The Resurection of 'The Beast'

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eventhough said:
Here is a question for ya.

I'm taking the Pig to GSMTR this year come hell or high water. High water might actually be fun...

I'm locked in the rear but not the front. I know I need an ARB air locker up front but I can't afford it.

I've thought about putting a lunch box in the front but am worried about my long wheel base (turning) and I also have stock axles and 60 birfs in front - no Longs. I do have the 2L mod.

When I'm at GSMTR I would like to run some of the trails that are a bit harder like Guardrail, Helicopter, Schoolbus, etc - but don't want to be winching up everything. I know a front locker would REALLY help but I still want to be able to turn this Pig and not explode my front axle.

What cha think?

ETA: Do I need the 'weather stripping seal' that goes within the clutch inspection cover? I think it is prettttty pricey from Toyota.
Click to expand...

I think that there are a lot of people running in 2L with a front locker. Basically, you would move from 4L to 2L anytime you would want to disengage the front locker. It might be a little tougher on the rear axle, but gotta be easier on the birfs. Go for it!
 
Carp said:
I think that there are a lot of people running in 2L with a front locker. Basically, you would move from 4L to 2L anytime you would want to disengage the front locker. It might be a little tougher on the rear axle, but gotta be easier on the birfs. Go for it!
Click to expand...
Howdy! There is a lot to be said for double Lunchboxes. I have them. Basically, no wheel spin. I put mine in after blowing a stock birf. I upgraded to Long's birfs and inners while I had it torn down. Steering is noticeably sloppier when locked up in 4L/H. Even at 10 psi, the front tires do not have near as much bite when you crank the wheel. If your on a lot of hardrock trails, you'll notice a lot of windup in the driveline. I have gotten real good at rocking the throttle to slide in/out of 4wd. I recommend an anti-wrap bar on the rear, even if a rig is SUA, if it is going to do a lot of 2wd Low.
Double Locked is not a bad thing, just different. It's better than a single locker, but not as nice as a selcetable setup. I find myself running in 2L in a lot of moderate spots I used to run in 4L. This does put a lot of extra load on the rear axle, so I plan on adding a set of PolyPerformance axles to the rear when I do the disc brake setup. John
 
eventhough said:
I might just need to hold out on the front locker until next year and put in an ARB. :frown:
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Howdy! Not a bad plan. Extreme steering is a lot easier in 2wd and 3wd than it is in 4wd. In theory, autolockers allow the outer (faster) tire on a turn to freewheel, but for some reason it does not seem to work on the front axle nearly as well as it does on the rear. I will say it is the cat's meow on very soft surfaces like washes, beaches, and dunes. John
 
Trollhole said:
Steve what type of steering box does it have? I thought it was a minitruck set up?
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Minitruck with factory FJ55 linkage to the center arm and then high steer with a custom tie rod and FJ80 TRE's.

It's not the strongest power steering around but it works fine now, if a bit sloppily; I think Steve is working on the slop though...

Not sure what a front locker would do re: steering...
 
yooper said:
Minitruck with factory FJ55 linkage to the center arm and then high steer with a custom tie rod and FJ80 TRE's.

It's not the strongest power steering around but it works fine now, if a bit sloppily; I think Steve is working on the slop though...

Not sure what a front locker would do re: steering...
Click to expand...

Steering has always been plenty strong for me. I replaced the mini-truck pump with a Sag pump b/c I had to ditch the 'beta' version mini-truck pump mount.

Steering slop should be gone. It has a new center arm and I replaced the u-joints which were TOAST.
 
Trollhole said:
What I was trying to get at was if you put a lunchbox up front with that box you might have some steering issues with 35's.
Click to expand...

Yeah - that is one reason I'm shying away from one. I've decided to wait until I can afford an ARB.

I spent about half an hour last night trying to get the dang pulley mount off of the Sag pump - finally got it off with a gear puller and Troll's compressor and a cheap a$$ impact wrench. Now I have to figure how to press it onto my rebuilt Sag pump.

Troll - the thermostat you gave me to try didn't work - it was too tall. I'm going to order some small parts from RHT today.

Waiting on some parts from SOR.

Received parts from JimC yesterday - thanks Jim! The BVSV's are hard to fit in the t-stat housing. They make it about 2 turns in and dat's it. The threads are caked with crap. I need to tap 'em.

Also have all motor, tranny, tcase mounts now painted up nicely - clean and black. I also painted the PS pump pulley and mounting hardware shiney and black.

:cheers:
 
Nice job on your resurrection, I was scrolling thru for the first time on your build.
Red neck tips:
Poor man's air bags can be used to push out dents. if a panel is in a area that has some sort of support to push against. Sometimes a wheel barrow tube can be inserted behind dent and inflated to push out dent. Note to self while doing this be cautious of sharp edges and screws.
The rolled roofing material that is self adhesive some times referred to as Ice Guard can be used a underlayment for floor mats or used as a sound deadner such as inside doors. Nothing slides on it and it really sticks.
I posted my FJ55 on the 55 registry yesterday.
Muddy Run Raceway
 
Only got about half an hour in last night but I cut 8 ~ 4x4 inch x 1/4 inch thick plates to weld to my frame for my slider tie-ins.

My sliders are currently welded (very well) into my door sills by IPOR. I was told to use 2x2x3/16 to tie them into the frame for extra support but I have 2x2x1/8 already in my garage. I want to wheel my Pig pretty good but I'm not going to trash the hell out of it. Do ya think the 1/8 will do? I'm going to tie each slider in @ 4 points with gussets on the frame side.

ETA: One end of my exhaust manifold was pretty stiff (from a 83 FJ60 2F with the ends that pivot). The other end pretty much dropped out. I was able to get the semi-stuck end out with barely any force - just a few light taps from a rubber mallet. I did not see any apparent leaks anywhere. I wanted to check this before I had the mani ceramic coated. The ends pretty much slid right back together. Are they good to go?
 
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