1969 FJ40 Build

The Toyota FJ40 is an extremely strong vehicle, featuring a 4 liter 6 cylinder engine, 3 speed transmission, and gear driven transfer case.  The FJ40 axles are some of the strongest available, and a stock rig is very well built and requires no strength modifications to be wheeled.

That being said, I have to make changes, because that’s just what I do.  When I purchased the vehicle it had: chev 350 v8 with Quadrajet carb, 3 speed transmission, original transfer case, 1978 front axle with disc brakes, ome 2.5 inch lift, hyper shackles, family cage, and nissan 300z seats.  The car was barely running when I got it, and the transfer case / transmission needed to be completely rebuilt, front axle was falling apart, frame was split on the front horns, no gauges only speedo, but alas the most important – zero rust.

I took the rig to the local off road park to see what needed to be fixed, and brought tools just in case.  Bolts and nuts were falling off as we drove uphill, and the TC output shafts had inches of play.  Time for some serious work…

I tightened some nuts and bolts, and decided to go on one more trail ride, when I got T-Boned on HWY 167 by a honda civic.  My FJ40 ran right over his hood, and spud 2 x 360’s before stopping up against the guard rail.  This added to the list of work by breaking the rear axle apart from the frame, shearing off the tie rod ends, and denting the body.

This is the rig today: