Molly's Jungle Jeep

Good to see Molly helping with the build! She'll appreciate the ride much more...

I like the teem work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm trying to help her learn that she can do anything she wants to do in life. In general, she has been a pretty good sport about it.

Yesterday I wanted to smack her when she said she wanted to lower the Land Cruiser around 4 inches (I have already bought the parts to do the springover lift...it is going up another 5.5 inches plus bigger tires)

Just be aware if it is too big she might be afraid to drive it and that would take all the joy out of the work. Maybe get it running at the height it is and see if she wants to lift it later. The parts won't go bad sitting around. Sometimes it is hard to build what our kids want and not what we think is cool. Just my $.02

jfg455 said:

Just be aware if it is too big she might be afraid to drive it and that would take all the joy out of the work. Maybe get it running at the height it is and see if she wants to lift it later. The parts won't go bad sitting around. Sometimes it is hard to build what our kids want and not what we think is cool. Just my $.02

Click to expand...

I have to agree, I got a talking to a time or two with my old school ideas. We comprise on a few of her ideas.

It is not going to be a monster truck. It will be more like a stock 80's toyota 4x4 truck (springs over the axles). Building two differnt ways will be a lot more money...different wheels and tires, steering, driveshafts, brake lines and probably some other stuff.

With the wider axles, wider wheels, out boarded leaf springs, and sway bar, it should be pretty stable. Plus the rubber overdrive should kill some torque.

Now Dad, don't get too upset with her.
If she's thinking it may be hard to get in then, show her the step you're gonna put on it

I think this thing is due some quality time. I can't seem to get my daughter to commit the time to work on it, so i guess I'm going to reclaim the fj40 as my project.

My plan is to build it up as a mall cruiser. I'm gonna keep the open diffs, do the spring over, and put 35" all terrain tires on it (no super swampers). ....build something that could be a daily driver.

Maybe a change of plans....i found a set of 6 lug ansen wheels. Deep 15x10 for the rear and 15x7 on the front.

How stupid would those look on a stock height 4x4?...with skinny tires on the front and wide tires on the back that happen to be the same height.

Flipper_1938 said:

Maybe a change of plans....i found a set of 6 lug ansen wheels. Deep 15x10 for the rear and 15x7 on the front.

How stupid would those look on a stock height 4x4?...with skinny tires on the front and wide tires on the back that happen to be the same height.

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well...how about putting a straight tube across the front axle (replacing the pumkin) and doing it like a gasser? Add a turbo to the LS and go![P

Flipper_1938 said:

Maybe a change of plans....i found a set of 6 lug ansen wheels. Deep 15x10 for the rear and 15x7 on the front.

How stupid would those look on a stock height 4x4?...with skinny tires on the front and wide tires on the back that happen to be the same height.

Click to expand...

beauty/stupid is in the eye of the beholder [S
Around here most use what they got and most turn out just fine. JMHO

jfg455 said:

well...how about putting a straight tube across the front axle (replacing the pumkin) and doing it like a gasser? Add a turbo to the LS and go![P

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Don't know about the LS and turbo (just about any engine would do) but I sure like the idea of the straight axle gasser look. Especially if its going to be a daily street driver.

Find two more 7's or 10's to match, and stay 4wd with matching tires.

sc5080 said:

Don't know about the LS and turbo (just about any engine would do) but I sure like the idea of the straight axle gasser look. Especially if its going to be a daily street driver.

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I already have the 5.3 LS motor for it, along with the adapter bellhousing to bolt it to the toyota 4 speed. It should be fun ( almost down right hotroddy).


90 inch wheelbase may take some of the fun away.

Bamamav said:

Find two more 7's or 10's to match, and stay 4wd with matching tires.

Click to expand...

That would probably be the smartest thing to do.

Wooooo Hoooooo the $100 Craigslist find looks like it is going to work great. The tires are about flush with the front fenders. The deep backspacing cancels out the wider fj60 axles. Nothing looks like it can rub.

Looks like Molly may get her wish for it not to be a monster truck. I'm gonna hold off on doing the lift.

Looks good to me if I lay down.

Better?

20160514_132439 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

20160514_132616 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

I pulled the 9 inch ford rear out from under the truck
20160515_150552 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

and stuck a Toyota rear axle under it...5 inches farther back than stock.
IMG_7989 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

Gonna have to move the wheel opening
IMG_7991 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

I think Im gonna build a big bumper for the rear ...kinda like what is on the $60,000 jeep
20160515_162535 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

.....And I am going to have to buy wheel spacers....passenger side rubs the drag link in left turns.

20160514_145500 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

I've been staring at this thing a while trying to make myself believe the rear axle was in the right spot. I finally decided it was a tad too far back for a resto mod build. So I cut up my store bought spring brackets. I cut 1.5" off of the front and moved it to the rear and then filled in the triangles on the side. So much for doing it the easy way.