Build The LF40 Wheeler Build - Twin Turbo & 8 Speed Auto FJ40

[DangerNoodle]

Horns installed.

The dakoda digital is all wired up now. It looks great.

@cbmontgo stopped by to pull some 80 parts. It was good to see the 47, Carson!

 

[cbmontgo]

Horns installed.

View attachment 2606914

The dakoda digital is all wired up now. It looks great.

View attachment 2606913

@cbmontgo stopped by to pull some 80 parts. It was good to see the 47, Carson!

Good to catch up and thanks for the 80 stuff!

This 40 is gonna be very impressive.

 

[05CTD]

Turning out great...

 

[DangerNoodle]

Turning out great...

Thanks! It's been a lot of time up till this point.

 

[DangerNoodle]

My Hellfire Knuckles showed up today, so the final piece to this puzzle is here, after about 8 months of waiting.

They are beefy as can be, so I'm happy.

Have I ever mentioned that ih8birfields? I'm extra glad that I didn't pack the knuckles with grease last time I stuck them on.

One side on with my fuseable link (the AVM hubs) installed.

Other side on.

I'm going to have my machinist drill out the original tapers, and I have some weld-in inserts that should allow me to flip my drag link and tie rod to the bottom of the arms, so no frame clearancing will be needed.

 

[Paul]

Beautiful. I love rebuilding knuckles. I think FJ 80 axles are the way to go. I wish I had done that. But when I built my 40 that was not being done. People were putting Dana 60 in and I wanted to stay all Toyota DNA. You are doing a great job DJ

 

[DangerNoodle]

Beautiful. I love rebuilding knuckles. I think FJ 80 axles are the way to go. I wish I had done that. But when I built my 40 that was not being done. People were putting Dana 60 in and I wanted to stay all Toyota DNA. You are doing a great job DJ

The only problem with the 80 fronts is the lack of cheap hi steer options, and the smaller 8" front diff.

 

[Paul]

Yes but the inner are much thicker.

 

[DangerNoodle]

I got my steering arms drilled out today, there was no way I was trying to go though all 5 holes with my little press.

I wish I could have tig'd these, but mig will have to do.

The tie rod gets really close to my diff. Do I need more space than this? I really don't want to have to notch or bend the link if possible.

Turn radius looks great.

Full stuff clearance is pretty good, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to get my panhard packaged in.

 

[White Stripe]

Looks like your going to have to use a bent Panhard bar similar to what a stock 80 series uses on the front. Tie rod should he fine. Do you have your caster set?

 

[DangerNoodle]

°°Looks like your going to have to use a bent Panhard bar similar to what a stock 80 series uses on the front. Tie rod should he fine. Do you have your caster set?

It is set at about 6°, I may go up to 7°. I'm thinking the same thing with the panhard. The upper mount is being a massive pain to get it to clear the axle, tierod, and upper link mount. If I only had another inch....

 

[White Stripe]

It is set at about 6°, I may go up to 7°. I'm thinking the same thing with the panhard. The upper mount is being a massive pain to get it to clear the axle, tierod, and upper link mount. If I only had another inch....

In my opinion 6 or 7 is a bit excessive. I would aim for more like 3 or 4, maybe even 5. Having a lot of caster will build a lot of heat in the power steering fluid at low speeds. That would also give you more tie rod clearance if it was around 3 or 4.

 

[DangerNoodle]

In my opinion 6 or 7 is a bit excessive. I would aim for more like 3 or 4, maybe even 5. Having a lot of caster will build a lot of heat in the power steering fluid at low speeds. That would also give you more tie rod clearance if it was around 3 or 4.

Good to know. I've always heard that the bigger tires really like a lot of caster to keep them more driveable. I'm not seeing how it would give me more tie rod clearance to the diff, wouldn't it stay in the same spot?

 

[White Stripe]

Good to know. I've always heard that the bigger tires really like a lot of caster to keep them more driveable. I'm not seeing how it would give me more tie rod clearance to the diff, wouldn't it stay in the same spot?

It would just give you more tie rod clearance at the frame if that's a issue.

 

[DangerNoodle]

It would just give you more tie rod clearance at the frame if that's a issue.

It's close, but I think it will be OK. Thanks for the info!

 

[DangerNoodle]

I flipped my drag link over to the top of the pitman arm, which made a lot better geometry for the Panhard. They are basically in the same plane now, with about a 1/4" of height difference on the pivot points. I'm amazed at how well the link geometry has worked out for this build.

I then had to notch the frame and lower cross member to get it to fully clear lock to lock.

It's such a small notch, and the 4x4 labs Saginaw kit plated that area, so I'm not worried that there was any strength lost there.

I then started working on the panhard bar and lower mount. I made a mockup bar out of some thin walled tube to check and see what bends would need to be made.

Lower mount at full lock.

The geometry is great. You can barely even see the Panhard, and it's sitting high because there was no bend in it, yet.

Rough bend. I will do a complete curve when I do it, it was just harder to do with square tube. I have about 1/4 of lateral movement going from ride height to full stuff, and probably less than an inch on droop, but I haven't tested it yet. I'm really happy with how it worked out. I'll have to notch the frame with the real bar in, but I want to fully see how much I will need to trim before doing it, though.

 

[DangerNoodle]

Panhard bend. Bending 1/4 DOM is tough. The oxy torch helped a lot, as did packing the bar with sand. Backhoe as an anchor.

Bent, letting it cool.

Not the prettiest bends ever, but it should work.

It fits well.

Compression clearance is great. Now I just need to zip up my front axle, and that will be done.

 

[DangerNoodle]

It's been a bit since I last updated. I went and did some trail leader training with Bill Burke and the Rising Sun guys. It was a ton of fun an some really great information. Anyhow, I'm going to be leading trails out at Cruise Moab, so that should be fun. I also went and helped @CheyenneTrucker with his 383 swap for a few days.

Anyways, I have gotten a ton done, just havent found time to post until now.

I started with my diff armour. I had to trim the top to get my tie rod to clear.

Lower links painted.

Final clearance check. I have about 2 3/4 of overall lateral movement with this panhard setup, so not perfect, but I'm happy enough with it for 16" of travel.

I have basically no bump steer with the current relations between the drag link and panhard, so I am really happy with that.

 

[DangerNoodle]

Limit straps installed. I still need to do bumpstops, but I'll do that today.

I also got my steering linkage built. It is fully removable from the column joint down so I can get my headers out.

The turning radius is pretty good for a saginaw box, so I am happy.

Sitting back on it's own weight.

 

[05CTD]

looking really good...