Hey Zuk, any updates, maybe some pics of your taco in action??? Lol.

I've read through your thread several times now, and a few others, (Sprung Under Runner, an 86' 4runner running an fj60 front axel in its stock spring under configuration, shackles up front, fj60 steering box, etc.)
You really got me wanting to go with the shackles up front route. I want to try to find a fj62 axel and keep it in its spring under configuration if I can to keep the COG low, from what I've read they came with 4.11 gears and the wms to wms is the same as my ifs 87 4runner rear axel. A friend has some stock steering arms I can get, so I can do a Y arm, or maybe dual steering arms top and bottom with the double sheer setup and heims? I don't know, lol, anyway, not trying to high jack your thread, lol, just looking for a few pointers if you see anything in my plan that won't jive. I'm still a long way off, need to start gathering parts!
Look forward to seeing an update and some more pics!

 

Will get back to this thread when I get back to the house :-)

No pics yet of action. But do have a 4 day trip planned to Moab with some friends in April. Will have some then I am sure.

Spring under would keep you low. But with a SUA, I would think that a Y arm would be unnecessary....possibly causing clearance issues on the passenger side.How about doing it like they did it on the original FJ62's...keeps it alot simplier.

The front shackle......makes more sense than the rear shackle. So why would the online 4x4 places like Marlin and tg sell rear shackle SAS and not a front shackle version? Is it because they would have to dis-continue certain parts?....like the $318 extra long spline DS? Is it a matter of not which is the better kit....but which has more add on bling sales?


More pics will be coming of my Taco......

 

Ok....doing some tweaking. The front tire was lightly hitting the fender on compression.
The axle was moved 1.25" forward by using the extra hole in the axle perch. But, as you can see,
the shock tower now needs a little re-locating to make it look right.






Using a cutting wheel, the ford tower fell off....after 30 or 40 minutes of careful grinding.
Glad I only had 2 vertical welds to break loose.







A grinding wheel took the big chunks off and the flapper wheel finished it off.

 

OK.....need some input from everybody that has run them or knows somebody that has run them and maybe had issues with the extra wide 3" aluminum wheel spacers.

Here's my situation.....have the FJ60 SAS front end 58.5" wide I have read.......Presently have a nice set of 2" aluminum spacers on each front wheel. Very happy with the lack of issues.....no issues due to the spacers themselves


concerns with the 3" spacers over the existing 2" spacers....increased scrub radius and will that really effect my steering resistance to turning? Presently have Genuine Toyota aluminum wheels....17" x 7.5" wide I believe......and have 35" x 12.50 KO2's mounted on them. Couldn't be happier so far. As some of you also know, the factory aluminum wheels are backspaced pretty good.... 4.75" or thereabouts I think. So will the 3" spacers(1" wider than my present spacers) cause me grief of some sort that you guys can think of?

Reasons that I am leaning towards the 3".....

stability

shock body scrubbing may go away(when crossed up and leaning)

Tire occasionally scrubbing frame on Passenger side during hard right turn with the downhill side on the right side.

tire may clear the steering box better on hard right turns.

manual locking hubs will now be flush/even with the wheel hole.

 

Here's a shot of my 2" aluminum wheel spacers






My Toyota wheels(not exactly what came on my 01 Taco)....shows that if I go to 3" spacers that the hubs will be flush





Shot of how easy it was to scoot the front axle forward 1.25"....glad the perches had the extra hole in them.





Shot of my rear axle and did a similar thing of moving the axle 1.25" forward thus eliminating the tire tread rubbing the mud flap on compression.

 

No responses yet to my postings......ok, I know it's Sunday and when you all get out of Church then you can reply then.

Going out in the shop to finish the front shock tower relocation. 99% done....paint has already dried.....just have to mount the Bilstein and zip on the wheel.

While I'm at it I'm going to modify/improve the "temp" cross-member that passes under the front driveshaft. More pics coming of course.

 

if a spacer fails while your driving down the freeway please tell us where to send the flowers Zuk. Seriously the thicker the spacers the more leverage your placing on the stock wheel studs. If you attempted to run spacers that were a foot long you might not get 1 days use out of the truck before failure occurred. My point is that for every inch of spacer your leverage is going up, the question is does the go up by a factor of 1, 2, 4 i wish i could say.

 

That's an interesting point.....

 

So the front shock towers are both re-positioned to line up with the shock much better.
The driverside tower now allows for 7" of compression where as it used to be only 4.5".
The shock tower (at the top end) has been pushed in so that there's more air between
them and the tires.....tires might not rub during compression on off-camber situations.








Now to replace the cross-member mod.....
I had cut the factory cross-member in the middle where the driveshaft used to hit and added
the 2x2 under it to allow for more DS clearance and it worked.....but it looks kind of "funky"
with that thin wall 2x2 hanging down
2 inches and visible on the side profile of the truck.
used to look like this......

















But if I cut off the thin walled 2x2 and replace it with this 1/2" thick 2" wide SOLID bar stock....

