Spare Wheel Carrier Hinge Pins Upgrade Kit (1 Viewer)

[AutaviaFJ40]

I ordered the Spare Wheel Carrier Hinge Pins Upgrade Kit from Roger at City Racer for my 81 FJ40 thinking it was going to be a piece of cake to install. First let me say, the kit is a work of art. It is extremely well made and worth every penny. Its not cheap, but you get what you pay for...and in the case of this kit even more.

I took on the project to solve the persistent rattling in the rear end. I resorted to installing two racquetballs between the body of the truck and the frame of the spare tire holder...and this worked for the most part, but every time I swung the carrier open I had to chase the balls down the street

Then while ordering some parts from City Racer I stumbled on this item...reading the install tips I figured it would be a simple afternoon install...so I ordered a Carbide Bur from China (Amazon) and went to town on the welds. It didnt take long for me to figure out I was out of my league so I called a friend with a small shop.

In his words...This little project has proven to be a solid challenge! The pins were completely seized in the brackets. In the interest of protecting paint and giving myself more room to work with, I shaved off the head of the pin so it came out still pressed into the bracket. My bur bit was not effective so with a drill press I carefully removed the spotwelds. For final pin removal it took a 25ton press to get it out of the bracket.

About 8 hours later...its perfect. One of the best upgrades Ive done to the FJ40...the kit is solid and completely overbuilt for the task. Happy to say she is rock solid, silent and racketball free.

Thanks Roger for supplying all the s*** we need...but this one is just amazing. Now where is our OEM style floor mat?

Before Racketball trick:

 

[AutaviaFJ40]

and completed

 

[letterman52]

Well crap man. Looks great, but dear baby Jesus what a production.

 

[tstepp920]

Tell us about the black rubber balls and the Wheel spacer?

 

[AutaviaFJ40]

The racket balls were used prior to upgrading the hinge pins...they are no longer needed.
Before I upgraded the hinge pins with the kit...the spare tire rack was a source of excessive noise. The balls eliminated the vibrations and stopped the noise. Now that nI have the upgraded hinge pins installed the carrier is silent and rock solid.

The wheel spacer was added by the PO...not sure where it came from, but it allows my larger tire to fit with plenty of clearance

 

[AutaviaFJ40]

no more balls:

 

[tstepp920]

Are the pins still available? I get a "page not found" when I click on the link.

 

[Drake2]

no more balls:

View attachment 1809043

Sorry to hear that, condolences to your wife and/or girlfriend

 

[Brian/99uzj100]

Nice! Brass bushings and greaseable too. Much cleaner than my fix.
Hardware store bolts, washers, nylock nuts and a liberal amount of white lithium grease.The only parts OEM are the nylon bushings.
I use a con-ferr gas can holder on my tire carrier when I go off-road and everything is still rattle free 16+ years later.

 

[Eric Ellis]

Please excuse my ignorance but which or what spot welds are you talking about with respect to removal? The only ones I see are those on the under side of the hinge pin receiver/aka the body mount underside that fits to the tub. My pins have been removed (intact) by a friend who owns a auto shop. (Looks like I owe him...he never said anything about having a tough issue). I was going to replace them with brass bushings a fellow I know made some years ago, but I like the elegance and supperiority of the City Racer kit.