Roll bar installation on 40. Help!

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kylenine

kylenine

10 Year
Joined
Nov 8, 2012
Threads
26
Messages
102
Location
Billings, Montana
I recently purchased a 67' fj40 and it did no come with a tool bar let alone the mounts for a roll bar. There would be no room for the roll bar behind my long seats. The roll bar I want to get is a roll cage off of Craigslist for 200 and it is the stock on that goes all the way to the windshield. Any ideas on how to mount the roll bar to my 40? Any suggestions? If I moved the seats away from the wall then the rubber bumper on the bottom of the seat would not touch the wheelwell and it wouldn't be sturdy right? Let me know if you need more pics.

Also, what are the little metal brackets for on my right wheel well? Do they go with my bottle jacks?
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there were no stock roll cages that went to the windshield frame. stock starting in 72? would have been a main hoop behind the front seats and a rear kickersection that would go by the jumpseats. the jump seats were shorter and fit between the bars. there was no rollbar stock in 67. you can make some brackets and space the jump seats out away from the rollbar. you could do away with the jump seats and go with a forward facing rear bench.
the brackets held the rods for the jack.
 
So should I install a full roll cage or should I just install one of the ones that doesn't go all the way to the windshield? I would like the seats to be sideways if possible because I love the look.

Are those bottle jack bars hard to hunt down or expensive? I have 2 bottle jacks and all of the hardware except for the bars with hooks at the end
 
stock bar will not fit nicely with the long style jump seats you have.
for as clean as it looks, i would let well enough alone.
 
I've seen it done but it takes a bit more fab work. When you move the seats out the bottom will need a support. LIke some of the newer 40 seats. You fab a leg that flips down when its down and folds flat when the seat is up. The seat back will have to be mounted to a flat piece of iron welded to your roll bar. This will move the seats approx 2 1/4" from the current mounting position. Another option is to fab or buya front hoop like Metal Tech and have the spreader bars go back far enuff to clear the jums and then have the rear bar leg mount to the rear floor at an angle. Hope this helps a bit.
 
For perspective, my 1973 FJ40 had the long rear seats as well. I didn't have a stock roll bar in it when I purchased it. You can tell as well, by the lack of extra rib under the roll bar location inside the outer wheel well.

Nice rig, BTW, a bit of work and it'll look great. I have a question, is that rear trailer ball bracket factory?
Have you got more pics of the whole truck?
 
cruiserpilot said:
For perspective, my 1973 FJ40 had the long rear seats as well. I didn't have a stock roll bar in it when I purchased it. You can tell as well, by the lack of extra rib under the roll bar location inside the outer wheel well.

Nice rig, BTW, a bit of work and it'll look great. I have a question, is that rear trailer ball bracket factory?
Have you got more pics of the whole truck?
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Yes the rear trailer bracket is factory. I was cleaning it and took the ball off and now can't get it back on because the ball bolt is stripped. I need to run down to the shop and buy a new one although I won't tow much with my 40.

I might buy an fj40 roll bar then rig it to go over my long seats. Has it been done before? Will it fit?

This is the rig with the top and such. I bought it for $4300 and it has a 350 with tbi that is having trouble running (look at my other threads to help me) and has the original tranny that was rebuilt. also has SOR springs and disk brakes all around. I rubbed out the paint so it is darker now and more smooth because it had been sitting in the sun. I also rigged the top to go on (it is strapped on in the picture) and I plan to get bigger tires but I am deffinately keeping the original rims. Comments on what I can do to make it look better would be appreciated.
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I seem to do things the hard (stupid) way but it worked for me. I cut out about a foot of the seats and welded them back together so they would mount between the roll bar. I noticed your seats have a nice upholstery job so this probably isn't an option. Also you can see in my pic the jack handle thats mounted to the clips on the wheel well. You have a very nice truck by the way.
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kylenine said:
Comments on what I can do to make it look better would be appreciated.
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Keep it as stock and original as possible...why do you need a roll bar?
Some rigs just look better stock.
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skidplate said:
I seem to do things the hard (stupid) way but it worked for me. I cut out about a foot of the seats and welded them back together so they would mount between the roll bar. I noticed your seats have a nice upholstery job so this probably isn't an option. Also you can see in my pic the jack handle thats mounted to the clips on the wheel well. You have a very nice truck by the way.
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Cutting isn't an option because like you said I have a good upholstery job and don't want to ruin it. Would those bars be easy to make? Do you have pictures of the bars by themselves?
 
We plan on wheeling the '62 mildly...
It's not as easy as it looks to roll a rig, or even flop a rig. Hard tops don't generally smash upon tipping over, they may tweak a bit though.


Edit: Though it now occurs to me, many organized runs require a rollbar for vehicles with removable hardtops...it sorta depends on your wheeling plans. We have other LandCruisers for difficult wheeling, so it's an easy option for us to keep the '62 as stock as possible but still enjoy her to the fullest. Heck, we're not even running with seatbelts.
That's a good looking 40, be a shame to mod it much, you can enjoy many easy to moderate trails as is. Also, running trails without all the add-ons (power steering, lockers, roll-bar, etc.) just makes you a better driver.
As always, though...it's your rig.
 
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Cool rig. I'd get a rollbar for safety even if driving on the road but that's just me. Full cage versus just the rear hoop would be determined by what you want it to look like and how much protection you want IF you were ever to have an accident/flop. OEM started in 73 IIRC and would fit, but the long jump seats need relocating as suggested above. Not a big deal. I also think the hitch is an old confer bolt-on but it should have a plate that says so if it is.

Good luck with the truck. Tall skinnies would look nice!
 
I'll take a pic of the bars, or handles, for the jack and post up tomarrow. Come on up to the Bakersfield rally on April 27, see the announcement in the " Events,Trails" thread, and someone will probably has something for sale. I'm sure you will also get all kinds of answers to all your questions.:cheers:
 
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"rollbar" started in 74, but there was a dealer installed baja package for earlier models that had a bar that looked a lot like the oem later bar. the rear section was taller and extended farther back to clear the long jump seats.

pics of jack, handle and bars
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nuclearlemon said:
"rollbar" started in 74, but there was a dealer installed baja package for earlier models that had a bar that looked a lot like the oem later bar. the rear section was taller and extended farther back to clear the long jump seats.

pics of jack, handle and bars
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Do you have any pics of that Baja package Ige? I'm not sure I've seen one. Was it just a California dealer option or was it available all over?
 
nuclearlemon said:
there was a dealer installed baja package for earlier models that had a bar that looked a lot like the oem later bar. the rear section was taller and extended farther back to clear the long jump seats.
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took some digging, but i knew i had an article on the baja edition...my first cruiser was a baja edition. also had the chrome package.
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Too cool! This wasn't the rig you moved to Colorado with was it? I don't remember seeing that at Rising Sun. That would be a really nice rig to restore, assuming one could even source all the parts to restore it.
 
Chamba said:
Too cool! This wasn't the rig you moved to Colorado with was it? I don't remember seeing that at Rising Sun. That would be a really nice rig to restore, assuming one could even source all the parts to restore it.
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no, i sold this one and kept the 78 when i moved here. the 78 later got sold and parted....motor was bad and the rust was hideous.

would've been a bit late on a resto....fenders were cut when i got it, lots of parts missing, dash hacked up for aftermarket gauges (i later made an oak dash overlay), tilt front end, sbc350. the guy i bought it from used it for mud racing in the midwest tri state area.
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