I highly recommend @ddelong6767 he has the sister truck to mine and it is working well. He also has a landcruiser shop.
Who can build me an FJ62 with a 80 chassis? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter worldisenough
- Start date
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I highly recommend @ddelong6767 he has the sister truck to mine and it is working well. He also has a landcruiser shop.
Thanks for the references guys.
@worldisenough - as they noted, I've just finished the hybrid setup of an 80-series front axle/suspension grafted on to the 60-series frame. I'm extremely happy with the finished product - the ride, braking, and steering improvements are significant. I'm out in Moab this week and it will be seeing it's first heavy trail usage so more to come on the off road performance.
After driving @bdyer12's truck and loving it I decided to go this route. I chose to do only the front because that's where most of the gains are and in hopes of keeping the job a little more affordable for my customers. Keeping the leaf spring rear is not bad setup at all and this way is easier than a full frame swap. I also added a 80-series rear while doing mine to get the full floater and disc brake rear as well as a u-bolt flip for better ground clearance but that's obviously not required.
Here's a shot of the front driver's side with the fender off to show some of the details:
Here's a summary of the parts required:
80-series front axle: FJ or FZJ - either will work but the brakes are bigger on the FZJ
80-series spring bucket/shock tower - this may change to 70-series. 80-series parts are getting hard to find but 79-series stuff is abundant (at least with @beno helping). I have some 70-series parts on order now to evaluate them as my long term plan for customer builds.
80-series rear arm bracket - used the OEM parts, but with a fair bit of mods.
Delta caster correction arms - found these to be necessary to get good caster with a lifted truck. Details in my build thread.
OME springs, shocks - may change to Bilstein to get a longer shock, depends on how much lift you want
60-series steering box - can use 60-series or 80-series, depends on what you want and/or have available. 80-series boxes have more boost, both are getting expensive as cores.
Adjustable panhard - helps with getting things dialed in for the lift, can use stock if you keep it low.
Panhard mount - fabbed my own, 80-series is NLA. I have a 70-series part on order to evaluate for future builds.
OME steering damper - can use the 60 or 80-series part but need to relocate the mount
Wheels/Tires - FZJ brakes require bigger wheels and the axle width is 3" wider so you have to get different offsets
When you add everything up between sourcing all the parts and the labor it's still a big job but more cost-effective than a full frame swap. Let me know if you have specific questions about this setup or post up in my build thread. If somehow you're near Denver you'd be welcome to drive my truck and see what you think. I'm still interested in doing full frame swaps if folks want to go down that path, but it's definitely a bigger job.
Finished product and gratuitous hero shot:
@worldisenough - as they noted, I've just finished the hybrid setup of an 80-series front axle/suspension grafted on to the 60-series frame. I'm extremely happy with the finished product - the ride, braking, and steering improvements are significant. I'm out in Moab this week and it will be seeing it's first heavy trail usage so more to come on the off road performance.
After driving @bdyer12's truck and loving it I decided to go this route. I chose to do only the front because that's where most of the gains are and in hopes of keeping the job a little more affordable for my customers. Keeping the leaf spring rear is not bad setup at all and this way is easier than a full frame swap. I also added a 80-series rear while doing mine to get the full floater and disc brake rear as well as a u-bolt flip for better ground clearance but that's obviously not required.
Here's a shot of the front driver's side with the fender off to show some of the details:
Here's a summary of the parts required:
80-series front axle: FJ or FZJ - either will work but the brakes are bigger on the FZJ
80-series spring bucket/shock tower - this may change to 70-series. 80-series parts are getting hard to find but 79-series stuff is abundant (at least with @beno helping). I have some 70-series parts on order now to evaluate them as my long term plan for customer builds.
80-series rear arm bracket - used the OEM parts, but with a fair bit of mods.
Delta caster correction arms - found these to be necessary to get good caster with a lifted truck. Details in my build thread.
OME springs, shocks - may change to Bilstein to get a longer shock, depends on how much lift you want
60-series steering box - can use 60-series or 80-series, depends on what you want and/or have available. 80-series boxes have more boost, both are getting expensive as cores.
Adjustable panhard - helps with getting things dialed in for the lift, can use stock if you keep it low.
Panhard mount - fabbed my own, 80-series is NLA. I have a 70-series part on order to evaluate for future builds.
OME steering damper - can use the 60 or 80-series part but need to relocate the mount
Wheels/Tires - FZJ brakes require bigger wheels and the axle width is 3" wider so you have to get different offsets
When you add everything up between sourcing all the parts and the labor it's still a big job but more cost-effective than a full frame swap. Let me know if you have specific questions about this setup or post up in my build thread. If somehow you're near Denver you'd be welcome to drive my truck and see what you think. I'm still interested in doing full frame swaps if folks want to go down that path, but it's definitely a bigger job.
Finished product and gratuitous hero shot:
Totally not true. I own a 60 and I own two FZJ80s. Have zero desire to put my 60s body on an 80.
I should know by now not to generalize by saying all, LOL
I should digress a tad. If you can build it, have the means/know-how, or the desire to learn (and you're able to find a clean 80 chassis without destroying a good 80 example) then by all means go for it.
