What did he do? (1 Viewer)

[Hoz FJ40 CO]

I gained invaluable information during a visit from Dan and Aaron yesterday - as well as getting a nut put on the alternator bolt. Thank you so much! The experience of the day inspired me to write. https://coverwithhislife.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/ih8mud/

A classified listing will be coming.

'And, surprisingly, I saw him write on the forum encouraging someone he had never met to seek to know the God of heaven who loves him so much that He offers eternal life to all those who believe in Him. And my heart was moved.' -Amen sister

God is good… and faithful… all the time. Who would have thought I would be reminded of that through a website called IH8Mud.com?

My consolences to you and your family and will keep you in my prayers. God Bless!!!

 

[Sylvia]

Then you could sell the old crappy dodge. :whoops:

'TAINT my Dodge, Ed!!! But thanks for the info. Too bad he sold the stock tires, I'd say. "Won't be putting these back on, I'm sure..." But, who says I won't be wheeling like Jeff was?? Hmm..?? I drove it now and then on the trail. More fun driving than riding.

 

[Sylvia]

Too bad he sold the stock tires.

and that should read "Wheels".... I am a beginner.... if you couldn't tell. My log in should still say I'm a "rookie".

 

[Rzeppa]

'TAINT my Dodge, Ed!!! But thanks for the info. Too bad he sold the stock tires, I'd say. "Won't be putting these back on, I'm sure..." But, who says I won't be wheeling like Jeff was?? Hmm..?? I drove it now and then on the trail. More fun driving than riding.

Good perspective! My wife does not like riding when we go places, she prefers to be in control. Yet when we go wheeling, she prefers that I drive, even though I offer the wheel at many opportunities. Now that we have a new-to-us FJ60 (that she fell in love with and wanted us to buy), maybe she'll want to drive more off road. We got the wagon as a kid-hauler, but I can envision instances where she might feel a lot more comfortable wheeling Alice (All of our Cruisers have names, just like Lexi) than my Charlotte who still has steering by Armstrong.

In Rising Sun we have quite a few wives who drive off road and love it. At Cruise Moab this month I saw lots of wives and SOs who took the wheel and did great!

I suggest keeping the tires and simply going back to stock or nearly stock length shackles up front. The steering will likely improve markedly on-road, and even though your neck of the woods does not have the kind of rocks we have around here, those long shackles are definitely rock-finders.

 

[Rockets2000]

and that should read "Wheels".... I am a beginner.... if you couldn't tell. My log in should still say I'm a "rookie".

Well, you're not a rookie anymore so you should at least use a nice pic of your rig as your avatar.

 

[Fast Eddy]

'TAINT my Dodge, Ed!!! But thanks for the info. Too bad he sold the stock tires, I'd say. But, who says I won't be wheeling like Jeff was?? Hmm..?? I drove it now and then on the trail. More fun driving than riding.

The oops was because I made that mistake once. The 2nd mention was supposed to be a joke. The big tires probably won't rub in the front even with lower shackles.

those long shackles are definitely rock-finders.

The bottoms of shorter shackles will be exactly the same height of the bottoms of the tall shackles.

 

[SAWTOOTH 55 LC]

First shackles,now tires.I have a feeling the Cruiser is growing on Sylvia

 

[Sylvia]

How about I use this picture for my avatar?
Nahhh....

 

[daveIT]

First shackles,now tires.I have a feeling the Cruiser is growing on Sylvia

Woo hoo....another Cruier head! Don't take this the wrong way, but here's the official IH8Mud welcome...

You are an amazing woman, Sylvia!

 

[73fj40lc]

I need to get my wife on this forum. She likes my 40 but still calles it my Jeep. It just seems that I can't break her calling my baby that nasty name. Maybe if she read this forum she would understand.

 

[Eshu Elegua]

Its very hard to read this post to me, i feel your pain. I'm on the same page, today i have to take my second chemoteraphy and i just would like that someone here in my family will love the fj40's. It's more hard to me when my doctor said that i can't continue working on my project 1970 RHD due to the condition and it's a pain to think that i have to sell it...
I was thinking not to write here cos i feel like a hi jack your post but i just mean that i would like if someone in my fam will keep at least my 1976 if something go wrong in my directions.

 

[cjgoode]

Eshu Elegua my prayers are with you, my 16 year old son cannot wait to restore the 1980 I got from you. He has claimed it as his own. Are you back in Puerto Rico now?

