steering stops using the plates included in the marlin gusset kit and some 3/4" x 1/8" strap.

We close on the new house August 31st...so I guess I better get cookin'