Builds "Scout" the 1977 FJ40 (1 Viewer)

[77CruiserDog]

My wife and I drove Scout for about 40 miles or so over the weekend, it was so fun to get behind the wheel of this thing again!

It developed a whistle that I suspect is a vacuum leak at the carb base, I'll look in to it when I have some room in the garage.

 

[77CruiserDog]

4 degree caster shims make this drive like a Cadillac!

This little adjustment makes driving Scout such a pleasant experience. No more bump steer and it tracks down the road with ease.

 

[77CruiserDog]

In retrospec, I wish I would have done this years ago. It truly makes this thing safer and way more relaxed to drive.

 

[open country]

Been wanting to add the shims to my 60, but they've been out of stock on CruiserBrothers for weeks.

 

[77CruiserDog]

Been wanting to add the shims to my 60, but they've been out of stock on CruiserBrothers for weeks.

Yeah the ones at CruiserBrothers are 100% worth the wait. They're super high quality. I have them in both my rigs.

 

[EmanC]

How long is the installation process? Need to do this. Guessing it's a quick evening project.

 

[77CruiserDog]

How long is the installation process? Need to do this. Guessing it's a quick evening project.

Hey Emanc,

Hope you're doing well!

It took me about an hour. I used a method that I think works really well and takes some of the effort out of it but requires two sets of jack stands.

1. Lift vehicle and put jack stands under frame.
2. Remove wheels and put jack stands under hubs supporting the axle.
3. Remove ubolts from one spring, remove front shackle and lower spring.
4. Secure spring with c clamps on either end of pin
5. Remove spring pack pin
6. Install shim, fat end facing front of vehicle
7. Reinstall spring pack pin
8. Put it back together and do the other side
9. Tighten ubolts up install tires, test drive and retorque ubolts

I put this off for a few years only because I didn't fully understand how much of a difference it would make and secondly because I was avoiding the task. Turns out it made a huge difference and was far easier than I made it out to be in my head.

 

[therisingsun]

Thank you for the wealth of info on this thread, spent a couple hours reading through and enjoyed it all! Your build is exactly the kind I'm looking to get into. Currently looking for the right 40 to buy.

 

[77CruiserDog]

Thank you for the wealth of info on this thread, spent a couple hours reading through and enjoyed it all! Your build is exactly the kind I'm looking to get into. Currently looking for the right 40 to buy.

Thank you for the kind words. It's been a really fun build and now that the 4 degree shims are under that front axle it sure does track well! My wife and I took it for a spin last weekend and I'm reminded at how solid this vehicle is. It's also very quick... not very fast but extremely quick.... for what it is.

 

[therisingsun]

Sounds like all the hard work has paid off! I may be popping back in from time to time asking for advice (in exchange for good beer of course haha)!

 

[77CruiserDog]

I would be happy to help!

 

[77CruiserDog]

Drove the old gas out of Scout yesterday and filled it up for the winter with some fresh non-ethanol fuel. Also, took some pictures.

 

[72LANDI]

I really like the stance of your FJ40. Mine is lifted 2.5" with monster shackles and it looks RIDICULOUS! What shackles do you have?

 

[77CruiserDog]

I really like the stance of your FJ40. Mine is lifted 2.5" with monster shackles and it looks RIDICULOUS! What shackles do you have?

Thanks so much! Great question, I didn't put them on but I believe they are the older OME anti-inversion shackles. That's a mouthful. I believe they are the older ones with the flat spot that prevents them from inverting because the ones I tend to see now have the pin rather than the flat spot. I also think they're OME because they had a sticker on them which was similar to the one on my 60 which I know are OME.

These look like them, but I'll measure pin to pin for you if you'd like.

The stance works out well. It rides really well and doesn't have the "disconnected" feeling that the longer shackle lifts tend to have in corners.

 

[72LANDI]

Not nesessary to measure but thanks. This is what mine look like. I don't like lifting vehicles in general. It creates a litney of problems. I am going to go back to close to the original stance. I just have not decided on which shackles and I will probably get new springs too.

 

[77CruiserDog]

Not nesessary to measure but thanks. This is what mine look like. I don't like lifting vehicles in general. It creates a litney of problems. I am going to go back to close to the original stance. I just have not decided on which shackles and I will probably get new springs too.

View attachment 3141098

If you feel your rig is sitting too high, it might not be a bad idea to simply start with the shackles. I mean you're going to end up replacing them at somepoint and not only will it give you a great starting point but often times it's 40% of the work when replacing springs, so putting new shackles in will help make the spring replacement easier when/if that time comes. If that makes sense....

 

[RevISK]

Great thread and read.
I about pooped my drawers when you casually walked into a frame off resto…
Honestly, I thought, see you in a couples years scout. 68 days I think you said and most of that waiting for the t-case. Insane.

Now over to your 60 thread.

Ian