 

 

It's 50% welded in place. Before I fully weld this bad boy I want to make sure
I don't have to break the welds off again.







But from what I can see as far as the clearances it's better than before.
I scooted the plate about 1/2" away from the DS on this go around.












Now to test drive it...on the road only.

 

I've been lurking on this build for quite a while now, and I have to say, what you've done with this truck is just amazing. I think the flat bar instead of the square tube for the cross member is much better clearance wise, but it just looks really weak like that. Now I'm not an engineer or anything, but I've been in the machining and fabricating trade for quite a while and, if it were me, I'd weld in some 45 degree, or whatever there's clearance for, gussets there between the original cross member to the flat bar for extra strength.

 

I think I will do that....thanks for the comment.

Just went in the shop and found the piece I need.....another piece of flat stock.... 1.5" wide and 3.8" thick. I'll make it almost as long at 17" and angle it upward perhaps as much as 45" to get full continuous strength and a certain amount of skid/deflection protection. It will clear the UJ nicely. Already eyeballed it.

Saturday's task (very easy one) is to put the front axle on jack stands.....remove wheels.....remove the 2" aluminum wheel spacers and install the newly arrived American made 3" spacers with the "extra reach" acorn nuts from LowRange. That's alot of spacer I know. I know that at least 1" of the danger element is neutralized by factory wheels that "inset" the tires.

The 2 inch spacers may get moved to the rear axle.

There is a right way to get the wheel to wheel mount width wider without amplifying the scrub radius and will post that shortly. Taking pictures tomorrow to show the reasons why I need wider.

 

This is the best way to get the width needed.... 2 5/8" sleeve on each end.....
http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fj60.../#post-9516770

http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/notc.../#post-2889908



.....which would require getting custom RCV axles that are exactly the same 2 5/8" wider. A nice upgrade for the "mini-truck axles/birfs" for sure
http://www.rcvperformance.com/produc...=CVJ2851-PLC60

 

I know there is a guy (Bud Built) that makes low profile transfer case crossmembers, out of 1/2" plate, maybe you could build something like what he has to offer???

just ordered these for my 2001
http://www.ebay.com/itm/381460256168?euid=d615575727434d23832fc591a0edd36f&cp=1
I think i need to start my own thread & stop hijacking yours

anyhow got to change out a broken spring in the back so i'm adding
1.5" lift blocks in the back at the same time with new U-bolts & new shocks
not sure why the #3 leaf broke but i figured worn out shocks could have been part of the problem. the end result should be a truck that sits a bit tail high like a truck should IMHO.

So Zuk do you plan to do this 2 5/8" wide mod to you axle?
or is that you fall back plan if the wheel spacers fall through for you?

 

Hi Piglett-
I know Budd. I had his skidplates for a couple years when my Taco was closer to stock and his skids are excellent insurance against the rock damage. I don't see the need for similar skids on this build. Those 33" tires are going to look just right on your 01.

Don't know.....but I consider it more of an option. 2 5/8" on each side is just over 5" more width than the stock 58" of the FJ60......63" or 64" seems to be what I need based on what I see scrubbing and touching things. Those sleeves would require the upgrade to the custom RCV shafts. Cost of the sleeves and RCV shafts could run about 900.
Not sure I'd do the same exact 2 5/8" number if I did the sleeve route.....might just do a custom 3.0" and get the custom shafts exactly 3" longer.....makes the math a lot easier. That 2 5/8 number has to do with an FJ40 long side axle sleeve and being able to use a stock FJ60 long side axle in the 40 housing after the sleeve is inserted......But I can see a solid 3" on each side of the FJ40's to make a great width axle for those bigger meats.

 

if what you have at the moment is working i don't see much of a reason to make changes that will cost hundreds of $$$

i'm going to try running my stock 16" wheels , i have 15" wheels from a mid 80's FJ at the moment but they are dam hard to find in these parts if i bend one.
after that i'm thinking winch with a "real" front bumper
got a good supply of 1/4" plate on hand

i don't have $1800 for an 8274-50 so something cheep like a Smittybuilt will have to do for now.

 

I agree Piglett.....since I'm not made out of money, I will make the 3" spacers work for me. Pictures to be posted Sunday morning on how this works out.

 

Getting ready to put my 3" wheel spacers on. Googling 3" wheel spacers and dangerous, I found that the tires that were flying off cars were customer error.
Pics coming.

 

OK....going to jack up the front to remove the 2" spacers and insert the 3" spacers. Just making some observations here.
Take note of how close to the front of the wheel everything is. Compare that to a standard 3.75" back spaced steel wheel. This is a 17" wheel here with a width of 7.5"








Showing the existing 2 inch spacer......








I placed a piece of steel next to the factory positioned steering arm.....Now imagine this was not a 17".....imagine a 15" steel rim










The radius of the wheel has to shrink 1" in radius to be a 15"......Look at the possible contact issues with the rubber boot.
My old 84 Toyota longbed with the same steering arm had the same issue.....with NO wheel spacers. It appears I HAD to
use the 2 inch spacers to just get the same offset of stock steel wheels....interesting.