SAS Progress

Cleaned up and painted with new axle seals inside.My Solid Axle Swap donor was a '97 Toyota FZJ-80 Landcruiser.  Why this one? I didn't want a Dana 44 as it's not all that strong of an axle without about a grand in CTM u-joints and alloy axles.  A Dana 60 is far bigger and heavier than I want.  I really wanted something with a 3rd member. A Toy mini truck axle is too narrow and the birfs too weak, although the Longfields are supposed to be performing pretty stellar and would work well. It's still too narrow though. I even thought about something custom using a spare rear 12 bolt diff I have with Dana 60 knuckles, but cost would be absurd. Not to mention needing custom axle shafts.

The FJ-80 axle is about 63" WMS to WMS. That's about 2" wider than my IFS with the 2" wheel spacers I've got on now. It's the perfect width that I wanted.  It's also got a 6 lug wheel pattern, although it does appear to be hub-centric rather than lug-centric.  The hub, rotors and calipers are also huge and wouldn't even come close to fitting the stock Isuzu 15" wheels.  The aftermarket 15" AL wheels I have though will just fit with a little grinding on the calipers so I'm good there.

As it came on the pallet.It's got a high pinion diff and there are 4.56 gears available for it to match my rear axle.  I was supposed to be getting the factory electric locker as well, but the junkyard screwed up majorly.  They couldn't locate a locking diff for it, but they did refund some of my money.  All in all, it was still a pretty good deal for this axle, although not the smoking deal I thought it was when I was buying it.  It also came with the springs and radius arms which I wasn't expecting.  I think I'll be able to use them and they will save me about $400 - $500 if it all works out.

It uses full-time drive flanges in the hubs, but they can be swapped out for manual Aisin hubs from a pre-85 solid axle mini truck, and they can be kept for trail spares in case you blow a manual hub.  The spring pads place the coils outboard of the frame rails with about 2" clearance, which looks just about perfect.

 

18 Jan 04 Update:

113-1353_img.jpg (61945 bytes)New Bilstein 5150's are mounted.  I'm re-using the original mounts I made for the old shocks, but I need to move the upper mount.  I want to stand the shock up a little more vertical and I have to move it inwards.  As it is now, the tires hit the shock body at full lock.  

112-1205_img.jpg (65008 bytes)I got one of the cheapie Harbor Freight tire changers on sale for $35 to mount my tires.  This thing is a bargain.  For what it cost, it works extremely well.  It could use a couple improvements, but mounting tires with it is easy.  After getting the tires mounted, my first trip was through Martinez Canyon to try them out.  So far, they're great.
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I also tested out the removable bolt in my driver's side arm to see how much it improves flex.  The result was pretty astounding.  There's a lot more flex with the bolt out than I was expecting.  The animated GIF shows the difference.  In both pictures, the driver's side is jacked up until the bump stop on that side just touches.

With the rear bolt removed, the front one is going to have a lot more load on it.  I want to beef up that mount before I try this off-road.

 

 

2 Nov 03 Update:

I'm getting some time to do some more work on my suspension finally.  The coil mounts seemed like a good idea, and worked well for fine tuning the height, but the geometry just isn't right.  The top of the coil is free to pivot around the rod end.  At first, this seemed fine, the coils pretty much stayed in place.  But, after several months, they now tend to pivot inward and allow the coil to bulge inward.  

I re-did the upper mounts, this time making it rigid.  Height is still adjustable by a few inches, but with spacers instead of a rod end.

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I've also picked up a spare birfield and long side shaft that I found pretty reasonable.  Still looking for 1 or 2 more and a short side shaft, but I've got time enough to wait for a good deal.  

Shocks and tires are next.  I've got a couple Bilstein 5150 shocks ordered for the front to replace my too-long Pro-comp cheapies, and I'll move the upper mounts so they're a little more upright.  I also picked up some used 37" MT/R's to replace the worn-out 33's.  I'll need to get some replacement leafs in back (that aren't bent) and do a lot of trimming on the fender and bumper mounts up front to fit them without rubbing.

Just getting a feel of what they're gonna look and fit like:

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27 Apr 03

108-0897_img.jpg (42043 bytes)Time's a wastin.  I'm almost there.  I've now got:
4.55 gears in
ARB in
Arms and brackets done and painted.
Trackbar on.
Draglink done.
Hoops for shocks & upper spring mounts.
Steering.

15 Mar 03

108-0850_img.jpg (76031 bytes)I got a new 220v MIG welder finally, after years of wanting one.  This ones a Miller 175 and it does a *much* better job on thicker steels than the old 110v unit did.  My arms are fully welded up now.  

