Builds My new '79 FJ40 build thread

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

What spring packs are in there now?
Over an inch seems significant. Did they settle that way or start that way?

The D-word springs on mine went off kilter quickly and just sitting there doing nothing. Arches were the same to start and they are not sided.

OME are sided for the 40’s, yeah?
Not what want to hear but you might try swapping sides first.

Pardon if you covered this before, not much space available in the head.

Thanks that was measure after initial install of the lift. After a week of alot of driving the lean was still there. Same lean as prior to lift both the stock spring pack and new D-word spring packs were of exact equal height when measured upside down on the floor.

Essentially the Dobi lift did nothing to change the "cruiser lean" the over stock suspension.

@OlYellr

What leafs did you put in your driver side?

 

[RevISK]

Sounds like either there is just too much weight on one side or there is something inherently out of whack on your frame/suspension/etc???

My ancient and clapped out springs were dead nuts level all around, the D-words were s***e right out of the gate in several ways.

To clarify:
There are two users with similar names:
@Ol Yeller
And
@OlYellr

The later I know for sure had D-word issues. I don’t know the former except around some of the chat areas.

 

[OlYellr]

I am far from being a guru of suspension. If you are correcting cruiser lean, adding a spacer to the high side works to a degree.

You might have meant to tag @OlYellr if you are grouping me with anyone and suspension.

We both had major issues with Dobinsons.

@S.CarolinaFZJ80 Yeah - my handle doesn't have a space in it - no big deal -

since using the spring on top- either will be fine since a shim. Are you only putting it on one side? It seem odd, but you shim the opposite you think, most commonly in the rear for cruiser lean. I ask because is reads like you are doing both. I can double check with Rus too as he is the one who taught me.

 

[OlYellr]

Thanks that was measure after initial install of the lift. After a week of alot of driving the lean was still there. Same lean as prior to lift both the stock spring pack and new D-word spring packs were of exact equal height when measured upside down on the floor.

Essentially the Dobi lift did nothing to change the "cruiser lean" the over stock suspension.

@Ol Yeller
What leafs did you put in your driver side?

I have Dob medium on front - no shims - just cut the military wraps off them as they were rubbing the hanger.

I had the Dob medium on the rear too - but recently added a leaf to help it when I put something other than me in it. That was a $60 upgrade vs throwing them out (issues like @RevISK just not as severe) and starting over which I really wanted to do. I cut the wraps off them too - so much better after that. Anway - I got lucky - I had a slight lean when I installed them last summer (less than 1/4 inch) - to the passenger side oddly - but after a while (few weeks) it improved and now don't notice.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

Ah ok thanks for the replies guys.
@Ol Yeller i forgot you only added a leaf in the rear.

I think I'll start with the shorter leaf in the front and rear packs.

They are 3/16" each vs. the 3/8" cruiser lean spacers on the pax side.

Gonna see how that works.

If not enough I'll swap on the longer leafs.
I think having an extra leaf on the driver side will make up for the extra weight of spare, steering components and fat driver will be ok.
Time will tell.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

The Toyota shims had to be modified to accommodate the larger 3/8" diameter bolt.

It was meant to sit on top of the stock spring pin head, so it had a solid cap, so it could be added without undoing the spring pin.

However, to be able to accommodate the taller 9/16" (14mm) diameter head with the 3/8" shank new bolts, it would have needed an additional spacer, of the size I don't have handy, so I drilled the solid cap out to 9.5mm to run the bolt through it.

The small spring pin head extender/spacer fits perfectly into the bottom hole of the Toyota shim to take up open space.

I also drilled out the 2 degree caster plate to 15mm to accommodate the Toyota shim. This way, if I need to change caster plates in the future, I don't need to take the pack apart.

The left caster shim plate was drilled out to 9/16" (14mm) .

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

Here are the u-bolt skids with all the hardware except the right rear Toyota cruiser lean shim.
The shiny 3/4" diameter spacers will align the spring pin bottom centering it with the skid plates.

 

[pb4ugo]

If you use that spacer the nut will be exposed to trail rash and the pin can be bent or snapped off. Typically the nut centers the spring plates and the plate protects the nut.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

If you use that spacer the nut will be exposed to trail rash and the pin can be bent or snapped off. Typically the nut centers the spring plates and the plate protects the nut.

The spring skid plate hole that is akin to the nut hole in the stock spring plate is 3/4". This spacer centers the pin in the skid plate.
The bottom nut of the spring pin is completely protected by the skid.

 

[pb4ugo]

It's been yrs since I ran those. I forgot about that. Carry on!

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

It's been yrs since I ran those. I forgot about that. Carry on!

No worries. A picture is worth a thousand words. I have never run these style of plates but I already had them in the garage so figured I'd run them and give them a shot.

The bottoms are a bit higher than the bottom of the stock plate. More clearance the better.

 

[pb4ugo]

Slipperier too. I learned a long time ago, you want the bottom of the rig to slide off trail debris. I eventually made my own U bolt flip.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

Rainy day project,

I made a bracket to mount my catalytic converter heat shield. Tired of hot feet.

My 40 had the floor pans replaced by a previous owner and this bracket was not attached.

Thanks to @waiting for time for sharing the dimensions in his phenomenal build thread many years ago.

I finally just got around to making it.

I added dimples to the drain holes for added strength.

It is this bracket, pic borrowed from mud

I used 22 gauge steel which is about .75 mm. With the bends and dimples it seems plenty sturdy.

The original bracket that @waiting for time measure showed less than 1mm thick so figured this is pretty close.

Edit- Think I'm going to find some thicker gauge metal and redo this bracket.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

I dove into to the rear brakes headfirst.

I got the rears cylinders apart and cleaned up. I put on the cruiser outfitter cylinder seal kits.
I got the passenger side cylinders back on tonight.

Tomorrow I'll finish it up with new shoes, rotors and soft lines.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

Decided to just go ahead and get new wheel cylinders. Napa had some good ones.

New Toyota Drums

Got some new Napa front calipers while I was at it.

The inside of my wheel cylinders were just a bit more corroded than I'd like.

Surprisingly the original TEQ AISIN rubber seals and boots looked to be in great shape once cleaned up.

I'd have no hesitation reusing those.

I'll save the original wheel cylinders for a rainy day honing project.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

All new Toyota soft rubber lines from CityRacer were installed along with new copper 3/8 x 5/8 crush washers

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

Made some adapter plates to fit a non-ac radiator into the wider factory air radiator channel.
Used what I had laying around.
A piece of 1/4" thick x 1 1/4" wide x 36" long steel.


The adapter plates will be threaded and the rad will bolt to it from the front. 8mm holes on the outer edges and M6 x 1.0 threaded holes on the inner.

This way the radiator shroud doesn't have to be modified.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

This is the gap the plates will bridge

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

I've been soaking the block with vinegar for the past week.
Made some block off plates to seal it up.

Replaced the drain block and needed a screw driver and pick to break up the crud.

Replaced the block drain too.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

This hand pump attached to the new block drain made short work of getting the vinegar into every part of the block.

Filled the block through the port by the carb that supplies the heater valve. I pumped the vinegar through the block drain and back into the filler funnel to purge any air.