I hope you take some photos along the way as you make your changes and take this beast out on your adventures, I know more than one of us would love to follow along.
Techster’s 1973 FJ55 buildup...
- Thread starter treerootCO
- Start date
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I'm going to come find this truck at GSMTR next week. Can't wait to look it over.
At current prices, there's never a good time to buy tires but this is REALLY not a good time to buy tires. I guess due to the Pandemic availability is pretty horrible and I've been stressing about making a new tire decision before GSMTR next weekend. The SXs on Cerdito currently don't have much life left in them and I wanted to lessen the concern about a tire going down before wheeling three weeks in a row.
Since the current tires are 38x12.00r15 TSL/SX tires (and I really like this tire for the terrain we have in KY) I began looking for that first. Unfortunately 90% of Super Swampers current offerings seem to be on backorder. Couple that with the fact that 15" tires in larger sizes are few and far between these days and I began to turn my attention to a 17" wheel/tire setup.
If I went to a 17" wheel I'd be giving up the 15" bead locks (but gaining lots of tire options), and I really wanted to keep the bead locks. A search led me to a steel bead lock from Sidetracked Offroad. 17x9, 6x5.5, 3.5" backspacing, 4.3" hub bore and $200 checks all the boxes.
We're currently doing a set of weld-on bead locks for a buddy's vehicle (17" 1st gen Tundra Steelies) and once I did the math these wheels from Sidetracked were going to be cheaper and not involve all the time and labor of welding up a set. With a viable option for 17" wheels identified I turned my tire search to something that would match that.
If you're not running a Super Swamper or Pit Bull tire that comes in a bunch of oddball sizes (36", 37", 38", 38.5", 39.5" etc) then it mostly leaves 35", 37" or 40" as options. Since the current tires were 38s (now measuring 36") I want to run the maximum size without getting in to clearance issues. I started looking seriously at 37x12.50r17 tires since they're more available and I wouldn't have clearance issues. One that caught my attention is the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss ( as well as the Baja Boss X which is a sticky). Pricing was still pretty tough to swallow and then I remembered that BFG offers their KM3 tire in a 39"size (that measure 38.5"). After pricing new ones I was able to locate a slightly used set four hours away in TN. The owner purchased them in August to run on his Power Wagon but ended up deciding they were too big for street driving with a trailer and pulled them off after close to 2,000 miles. The tread looked great and the price was a little easier to swallow so today I did an 8 hour round trip and picked them up.
I feel better about having a wheel/tire setup decided on for immediate future and should have them mounted and on once the wheels show up on Friday.
With that decided I went ahead and ordered an aftermarket heater from Vintage Air (should be here Thursday) that had good reviews and will be installing it in the Pig under the glove box area and should be able to connect it to the factory vents/defrost. I've also ordered a new windshield and gasket as well as a replacement gasket for the side cargo window as that will be going back in. A buddy of mine has a couple of parts pigs and I'm hoping to get a set of front door glass so I can seal up the vehicle from cold/inclement weather should the need arise. I'm definitely getting familiar with the "Pig Tax" but want to make the vehicle more suitable for year round wheeling.
I'll follow up with more pics and updates as we get closer to the weekend and some of these changes get made.
Since the current tires are 38x12.00r15 TSL/SX tires (and I really like this tire for the terrain we have in KY) I began looking for that first. Unfortunately 90% of Super Swampers current offerings seem to be on backorder. Couple that with the fact that 15" tires in larger sizes are few and far between these days and I began to turn my attention to a 17" wheel/tire setup.
If I went to a 17" wheel I'd be giving up the 15" bead locks (but gaining lots of tire options), and I really wanted to keep the bead locks. A search led me to a steel bead lock from Sidetracked Offroad. 17x9, 6x5.5, 3.5" backspacing, 4.3" hub bore and $200 checks all the boxes.
We're currently doing a set of weld-on bead locks for a buddy's vehicle (17" 1st gen Tundra Steelies) and once I did the math these wheels from Sidetracked were going to be cheaper and not involve all the time and labor of welding up a set. With a viable option for 17" wheels identified I turned my tire search to something that would match that.
