SOA Fj40 Questions - 55 Springs - "Measure twice cut once" (1 Viewer)

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Oh that's right I forgot u mentioned your getting the FJ60 high steer so your good. If you already have discs you may be fine as is. You will likely need longer brake hoses from frame to axle too or just double them up with 2 short hoses.
Thanks for all the help so far. I will post pictures when I get the SOA done over the next weeks. I have a lot of prep work to still do cleaning up the old parts
 
Yes I plan to fix em right.

How about these calipers from the Fj80 rear I just picked up.

Do they look salvageable?

If I soda blasted them and rebuilt them think they will be good to go?

They look really bad

IMG_1562.JPG
 
They look really bad

Agree-they are done. Rebuilt ones are not that expensive at Napa. Maybe you can use those as cores. Looks like it did duty for years in a salt mine.

Most important part of your vehicle is the brakes. Don't cut corners.
 
Oh that's right I forgot u mentioned your getting the FJ60 high steer so your good. If you already have discs you may be fine as is. You will likely need longer brake hoses from frame to axle too or just double them up with 2 short hoses.
What
Oh that's right I forgot u mentioned your getting the FJ60 high steer so your good. If you already have discs you may be fine as is. You will likely need longer brake hoses from frame to axle too or just double them up with 2 short hoses.


What size tire width do you have?

37x12.5 or wider? 12.5 seems pretty skinny for such a tall tire.


Also do you run 15 or 17 inch rims?

Also what backspacing?
 
I have 35" tires, I have fj40 stock springs that aren't flipped because I didn't have the money to do a nice comp cut on the rear quarters. They are 13.5" wide tires 15" wheel blue label bfg krawlers that I had siped. Rims have 2" backspacing. They are 8" wide, with the weld on beadlocks they are now 9" wide. Summit racing sells 2" backspacing wheels i think. If I had stretched the wheel base and did a comp cut I would have gone 37s, 38s, or maybe even 39s. 17s are becoming more popular than 15s. Keep in mind I have a 2" body lift. My suspension is lower than it looks because of that. The 2" body lift was one of my best mods. It's like the cruiser was made for it. It's much easier to do tranny and tcase work, I could raise my sliders and exhaust up higher, it was easy to hide the BL, all the hoses and wiring were long enough except for 1 wire. I have more up travel without cutting the vintage body, I could fit bigger tires while not lifting the suspension more which keeps cog low, and it was inexpensive to do. Try to do whatever u can to keep the soa as low as possible. While you will have the nice wide axles to keep it stable off camber, a high soa lift will hurt your hill climbing ability.
 
So your 15 inch rims fit the 80 rear axle? I thought I read the brakes are two big on the 80 axle to fit a 15 inch rim.
 
I have 35" tires, I have fj40 stock springs that aren't flipped because I didn't have the money to do a nice comp cut on the rear quarters. They are 13.5" wide tires 15" wheel blue label bfg krawlers that I had siped. Rims have 2" backspacing. They are 8" wide, with the weld on beadlocks they are now 9" wide. Summit racing sells 2" backspacing wheels i think. If I had stretched the wheel base and did a comp cut I would have gone 37s, 38s, or maybe even 39s. 17s are becoming more popular than 15s. Keep in mind I have a 2" body lift. My suspension is lower than it looks because of that. The 2" body lift was one of my best mods. It's like the cruiser was made for it. It's much easier to do tranny and tcase work, I could raise my sliders and exhaust up higher, it was easy to hide the BL, all the hoses and wiring were long enough except for 1 wire. I have more up travel without cutting the vintage body, I could fit bigger tires while not lifting the suspension more which keeps cog low, and it was inexpensive to do. Try to do whatever u can to keep the soa as low as possible. While you will have the nice wide axles to keep it stable off camber, a high soa lift will hurt your hill climbing ability.
What did you use for the body lift? I thought about maybe 1-2" as well. My sm465 top cover needs more space else I tave to cut the tranny hump.
 
Roger brown makes body lifts for most Toyota's. A Google search brings up his site. I used his kit 2" kit. I didn't use the rear spacers he provided as I don't like body lifts unhidden. Instead I used a long piece of 2x2 square steel. It goes all along the tail light crossmember piece and has the same angle cut at the ends as the crossmember with Windows cut to access the bolts on the back side. U have to unbolt the steering shaft at the firewall b4 u move the body up or it will bind. 2" fits everything just right. Less or more BL height is more work and not worth it in my opinion. Here is a few pics:
IMG_20150315_233824590.jpg

Rear 2x2
IMG_20160530_154254410.jpg

Sm465 clearance. A top plate and boot covers the hole. Plenty of clearance height wise.
 
Roger brown makes body lifts for most Toyota's. A Google search brings up his site. I used his kit 2" kit. I didn't use the rear spacers he provided as I don't like body lifts unhidden. Instead I used a long piece of 2x2 square steel. It goes all along the tail light crossmember piece and has the same angle cut at the ends as the crossmember with Windows cut to access the bolts on the back side. U have to unbolt the steering shaft at the firewall b4 u move the body up or it will bind. 2" fits everything just right. Less or more BL height is more work and not worth it in my opinion. Here is a few pics:
View attachment 1323246
Rear 2x2
View attachment 1323247
Sm465 clearance. A top plate and boot covers the hole. Plenty of clearance height wise.
that looks nice.

I like the idea of the bar in the back to hide the gap. Finally I'm doing the cut and turn this week as I got all the pieces I need. Will post up pics when done.
 
that looks nice.

I like the idea of the bar in the back to hide the gap. Finally I'm doing the cut and turn this week as I got all the pieces I need. Will post up pics when done.
Cool! Once u get the front axle hanging things go fast. Just be careful welding on the housing, they warp easily. Heres my build thread if it helps any, same axle setup but sua front.
FJ60 axle in my 40
 
pics

20161025_103029.jpg

Had it blasted to bare metal, I POR it then rebuilt it. Still had a few sharp points on it so I decided to grind them down and not be lazy. Will have to re-POR some of the spots. Other spots are for spring perches.

20161026_165825.jpg

1st attempt working on back axle angle

IMG_1965.JPG

Working on the "cruiser lean"
 
pics

View attachment 1344249
Had it blasted to bare metal, I POR it then rebuilt it. Still had a few sharp points on it so I decided to grind them down and not be lazy. Will have to re-POR some of the spots. Other spots are for spring perches.

View attachment 1344250
1st attempt working on back axle angle

View attachment 1344251
Working on the "cruiser lean"
Looks pretty good man! Are you using the 3 hole spring perches? They are nice for dialing in you wheelbase if you need to move the axle back or forth an inch. You can try a 1/4" thick plate with a hole and bolt it on the bottom of the sagging side. If its still sagging you can add another plate. Or you can add another leaf. I think I added another bottom leaf and that did it. Just make sure you don't have 2 leafs of the same length stacked on top of each other. If you have to, cut the added leaf a little shorter.
 
So trying to wrap this up but the shackles in the back are super long usign 60 rear springs. Not sure if the rear springs should be moved a bit at the hanger. But the shackles are vertical and really dam long. Not sure if it will also cause negative arch...

That still has the old wheels on it.
20161108_174003.jpg
 
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font, driver side shackle is a bit longer for cruise lean but it dose not look ridiculous like the back. im going to add a block between the frame and hanger in the rear but just seems way to tall and not safe. Using fj60 front springs

20161108_173653.jpg
 
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