SOA FJ55 *idiot guide* and questions thread.
Just got done with my SOA and hi-steer. Im going to update the top of this with my experience, then have the rest of the info below that has been collected.
My SOA was a fairly basic one. Stock axles with swapped out 79+ knuckles (stronger) that i rebuilt in the process since everything is torn apart. I personally went with marlin crawlers full axle rebuild kit for 160~ bucks. kit came with upgraded seals and all the gaskets needed.
*NOTE remember if you have a 78 an older axle and swapping to the newer knuckles, all the studs and cone washers are different! Cannot reuse your old axles studs and washers!
I dont really have any pictures of the axle disassembly as it is a VERY messy process. So i was unable to snap anyone once i got started. First things first. Tear apart your front axle and unbolt it, put it aside for cut and turn. (this is also a good time to clean everything up and paint/powder coat if you feel the need)
Unbolt your rear axle (or tie it up like we did) and cut off your rear perches.
Stip the front axle of all its mounts and tabs (some are your stops for your steering, they will also need to be relocated)
*If you are not a competent welder, or dont know what your doing with the measuring for the cut and turn, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND having a trusted professional do it. It being done wrong can screw up your steering and driveablity.
Get it measured out and weld everything back on
Once your pinion angle is all measured out and your perches/ect are all welded into place, you can re-assembly of the front/rear axle.
*For steering i went with 4x4 labs high steer setup. Trick setup and seems to work really well. With factory axles you will need lower offset rims and possibly wheel spacers to make sure 35+ inch tires dont rub.
*If using this for on road, i recommend extending out your rear sway links to add some extra stability to your ride.
*You will also need to extend your rear rubber brake line that goes to your rear axle. My fronts were plenty long, just had to re shape them to look nicer with the modifications.
Have any questions feel free to ask!
They setups i have seen from what i've read:
Axles:
Stock (enough said) just need to change the perches around. If you DO NOT want to go through the hassle of swaping axles for a more stable ride, you can always either A) Offset the springs or cut into the passenger side pumpkin area. o B) Get wider/lower offset rims to wident the stance.
FJ60 front/rear axle swap (3" wider, giving you a wider stance, and more stability) If you swap the front Steering you will need to convert to Hi-Steer, this will require you to either A) get shims to make up for the knuckle or B) upgrade to FJ80 ends and custom Tie-rod end.
If your going FJ60 front axles and need them cut and turned but dont have anyone local, check these guys out. http://www.shoumatoff.com/~jeremiah/suspension/soa.html Only have heard good things about them.
SOA kits:
SOA kit (FJ60 axle) (see link) http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/FJ60-SOA.html
Springs:
Stock Springs with just a spring perch rework
FJ60 front and rear springs (rear springs are longer than stock FJ55 and the rear mount will have to be moved back)
Chevy 58": (believe) are similar in length to stock
Chevy 63": longer than stock, needs to have rear spring mount changed, along with the fronts
54" Tahoe leaf springs w/ leaf sliders in the rear: The combination of the two dropped the rear 1".
Shocks: I have seen everything from Rancho 9000's to deutsche shocks that are revalved (usually custom), if you want to go totally custom you can fit in whatever.
Lowering SOA: If 6" of lift is not what you want, an you want something shorter (I.E. 4") but still want SOA, there are a couple options:
Pinion Angle: Seems to me the standard pinion angle on most SOA's for our FJ55's is around 14-15 degrees
Caster: 4 degrees (what i've seen)
Steering
Going with a SOA your going to need to change some things with your steering as your knuckle arms will be way below your original arm locations. This is a good option if going FJ60, gets ride of most of your bump steer and will raise your steering arms/linkages so you dont hit them on things.
http://www.marlincrawler.com/steering/high-steer/high-steer-kit-fj60
Extra: Seems to be recommended that if you are doing a SOA, go ahead and buy a axle seal kit (front and rear) and go ahead and rebuild the hubs while your at it. Can/will save you the time later on down the road. Front axle service kit can be found here:http://www.marlincrawler.com/axle/f...ts/service-front-hilux/front-axle-service-kit
If going with larger tires (I.E. 35" and up) it is also STRONGLY recommended to either upgrade your axles (upgraded birfields) or swap to a stronger axle (I.E. fJ60/80 or mini truck axles) and then possibly upgrade axle shafts if you are using a bigger engine (chevy 350, cummins swaps, ect) link to upgraded birfields: http://www.marlincrawler.com/axle/f...hafts-front-hilux/chromoly-30-spline-axle-kit
Some Extra info:
Overview of SOA: http://www.ih8mud.com/tech/soa/1.html
Its somewhat early in the morning so i'll stop there and change/fix things as you guys give me info, or i find the info. If you have any info i need/should add please post up. Try to make this easier for the next person doing a SOA for the first time. Also, if you know a specific combo let me know, and tell me what the height the lift ended up being.
Thanks in advance guys. (sure hope this hasn't been done already and i missed it lol)
*Special thanks to: Nuclearlemon, Tucker74, Lil'John for the extremely useful info!
Just got done with my SOA and hi-steer. Im going to update the top of this with my experience, then have the rest of the info below that has been collected.