 

[Sylvia]

Its very hard to read this post to me, i feel your pain. I'm on the same page, today i have to take my second chemoteraphy and i just would like that someone here in my family will love the fj40's. It's more hard to me when my doctor said that i can't continue working on my project 1970 RHD due to the condition and it's a pain to think that i have to sell it...
I was thinking not to write here cos i feel like a hi jack your post but i just mean that i would like if someone in my fam will keep at least my 1976 if something go wrong in my directions.

So glad you posted here, Eshu. I wish I had some words to fix it. My two cents- for what it's worth- if you don't have to sell it for finances, don't. If it brings you joy to just go sit in it- keep it- even if you can't do anything else with it. If things go bad for you, someone else will figure out what to do with it. They might sell it, but that won't matter to you then. It will be OK.

No matter how many generations of people you might line up to try and keep a vehicle "alive", it will some day rust away to nothing. Enjoy it for what it is- a passing pleasure. Us people have a more eternal option.

God bless during your treatments. May you have peace in the midst of your storm of life.

 

[Sylvia]

I need to get my wife on this forum. She likes my 40 but still calles it my Jeep.

That's equivalent to cursing at my house! My brother-in-law lives near me but owns Jeeps. See why I became a member here? He's of no help at all.

 

[Rzeppa]

The bottoms of shorter shackles will be exactly the same height of the bottoms of the tall shackles.

Aye, that be true, but why is it folks running extended shackles or kit-type SRs always seem to be klunking into rocks more often? Hmmm? Why is it?

 

[Rzeppa]

So glad you posted here, Eshu. I wish I had some words to fix it. My two cents- for what it's worth- if you don't have to sell it for finances, don't. If it brings you joy to just go sit in it- keep it- even if you can't do anything else with it. If things go bad for you, someone else will figure out what to do with it. They might sell it, but that won't matter to you then. It will be OK.

No matter how many generations of people you might line up to try and keep a vehicle "alive", it will some day rust away to nothing. Enjoy it for what it is- a passing pleasure. Us people have a more eternal option.

God bless during your treatments. May you have peace in the midst of your storm of life.

Those are some pretty profound words of wisdom!

 

[Sylvia]

The Cruiser has always seemed a little "top heavy" to me. There's more "sway" when going over rocks than I'm sometimes comfortable with.

And that picture would probably explain why that sensation especially bothers me. I realize the importance of being properly equipped and knowledgable about what you're doing on the trail.

Would changing out the shackles to stock improve that sensation?
Thanks.

 

[DanS HJ-45]

The Cruiser has always seemed a little "top heavy" to me. There's more "sway" when going over rocks than I'm sometimes comfortable with.
View attachment 524742
And that picture would probably explain why that sensation especially bothers me. I realize the importance of being properly equipped and knowledgable about what you're doing on the trail.

Would changing out the shackles to stock improve that sensation?
Thanks.

Changing the shackles back to stock would reduce that sensation, but only slightly.

The long term solution to the tippy feeling is (and there are lots of opinions on this) to get a quality full suspension under the truck. That means springs and shocks that are designed to work together. Even then, the vehicle will always feel a little tippy, but will feel like the suspension dampens the swaying out.

The shackles on there now are a twofold issue, one being that it makes the truck ride a little harsh, and two that the caster angle is wrong. If the caster angle is wrong, then it won't be stable enough in the steering department. If you are constantly having to correct with the steering wheel, left and right just to keep it going straight on a straight and level road--that's bad caster angle. That said, Jeff put some caster correction shims under the axle, which *should* correct for that, but it may not. They sell them in varying degrees, and it may need a little more for those shackles or something.

The soft top should make it feel less tippy bumping around the rocks and things, do you remember a difference when the soft top was put on?

Dan

 

[ducktapeguy]

Another option would be to add some caster shims and see if that fixes the problem. May not be the best solution for some, but it's a very quick and easy solution that will isolate the issue without changing anything. I have an extra set of shims if you want them, I wasn't paying attention when I bought them and thought I was ordering 2 shims, not 2 pairs of shims. It won't help with the tippy feeling, but the difference in the stability while driving on the highway was night and day.

 

[DanS HJ-45]

Another option would be to add some caster shims and see if that fixes the problem.

It's already got a set. I don't know how to determine their degree, but they looked pretty steep to me. I was guessing 4 degree shims maybe?

Dan