The Plan...

[digitalferg]

And I never will, but that's just because I want the Ferg out on one of our big trips, you own me a couple by my count.

hehe. Think this might actually constitute pwnage...

-Ferg-

 

[digitalferg]

OR, if you used an 80 series front axle and rotated the radius arm mounts on the axle upwards a hair (they are designed for a pretty low frame) or used Old Man Emu caster bushings bare minimum, then I think you might be OK or I might recommend it. It would then only take the couple days this conversion deserves rather than the 40-50 hours it took me because I had to figure everything out from scratch...

Bingo. This is what I've been thinking/planning. If the OME 3-degree castor bushes didnt do it, then maybe the slee blue castor bushes (6-degrees iirc) or some castor plates. What I been thinking anyway... Now, granted, with an 80 series axle and with the 3rd gen i will then get to deal with wrong side tcase output so it still adds a buncha time to it for me (got some ideas for this though.) I am accepting/planning this is going to be a extended-time rig-down scenario and one i will not be attempting until I can devote lots and lots of free time (and get some damn good help). I am hoping to start collecting crap for it soon though. But I promise to put in some good runs with my current setup before I take this rig down and go for this. Really, for me, could be anywhere from a year to two before I actually am ready for go.

-Ferg-

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

A diamond axle using 8" diff (high pinion, etc)... Flipped, using FJ60 axles (opposite side) and weld in the ends from a Toyota setup.. That would be great...

But all the same work I did minus cleanup. I would sure adapt a whole lot easier with the diff on the other side....

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

The 4x4 Labs adapter is here.. It is a work of art...

A couple photos. It uses:

- GM clutch of your choice (you just need the correct size)
- Ford V10 Gear reduction starter, powerful little super efficient unit in a small package. Ford V10s are single battery so duals would not be necessary.
- All hardware included.
- Very fancy clutch system which is a Fidanza - aluminum somewhat low weight flywheel with a steel replaceable insert. These are top of the line flywheels.
- Pilot bushing spacer..

I am really excited for it...

I also got most of the suspension and front axle finally rebuilt today to possibly the nicest front axle rebuild I've done. I also lightly restored the hubs. I have it sitting on the coils and am also very excited about that... Photos to come when I take them (had to run off to see my local friend Speedy almost take Gold tonight with the Hurricane!!)

Complete photos here (posted in another thread about it)
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=573426#post573426

Details and pricing at www.4x4Labs.com
Luke really is an artist. I am so impressed with his stuff...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

A couple more updates... Mostly lots of goodies that have arrived...

TreadWright retread tires have arrived... Two sets, one set of ATs that I've already had mount up and balanced easily, and a set of MTs that will also be mounted shortly and will be what I run first. I am **so** impressed with them, they look great and I am extremely excited to run them. This set is KM2s so pretty recent BF Goodrich Mud Terrains, 285 75 R 17s for FJ Cruiser wheels I plan to run...

Also from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters, ARB bumper and a new rooftop tent... I sold my the old ARB roof top tent with my trailer a couple weeks ago..

Bumper mocked up with the tires over the wheels mostly for its and giggles.. Looks great...! I am pretty psyched...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Here is the rubber bushing for the last part of the suspension. This is from Summit machine and the housing has a zerk for grease...

And a rare 3" intake air guard also from Cruiser Outfitters from older snorkels... The question is how I'll adapt this and to what..

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Finishing suspension and welding in the panhard and rebuilding the front axle...

Using the laser aligner to measure axle alignment...

And the panhard, welded up...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Catching up today... The panhard in and welded up... This is when I realized that it was hitting the differential on compression (total bummer). I also didn't have a choice as to where to position the panhard -- if I needed it level then I would have to redo the axle side mount and lose uptravel clearance (that coveted 5" if uptravel...

So my choice was to start trimming... The panhard is 1/4" wall so very thick and heavy, so trimming some out is not a big deal...

It was still interfering so I added a slight bend to it with the press we have in the shop (basically a bottle jack)...

