Sagging 40 rear endstill looking for a name (1 Viewer)

[fj40yow]

hi folks,
fairly new here ,

been lurking for a while and finally jumped in with both feet and purchased my first road worthy (well almost) fj40.

1975 fj40
front disk conversion
power steering
350 v8 ( want to go back to F2 one day)
still looking for a name but right now saggy suits .


bought it in january 2017 thinking i would do a few patches here and there get it on the road and drive for a summer.

well the snowball built faster than i could imagine. i decided to take her to a body shop for the patch work....what started out as a 2000 dollar budget turned into .....a new rear half tub ...a new front floor pan, and 2 fully restored fenders...a bunch of metal work because unfortunately the body parts we got didn't line up perfect. this s*** is addictive.

needless to say i am way over any "budget" i had in mind. but it is looking good and not much rust left other than some surface rust on the roof sides.

long story short ...the PO had lifted and levelled the body with hockey pucks...as we do in canada...however i had the body shop bring the body back to "stock ". using the body mounts from cool cruisers. the ones they recommended

when i went to go see it after the body was mounted i was disappointed by how much lower the ass end was .

the PO had tapered the body level level and had a good 2.5 inch lift at back to zero at the front.

i'm reaching out to the mud community for ideas on how to rectify the issue. it came with 33 12.5 15 .with the body lift and trimmed rear fenders.....it has on it now some fj 62 wheels i scavenged from a u-pull with 31 10.5 15.

i would like to run 33 10.5 15 on original steel wheels with hubcaps and i don't want to cut into the new box that just cost my left arm.

i know talking to the cool cruiser guys that they use the same body mounts as i did and use a 4 inch lift and clear that size and i like the look of that.

having said that i just took it in for a safety check to get it on the road and i'm going to have to dump yet more money into brakes , and a couple more items. while these are things i can wrench myself still digging further into this hole...

i'm almost on the road but when i get there i want the rear lifted and the new treads on.

i have spent time searching these forms but nothing like getting the opinion straight from the source.

i have a couple of questions then i'll sit back and read....don't trash saggy too bad...i have big plans for her.



1. is this much sag normal for this vehicle? if so Why?

2. will a four inch lift level the old girl or will it just lift everything and the front will still sit higher

3. can i just lift the back for now? think budget....i'm thinking this would work?

4. lastly for this thread...is that an oem steel rim and can i weld clips on it to hold the hub cap.
?

thanks for any responses.
dave

oh and i'm not a photographer but here are few pics.

i've included some of the rust that after we started digging made me decide to replace the box.

 

[fj40yow]

terrible before,pic here is a few more before
also plan on removing the window tint...and get rid of that massive rpm guage.

 

[fj40yow]

here is a not so great shot before with the back lifted...you can see the spacer put in the back between doors and bumper....it looked nice and level with that tapers body lift.


and that is the rim i was wondering if it is the oem steel rim?

thanks again.

 

[thebigredrocker]

Great progress! Sounds like you are hooked. Looks like those are stock springs with longer shackles added. Shackle reverse in the front? I sure like my 2.5" old man emu's. @cruiseroutfit sells OME and are great people to deal with.

Before CityRacer started importing 16" steelies w/clips, I bored the centers out of 16" chevy rims. I bought VW clips, drilled holes and used machine screws to hold the clips. I shimmed the clips with a couple washers. I think I posted pictures some time ago. IF you can get your hands on OEM clips, rivets might be the way to go. That said, City Racer's 16" sreelies would be my choice. I'm running 235 85 16 tires. They are nicely positioned in the wheel wells.

I took some measurements to give you an idea where I'm at with my 2.5" OME & 16 inch rims. I think my rig has a good stance.

23 9/16" to bottom side rear frame gusset. Rear shackles are 4" pin to pin

21" to bottom side front frame horn
Front shackles are 2.75" pin to pin

22 1/4" to bottom side running board

Tall and narrow 235 85 R16

 

[allan man]

Welcome and congrats on your 40
Get rid of that shackle reversal in front and you'll be back in business....that right there is giving you an easy 1.5"
Of lift up front. Good luck!

 

[samc2447]

If you want to run 33s you're going to need some lift in the rear. You could just get new rear lift springs and shackles and that will help level it out. The shackle reversal and the lighter v8 are why the front is so much higher.

 

[fj40yow]

thanks for the replies guys, . i agree . i'd rather lift the back than lower the front. although it was a good solution!


the front is the same as when i bought it and it cleared the 33 12.5 fine. just wondering if i take a line level and measure to the height i would like to see ,let's say the rear bumper, or rear part of frame...and then subtract what i have.

...let's say it's 3 inches different...would i look for a 3 inch lifted rear spring.... or 4 seems more common would that give me the level?

i guess what i'm trying to say is if i buy 4 inch springs will they lift the truck 4 inches or do they compress and only give me 2 ....

or maybe i should just bite the bullet and buy both front and back springs the same .


are there any other considerations ie brake lines , effects on handling or steering...etc if i lift only the rear? i'm thinking no?

i know it's a lot of questions for one thread.

but i would really like to do it properly.

appreciate the input....

thanks again

 

[JasonH]

The common setup back in the day when they sold that shackle reversal kit was to run 2" springs in the front and 4" springs in the rear.

 

[darwink1]

Id start with new leaf packs in the rear and go from there.

D

 

[fj40yow]

Id start with new leaf packs in the rear and go from there.

D

would you go 4 inches?

 

[darwink1]

I dont know because id have to do some measuring first. Springs settle but theyre not gonna settle 2" know what I mean? Without measurements, if i had to guess, id say a set of 2.5" lift springs from ome would do the trick for you.

Take a tape measure to it and see what the actual difference is then figure out what you'd find more acceptable, rake to the rear or rake to the front. If you went with 4" lift packs you could always remove leafs but some ive seen are arched like a mofo.....

D

 

[darwink1]

Or, just throw a jack under the rear axle and lift it till you're where you wanna be and measure from there.

D

 

[fj40yow]

thanks ,
i'll do some measuring and find the springs that would get me roughly level,

thanks

 

[ATLTJ]

Old thread- but where is the accurate place to measure from on a 40 to figure out your rake?