Build Mike's 1978 FJ40 Turbo Diesel Refit Project and Cross Country Road Trip!

[Godfather90]

It got down below zero up in the mountains:

Between that and the 9000ft elevation at the cabin the truck needed glow plugs. It still started but I should have wired that up before the trip.

Another picture in the snow:

We encountered so pretty difficult snow wheeling conditions on this trip. It was a layer of ice on top you could almost walk on, then between 2-3 few feet of fluffy power below that. The truck would struggle to break the crust, and had a hard time climbing on top of it.

Went to get it weighed on the road home:

That weight over the rear end makes sense from how I have to run the air pressures. It also makes sense why it doesn't climb as well since swapping in the lighter engine.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

I figured you'd have AMP connectors out the wazoo to pull from. No? Can't blame you for going deutsch, though...I need to grab one of their kits as well. I keep punting thanks to the frigging crimper.

 

[DangerNoodle]

I figured you'd have AMP connectors out the wazoo to pull from. No? Can't blame you for going deutsch, though...I need to grab one of their kits as well. I keep punting thanks to the frigging crimper.

I love the Deutsch connectors. Waterproof, easy to build, and parts are everywhere for them.

 

[EWheeler]

@Godfather90 So how much of an improvement are the new rotors and revised braking setup? Beautiful work as always!

 

[Godfather90]

I like the Deutsch stuff a lot for this kind of thing. They are easily serviceable in the field with a small screwdriver, and when you buy the proper barrel crimper they crimp very well. Just make sure you get the solid barrel pins and a good tool.

Even the knock-off connectors work with the solid pins.


Mike

 

[Godfather90]

@Godfather90 So how much of an improvement are the new rotors and revised braking setup? Beautiful work as always!

Thanks!

The brakes have always been pretty decent on this truck with the 4 wheel disk setup. The front rotors got a little bit warped and I didn't want to deal with the press-in stud rotor behind hub deal anymore. The "floating" rotors are much more serviceable. The front brakes had about 60k miles so im not to upset about them finally wearing out.

With that said I was going for more front brake bias as I have maxed out the bias controller and with a large weight transfer the rear would still lock up before the front.

I always engine brake going down hills, but I bet if I didn't do that the old brakes would have overheated on me on a few occasions.

I made the mistake of changing the rear calipers to the quad 45mm piston from the old 32/43mm piston calipers at the same time. The reason behind that decision was that one of the rear calipers was seized up and dragging.

The result was actually more rear bias than before!

Here's some quick math I should have done before:

New FJ40 brakes

Front:
48mm
7235mm2
14470mm2 front axle

Rear:
45mm
6358mm2
12717mm2 rear axle

27187mm2 total

506mm2 master

53.7:1

53% front bias

___________

Old FJ40 brakes

Front:
45mm
6358mm2
12717mm2 front axle

Rear:
34mm 43mm
1815mm2 + 2902mm2
4718mm2
9436mm2 rear axle

22153mm2 total

43.8:1

With 7/8"--- 57:1

With 1 1/16"

572mm2 47.5:1

57% front bias

23% softer

____________

New brakes with old rear calipers

48mm
7235mm2
14470mm2 front axle

34mm 43mm
1815mm2 + 2902mm2
4718mm2
9436mm2 rear axle


23906mm2 total

60.5% front bias


47.2:1

I was hoping the larger rotor would offset the increase in rear piston area but it didn't.


I ordered two 43/34mm calipers from the dealer but they are about 3 months late coming from Japan... That should fix the Bias for sure.

I am pretty happy with the stopping power with the big front rotors. There is so much brake dive now that the weight shift over to the front axle requires less rear piston area that's all.

I hope that makes sense!

Mike

 

[Godfather90]

Here's some more SAS5 pictures:

 

[Godfather90]

And some more:

 

[cruisermatt]

Beautiful work Mike. I love the 5th gen 4runner brakes on my FJ62, I bet they stop a 40 even better. That being said now I have got to get mine weighed, I can't believe how heavy your 40 is.

 

[Godfather90]

Thanks Matt!

Yea I was surprised my self. I have a feeling these trucks weigh a lot more than people might think.

Beautiful work Mike. I love the 5th gen 4runner brakes on my FJ62, I bet they stop a 40 even better. That being said now I have got to get mine weighed, I can't believe how heavy your 40 is.

Mike

 

[Godfather90]

Thanks Matt!

Yea I was surprised my self. I have a feeling these trucks weigh a lot more than people might think.

Beautiful work Mike. I love the 5th gen 4runner brakes on my FJ62, I bet they stop a 40 even better. That being said now I have got to get mine weighed, I can't believe how heavy your 40 is.

Mike

 

[Vandal FJ]

They roll out stock at what... 4k pounds and change?

 

[DangerNoodle]

They roll out stock at what... 4k pounds and change?

Like 3950 or something stock.

 

[Godfather90]

Some other little additions I missed from the past:

Added some Mini Truck door handles:

A trinary switch to cycle the A'C condenser fan:

A mercury switch for the A/C compressor:

 

[Godfather90]

Separate front and rear fan controls and a high-idle knob:

 

[Godfather90]

Some other changes I have missed.

New Body Mounts all around:

Had to mount this inside the square-tube rear crossmember.

Isolated the roll cage frame tie-ins with a 1/4" gap all to reduce NVH:

They are tube-in-tube with a 5/8" bolt in shear. Between doing this and the body mounts the truck is way different. I didn't realize how harsh it was before until driving it after. Game changer for sure.

Added an amplified speaker for the CB/VHF/UHF radios along with a switch to switch between them so they can share one speaker:

Glove box light is always nice to have:

 

[Godfather90]

Made a new glow plug harness:

Got a few snorkel socks for KOH:

Mounted the turbo inlet on vibration isolators:

Finished blocking the airflow that used to be able to escape around the radiator:

Before all that I wired an incandescent bulb across the low-speed fan leads with a diode so I can get an idea of the fan speed when going down the road and thus the air flowing through the radiator. Its tucked in the rocker switch lower position. Here is what it looks like at freeway speed now:

Before all the baffling it would barely illuminate at freeway speeds.

 

[Godfather90]

New air locker solenoids before SAS along with a new fan controller:

Transfer case blower:

Auto dimming rear view mirror with outside temp and compass:

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Fan motor as a generator - clever add.

 

[Godfather90]

Here's something that some might find useful.

When I would drive back roads at night sometimes I would try to use the spot lights to find deer (illegal i think) but I had trouble reaching down and hitting the toggle switch to turn them off when I saw lights appear from oncoming traffic. I didn't want to wire the relay to the high beams switch as some times i need the highs adn not the spot lights, and I usually run the covers on the lights (required by law in most states).

Here is the circuit I ended up using:

So this utilizes a 3- position toggle switch to toggle between spot lights off, spot lights on with the high beams, and spot lights on all the time. The light is wired to be illuminated whenever the spot lights are active.

Also installed are dual Audi Horns (with relays of course):

High and low frequency:

Audi horns are just loud for some reason.



And some measurements to see if it will fit in my girlfriends garage:

Its gonna be tough to get it down to 77" tall...