2008 Progress
Looking back on 2008, I can't believe that the year is almost gone and I have made very little progress and haven't added on update. So... for 2008 here goes.
First, I picked up another frame and running gear for free in order to get the driveshafts from it. Lydia and I were in need of a small utility trailer to pull behind the tractor for yard clean up, and I hope that one day I will need a small trailer for kayaks and canoes to pull behind the FJ40, so I decided to use some of the suspension and axle parts from the new 40 to make a trailer. I didn't bother to take any in-progress pictures, so here it is:
I took a Land Cruiser rear axle housing and cut the bearing ends flush with the axle flanges. Then, I took a set of FJ spindles and turned the knuckle end to press into the end of the housing, and then bolted the spindle flanges to the axle flanges and then welded the two flanges togther.
The result is a full-floating trailer axle that accepts FJ hubs, so I threw a set of hubs on and had a trailer axle. Then I cut the spring hangers off of the scrap frame I had picked up and used those to mount stock front land cruiser springs to the frame of the trailer. Not too bad, and now the parts are commonly replaceable land cruiser spares.
The main frame members and tonge are 1/8"x2" Box tube, and the rest of the box is made of 1/8" x 2" angle. It's plenty strong without being too heavy. Then I used 5/4 decking to finish her off.
I actually designed the trailer to be SOA with 35" tires, but it was too tall to tow with anything but the unfinished land cruiser, so for now it is SUA with 31" tires. They rub a a bit, but I have some less agressive 30" tires to put on that should take care of that. The overall size is 42x60x18" for the box, which holds a little less than 1 yd of mulch. All that is left is to make a tailgate.
After the trailer was finished, I took on the last piece of the tub that I needed to finish before paint... the Transmission hump. The stock hump wasn't nearly big enough for the NV4500 and the 3" Diesel Exhaust, so I started from scratch. Here's the finished product:
You can also see the Twin sticks I fabricated for the transfer case sticking up through the hump.
So, the resolution for 2009 is to get more done than this year (that won't be tough) and at least start the engine and maybe drive it around the yard... That'll take a painted tub, steering, clutch hardware, and brakes, so we'll see how it goes. I'd also like to take lots more pictures!
Merry Christmas!
First, I picked up another frame and running gear for free in order to get the driveshafts from it. Lydia and I were in need of a small utility trailer to pull behind the tractor for yard clean up, and I hope that one day I will need a small trailer for kayaks and canoes to pull behind the FJ40, so I decided to use some of the suspension and axle parts from the new 40 to make a trailer. I didn't bother to take any in-progress pictures, so here it is:
I took a Land Cruiser rear axle housing and cut the bearing ends flush with the axle flanges. Then, I took a set of FJ spindles and turned the knuckle end to press into the end of the housing, and then bolted the spindle flanges to the axle flanges and then welded the two flanges togther.
The result is a full-floating trailer axle that accepts FJ hubs, so I threw a set of hubs on and had a trailer axle. Then I cut the spring hangers off of the scrap frame I had picked up and used those to mount stock front land cruiser springs to the frame of the trailer. Not too bad, and now the parts are commonly replaceable land cruiser spares.
The main frame members and tonge are 1/8"x2" Box tube, and the rest of the box is made of 1/8" x 2" angle. It's plenty strong without being too heavy. Then I used 5/4 decking to finish her off.
I actually designed the trailer to be SOA with 35" tires, but it was too tall to tow with anything but the unfinished land cruiser, so for now it is SUA with 31" tires. They rub a a bit, but I have some less agressive 30" tires to put on that should take care of that. The overall size is 42x60x18" for the box, which holds a little less than 1 yd of mulch. All that is left is to make a tailgate.
After the trailer was finished, I took on the last piece of the tub that I needed to finish before paint... the Transmission hump. The stock hump wasn't nearly big enough for the NV4500 and the 3" Diesel Exhaust, so I started from scratch. Here's the finished product:
You can also see the Twin sticks I fabricated for the transfer case sticking up through the hump.So, the resolution for 2009 is to get more done than this year (that won't be tough) and at least start the engine and maybe drive it around the yard... That'll take a painted tub, steering, clutch hardware, and brakes, so we'll see how it goes. I'd also like to take lots more pictures!
Merry Christmas!
posted by Tim and Lydia at 10:19 AM
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