Build Welcome home Matilda - faded like your favorite pair of jeans

Member Build Threads

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Must be the length of the 75 springs . I forgot about those.
As for the axle housing, they have more pinion angle relative to the knuckle balls. It's about 4-6 degrees if I remember correctly. It's enough that you can get away without a cut and turn when doing a SOA on a 62 if you keep it low enough. Probably knowledge lost over the last few years since it's not popular to SOA anymore like it was when I started with Cruisers
The 75 springs make the shackle angle (using the stock frame hanger) much better. The center pin is the same distance from the fixed end as the 60 springs, so the wheel is still centered in the opening too … but the angle at the axle might be different. Shackle reversal isn’t popular either … maybe it never was. There are benefits but it’s so much more work than the available “kit” to get it dialed in, so I think it got a bad rap. Folks installed the kit, the truck drove like s***, then they wrote off the whole thing.

Is “more pinion angle” meaning that for the same given caster angle, the 62 housing has the diff flange rotated more towards the sky than the 60 housing? I think that’s what you’re trying to communicate, and it would be helpful for me. I just did a knuckle job so my desire to rebuild another axle is low at the moment, but it’s something to think about. Hard to find 62 complete part outs so I probably have time even if I were to start looking.
 
Is “more pinion angle” meaning that for the same given caster angle, the 62 housing has the diff flange rotated more towards the sky than the 60 housing? I think that’s what you’re trying to communicate, and it would be helpful for me. I just did a knuckle job so my desire to rebuild another axle is low at the moment, but it’s something to think about. Hard to find 62 complete part outs so I probably have time even if I were to start looking.

Yes, exactly.
Get a complete axle and use everything else to put the good front brakes on your 40 :)
 
Yes, exactly.
Get a complete axle and use everything else to put the good front brakes on your 40 :)
The 62 axle angle is good intel, but when I move to the H55 I'd like to run a "normal" driveshaft without a double cardan joint. That lets me parallel the t-case and diff flanges, and I think the 62 axle would be working against the caster angle for that application. I'd have to figure out the offset angle between the diff flange and knuckle flat for each axle and do some theoreticizing on paper.

Unfortunately I'm an idiot and want to keep my 40 bone stock except for adding a dual circuit MC. I have this fantasy about having it be what it was when Toyota delivered it to a dealer lot in 1969. It's some sort of misplaced illusion of purity or something, I'm not sure ... but I'm far too committed to originality on that truck. Its purpose is going to be to take the kids about 1/2 mile away on Sunday nights to get ice cream and maybe once per month driving 6 miles to work on back streets, so the use case here isn't hyper critical. I mean, I've gone so far as to put new original-looking(ish) bias ply tires on it. That truck is an exercise in stupidity and I'm willing to own that.

Speaking of which I'm currently paused on scratch building a harness until I find green wire with orange stripe. Anybody got any leads for that color combo that's not 500' rolls?
 
The 62 axle angle is good intel, but when I move to the H55 I'd like to run a "normal" driveshaft without a double cardan joint. That lets me parallel the t-case and diff flanges, and I think the 62 axle would be working against the caster angle for that application. I'd have to figure out the offset angle between the diff flange and knuckle flat for each axle and do some theoreticizing on paper.

Unfortunately I'm an idiot and want to keep my 40 bone stock except for adding a dual circuit MC. I have this fantasy about having it be what it was when Toyota delivered it to a dealer lot in 1969. It's some sort of misplaced illusion of purity or something, I'm not sure ... but I'm far too committed to originality on that truck. Its purpose is going to be to take the kids about 1/2 mile away on Sunday nights to get ice cream and maybe once per month driving 6 miles to work on back streets, so the use case here isn't hyper critical. I mean, I've gone so far as to put new original-looking(ish) bias ply tires on it. That truck is an exercise in stupidity and I'm willing to own that.

Speaking of which I'm currently paused on scratch building a harness until I find green wire with orange stripe. Anybody got any leads for that color combo that's not 500' rolls?

The pinion angle will be better for you. it's perfectly OK to have flanges not completely parrallel, especially for a front DS.

for the 40 I totally get it. I have a local customer that DD's a 100% original 67 and she absolutely loves it, single circuit MC and all. I totally get where you are coming from there.

Green/orange wire, have plenty in stock in 16/18awg txl, just let me know how much you need and your address and I'll mail you some and some stickers
 
Last edited:
Hey, @CruiserTrash
I have an '81 FJ60. I'd like to lift it from stock height and inch or 2. Probably with Terain Tamer. Am I going to run into the same problem you've got with the driveline and caster angles or is yours a little more unique because of the shackles reversal?
 
Hey, @CruiserTrash
I have an '81 FJ60. I'd like to lift it from stock height and inch or 2. Probably with Terain Tamer. Am I going to run into the same problem you've got with the driveline and caster angles or is yours a little more unique because of the shackles reversal?
For a “standard” off the shelf 2-3” suspension lift kit you’ve got absolutely nothing to worry about. The shackle reversal provides 4-5” of lift and things start getting goofy up here. They get even goofier for people who go spring over axle, like @cruisermatt. Mo’ mods, mo’ problems.

On a 2-3” lift kit there’s a few small things that can make life better or give you peace of mind, and you can do them for relatively cheap while installing the suspension package. Extended frame-to-axle brake and clutch lines, shims in the front leaf pack when installing them, and the Old Man Emu “CBS01” part (center pin spacer for the rear axle perch) are the big three that come to mind. Lots of good info and part numbers here on the forum. Make sure you use steel shims and not aluminum.
 
Tried to DM you to send you some wire but looks like your DM's are off.
 
555 I believe. I put them in when I first got this truck 3-4 years ago. One day I may go to beefy DOM tube rods with bigger ends. That decision will be made if I break the stock setup. If the stock setup holds I'll keep using it.

Steering with the new stabilizer is improved by maybe 30% and I will absolutely take that. It wanders less on the highway. Yesterday the trail was super rocky and my steering wheel wasn't getting tossed around nearly as much. While not some sort of miracle, it's a win for both on-pavement and off-pavement situations.
You could also check your toe-in specs.
 
You could also check your toe-in specs.
I’m at just about 3/16-1/4”. 1/8” is a number I’ve heard around here, but I felt a decent improvement going a bit beyond that.
 
Last edited:
Best Father’s Day gift - a handmade drawing from my daughter inside of her card to me:

IMG_9754.webp


She thought it was bad, but I think it’s great! Ever tried to draw a Land Cruiser? I have and it’s really really hard to get the proportions right!
 
Back
Top Bottom