Hi All,
New to this forum (check latest joined member - ME !!), but been tinkerin' and touring around Australia since before "Management Vehicles and Walkers Only" existed. Hmmm, late 1980's, those were the days. No poofy coils or injection back then either (dons flame suit)

Righto, so I've just joined the poofy coils and injection scene (flame suit ready !!) by purchasing a one-owner (by a pensioner) '95GXL manual FJZ80, better late than never I suppose. Glad I didn't know what I was missing out for all those years until now. I flew up to Bris-vegas to get it on a one-way ticket, drove it home same/next day. Couldn't ask for a cleaner car... The gent purchased it new in '96, never been off road, low range never used, never smashed, rust-proofed and garaged since new. Stock-as-a-rock. Well worth the sub- 15K ask, plus air-fare and return fuel.

Anyway, I've had lifted and locked fourbies all the while, body lifted FJ40 back in the 80's (don't ask about the solid steering shaft) , a 3.8 litre V6 converted 4-Runner, with body lift, Mark's 5-speed, LPG, you name it, and for the last 'many years. a trusty FJ62GXL with triple tanks, dual lockers, 10,000lb winch etc.

But time was marching on and the price of 80's came to within my budget, so rather than refresh the FJ62, took the update plan and went FJZ80. And don't I just love the 80.....

First thing up is LPG conversion. And I hate how low LPG tanks hang on 80's, so I thought about a 2" body lift and a custom Kaymar bar to carry the spare. Kaymar built me a custom bar for my 23/4" lift 4-runner many years ago, but according to Rod Jackson at Kaymar, no go on the 80. It bolts up from underneath, no way of changing the mounts to lift the whole thing 2" to suit body lift. I even (today) had an air-craft certified / x-ray/pressure vessel welder friend look at the display bar at Kaymar with the thought of modifying a stocker bar, and even he agreed, it's not going to happen.

Soo, I'm thinking of a 4" suspension lift, instead of a 2" body and a 2" spring lift to clear the 35's. Is this feasable for an 80 ? A friend has an 80 on 2" lifted Lovells, and the ride handling compromise is good. I'd like to go 4" Lovells and Konis, similar to my 60 series combo (except it's not leaves this time of course), big question is, will this let me stuff the 35's under the guards and srill clear under max bump and droop ??

Would appreciate some input from people with the miles under the belt in Australia as to what works and what doesn't on an 80 !!

Sorry for the long post, would appreciate any advice !

Thanks,
ALex.

G'day Alex.

I don't have much info for you, but I'll be interested to follow the thread as I'm looking at something similar for mine. I have a mate who is going to help me build my rear bear. I'll be interested to see if he can do it for a body lift.

Oh, and welcome to the site

Im sure one of the guys that are running 35's will speak up, but from what I've read 35s will rub a bit on max articulation (theres my big word for the day ) But I dont think they rub hard enough to casue any major dramas

305/70/16 is a 33" tyre, these should fit no problem with a 2" lift, a bit wider than 285/75/16(33") though so not having run them I'm not 100% sure you wont get a little bit of rubbing at 2", at a 4" lift they will look way to small for the car.

Either way it's good practice to adjust your bump stops to suit.

EDIT: OK just reread your orig post and you did mention 35's so that would be 305/75/16, just so you don't get a rude shock after ordering them.

Spoke to Jason at Coastal 4x4, he has an 80 Series running 35's. He has 5" lift and the tyres still rub at full articulation (he is running after market alloy rims), what needs to be done is you add a 1" block to the bump stop, you lose a little articilation but you won't rub. His car rubs on the chassis rails and on the inner edge of the flares. Also rim offset will determine where you rub as well. That's the extent of my knowledge hope it helps.

Thanks guys, still getting used to the 'lingo' when it comes to 16" wheels, and as to what constitutes a 35" tyre when fitted to a 16" rim. On 15", it's a no brainer- want a 33", buy a 33". Want a 35", buy a 35"... Now it's all 305/75/16, which is defintely the size I want.

