New addition, 85 FJ60 (1 Viewer)

[darwink1]

My buddy Dave is doing up a calendar with all our rigs in it. Heres what he did with mine, the calendar pic will be a little different but he just sent me this one and I had to show someone.

D

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Good shot, but I'd like it more without the zombie.

That building is awesome.

 

[snowboardonsnow]

That is F'n sick! Post up when he is done with it. The contrast is amazing.

 

[snowboardonsnow]

No way! We need the zombie, it just need to be moved to under your front tire!

 

[darwink1]

Messed around with the new version of photobucket the other day. Kind of cool.

Finally ended up lowering the spare enough to get it in the garage without folding it down. Was gonna take out 3.5" but ended up going with four and it was perfect. Had to lower the pressure in the rear tires a bit but it fits. Drilled some speed holes and added a handle while i was at it. Signal light is still visible and I moved the license plate over about 2" so its not obscured anymore.

Photobucket is being a dick so Ill post pics tomorrow.


D

 

[darwink1]

So yeah, 4 inches lower than it was.

Before

During/after

Lic plate moved over

Redid the overflow tubing for the hell of it. Put a little loop in there... cause I thought it would look cool...

D

 

[darwink1]

Daylight shot of the new lowness compared to when it was on the moon.

D

 

[snowboardonsnow]

I hate spare tires...

I am thinking of doing a false floor just to put mine there and out of the way (mine isn't as wide as most.

 

[darwink1]

Yup, I hate em too but you gotta gave one eh? Im still gonna tote it around in the cargo area for the most part but I can use the carrier when Im goin camping and need more space.

D

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I hate spare tires...

I am thinking of doing a false floor just to put mine there and out of the way (mine isn't as wide as most.

Yup, I hate em too but you gotta gave one eh? Im still gonna tote it around in the cargo area for the most part but I can use the carrier when Im goin camping and need more space.

D

Amen to that gents, I can't stand spare tires.

D, your solution is the best yet. I just may copy it some day.

 

[darwink1]

Give er s*** man. I got all the bushings and tabs from diy4x4, the spindle is a 4x4labs one, and the barrel hinge is from a farm supply place.

D

 

[darwink1]

Its that time of the year again....... Boooo..

Good thing the van now fits into my carport, the former winter resting place of the tacoma. Had to redo the doors a bit and move a couple lights but she fits good.

Got some sweet 245 ice racing tires to boot.

Plans for the winter so far are to fix a grinding front wheel bearing on the 60 and maybe take a peek at the axle seals. Might mess around w some tube here and there..... Lots of time to mess around now.

D

 

[darwink1]

Picked up a set of 63" chev leafs on friday from the wrecker. Got the best set they had and as a bonus both packs came off of same truck (took some searching). They are 5 leaf packs from a 98 chev 1/2 ton 4x4. I borrowed the 3 leaf pack in the pics from a buddy just to get some initial measurements before I went out and bought my set.

They came complete w the chev shackles and frame mounts still attached. The grinder took care of them.

Then I drilled out the rubber in the old eye bushings and hammered them out.

New energy bushings should be in monday. I also ordered a 63" swap kit, new u bolts/plates, and some shock tabs from ruff stuff.

So far the plan is to move the front leaf hanger approximately 10" forward then figure out where the shackle hanger will end up. Planning to do one side at a time so I dont screw anything up too bad. Gonna keep the overload on there for now but may end up taking it out if I need to lower the van a bit after all is said and done..

As for shocks, I have a set of foa 12 and 14" travel 2.5" remote resis that didnt get put on last spring due to way longer than promised build time at foa. I didnt really take a close look at them till this week when I was using them to take some measurements and lets just say Im not impressed with their build quality.... They will be going up for sale and Im gonna start shopping around for some replacements. The van has bil 5100's on it now but I still want something I can tune a bit.

Thats the story so far.

D

PS, there doesnt seem to be as much detailed info on fj60 63' swaps around as there is for lets say mini trucks so if anyone can point me to any relevant info/build threads feel free.

 

[snowboardonsnow]

My thread has some info, you'll want stiffer shocks dependin on your shock angle and setup. I tossed the overload and used my 53" ford over load flipped. But you can just cut down chevys overload if you want. I would also through in one more of the shortest of the extra Chevy sprigs you got maybe cut down a little shorter. I run one of my short 53s then the flipped ford overload and I love it.

 

[darwink1]

Yeah, the plan is to set it up as is and see how much lift it gives. Id prefer to get none but I doubt itll work out that way. Im hoping the ruff stuff hangers, bein a little more low profile than the oe ones, will help a bit but that overload is 1" thick so removing it would get me that much lower if they kick the ass up too high. My uptravel is limited so Im not too concerned about getting anywhere close to inverting the springs.

The rear shocks are already set up in the /\ arrangement but Ill be redoing the upper and lower shock mounts to accommodate some longer shocks. Still looking into valving and depending on when my foa's sell ill probably be going with fox 2.0 remote rez shocks.... thats what I say today anyways. The bilsteins that are on there now are the firmer of the two valving options if that makes a difference. Could be a little stiffer and wallow a little less when fully loaded as it stands but thats about the only complaint I have. Im hoping the new leafs will take a load a little better as well so that should help.

Feel free to school me on valving, and Im gonna take a look through your thread to see what you did for your swap.

D

 

[snowboardonsnow]

Measuring from the frontmost hot rivet on the spring hanger mount, with the tape measure level its about 7.5" center of old rivet to center of new spring hanger bolt. The rear shackles are 4 1/3" but they can be shorter if you want, they are set at 45 degrees and there is still play when the spring is flat. Those springs really dont need that long of a shackle. (as you can see the stock ones are very short) The spring pack is just over 2 3/4" thick. I would say the extra ford leaf and ford overload leaf are only slightly thicker then the chevy overload maybe the same, that chevy over load is thick. If you leave it its like hitting a brick when flexing and you will hit it all the time even driving around, so you will for sure want to flip it and cut it down if you use it.

 

[snowboardonsnow]

The way I have it setup I feel I could invert them and not do any damage, but like you said you wont have to worry about that.

 

[snowboardonsnow]

As for valving, I would shoot for around 300 corrected for angle. I had to move my upper mounting location in. But part of that is because I have the lower mounts toward the top of the axle, I hate low mounts just asking to ruin our expensive shocks.

 

[AKcruiserfreak]

Sorry, this has nothing to do with shock valving or anything technical, but I just read through your thread and love what you've done with your 60. That is all.

TK

 

[darwink1]

Lol thanks man.

Took the chev leaf packs apart yesterday, gonna hit em with the wire wheel and throw some black paint at them if I get motivated today. Eye bushings came in. Also have to get some new pins since one of mine ended up stripping a bit when I was taking junk apart. gonna need shorter ones anyways tho.

D