Once I had this figured out I lowered the suspension to interferance point (see pics) and set the height of the shocks...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

The famous Ford shock towers, about $30 a pair and great for adapting shocks to misc vehicles...

I welded tabs to the bottom to space them from the frame about an inch. The reason for this was so I wouldn't have to trim the inner fender and also to add room for the bolts for the adjustable coil buckets. This passes common vehicle standards and is pretty damn strong but I am worried about lateral flex from the shock towers so I may add some more steel gussets (brackets that add stiffness)...

The gusset welded on the back of the shock tower might look familiar. If came off the lower coil bucket... You can see the spacing...

Final product.. You can also see the axle freshly rebuild and some of the components cleaned and painted... I am very excited... With the 80 Series Land Cruiser coils it is very stiff (imagine that). The dampening of the Bilstein 5150 shocks is also very firm... It is sitting a couple inches high so once I add the engine etc, it should come down a hair...

Here is the panhard with the bend and hole filled in...

In place.. Lots of clearance now...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

The FJ80 coil springs taper into to the bottom. I made these simple little retainers with 2" strap and the 40 grit polishing/sanding wheel in about 10 minutes.. I'll also keep the coil spring retainers in case I switch to TJ springs if the Land Cruiser springs end up too stiff even with all of the weight...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

And that's it for now. I added some small bump stops from the IFS bump stops I had lying around. I needed a really small bump stop at least on the driver's side. If you look closely in the pic you can see it behind the coil spring. The shocks cannot physically bottom out (at least before metal/metal hits somewhere).

One thing I didn't think too much about is that the shocks are "inwards" of the coil springs so they do not need as much travel here.. I could have gotten away with 8" travel shocks here rather than the 10" I used to have them match the rear axle flex of 8".. The result? I will probably never flex them out and the front will actually probably flex relatively decently with the radius arms being the big limiter...


I am so psyched with how it turned out. It surprises even me. Again it cycles really well and I noticed no bump steer at all with the axle cycling up and down. The suspension is a little tall for now currently but again will come down with weight (or coil spring adjustment)...

So that is it for the front suspension. Next week.. Paint and installing the engine, other things like wiring, etc...

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

That kit from Luke has been a long time coming and looks like it was well worth the wait. What a great looking kit. You've been busy, keep up the good work and pics.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

It's been about two weeks since an update. It has been a long set of days. I took Sunday off and yesterday I focused exclusively on other (paying) projects I am overdue on...

I am 4 weeks away from the Carbon Neutral Expedition which is a week long trip from here to the Overland Expo. Stressfully, my transmission and bumpers have not shown up yet so I am a little worried. I might have to go pull stock transmission / bumper out of a junkyard for now.. My goal is to have this pile of parts running and driving in 3 weeks... Yes, I know this is a lot/insane but I think it is doable...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Anyway, some updates. Bodywork... In the last two weeks I have basically finally learned how to do professional bodywork and paint which has been awesome... Bodywork sucks and it really took a lot out of me.

Here is some of the rust I started with on the truck. I chose to replace the passenger door and fender because of it.

Fender was only $25 from a company called Certifit / Interstate Auto Body Supply in Salt Lake City which is a major national corporation with locations in most cities. I purchased a used door from a pick and pull type place. It took me less than 15 minutes to pull the door. I love Toyota pickups -- they are such an easy platform..

You can see how the rust hit the fender. Dirt collecting (and sitting). The fact the truck has been sitting for two years has been actually "good" as it exposed areas where there was rust (and luckily it is little/easy to deal with)...

Other pics show the quality of the Certifit fender. Pretty close but not perfect. Definitely close enough for me..

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Before body work is to be done I decided to cut the hole in the (new - gasp) fender for the custom snorkel. I considered using a Safari Snorkel but it is on the wrong side for the diesel. I could have run a long tube but I saw some clean custom designs including the first photo shows an approach from someone in Costa Rica who posted on YotaTech. I will do basically the identical thing but on the passenger side.

Here is the snorkel head I'll be using (posted earlier).

the snorkel isn't done yet but this is what it will look like...