Ordered the Kaymar bar today, goes in for fitting Monday next week . I figured with the rear x-member being the limiting factor on departure angle, no point in having a rear bar lifted up as the x-member will still be the lowest point. Unless I was going to chop the x-member (D'uh, no) the only thing I lose height-wise is the towbar reciever tube as it hangs under the x-member. So that's my limiting item on departure.

When the LPG tank gets fitted, prolly in a week or 3, I might get it mounted as close a possible to the rear axle and have a replacement sub-tank made up by LRA, contoured in a line from gas tank lowest point to rear x-member height, so if I bottom out on departure the tow bar hitch takes the bang, not the fuel tank. That's what we did with my 60 series, except the gas tank was at the back. The original fuel tank was cut in half and the LPG tank raised up into the cavity previously occupied by the tank. Then a deep 'sump' was welded on to the original tank to bump the capacity back up. I remember brand "X" long range fuel tank supplier laughed and told me that would rust out in 12 months, and that I should fit one of his tanks. Yeah, right, 14 years later it's still going strong. Unlike 'his' fuel tank in the belly that cracked whilst up in Cape York...

Anyway, soundes like 33"'s are an easy fit with 2" to 3" of lift, but 35"s will rub under articulation. Hmmmm What to do. Will put thinking cap back on and ponder, hopefully some more responses will roll in whilst I'm getting barred and LPG'd. I also figured on going 4.88 cwp's at the same time as putting in the 35's to keep the gearing sensible.

Cheers,
Alex.

33's are an easy fit with no lift

Well, ended up going for 295/75 16" BFG All Terrains, $315ea from Widetread Lilydale. That's nominally a 33.4" inch tyre, which means I should run a 4.40 diff ratio to match exactly the 4.11 / 31.2" stock set up, so it looks like 4.56 diffs are on the cards when the lockers go in.

Had to rotate the rim/tyre around on the Kaymar bar until a void between tread blocks lined up with the release handle bracket on the swingout arm, as the Kaymar is designed for a 33" max tyre, so 33.4" was pushing the frienship without having to mod the wheelholder, which I'm pleased at not having to do seeing as how it's only one freakin' week old !!!

Giggle, however next week I'm extending the arm that holds the tyre to include a jerry-can holder as I hate 2 swingouts. Did this mod 14 years ago on the old '62 and haven't looked back since. "You can't do that, you need to buy a seperate swing-out jerry can holder" Not at $600-plus thanks, mine cost me under $100 and means I only have one handle to release. It's survived Cape York, Kimberleys, Simpson Desert. Vic High Country, Flinders Ranges, Gammon Ranges, All WA, everywhere and hasn't dropped off since....

It was also long enough that I had a fold-down table on the back of the wheel-carrier / jerry can holder virtually the whole width of the car. As it was metal and outside the car it didnt matter what got slopped over it when cooking too...

Anyway, LPG and lift is next.....

Meh wouldn't bother with the diffs for such a small increase, the price to swap ot pinions and crownwheels doesn't justify the gains.
Only now that im running 37's am i even considering it. And even then its only annoying when i drop down to the ultra low pressures, 8-12 psi.
Even with 35's the 1FZ-FE had no issues pulling.
FYI 305/75R16's is closer to 34" and 315/75 is considered a 35" but still just short.

Cant understand why they went with a std that used both Metric (mm) and imperial (") in the same equation.

Oh forgot, my stock GXL rimmed 35's rub on full articulation. My 1.5" offset rock crawlers with 37's doesn't. Get offset rims if your really worried about it ans want full articulation rather than limiting the stops.
I only limit the bump stops to avoid either coil bind or topping or bottoming a shock.
Just my 2 cents.

Yeah, but while the lockers are being installed it's effecively 'free' to change CWP's at the same time. Plus I like being able to accelerate / climb road gradients (Silvan's pretty hilly) in 4th....

Also fun to cruise along at 120 @ 2200 rpm on the freeway! But yeah while its out. Wont argue that.

