Builds The Short Rib (9 Viewers)

[tucker74]

I miss Chris....

And he did all that with photoshop, imagine the threads he would have created with AI Looks like I was thinking of another chopped pig Todd created, but fun trip into the past all the same. There was a guy in Austin that had a topless bobbed pig, I used to have pictures…

 

[kbahus]

Not a ton of progress, still trying to get a grasp on what needs to be done and in what order. The wiring is a mess, it really needs to be completely redone. Wire nuts, bad connections, and wires going every which way. The Autometer speedo has no cable hooked up to it, that could be why it doesn't work. I was able to clean up the top of the fuel cell a little, there are some wires back there and what looks like a sender, impossible to access without dropping the tank though.

Pulled the left rear wheel, one stud was trashed, probably due to sub par wheel spacers. Looks to have some goofy Ford brakes. The parking brake mechanism has been removed and there isn't much clearance on the leaf spring. I guess it works though. Need to order some pads, maybe new calipers. Why would you go to the trouble of a custom width rear end, make it too narrow, and have to run spacers?

 

[scrapdaddy]

Wire nuts, awesome.

 

[kbahus]

I figured it might be wise to start disconnecting the battery when not in use.

 

[tucker74]

I call those PO presents, yours was very generous

 

[RUSH55]

Not a ton of progress, still trying to get a grasp on what needs to be done and in what order. The wiring is a mess, it really needs to be completely redone. Wire nuts, bad connections, and wires going every which way. The Autometer speedo has no cable hooked up to it, that could be why it doesn't work. I was able to clean up the top of the fuel cell a little, there are some wires back there and what looks like a sender, impossible to access without dropping the tank though.



Pulled the left rear wheel, one stud was trashed, probably due to sub par wheel spacers. Looks to have some goofy Ford brakes. The parking brake mechanism has been removed and there isn't much clearance on the leaf spring. I guess it works though. Need to order some pads, maybe new calipers. Why would you go to the trouble of a custom width rear end, make it too narrow, and have to run spacers?

Do the bones still seem pretty good?

 

[kbahus]

Yeah the bones seem good, I am still quite pleased with the truck. Taking it to cars and coffee at the Studebaker museum probably isn’t happening though

 

[cruisermatt]

axle was probably discarded from something else

You should throw an FJ60 axle under there Kevin. Even better would be an Fzj80 full floater if you can find one.

 

[kbahus]

That was my initial thought, I can sometimes find rusty 80’s around here for cheap. Then I remembered this is already setup with an ARB and gears of some sort; I will probably just run it for now.

 

[onemanarmy]

and the 60/80 axles are wider....looks goofy

 

[jc71fj40]

This was originally my buddies rig. Myself and another friend did the bob,cage,bumpers,spring over, seats. Blah blah blah. All that work was mid 2000, so 20 plus years ago. I'll see if I can drop any pics from back in the day. There are some pics in some of my old threads.
Jake
jc71fj40

 

[kbahus]

I appreciate the info and feel free to drop some OG pics if you have them!

 

[kbahus]

Made a little more progress this evening and have some great news, confirmed 5.29 gears and a functioning rear air locker
Also checked wheel fitment without the spacers, I just don't know as it kind of lost the look. I will probably have clearance issues up front but it might work in the rear. Wheels are 15x10 with 2.5" backspacing, not sure I can get much better than that. Maybe some 37"x12.50 tires on a 17" wheel will be in the future, I have long ways to go before worrying about this though. I am going to make the rear brakes work even though I don't love them. The passenger side was up against the leaf spring, but I can get creative with the grinder. Starting to order some parts, anxiously waiting for a large care package from @cruisermatt

Found where all the dirt gets packed into, there is ton in this cavity on the passenger rear side. Is this space here on a stock FJ55?

 

[kbahus]

Almost forgot, this is the blinker and high-beam light assembly that was retrofit in the dash. Is this a factory Toyota part? The harness plug looks like it could be.

 

[sofj45]

That’s a 55 high beam and blinker indicator setup

 

[kbahus]

I will try and retain this in that case, it doesn’t fit great but a few original parts are always welcome.

 

[kbahus]

Found another old picture:

 

[kbahus]

Huge shout out to @cruisermatt for turning Tuesday into Christmas. Thanks again!

 

[kbahus]

I have not had any time to get any work done on the Cruiser, but I did manage to upgrade welders with a good score on marketplace today.

 

[kbahus]

Well my wheel/spacer situation has come to a head and I need to make some decisions. I took the time to properly measure the rim today and confirmed it is a 2.5" backspaced 15x10. Hard to come by these days but Raceline might have some 15x10 2.5" backspaced beadlocks still available for a good price. I figured I would just pick up some Spidertrax spacers with new beadlocks and call it a day, but not so fast. The right and left rear axles are different, I think one is a Currie and the other a Moser. I potentially have different size lug studs between the two, I have not investigated further, but shenanigans are undoubtedly present after removing the spacers tonight. In addition, I emailed Spidertrax and they recommended NOT to run wheel spacers with my 2.5" backspaced wheels. Nuts. So now I have a short and narrow pig!

I need some help convincing myself that the stance is going to be ok (it seems narrow) running the 15x10 2.5" backspaced wheels. I really don't even know if I can stuff these tires or not (36x13.5) like it sits. Below are a couple pics with the rear wheel spacer removed and the front wheel spacer still installed. Is anyone else running SOA with stock width axles besides Pighead? If so what is your wheel/tire combo? I have a feeling I am going to be hunting for a full width Dana 60 housing and maybe run those IFS mini truck front hub spacers.

Finally, what happened to all of the big 15" tires?