Build Project Boomerang

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Added 4Plus sliders, and besttop soft upper doors. I dropped the rig off at the fabricators for a family style cage. Should be picking the truck back up this Friday

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Made a return trip to the fabricator's today to re-do the seatbelt retractor brackets. In the end, we decided to ditch the 90* bracket that was on there and just add a new collar/bung to the rollbar itself. The issue I was having was that the seatbelt didn't have enough play in it and was choking me. Moving the retractor up and mounting it to the bar fixed everything.


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A huge complaint I have had about the FJ40 is how twitchy the steering is, especially on the freeway. I purcharsed a 4bolt, 4.25 turn steering box off of a firebird and started swapping it in. I was hoping this would be a simple swap, but so far everything has been fighting me. So far, I have the old box out, but am unable to get the pitman arm off. Tried a puller, heat, picklefork, and nothing. Looking to see if I can buy a 3in drop arm now.

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I put the old box in a vise and let the pitman soak in Kroil for about 6 hrs. I used a screw type puller to get it under as much tension as I could and then hit the exposed end of the pitman arm with a baby sledge hammer. Came right off. Now I can re-use a pitman arm that I know works and has the right drop and TRE taper.
 
jim land said:
More info about the firebird box , is it from late 70's ?
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From the eBay listing:

1964-76 GM Standard Duty Saginaw Steering Box #5691676 4.25 turns (67A)

It's a 4bolt box vs. the three bolt I had. Line ports are the same but the firebird box had a different input shaft spline count (.800 diameter). So I had to get a new coupler from Borgeson. Reusing my 3" drop pitman arm as my linkage bars were near parallel.
 
Interesting picture of my original pitman arm and the two I ordered.

Left: My OG Pitman arm, 3" drop unknown origins
Middle: Cruiser Outfitters 2" drop. Pretty beefy, wish they had the 3" drop in stock when I called because I think I would run it. I also can't believe how fast it got here despite the holiday.
Right: RoughCountry 3in drop (slightly longer than the rest). This is the same one BTB sells, I got it off of amazon.

Out of the 3 I am going to start with my original arm, and maybe try the RC one to see if it being slightly longer gives me a better feel. the 2" drop puts the steering rod at a weird angle.




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Rollbar has been dropped off at the powdercoaters for prep and PC. Was very grateful they able to help forklift it off of there. Getting it back on is going to be interesting. Since it was built in the vehicle it's a bit tricky to get it off/on.

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Decided to tackle the ignition switch location as well as update the guages

  • Replace the knee pads at the bottom of the dash with FJ40 Dash replacements
  • Move Ignition Switch to the factory location
  • Replace ugly ignition switch panel with a original ashtray
  • Replace all guages and guage panel
  • Find a spot for the GPS Speedo antenna
I had a lot of Yazaki connectors left over from a previous 40 I owned so I used those and a Painless guage pre-made harness as a starting point which helped save a lot of time.
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badsamaritan said:
I haven't fully decided against it yet, but a couple issues I have are:

I'd like to have a regular 5spd with no granny 1st gear.

I like how they shift vs. the more clunky truck feel of the NV

They are hard to find, and if buying a reman they are about as pricey as a new H55F

If going through all the trouble why not ditch my 3spd case and go for a split case? I think you can adapt a split case to a nv4500, but I'd like to keep adapters to a minimum. For me, I think I just need to buy a new bell and a cross member for the H55f
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I was in the same boat. Didn't need the granny gear, wanted something that didn't shift like a truck.

I'd had several vehicles with AX15's over the years and always liked them so ended up with that. It's probably a bit more work than the H55 but gives me something unique and drives wonderfully. Also basically forced me to ditch the old LC Tcase for something stronger which was a bonus. Think I have like $3k into the entire thing so not super pricey.
 
mdim said:
I was in the same boat. Didn't need the granny gear, wanted something that didn't shift like a truck.

I'd had several vehicles with AX15's over the years and always liked them so ended up with that. It's probably a bit more work than the H55 but gives me something unique and drives wonderfully. Also basically forced me to ditch the old LC Tcase for something stronger which was a bonus. Think I have like $3k into the entire thing so not super pricey.
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I'm not against the ax15 after looking at prices and comparing with other options. If you don't mind I'd like to ask PM you some questions. My understanding was they are really long case wise and that created issues.
 
We put an AX15 in my teenage sons CJ7 in front of a Dana 300 when he was in high school (See why my projects below didn’t get done : ) , it is a nice tranny. We thrashed it on rocks at Moab. It drives real smooth on the road too. It is not as HD as Landcruiser OEM’s; however that is a lighter vehicle.
 
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