Builds MM40-The Adventure Continues (1 Viewer)

[thebigredrocker]

Sheet yah! I had a feeling you would build something custom. That’s cool.

 

[Rigger]

I like it!

 

[65swb45]

Thanks guys. It would have been a lot easier if I had gone into this KNOWING I was going to have to fabricate.

I’ve always been the kind of mechanic that wants to know WHY something broke, and I often mull over jobs long after the customer has left with their repaired vehicle.

In this case the nonsequiters Of John’s posts bothered me. I couldn’t look to my 45s because their bumpstops ARE at the apex.

Then it hit me! John is a 55 guy...and their stops are also on the apex. In fact all the wagons are. And I’ll bet the whole rest of the Toyota line too. It’s actually JUST the 40 that’s the oddball of having the axle 6” forward of the apex. The apex of our 40 frames even suit the 43 series properly.

It never occurred to me that the 40’s frame geometry was a compromise.

 

[65swb45]

Time for an update. With the airbag welding done, I could finally install the poly tank without having to worry about burning it. Tuesday I got a chance to put the tank up under the truck and lay out the path for the filler hose. Unlike a normal 40 series install with a wheel well arch, the motorhome has a flat floor that goes to the outside wall of the vehicle. That means that in order to get a rise for the neck from the tank and decrease the potential for blowback, I had to cut a hole in the floor.

As the setup was built, that corner of the rig has a hidden compartment that houses the fresh water tank. Condition of tank: unknown. So, I pulled it. It made sounds like there are several things rolling around inside it. I probably don’t want to know what they are!

So I marked the path, cut a hole in the floor, aligned the hole with the exterior wall, drilled a pilot hole and made the cutout for the filler neck.

Deciding that the fuel hose wasn’t flexible enough to make the 2+” height transition, and to further increase the chances of eliminating blowback, I went ahead and cut a transition pipe for the filler neck. It’s not pretty, but I think it will do the job. I thought about having a muffler shop bend something, but I was concerned that the crush of the double bend would reduce the pipe too much.

 

[bikersmurf]

Your filler pipe looks similar to the exhaust pipe I made out of J pipe wedges to snake it through between the shock, tire, aux fuel tank, and the air tank.

 

[thebigredrocker]

This reminded me of your friends MM40. Interesting valuation

 

[65swb45]

So, I haven’t posted for a while. The drive down to the muffler shop revealed a pretty bad clunking noise coming from the powertrain. It wasn’t the driveshaft, and the rear end is brand new. That left the transmission and transfer case, which were original to the vehicle.
So earlier in the year I slowly built a replacement transmission and a replacement case, then married them and hired a local shop to do the R&R (I’m getting a little old for wrestling trans/tfr combos) We elected to replace the jury-rigged hi lo linkage and non-functional vacuum shifter with a direct shift conversion. Which brings me up to date.

 

[65swb45]

With the transmission relocated about 5” forward of stock, it was anyone’s guess what issues there would be getting the stick through the floor. I had put the pivot pin on the transmission before it was installed. That was fortuitous. What was even more fortuitous was that I had shortened the threaded end in anticipation of having to remove it multiple times during the process of fitment. This was indeed true.

 

[65swb45]

With the lower half of the linkage installed on the pivot (there was no way to slide it onto the pin; had to pull the pin and reinstall as a unit) I was able to take an educated guess on where to cut the hump.

 

[65swb45]

Well, this project hasn't gone anywhere for a while now. Got de-energized when the airbag system had a leak I couldn't find with my bad hearing. In the meantime, the owner's health has been going slowly but steadily downhill. She's 76 now, and the chances of her driving this thing with the 3 speed and the manual steering are slowly ebbing away. Co-morbidities are a very real thing for her.

Since I declared a moratorium until some point next year on working on vehicles while I shepard my family's estate to conclusion, she's thinking about taking it back out to the desert. The thought of it languishing indefinitely out there makes me sad. So I am putting feelers out to see if anyone is interested in taking on and finishing this project [as in buying it from her]???

 

[Frikkadel]

Interesting thread, and I hope somebody buys it and save the old girl. Must say the high centre of gravity and all the mechanical issues originally would have scared the cr@p out of me. I don't think I would have been brave enough to drive it.

 

[thebigredrocker]

If it doesn't sell. That thing would be awesome if you turned it into.......
"Lazer Bean's World Famous Lemonade" stand.

 

[archie73]

Could we get an idea of the complete drivetrain? I read the whole thread and understand it has a 350 and 60 rear axle. I may have missed other upgrades.

 

[65swb45]

Could we get an idea of the complete drivetrain? I read the whole thread and understand it has a 350 and 60 rear axle. I may have missed other upgrades.

Sure. It has a Landcruiser 3speed transmission and transfer case I just rebuilt. Less than five miles on them. Front axle is FJ60 disc knuckles out on a 40 housing.