If you're not running a Super Swamper or Pit Bull tire that comes in a bunch of oddball sizes (36", 37", 38", 38.5", 39.5" etc) then it mostly leaves 35", 37" or 40" as options. Since the current tires were 38s (now measuring 36") I want to run the maximum size without getting in to clearance issues. I started looking seriously at 37x12.50r17 tires since they're more available and I wouldn't have clearance issues. One that caught my attention is the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss ( as well as the Baja Boss X which is a sticky). Pricing was still pretty tough to swallow and then I remembered that BFG offers their KM3 tire in a 39"size (that measure 38.5"). After pricing new ones I was able to locate a slightly used set four hours away in TN. The owner purchased them in August to run on his Power Wagon but ended up deciding they were too big for street driving with a trailer and pulled them off after close to 2,000 miles. The tread looked great and the price was a little easier to swallow so today I did an 8 hour round trip and picked them up.
I feel better about having a wheel/tire setup decided on for immediate future and should have them mounted and on once the wheels show up on Friday.
With that decided I went ahead and ordered an aftermarket heater from Vintage Air (should be here Thursday) that had good reviews and will be installing it in the Pig under the glove box area and should be able to connect it to the factory vents/defrost. I've also ordered a new windshield and gasket as well as a replacement gasket for the side cargo window as that will be going back in. A buddy of mine has a couple of parts pigs and I'm hoping to get a set of front door glass so I can seal up the vehicle from cold/inclement weather should the need arise. I'm definitely getting familiar with the "Pig Tax" but want to make the vehicle more suitable for year round wheeling.
I'll follow up with more pics and updates as we get closer to the weekend and some of these changes get made.
New thread title
I've been working on the Pig as much as time has allowed the last few days but its currently at a buddy's shop in Louisville so its a little over an hour each way for me. Couple that with the fact that I'm still healing from a bad ankle break three months ago and I'm just not moving as fast as I used to.
With that said I've got several fellow TLCA members that have been lending a hand, one of which has a '77 FJ55, so he came over yesterday afternoon and help me reinstall the driver side cargo glass with the new gasket that came in. It took some finessing and a few choice words but its reinstalled and one step closer to being closed up from the elements.
I got the new 17" Bead locks delivered yesterday so we had a chance to mount the 39" KM3s and see how they looked on the wheel. We had one of his vehicles on the lift for some work so I'll head back over later today or tomorrow to put them on the Pig and check for clearance.
The new heater from Vintage air is almost complete at this point. We plumbed the cooling lines to it last night along with the heater control valve they provided and got the heating unit itself mounted to the firewall along with making a bracket for the switch placement. I need to finish the electrical wiring and connect it to the defrost ducts then it should be complete.
Still left to do is hopefully install a windshield before leaving Thursday (as long as things get delivered), wire in a new CB (the old one kept blowing fuses so something internally is shorted out) weld a few spots on some link mounts that have stress cracks as well as some other odds and ends.
With that said I've got several fellow TLCA members that have been lending a hand, one of which has a '77 FJ55, so he came over yesterday afternoon and help me reinstall the driver side cargo glass with the new gasket that came in. It took some finessing and a few choice words but its reinstalled and one step closer to being closed up from the elements.
I got the new 17" Bead locks delivered yesterday so we had a chance to mount the 39" KM3s and see how they looked on the wheel. We had one of his vehicles on the lift for some work so I'll head back over later today or tomorrow to put them on the Pig and check for clearance.
The new heater from Vintage air is almost complete at this point. We plumbed the cooling lines to it last night along with the heater control valve they provided and got the heating unit itself mounted to the firewall along with making a bracket for the switch placement. I need to finish the electrical wiring and connect it to the defrost ducts then it should be complete.
Still left to do is hopefully install a windshield before leaving Thursday (as long as things get delivered), wire in a new CB (the old one kept blowing fuses so something internally is shorted out) weld a few spots on some link mounts that have stress cracks as well as some other odds and ends.
bobm
WTF, WTF, WTF!!!!
Whos ya friend wit a 
?? Where ya get the Cargo winda gasket??
?? Where ya get the Cargo winda gasket??
Whos ya friend wit a
The cargo window gaskets I ordered from slocruisers.com (the only source I know of, and not cheap!) The friend with the Pig is over in Louisville. Its a '77 painted its original single color blue, pretty cool.
Buddy of mine spent some time tonight with the Pig on the lift doing some welding for me on link brackets that had some stress cracks and wear.
After that the new wheels and tires were mounted up to get a look.
I like them and think they'll work out pretty well.
After that the new wheels and tires were mounted up to get a look.
