fj/hj 47 power steering 2

I cooked lunch for the family after church today. Then I headed down to the shop to work on making the bracket for the steering box. It doesn't show it here (as I haven't been taking a lot of pics as I go because I use my phone for listening to music) but I welded in the tube that goes through the front crossmember. Then I made a plate to mount the box to. I decided to mount the box a little higher than I did on my old FJ40. I tried to tuck up inside the crossmember a bit too. I made some thick walled tube spacers for the box that got welded to the plate. I ended up taking the box off to drill the bottom mounts through the frame and then I inserted long sections of the thick walled tube so I could pass those through the frame. My neighbor came over again and he assisted with the drilling and sharpening of drill bits. After he left I welded this up pretty much all the way. I'll wait and weld the underside when I flip the frame over to do other welding. The front crossmember was pretty rusty inside so I need to give it a detailed inspection before I call the frame finished. The power steering turned out well.

Next on the power steering list to do:

Figure out my steering shaft routing and get some materials for this (firewall plate, firewall bearing, u-joints and shaft material)

Figure out my dropped pitman arm for Saginaw box

Figure out tierod ends and tierod

Power Stering high pres hose

Power steering low pres hose

Column Bearing - Kilian F-350-89 - 19.1 ID / 34.9 OD mm - I purchased this from CruiserOutfitters for $10 Part# PSCB2

This bearing is the same as used on many lawn mowers. Below are the mower part numbers.

Cross reference chart:

Replaces (OEM): ARIENS 05408900

ARIENS 05416200

BUNTON P0209

BUNTON PL0941

CASE C12110

CUB CADET 384881-R93

CUB CADET 384881-R94

CUB CADET IH384891-R94

GRAVELY 011193

GRAVELY 036778

GRAVELY 037823

GRAVELY 05408900

JOHN DEERE AM118315

JOHN DEERE AM127304

JOHN DEERE AM35443

MTD 741-0141

MTD 941-0141

MTD IH-384881-R94

SNAPPER 7028722

TORO 110513

TORO 251-210

Pitman Nut & Washer along with frame tube insert - CruiserOutfitters The nut is Part# PSPAN, Lockwasher Part# PSPAL , Tube Part# PSCMT 

Ujoints and Steering shaft - All parts from SummitRacing - Borgeson 36" collapsing Steering shaft Part# BRG-450036 , Ujoint at the steering box - BRG-014940 , Ujoint at the steering column - FLA-FR2517DD. ***Note - use a Flaming River joint because the only Borgeson joint available that I needed was a strange one with an extended center section. I chose a stainless steel joint since it was only $10 more than the FLA-FR1717DD nickle plated one.

Note to self: Check out https://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/powersteering.html for parts needed.

Other to-do items:

figure out brake line tab location on rear axle

finish rear caliper brackets and spacers

true and weld front driveshaft slip=joint section

make front plate for passenger side frame box section

figure out exhaust and hangers

figure out brake line and threaded inserts for mounting along frame rail

figure out fuel lines

make bottom gas tank straps for mounting gas tank

figure out fuel filler routing to gas tank

Look at clearance on crossmember for rear driveshaft

finish welding frame topside

pull engine and flip frame

finish welding frame bottom side

inspect front crossmember

POR15 frame and axle housings

take rear leaf pack apart and re-arch springs for 2" lift

take front leaf pack apart and re-arch springs for 2" lift

get rebuild parts for both axles and figure out how to set up gears inside since preload will need to be set

demount current tires and start electrolysis on wheels

powder coat wheels

get new tires

 

fj/hj 47 front driveshaft

Putting the transfer case from the 4Runner in the FJ40 has caused all sorts of issues. I knew this would be the case since the stock FJ40 is passenger side differential and the 4Runner/Tacoma is driver’s side differential. I solved that issue by cutting the front axle pumpkin off, notching the housing for the 3rd member flipping the drain plug from bottom to top; which became the bottom when I flipped the axle, and cutting and flipping the end knuckles. Again this axle issue was solved a long time ago. But that still doesn’t connect everything to provide 4wd. 

The front driveshaft needed to have a carrier bearing to work with the leaf spring from axle since the driveline would be flexing. Yesterday I decided to tackle this project. I used a two piece rear Tacoma driveshaft and cut it up to make all the pieces I would need. I’ve gotten half way decent at making new custom length driveshafts. Luckily these are smaller sections, so I can true them and set them up for welding on my 13” South Bend lathe. Using the rear driveshaft for my front driveshaft allowed me to have larger u-joints for strength but it then caused an issue with the small bolt pattern on the pinion flange from the stock FJ40 axle. 

My neighbor assisted me on this and made a plate that I could drop the stock flange into and weld. Then I recut the larger profile of the plate and drilled holes to match the new custom driveshaft flange. I could have left the pinion flange alone and used a conversion u-joint but I thought keeping all the same u-joints was a better move. I made a mount for the carrier bearing that comes off of the transmission crossmember. It all turned out well. 

I now know that my front section of driveshaft is the correct length (after my initial guess) and now I can fully weld this. One step closer…