I ended up dropping the adjustments on the arms for now.  The strait tube I was trying out wants to bind unless there's a pivot in it.  I'll work on something new later on, but for now with time running short I'm just using bushings front and back of the axle tube.   

15 Feb 03

108-0844_img.jpg (78709 bytes)Well, two steps forward, one step back.  After spending a lot of time with the FJ-80 arms and cutting up my cross member for mounts, I decided I didn't want to use them after all.  They just weren't going to work very well.  I've also spent a good bit of time on a dual t-case adaptor, and that kinda killed the option of using the arms.  

I've built new I-beam type arms that fit much better and will still fit when I get the crawler box in too.  I started out with cardboard templates cutting to fit, then copied in steel.  The center webs are 3/16" and the caps are 3/8".  They seem to be quite beefy.  I'll finish weld when I get my new welder (with more amps) and I'll add gusseting in key areas.

108-0843_img.jpg (63494 bytes)The rear mount of the arms is a large RE spherical bearing.  The front is a standard busing.  The middle a rod end.  The idea of the middle is to make it adjustable on the passenger side to tweak the caster if I need to.  The driver's side will slide freely, for off-road use, but lock in place for on-road use.

108-0845_img.jpg (67892 bytes)I'm not set on the middle bushing type yet.  I'm still trying to get a feel for how well this will work and may change it yet before I'm done.

Bump stops will go on top of the arms where they cross over the axle.  So far, I'm pretty happy with how the arms are turning out.  

 

10 Dec 02

107-0772_img.jpg (86613 bytes)I'm finally getting back to work.  I've been distracted lately by our new pup.  He's a handful.  I've also spent a couple weeks pondering radius arm mounting.  I've run through a dozen different possibilities of arms and mounting positions and finally started on the mounts.

The ends will be inside the frame rails, mounted to the tranny cross member that will be re-inforced as well.  They'll also be flush with the bottom of the frame rails.  It'd be *much* easier to just weld some tabs on the bottom of the frame rail, but they would stick down 3" at least and really suck for ground clearance.  

 

30 Nov 02

I spent some more time with axle positioning.  I don't think I'm going to move it that far forward.  I'm gonna shoot for a 97" - 98" wheelbase, which is about 5" forward of where it was.  For oil sump clearance, I'm gonna look for a 2wd oil pan that's a stamped steel unit and gives better clearance for the tie rod.

107-0765_img.jpg (83016 bytes)I also looked at my front drive shaft.  I know I'll need it lengthened, but I hadn't really looked at how to adapt it to the Toy diff flange yet.  Turns out, the Toy and Isuzu u-joints are very similar in size.  The Isuzu joints have a little bit bigger cross, and the pins are larger, but the O.D. of the caps are the same between the two.

I was able to use my old drive shaft, pull the front flange off it and put the Toy flange on in it's place.  I used the Isuzu u-joint and caps and had to file off 40 thou off the inside of the ears on the Toy flange, but they fit together relatively easy.

The only downside is that the Isuzu u-joint is not greasable.  It does have the boss for the zerk, but it's not drilled.  The rear drive shaft uses these same joints, but with the zerks installed so they're greasable.  I'll probably switch to these eventually.

The splines on the slip joint are 4.5" long.  I'll have to wait until I have the axle installed and flex it out to see if this is gonna be enough travel or not.  I'm pretty sure it will be.  The radius arms and the drive shaft will be traveling in arcs very close to one another.  I don't expect to need much slip at all.

 

24 Nov 02

107-0723_img.jpg (63852 bytes)Not a whole lot done in the last week.  I've spent the last two weekends looking at steering boxes at the junkyard.  I did pick up a couple, but they're not gonna work.  I think I know what box will work now, it's just a matter of finding one.  About $100 shipped using www.car-parts.com.  I'm looking locally for a cheaper one for now.  I've moved on and started working on the radius arms.

I also got my manual hubs.  I cleaned them up and re-greased them.  Also painted the outer ring and dial, but I liked the ones on my Isuzu hubs better, so I swapped them on instead.  They're both Aisin hubs and most parts are interchangeable. 

 

14 Nov 02

106-0689_img.jpg (64478 bytes)I've got the passenger side cut off and cleaned up now, and I've rolled the axle underneath to check fit and clearance issues.  This initial picture is about a 96.5" wheelbase (4.5" over stock).  Positioning looked good, but it did have only a couple inches clearance between the tie rod and the oil sump.  I could modify the sump if needed by cutting off the front corner and welding in a plate at an angle.