I like them and think they'll work out pretty well.
PabloCruise
SILVER Star
New shoes for Piggy!
I spent a few hours today chipping away at the to-do list.
First I finished up the wiring for the new heater. One cable for the heater control valve had to be run through the firewall and the rest went to the control panel inside as well as power and ground. After everything was hooked up I tested the function and it didn't blow up!
The mounting plate for the control panel we made out of a piece of aluminum that we cut and bent then air riveted to the bottom of the dash.
Since the old CB had bit the dust and one end of the antenna cable looked questionable I went ahead and installed a new unit as well as a new antenna cable and mount.
Pulling the vehicle out of the shop and getting a good look at the new wheels and tires.
Tomorrow I'm going to pick up a set of old doors that have their glass and regulators so I can begin swapping those parts in to the door shells I currently have. I also am planning to remove a windshield from a donor pig and get it installed in this one. Unfortunately Cruiser Corps kind of screwed me from having a new windshield and gasket before GSMTR. A week ago I ordered those two parts from them and almost a week later they haven't shipped and they won't return messages or answer the phone. Needless to say I'm not happy with their approach to customer service as its put me in a real bind.
If anyone has a windshield gasket that they'd be willing to sell to me and could ship it out tomorrow, I'll send you an overnight shipping label and send you a replacement gasket when mine comes in!
First I finished up the wiring for the new heater. One cable for the heater control valve had to be run through the firewall and the rest went to the control panel inside as well as power and ground. After everything was hooked up I tested the function and it didn't blow up!
The mounting plate for the control panel we made out of a piece of aluminum that we cut and bent then air riveted to the bottom of the dash.
Since the old CB had bit the dust and one end of the antenna cable looked questionable I went ahead and installed a new unit as well as a new antenna cable and mount.
Pulling the vehicle out of the shop and getting a good look at the new wheels and tires.
Tomorrow I'm going to pick up a set of old doors that have their glass and regulators so I can begin swapping those parts in to the door shells I currently have. I also am planning to remove a windshield from a donor pig and get it installed in this one. Unfortunately Cruiser Corps kind of screwed me from having a new windshield and gasket before GSMTR. A week ago I ordered those two parts from them and almost a week later they haven't shipped and they won't return messages or answer the phone. Needless to say I'm not happy with their approach to customer service as its put me in a real bind.
If anyone has a windshield gasket that they'd be willing to sell to me and could ship it out tomorrow, I'll send you an overnight shipping label and send you a replacement gasket when mine comes in!
This thing looks AWESOME in person. @Gumby you really nailed this man, love this truck. Awesome to meet you and your new truck @techster82 !!
Both awesome looking!
MOAR PICS
you can't tell me this thing was at GSMTR and nobody took pictures.
you can't tell me this thing was at GSMTR and nobody took pictures.
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2012
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- Website
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Sorry for the delay in getting a post-GSMTR post together. My father-in-law passed away and I headed from GSMTR to Louisiana to be with family.
While it was great to get the Pig back out on the trails, I definitely wish I'd had the shakedown run I'd originally planned on before going. We got to Windrock Thursday afternoon (after an all night wrench session getting last minute stuff done on several vehicles) and our first real time on the trails was Friday morning. There were two organized groups going out so me and some friends hoped on the moderate group and set out.
While ultimately the day was pretty enjoyable I had a few mechanical things come up that had me pulling some hair out. The engine's RPMs are being limited to maybe 1600rpms or so and anything beyond that causes the engine to bog down completely and start dumping fuel causing backfiring through the intake. I knew ahead of time that the engine isn't running a VSS (vehicle speed sensor) but with a mechanical trans like the TH400 that shouldn't necessarily be an issue. I could feather the throttle to sometimes make it work better along with resetting the computer every little bit but the problem plagued me all weekend and robbed me of power I really needed. My hope next week is to get someone to look at the computer and current tuning profile and see if we can get it running better. If it ends up needing a VSS I'll do that as well.
Towards the end of the day coming down off of one of the mountains I realized that my front driver's tire had sheered four of the six studs and was working on the last two. It seems that when the new wheels and tires were put on the lug nuts I used weren't quite long enough to snug completely down on the longer studs from the front spacers. Instead of popping the end caps they presented as snug and then loosened over time. Big mistake on my part and it led to a trail fix that day and evening that I didn't want to have to do, along with permanently fixing it now that I'm back home.