However... a comparison of a 1969 mustang body on top of a 2018 chasis is a poor comparison. It would be more like a 1985 body on a 1994 chasis simply because the 1994 body is too round. The 80 is still 25 year old technology.
Someone trying to build this with purpose of selling at auction is probably going to find the price to build (properly) will outweigh the risk/profits to be made. Also guessing those with the means (and experience) wouldn't be asking/complaining g that shops won't do it.
It's not common because to have a shop build it is 10x the cost of just buying an 80....
However... a comparison of a 1969 mustang body on top of a 2018 chasis is a poor comparison. It would be more like a 1985 body on a 1994 chasis simply because the 1994 body is too round. The 80 is still 25 year old technology.
Someone trying to build this with purpose of selling at auction is probably going to find the price to build (properly) will outweigh the risk/profits to be made. Also guessing those with the means (and experience) wouldn't be asking/complaining g that shops won't do it.
It's not common because to have a shop build it is 10x the cost of just buying an 80....
Mine is going under the knife for this exact conversion this month at A Rusted Development in Heber, Utah. Hit some epic southern utah terrain on your way! And on your way home to see the difference!
my advice would be to spend a few weeks reading up on lots of threads in the 200 land cruiser section on this website WITH AN OPEN MIND.
Personally I had a lot of ignorant hatred towards that vehicle, but everyone who has one (who has also owned a 60 and 80 and 100) say it's the best land cruiser of them all. (If you don't mind a vehicle wired with 5 miles of wire )
Personally I had a lot of ignorant hatred towards that vehicle, but everyone who has one (who has also owned a 60 and 80 and 100) say it's the best land cruiser of them all. (If you don't mind a vehicle wired with 5 miles of wire )
What generally makes a vehicle ride nice is not the style of spring(coil or leaf). Rather it's the tuning of the spring and shock. Their are still a few new 4x4s that use leaf springs from the manufacturer, and they ride nice. The stock rear leaf springs on a new tacoma for example ride really nice. Deaver can build a leaf spring pack according to individual ride preferences. But it costs more than a off the shelf OME leaf spring pack. Most aftermarket leaf packs aren't very well tuned. Then you also have the shocks to tune as well.
This is like, do you like oranges or apples? It boils down to wallet size and preference. Nobody is ever going to fully agree on what is best. The thing I get from threads like this is, WOW, look at all the possibilities that we have. 
You could do what everyone else on this forum does which is buy a welder and do it yourself
Matt,
Why you gotta be such a d:ck about it? Lol... Trying to scare the guy off?
What if he made all his money (and he’s a mega millionaire) doing nothing remotely close to working on anything mechanical and he has the means but no time cause he’s busy running his mega giant bad A$$ company and banging hot ladies all over the world... Regarding his vehicle choices... He only has time to write the check for what ever he wants. He can then go take 4 or 5 of those hot ladies on a safari through the great desert regions just outside Las Vegas in his 60/80 Series. Where else should he ask to get this work done? Where else should he ask who the baddast 80/60 builder in the land is? Should he go to Pirate?
There’s a guy here in the Bay Area that puts LS motors into BMW’s. (@never_satisfied_fabrication on IG) I can’t wait till I’m rich enough to pay him for one of them...
My .02$
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Damn dude, you must have some really soft skin. You seem to get offended really easily
I agree
I hear the term resto-mod being used here, and I don't feel it meets that level. The 80 series while they have an advantage over the 60's for hardware, they are not modern in any sense.
An 80 is outdated tech. Even a 100 is not modern anymore.
So if you do the swap, what about the engine? Keep an old 2F? I don't like the 80 series engine choices. Unless it's an 1HD-T.
NCFJ
Supporting Vendor
Nah Matt, you're just offensive in general. Understandable though, being in your early twenties and having 30 years experience must be a burden.
tmxmotorsports
SILVER Star
If i drank coffee i would have just spit it all over my phone
torfab
Supporting Vendor
We just finished developing a kit that will allow someone to bolt 80 axles with stock arms and panhards/steering/etc to any 60 series frame. We had custom shocks made by Radflo and used low height 80 coils up front with airbags in the rear. Still working on cost at this point, but it'll be a weld on kit with location tabs so you don't have to do a crap ton of measurements. You also won't need to salvage an 80 frame and parts to make it work 
We just finished developing a kit that will allow someone to bolt 80 axles with stock arms and panhards/steering/etc to any 60 series frame. We had custom shocks made by Radflo and used low height 80 coils up front with airbags in the rear. Still working on cost at this point, but it'll be a weld on kit with location tabs so you don't have to do a crap ton of measurements. You also won't need to salvage an 80 frame and parts to make it work
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I am SUPER INTERESTED in this and may be your first customer! How do I get informed of updates and details as they become available?
I have an 80 with a blown motor sitting in my driveway that I’m eager to dissect for it’s axles and suspension.
Thanks!!!
-Ed
torfab
Supporting Vendor
Send us an email Ed info@torfab.com
