I have read that a lot of people have either shimmed the mini truck steering arms or had them reamed so that the FJ tie rod ends will fit. We simply pulled the whole tie rod off the mini truck turned it around and bolted it on to the FJ. Is there any reason this wont work? We compared them and they are identical in length. Only difference is now the steering is a little off center, but I think an alignment shop can fix it. thanks for the help.

yes you can use it, and your getting bigger TRE's to boot. also if you haddent noticed already, the FJ drag link end fits in the mini shock mount on the long TRE which is now on the pass side right??, if your still SUA you can use that. just need to modify lengths. i ended up shortening mine more than adjustment would allow.

You didn't say what year your cruiser was. The landcruiser tierod ends have a smaller taper then the mini tierod. So, you have to make some sort of tapered insert for the mini steering arms. As for the mini tierod being the same length, you are wrong. At least up till 78, the landcruiser tierod is shorter. You can use the mini tierod, but will have to thread the ends in all the way. Doesn't leave any adjustment. The mini tierod is also weaker. Since the steering shock hole you are now using for the tierod from the steeringbox is further from the end, it will bend there. Hope this helps.

Have you seen this tie rod end bend? or just heard about it?
I just swapped a FJ60 front end into my FJ40 and am planning on useing the mini-truck TRE's and a custom DOM tie rod ( witch I just picked up tonight!!) The rod ends look plenty strong, and they put huge tires on mini-trucks all the time and have no problems. Having the shock/drag-link hole further from the end lets me use my old drag-link, the hole is 1.5" twards center and the 60 front is 3" wider so it works out great.

-Scott

So can the alignment shop compensate for the drag link being moved toward the driver's side about an inch? Or do we need to shorten the drag link?

Shorten the drag link, then adjust your wheel. If you've got an old extra drag link or relay rod laying around, you can use it as a test unit and chop and sleeve until you get the steering figured out, then fab up a nice drag link using those dimensions you've figured out.

Jeff

I can help you make a new drag link and tie rod that will definitely not bend or break (I live near Bend). PM me if interested.