Back at the cabin that evening a buddy helped tear down the passenger side front hub as two of the studs were spinning and we needed to get it fixed. A couple of friends from Nashville decided to come up to run trails with us on Saturday so they brought a spare set of wheel spacers for the front and we ended up taking one of the wheel hubs to a friend of theres near Windrock who let us use a welder to keep the new wheel studs from spinning.
After all of this, and with the Pig not really running well I somehow got talked in to running Trail 15 on Saturday. Needless to say it turned in to a long day! The engine wouldn't give me power, my front hubs went out and one of the transfer cases decided it didn't like staying in 4wd. Oh, and the winch brake didn't work so it wouldn't hold me! Even with all of that we made it to the end and back to the cabin in one piece, if not with a few more bumps and bruises.
So the current projects are:
Figure out engine tuning/VSS issue
Install new front wheel hubs and spacers
Get the front hubs working or go back to drive flanges
Work on the transfer case shifters to keep me in 4wd
Rebuild winch with new brake
Install a misalignment spacer in rear shock thats missing one.
Get the windshield wiper motor working
(I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things!)
Some shots from the trails at GSMTR:
While it was great to get the Pig back out on the trails, I definitely wish I'd had the shakedown run I'd originally planned on before going. We got to Windrock Thursday afternoon (after an all night wrench session getting last minute stuff done on several vehicles) and our first real time on the trails was Friday morning. There were two organized groups going out so me and some friends hoped on the moderate group and set out.
While ultimately the day was pretty enjoyable I had a few mechanical things come up that had me pulling some hair out. The engine's RPMs are being limited to maybe 1600rpms or so and anything beyond that causes the engine to bog down completely and start dumping fuel causing backfiring through the intake. I knew ahead of time that the engine isn't running a VSS (vehicle speed sensor) but with a mechanical trans like the TH400 that shouldn't necessarily be an issue. I could feather the throttle to sometimes make it work better along with resetting the computer every little bit but the problem plagued me all weekend and robbed me of power I really needed. My hope next week is to get someone to look at the computer and current tuning profile and see if we can get it running better. If it ends up needing a VSS I'll do that as well.
Towards the end of the day coming down off of one of the mountains I realized that my front driver's tire had sheered four of the six studs and was working on the last two. It seems that when the new wheels and tires were put on the lug nuts I used weren't quite long enough to snug completely down on the longer studs from the front spacers. Instead of popping the end caps they presented as snug and then loosened over time. Big mistake on my part and it led to a trail fix that day and evening that I didn't want to have to do, along with permanently fixing it now that I'm back home.
Back at the cabin that evening a buddy helped tear down the passenger side front hub as two of the studs were spinning and we needed to get it fixed. A couple of friends from Nashville decided to come up to run trails with us on Saturday so they brought a spare set of wheel spacers for the front and we ended up taking one of the wheel hubs to a friend of theres near Windrock who let us use a welder to keep the new wheel studs from spinning.
After all of this, and with the Pig not really running well I somehow got talked in to running Trail 15 on Saturday. Needless to say it turned in to a long day! The engine wouldn't give me power, my front hubs went out and one of the transfer cases decided it didn't like staying in 4wd. Oh, and the winch brake didn't work so it wouldn't hold me! Even with all of that we made it to the end and back to the cabin in one piece, if not with a few more bumps and bruises.
So the current projects are:
Figure out engine tuning/VSS issue
Install new front wheel hubs and spacers
Get the front hubs working or go back to drive flanges
Work on the transfer case shifters to keep me in 4wd
Rebuild winch with new brake
Install a misalignment spacer in rear shock thats missing one.
Get the windshield wiper motor working
(I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things!)
Some shots from the trails at GSMTR:
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2012
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- 16,357
- Location
- Winter Park, Florida
- Website
- www.cruisermatts.com
I would add a VSS, it’s too easy not to. You have a 80 rear axle, right? Just throw an 80 abs sensor in it and hook it up to the two wire VSS connection from your PCM. Works great for me on my manual FJ62 and my BMW with a TH400. I can get you the wire colors to use.
PabloCruise
SILVER Star
Sounds like you had a Mother of a shakedown cruise!
PabloCruise
SILVER Star
Where can I learn more about this? I am "rocking" an e46 (when it is operational).
RUSH55
SILVER Star
At least it looked good while behaving like a POS.
