New Iron Pig owner, 1970 FJ55 project (1 Viewer)

[JD Films]

Also, I don't think I ever posted about the front suspension. I will be building a 3-link front and have had a box of FK rod ends that I got through one of my Dezert People video sponsors (SDHQ) since last September... I'm using 1-1/4" for the upper and lower links, and I have 7/8" rod ends for the steering. I have an order in with FOX for the shocks but their wait time is really long (I guess I'm not in to much of a hurry yet...). 2.5" front coil-over shocks and 2.5" rear smooth body remote reservoir with 2" bump stops front and rear.

I'm still collecting parts and already thinking about what color to paint it. LOL. So far I'm debating on white/blue or white/green.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Don't ask Pablo about the paint! Just say'n

 

[JD Films]

We finally finished welding the new bearing ends on the rear end housing last night. This is the Ford 9" housing that is trussed and has Currie 35 spline axles with 5/8" studs. I had to update the bearing ends to work with the rear disk brake kit that has an integrated parking brake.
The third member is a Yukon modular case with 4.88 gears and an Eaton true-Trac limited slip.

 

[JD Films]

I've been quiet for the last couple months because I've been editing this years Dezert People 14 DVD I am releasing next month.
Since my last post we got the front knuckle ball ends machined to fit in the Ruff Stuff housing (thanks to Custom Tube Works in Vista).

I also received my harnesses, front seats and rear seat from MasterCraft that I posted about ordering awhile ago. And I just received my four FOX bump stops, 2" x 2.5" travel. And the rear 2.5" x 10" travel rear shocks. Still waiting on the front coil-over shocks. Those might be here by the end of next month. The others came sooner than I expected so we'll see.

Here's the trailer for Dezert People 14 you guys can check out. Hopefully I'm not releasing DP20+ by the time I get the FJ55 running... LOL

 

[Ol Yeller]

Wow some nice hardware going on there!

What's the science to ordering custom shocks? Is it as simple as providing travel and vehicle weight to them or??

 

[JD Films]

Wow some nice hardware going on there!

What's the science to ordering custom shocks? Is it as simple as providing travel and vehicle weight to them or??

It depends. For most vehicles that have suspension kits offered for them it's most likely been figured out already and they will recommend the correct length shock. If you are doing a custom lift/suspension you should measure the suspension extended and collapsed to figure out the length you need. Angle of the shock also plays a part of that
The rear shocks that I just got are a standard size they offer. But they are a bigger diameter than most would run on a pig unless you are doing more with the suspension like I am and might be driving it harder than most because the suspension will handle it. For example the rear of my 2002 Sequoia has 2.0" rear Fox shocks that are 10" travel. These are 2.5" and I wish I had that size on my Sequoia because it's heavy and I take it on trips for desert races that I go film. Valving can be changed in the shocks if you really want to fine tune the rebound/compression. For the front coil-overs it gets a little more involved making sure you use the right springs. The Fox coil-overs I ordered have DSC adjusters on them so you can turn the knob to adjust some of the valving on the fly.
Then you get into bypass shocks like I have on my '95 Toyota T100 prerunner. Theres even more of a science to dialing those in.

And the bump stops I got take place of a standard rubber or poly bump stop. They can take harder hits and help prevent the suspension from bottoming out.

 

[Ol Yeller]

Great info, I know from sports car racing that the shocks are super important part of the system, but I've never had to order a set...thanks!

 

[JD Films]

Wow I just noticed I haven’t posted here in awhile. I got a new bead blast cabinet from Eastwood recently and I spent a couple hours today cleaning up all of these parts. I will probably paint all of these with Steel-It. Not much has been done but it’s something...

 

[wngrog]

View attachment 1677522
Wow I just noticed I haven’t posted here in awhile. I got a new bead blast cabinet from Eastwood recently and I spent a couple hours today cleaning up all of these parts. I will probably paint all of these with Steel-It. Not much has been done but it’s something...

Welcome back!

I’ve been meaning to ask you to pull the number off that gas door key I sent you.

I’m trying to get at least one door to lock on my Pig.

 

[JD Films]

Welcome back!

I’ve been meaning to ask you to pull the number off that gas door key I sent you.

I’m trying to get at least one door to lock on my Pig.

I’ll look tonight when I get home and send you a message.

 

[JD Films]

I got my 9.5” third member back from Pro Gear in San Diego last week. They installed the 4.88 Nitro Gear set for me. This is going in the Ruff Stuff axle housing I have.

 

[scrapdaddy]

What locker are you going with?

 

[JD Films]

What locker are you going with?

That's the third member that I posted about before (page 4 post 63) that is out of a FJ80 imported from Japan that has a factory limited slip that wasn't offered in the US. I'm using this in the front in the Ruff Stuff housing. The rear is a Ford 9" housing and third member and has a Eaton Tru-Trac.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Yeah, that's right....I'm old!

 

[wngrog]

Oh man. I’d love to have a Factory LSD

 

[JD Films]

Oh man. I’d love to have a Factory LSD

Yeah I got lucky finding that one. A guy not to far from me imported the FJ80 and was doing allot of work on it. I forget why but he did something different with the axles and diffs and didn't need it. That FJ80 is a right hand drive also.

 

[JD Films]

Another small update... I got a set of the new 35" BFG KM3 tires a few weeks ago from Offroad Tire Guy in Escondido, CA. I need to mount them on my wheels now. I also got around to finally pulling the 2F out of the pig on Saturday and put it up for sale (it sold already). Last but not least I installed a 1.5" body lift that I bought from 4crawler.com. It was easier just to buy them from him rather than trying to find a lathe I could use to make my own. I put the body lift on it for more room all around for the suspension, shocks, engine, bigger gas tank, etc...

In the next 2-3 weeks I'm taking it to a friends shop to have the cage built and maybe some other things like mounting the seats and engine/trans. As much as I want to do all of that myself I know it won't happen anytime soon and I was able to work out a good deal with him. It's already been sitting in my garage for two and a half years!

Just for fun I put a fender on it and the hood latch. For some reason the spring loaded pin isn't catching in the latch. It moves freely and I could release it with the cable if it would latch. Are the later model hoods different from the 1970 latch mechanism? Different depth? I didn't have to much time to mess with it.

 

[EZRyder]

Great thread! Thanks for the details- new to the forum. I've had my '72 pig for almost 2 years and am finally working on getting it to be a driver. It was modified sometime in the 90's and needs a ton to update it. i pulled the trigger on a crate 350 swap which will replace the 350 that's knocking. Its getting new exhaust system to pair up.. cant swing the body off resto this year. I'll look at updating suspension, replacing rusted panels, and doing the interior after i get it on the road. I know thats kinda backward, but i need a driver this winter! Look forward to the updates.

 

[RUSH55]

Start a thread about your rig @EZRyder and show us some pics!

 

[JD Films]

Here are the latest updates. I cleaned up the FZJ80 front axle steering knuckles and had my friend TIG weld the threaded bungs for the Slee Offroad steering arms. He also got out two broken 10mm bolts without damaging the threads. I'm painting these with Steel-It.

I also started removing the old rubber bushings in the 63" Chevy leaf springs (PITA job...) so I can use urethane bushings and the bolts that came with the Ruff Stuff swap kit. The older springs have smaller spring eyes that work with the bushings that Ruff Stuff sends. These springs are later model ones that have a bigger eye on one end so I had to call Deaver Spring and get larger 2" OD bushings and had Jonny at Richer Racing make me a couple of custom sized sleeves that I needed. I started by drilling through the rubber until the center sleeve fell out. Then used a chisel to get the metal sleeve out.