My SOA was a fairly basic one. Stock axles with swapped out 79+ knuckles (stronger) that i rebuilt in the process since everything is torn apart. I personally went with marlin crawlers full axle rebuild kit for 160~ bucks. kit came with upgraded seals and all the gaskets needed.
*NOTE remember if you have a 78 an older axle and swapping to the newer knuckles, all the studs and cone washers are different! Cannot reuse your old axles studs and washers!
I dont really have any pictures of the axle disassembly as it is a VERY messy process. So i was unable to snap anyone once i got started. First things first. Tear apart your front axle and unbolt it, put it aside for cut and turn. (this is also a good time to clean everything up and paint/powder coat if you feel the need)
Unbolt your rear axle (or tie it up like we did) and cut off your rear perches.
Stip the front axle of all its mounts and tabs (some are your stops for your steering, they will also need to be relocated)
*If you are not a competent welder, or dont know what your doing with the measuring for the cut and turn, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND having a trusted professional do it. It being done wrong can screw up your steering and driveablity.
Get it measured out and weld everything back on
Once your pinion angle is all measured out and your perches/ect are all welded into place, you can re-assembly of the front/rear axle.
*For steering i went with 4x4 labs high steer setup. Trick setup and seems to work really well. With factory axles you will need lower offset rims and possibly wheel spacers to make sure 35+ inch tires dont rub.
*If using this for on road, i recommend extending out your rear sway links to add some extra stability to your ride.
*You will also need to extend your rear rubber brake line that goes to your rear axle. My fronts were plenty long, just had to re shape them to look nicer with the modifications.
Have any questions feel free to ask!
They setups i have seen from what i've read:
Axles:
Stock (enough said) just need to change the perches around. If you DO NOT want to go through the hassle of swaping axles for a more stable ride, you can always either A) Offset the springs or cut into the passenger side pumpkin area. o B) Get wider/lower offset rims to wident the stance.
FJ60 front/rear axle swap (3" wider, giving you a wider stance, and more stability) If you swap the front Steering you will need to convert to Hi-Steer, this will require you to either A) get shims to make up for the knuckle or B) upgrade to FJ80 ends and custom Tie-rod end.
If your going FJ60 front axles and need them cut and turned but dont have anyone local, check these guys out. http://www.shoumatoff.com/~jeremiah/suspension/soa.html Only have heard good things about them.
SOA kits:
SOA kit (FJ60 axle) (see link) http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/FJ60-SOA.html
Springs:
Stock Springs with just a spring perch rework
FJ60 front and rear springs (rear springs are longer than stock FJ55 and the rear mount will have to be moved back)
Chevy 58": (believe) are similar in length to stock
Chevy 63": longer than stock, needs to have rear spring mount changed, along with the fronts
54" Tahoe leaf springs w/ leaf sliders in the rear: The combination of the two dropped the rear 1".
Shocks: I have seen everything from Rancho 9000's to deutsche shocks that are revalved (usually custom), if you want to go totally custom you can fit in whatever.
Lowering SOA: If 6" of lift is not what you want, an you want something shorter (I.E. 4") but still want SOA, there are a couple options:
- shorter spring pads. Most purchased springs pads have ~1" lift to them. Also, AVOID the Dodge springs pads everyone recommends. They cause a HUGE amount of axle wrap. Not worth saving $20 buying the POS's.
- Go with a through the frame shackle. You can drop the SOA huge that way. As an added bonus, you can adjust the shackle angle to be "perfect".
- Go with leaf spring sliders... a bit pricey but they ride nice
Pinion Angle: Seems to me the standard pinion angle on most SOA's for our FJ55's is around 14-15 degrees
Caster: 4 degrees (what i've seen)
Steering
Going with a SOA your going to need to change some things with your steering as your knuckle arms will be way below your original arm locations. This is a good option if going FJ60, gets ride of most of your bump steer and will raise your steering arms/linkages so you dont hit them on things.
http://www.marlincrawler.com/steering/high-steer/high-steer-kit-fj60
Extra: Seems to be recommended that if you are doing a SOA, go ahead and buy a axle seal kit (front and rear) and go ahead and rebuild the hubs while your at it. Can/will save you the time later on down the road. Front axle service kit can be found here:http://www.marlincrawler.com/axle/f...ts/service-front-hilux/front-axle-service-kit
If going with larger tires (I.E. 35" and up) it is also STRONGLY recommended to either upgrade your axles (upgraded birfields) or swap to a stronger axle (I.E. fJ60/80 or mini truck axles) and then possibly upgrade axle shafts if you are using a bigger engine (chevy 350, cummins swaps, ect) link to upgraded birfields: http://www.marlincrawler.com/axle/f...hafts-front-hilux/chromoly-30-spline-axle-kit
Some Extra info:
Overview of SOA: http://www.ih8mud.com/tech/soa/1.html
Its somewhat early in the morning so i'll stop there and change/fix things as you guys give me info, or i find the info. If you have any info i need/should add please post up. Try to make this easier for the next person doing a SOA for the first time. Also, if you know a specific combo let me know, and tell me what the height the lift ended up being.
Thanks in advance guys. (sure hope this hasn't been done already and i missed it lol)
*Special thanks to: Nuclearlemon, Tucker74, Lil'John for the extremely useful info!
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