What sort of dollars are you looking at for the C+P, Last time i looked its was $650 each end! thats parts only

Anyhow, it's been a busy 2 weeks..... I've been busy mounting a new ARB compressor (CKMA12) in behind the lhs rear quarter panel trim, as far forward as I could towards the "B" pillar so it wouldn't suck (good pun 'eh ?) up any available space. Boy, ARB got the design of this one right as the orientation of the pump motor to the mounting bracket can be both reversed 180deg. and practically rotated through 270 on it's axis, plus then the reservoir outlet port for the lockers as well as the pressure pump switch can be rotated independantly of each other for correct orientation of your outlets. And believe me it took me 3-4 hours to figure out from all those possible permutations how I would get it to fit, plus another 2 hours to figure out how to mount it, and then a full day to actually do it.... Anyhow, my diff-lock compressor is now mounted out of sight in a clean, dry location where it doesn't take up any space I could have practically used/ plus I've run a custom loom for it and the solenoids up to the dash and engine compartment. All wrapped up in heat shrink on every terminal join, covered in convoluted tubing and stealth mounted out of sight through panel cavities etc. Another day in that wiring job alone... Just as well I do night shift and have a 60 series to drive in the meantime. Well, until tomorrow as the 60's been sold..... I've just got to run a remote outlet for pumping up my tyres out of the bottom of the quarter panel (there's a nice big grommet that looks like it will provide the outlet for) and up to a bracket under the Kaymar , so I can actually pump up my tyres without having to rip the quarter panel trim off to get at the outlet...

The LPG conversion was done on Wednesday this week, so the car's sitting lower than a snake's belly with stock sagged suspension plus the weight of the Kaymar and the tank, so the suspension's next. I've had some e-mail correspondance this week with the sales manager at Lovells in NSW, whose coils I want to use, except for legal reasons they won't do anything over 2" in lift. BUT, they have directed me to Binskins 4wd centre in Port McQuarrie, who have an in-house brand spring of theirs for 'extreme' applications (in Lovells' own words), that Lovells happen to make for them So, I might be able to do my settled 3" lift with all my load bearing accessories yet. I've e-mailed Binskins tonight, will see what answer I get next week.

And I re-plumbed all the LPG water hoses in silicone hose and chucked the crappy black McKay rubber stuff the LPG place used straight in the bin. Thier plumbing lasted exactly 23 klms and less than one day....

If I could get info on how to post (hmm, must check the FAQ's) pix, I'll post up the compressor mount and the NEAT compressor / front diff lock /rear diff lock switches I'm using, imported from the USA with custom engraved coloured lenses. Backlight at night with a 24V globe (dim), and then a seperate 12V globe kicks in when the swtich is powered up. You don't have to wire up the globes if you don't want though. I've wired up the 24V ones through the dimmer switch as well as I don't like my instrument lighting too bright and even the 24V globes (tiny wedge based ones) are still pretty bright through the lens.

I used the panel space freed up by the removal of the sub-tank switch and the 2 blanks to the right of it for my 3 switches. It took about an hour and 20 minutes on each switch blanking plate to file out the hole for the new switches as they are rectangluar and JUST fit inside the original blanking plate if you're very neat with a drill and file. The bezels on the switches are only about 1.5mm wide so not much room for error... Anyhow, they are in and wired, so it's suspension and lockers with the money I get from the sale of the 60. Oh, BTW, 4.56's can be had for around $250ea USD plus freight, so I'll have to get busy on that if I want to do them this side of Xmas. Just as well the company I work for (we build trucks) imports about 4-5 40' containers per week and I used to do the ordering for importing, so got lots of contacts in the freight game.

To be continued.......

(And it's a sad farewell to the 1989 FJ62 that I've had for 14 years, with it's double lockers and 10,00lb winch set up that's taken us through every state in Aus (even Tasmania) to all the top touring destinations Australia has to offer. I did 250,000 klms in that truck and it never broke down on us, ever.)

I currently run 285/75/16 with a 2" lift but originally bought the 33's without the suspension lift and on stock suspension they seemed to fit with no troubles at all.

I am thinking on going 35's so was interested to see if they would fit without changing the 2" lift i already have.

I've run 35's with a 4" lift. Sounds like you know your way arround modifying trucks so I wont preach about an engineering cert for the 4" spring lift.

Ok guess it will have to be a 4" lift then, was kinda hoping to fit em in under 2" of lift but from what you guys are saying sounds like it won't