First of all, Thanks to Delancy for providing the foundations to this madness, in several different ways
as well as BobM for his continued and unprecedented contributions to this community, and this project
and the many other pioneering members of this board...
For those of you who don't know, the patient is a bit of a Johnny Cash song. 73 single cab on a 77 chassis with a MAF front shackle reversal kit with stock front springs and a custom FZJ80 rear FF elocking disk brake axle on a set of 4" lift MAF rear springs. Power is provided via a 1986 2F with chevy valve job and a 1984 H42 4 speed and 34mm splitcase...
the rig sits at about 3 1/2" of lift from stock form and rides on a set of 16" stock taco rims and some 295/75/16 mud terrains. The rig is for the most part solid, and it keeps reminding of this via the front suspension
Altho the kit for FSR is pretty nice at first, but as one continues down the rabbit hole, begins to show signs of the inherent compromises made with the design in order to provide the universal type of "kit" without a complete front end remodel, the kit in and of itself gives alot of flex, but little in the form of ride dampening. the shackles when used with stock springs are verticle
In an effort to make for a more road friendly rig without compromising flexibility, I began looking at the radius arm design of the FJ80 series. the principal is sound, and seems to me to be a decent upgrade. Ground clearance, flex and ride quality. Of course, a few things need to be addressed before this can happen...Power steering for one- regardless of the suspension remodel, and perhaps a wider front axle are in order...there's alot of stuff going on in a small amount of space...
First step is going to be power steering. I sourced an FJ60 box- the early one, and will be sleeving and plating my frame to mount it. This one is going to set further forward of most of the PS mods, in order to accommodate the panhard and spring mounts on the drivers side frame rail. the position of this device is going to determine how well everything else will mesh once it is all in place. I plan to use one of Georgs Bill Dorey brackets and a saginaw pump along with another of Georgs great parts- the pulley for the pump that works with the toyota belts. I am not certain how the drag link is going to go, but have a 60 series pitman side rod end, and will see how well it plays with the 55 series rod. a minitruck column will provide the shaft between the 55 column and the PS box. of course, it will need to be cut and welded together with the stub end of the 55 column to box shaft. I will be using 9/16s hardware for the box.
once the PS is done, the panhard frame side tower can be located and installed. from that point, spring buckets and shock towers will be attached. My plan is to use frame brackets from an 80. I am torn on weather to mount them in the relative FJ80 height, and use standard FJ80 lift stuff to get my height, or to use stock FJ80 springs and set the bucket height in relation to MY current ride height(maybe a bit taller to match a lo pro rear SOA down the road...). Plate will be plasma cut to make axle side brackets, and I will most likely use some 3X4X5/16" wall tubing to make the radius arm frame side mounts.
The front axle may prove to be too short to utilize stock style coils in the front- a 60 series housing would work, as would a custom stretched 55 series front, using one of Dave Gores sleeves and a stock drivers side FJ60 front inner axle. Histeer arms should not be needed, and I'm not sure they would work with the panhard mounts under full stuff to the drivers side. A new driveshaft will be needed, as the axle may move forward to compromise between the radius arms and the pitman drag link location.
Of course, I could not do this much work with out Installing a pair of BobMs fender patches
finally
.
Pictures will follow, and I intend to go step by step with dimensions and instructions as the project moves forward. any and all input is welcome.
as well as BobM for his continued and unprecedented contributions to this community, and this project and the many other pioneering members of this board...For those of you who don't know, the patient is a bit of a Johnny Cash song. 73 single cab on a 77 chassis with a MAF front shackle reversal kit with stock front springs and a custom FZJ80 rear FF elocking disk brake axle on a set of 4" lift MAF rear springs. Power is provided via a 1986 2F with chevy valve job and a 1984 H42 4 speed and 34mm splitcase...
the rig sits at about 3 1/2" of lift from stock form and rides on a set of 16" stock taco rims and some 295/75/16 mud terrains. The rig is for the most part solid, and it keeps reminding of this via the front suspension
Altho the kit for FSR is pretty nice at first, but as one continues down the rabbit hole, begins to show signs of the inherent compromises made with the design in order to provide the universal type of "kit" without a complete front end remodel, the kit in and of itself gives alot of flex, but little in the form of ride dampening. the shackles when used with stock springs are verticleIn an effort to make for a more road friendly rig without compromising flexibility, I began looking at the radius arm design of the FJ80 series. the principal is sound, and seems to me to be a decent upgrade. Ground clearance, flex and ride quality. Of course, a few things need to be addressed before this can happen...Power steering for one- regardless of the suspension remodel, and perhaps a wider front axle are in order...there's alot of stuff going on in a small amount of space...
First step is going to be power steering. I sourced an FJ60 box- the early one, and will be sleeving and plating my frame to mount it. This one is going to set further forward of most of the PS mods, in order to accommodate the panhard and spring mounts on the drivers side frame rail. the position of this device is going to determine how well everything else will mesh once it is all in place. I plan to use one of Georgs Bill Dorey brackets and a saginaw pump along with another of Georgs great parts- the pulley for the pump that works with the toyota belts. I am not certain how the drag link is going to go, but have a 60 series pitman side rod end, and will see how well it plays with the 55 series rod. a minitruck column will provide the shaft between the 55 column and the PS box. of course, it will need to be cut and welded together with the stub end of the 55 column to box shaft. I will be using 9/16s hardware for the box.
once the PS is done, the panhard frame side tower can be located and installed. from that point, spring buckets and shock towers will be attached. My plan is to use frame brackets from an 80. I am torn on weather to mount them in the relative FJ80 height, and use standard FJ80 lift stuff to get my height, or to use stock FJ80 springs and set the bucket height in relation to MY current ride height(maybe a bit taller to match a lo pro rear SOA down the road...). Plate will be plasma cut to make axle side brackets, and I will most likely use some 3X4X5/16" wall tubing to make the radius arm frame side mounts.
The front axle may prove to be too short to utilize stock style coils in the front- a 60 series housing would work, as would a custom stretched 55 series front, using one of Dave Gores sleeves and a stock drivers side FJ60 front inner axle. Histeer arms should not be needed, and I'm not sure they would work with the panhard mounts under full stuff to the drivers side. A new driveshaft will be needed, as the axle may move forward to compromise between the radius arms and the pitman drag link location.
Of course, I could not do this much work with out Installing a pair of BobMs fender patches
finally.Pictures will follow, and I intend to go step by step with dimensions and instructions as the project moves forward. any and all input is welcome.
Look I couldn't figure out how to use the link calc
Got a line on a somewhat local 80 with the OK to cut frame brax for panhard, springs and shox. All things are still incubating at this time, but under way. many things will have to wait till the thing is fully built to figure out how to build it tho, and it is chewing me up some. resolved to start stripping old drum brake front to prep for brax, a stretch and big pattern knuckles. figure I can build all components and install over a marathon weekend as long as it has all been practiced.
flame on...