Last check before stopping for today. It is not there yet but it is not as tight as it was before when I first started.
I reached out to Cruiser Outfitters over the weekend I got a response this morning. They said that the housing from this vintage has to have the clearance opened up because the new Birfields are bigger then the stock shafts from a 1978. They confirmed that the grinding and polishing was the right way to open the clearance.
I followed the instructions and it did not show the seal and got every bolt torqued to 30 lbs and then installed the wheel hub and torqued the inner nut and saw it was not going to work well with out the seal so I pulled the hub back off
Got everything lined back up and found out why the shim was welded on. Did not have enough hands so used a jack to support the spindel so it would not fall out of the fit.
Reinstalled the wheel hub and set the preload and then final torque and bent the inner lock tab the outer lock tab was bent
Today I chased the threads on all the wheel studs and one was not biting in so I took it out by hand and put in the vise and used a center punch and stippled it and then when I put it back in it held for the little torque I need to hold the alignment bars.
Removed the calipers for the alignment bars and centered the knuckles. Installed the tie rod ends finger tight to take the measurement from the bottom of the weld prep to the other weld prep.
The LH threaded parts did not come marked so I did it on both pairs of LH nuts and bungs.
Set up the DOM tubing after it was cut in the chop saw and ready to grind the weld prep
Started grinding the weld prep
Finished the weld prep and then worked on the other end
The turned down end of the bungs are bigger then ID of the DOM tubing and will have to get a drill and ream to open up the tubing after I get a good mic reading
Today my LH M23x1.5 tap showed up so I got the LH bungs chased and then once the LH thread tie rod end was threaded in I installed the tie rod and torqued the tie rod ends.
I did not know what the torque value was so I did a search and a MUD page came up with the torque valve for M11 and M12 tie rod ends and showed 79 ft lbs for M12. These tie rod ends measured .541" which converted to 13.74 mm's. I torqued them to 85 ft lbs.
I locked the hubs and rotated to get the alignment bars close to horizontal the unlocked them to get them closer to each other after unlocking the hubs. The hubs and locker are working as they should.
I put my welding magnets on one bar so the it would hold the end of the tape measure and adjusted the tie rod for ~.125" of toe in. The manual said the spec for for a H78-15 tire size. I will be going with as close to 35" as it can but should work to get it to an alignment shop to get the final alignment done.
The tie rod is well above the arc of the ring gear, I wont know what the clearance of the tie rod will be to the FJ80 steering box is until I have the new suspension and the steering box and get the location mocked up.
Has any one else done a 4" SUA with a high steer set up and a FJ80 steering box and had clearance issues?
I drove up to Belgrade Montana to the Overland Cruiser shop to pick up there kit to mate the R2.8 to a Toyota bell housing. They also had the motor mounts and the transmission crossmember ready for me also.
He took around the shop and they had a FJ40 on the hoist and showed me how to set up the plates that are welded to the frame for the crossmember and the motor mounts. They have holes in the plate to use existing bolt holes in the frame I did not even know were there and a rivet to index the location. Have the weight of the motor and transmission on the isolators get everything squared up and tack. Then pull the drive train back out and burn everything in.
I drove up to Belgrade Montana to the Overland Cruiser shop to pick up there kit to mate the R2.8 to a Toyota bell housing. They also had the motor mounts and the transmission crossmember ready for me also.
He took around the shop and they had a FJ40 on the hoist and showed me how to set up the plates that are welded to the frame for the crossmember and the motor mounts. They have holes in the plate to use existing bolt holes in the frame I did not even know were there and a rivet to index the location. Have the weight of the motor and transmission on the isolators get everything squared up and tack. Then pull the drive train back out and burn everything in.
The crossmember came with 2 shims, the 2 plates the weld to the frame and index to a rivet and a threaded hole did not make it into my truck are are coming by UPS.
The frame side motor mounts that have a hole to index to an rivet or bolt hole on the frame
Motor side mount
De massed Cummins flywheel
Crank extension installed and the bolts torqued to 89 ft. lbs. You have to have a crows foot to torque them because a socket and ratchet will not fit between the flanges. The Toyota pilot bearing was already installed.
I used my tractor to hang a com a long from to lift just the back end enough to install the adapter plate. The bolts were all torqued to 22 ft. lbs. I had new bell housing bolts from Toyota and thread pitch was wrong so will have to source some more.