107-0706_img.jpg (65341 bytes)I then stretched it out to a 99" wheelbase so the tie rod clears the oil sump.  This pic on the left is what it looks like.  I didn't like it at first, but it's growing on me.  Not sure where it'll be yet, but somewhere between 97" and 99" wheelbase.  I'm also planning on re-doing the rear suspension eventually and moving it back 4" - 5" as well.

Height is about 2.5" higher than before.  More than I wanted, but not bad.  The back was previously a couple inches higher, but I might have to fix my bent rear springs to get another inch or two to level it out.  The body support horns on the front cross member will have to go, but it's not a major job to cut them off and move the body mounts inward a few inches.  

107-0708_img.jpg (65598 bytes)I still haven't decided on a steering box, but it'll likely be the Scout box.  I need to pick up a couple types from the junkyard to get a better idea of what'll fit.  There's also plenty of room outboard the frame rails for the coil and shock towers so that won't be an issue. 

107-0702_img.jpg (82662 bytes)The tie rod is lower than I like, and the radius arms will no longer run under them for protection.  There are forward facing hi-steer arms available, but they're expensive and probably wouldn't work anyways.  I'd have to lift it several inches more to clear them.  The radius arms will run right above the tie rod and I may look at adding a skid of some sort to them that wraps down under the tie rod.

Lots more pics on my Swap Pics page.

 

13 Nov 02

106-0682_img.jpg (163901 bytes)I've got one side done almost.  Just a little bit on the bottom of the rail to clean up.  I need to re-fill my oxy tank.  It's amazing how quickly that stuff goes when you're cutting with it.  I had the little mini tanks from a Home Depot portable kit originally, but they don't last long.  Before I started on this job, I swapped them out for the next larger size which holds 4 times as much gas, but they're about the same price to re-fill. The acetylene will last I think, but I used almost a full oxy tank on this side.  

This is not a fun job either.  Smoky, smelly, dirty and messy.  I'm doing better with the torch than I thought I would though.  I gouged the  frame a little bit, but nothing not easily fixed.  It only took me about 10 minutes with the grinder to clean up the rail.

 

12 Nov 02

Getting a feel for the width.The width is looking pretty good.  Not too wide, but a good improvement over stock. 

106-0680_img.jpg (53965 bytes)At this point, I've got as much of the IFS un-bolted as I can.  The torch comes next...  :)

 

10 Nov 02

106-0672_img.jpg (67426 bytes)The axle now is assembled for the most part and I'm ready to start cutting on my truck.  I've been using my spare tire to test fit on the axle.  The rotors and brakes on this thing are huge and they just barely fit inside my 15" aftermarket wheels.  I had to grind a ridge down slightly on the back of the calipers to clear.  The hubs just barely fit through the center hole in the wheel too.  The stock Isuzu 15" aluminum wheels don't even come close to fitting BTW.  Some quick measurements show I'll be about 1" wider than my IFS is now with 2" wheel spacers.  Or, about 5" over stock width.

 

2 Nov 02

Knuckles off and getting ready to cut brackets off.So far I've just been cleaning the axle up, sandblasting, painting and re-packing the birfields wheel bearings.  All the seals looked good and none were leaking so I'm re-using them.  I did put in new axle seals though as they're cheap and easy to do.  I had to cut the mounts for the radius arms off along with a bunch of tabs that weren't being used any more.  The radius arms will be flipped and wrap around the top of the axle instead of the bottom.  

Stock FJ-80 arm (inverted)
Possible modification to allow caster changes and off-road flex. I'm thinking about modifying the arms to make them adjustable.  On one side, the adjustment would be done via a screw jack of some sort.  Like how tie rods are adjusted.  The other would be a sleeve that could be clamped down for road use, and loosened to allow it to slide and give better flex for off-road use.

"Marlin Tack" ing the inner splines.I also pulled the axle shafts apart and took out the inner snap-ring inside the birfield and made 3 "Marlin Tacks" on the inner splines of the inner shafts to make it easier to pull the birf apart on the trail if needed.

I've also been looking for a new steering box.  I'm retaining the rear mounted tie rod on the axle, and I think I'll be using an IH Scout steering box.  This is a Saginaw box with the mounting flange on the sector shaft like the Isuzu box, but it mounts on top of and to the outside of the frame rail.  

IH Scout Saginaw steering box (pic stolen from the web).The pitman arm also points forwards so the drag link will be easy to do with the axle pushed forward.  It's very similar to the FJ-80 box, but can be found from the junkyard for $50 instead of $500 - $1000 for an FJ-80 box (no kidding).  There's also a bunch of pitman arms that'll bolt on so finding one that'll work shouldn't be much of a problem.  The Saginaw boxes are also pretty easy to tap for ram assist steering.  Something that's *very* difficult with the Isuzu box and would require the precision of a machinist to do successfully.

 

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