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fj80 high steer the way you need it

182K views 591 replies 110 participants last post by  Gravel Maker 
#1 ·



It's finally here. How many times have you seen a bent Toyota front housing? Or a sheared trunion pin? Or broken steering studs? Or huge wheel spacers that create a huge scrub radius that make it hard to steer? Well I've seen it all, and the best solution to all these problems is to go with the Toyota axle that was designed for a vehicle twice the weight of the mini axle. Not to mention it's 8" wider, so no need for wheel spacers any more.

I have personally run a stock FJ80 axle under my truggy with full hydro, and it worked well. My problem was that my tie rod hit every rock in front of me and bent several times requiring straightening even though it was 1/4" wall chromolly. Another thing was that every trip out I had to tighten my steering studs that constantly came loose. I sold my truggy to a friend and his first trip out to the hammers with it he broke the stock knuckle. Not good.

I have designed an all new knuckle casting that has beef added all the way around, but most importantly up top where the steering arm attaches to it. This arm is attached by 6 studs, the same size studs as you see with Dana 60's. Have you ever had to fight those pesky cone washers that don't want to come off the stud? Me too, and I hate it. This is why I went with cone nuts, same as a lug nut. Nothing to fight with, nothing to fly off and get lost under a rock on the trail. These studs are also placed far apart to make them even stronger by placing a lot less leverage on them.

FJ80 axles have larger knuckle balls which place the trunnion bearings farther apart than mini axles, making them stronger. If that's not enough, the pins are 20mm as opposed to the mini axles 17mm pins. Want even more? Most mini axles are upgraded with IFS calipers and vented rotors. The FJ80 brakes are already much bigger and better than the upgraded mini axle brakes, so you dont have to spend more money on upgrades. Nitro Gear makes a great affordable chomolly birfield set.

So now what, weak ring and pinions you say? How about a fabricated housing from Diamond or Ruffstuff Specialties? Stronger than stock, nicer looking, and the option of running a Toyota 9.5" third member. All beef, all Toyota, and much lighter than a Dana 60.

What about re-using some of my mini axle steering components? Yes you can. The arms have a 6" throw at the tie rod holes, and an 8" throw at the drag link holes. Ackerman angle you say? Each arm has 2 holes. The first hole is for the tie rod and it gives you the right amount of ackerman angle for the average wheel base. Need more steering angle and full hydro with the common 8" ram? Use the forward holes that have no ackerman angle for the furthest possible steering in comp based rigs.

Leaf sprung rigs vs. linked rigs, and up travel.
Mount the tie rod and drag link on top of the arms for leaf springs, or mount them under the arms for linked suspension and maximum up travel. For this reason alone, these will only be heim joint style arms for now until we get enough demand for FJ80 TRE's.

These have been tested on the best trails at the Hammers numerous times, and flogged through the whoops harder than I've ever done before in any of my Toyotas. I have checked my knuckle studs like I always do, but unlike before where I had to tighten them more than once per trip, these have never loosened. You can forget about the shims to set your trunnion bearing pre-load too, because these have 3/4" set screws with jam nuts to make setting preload a snap without removing the arm several times.

Standard kit includes:
-Left and right knuckles
-Left and right arms
-Oversized 25mm upper trunnion pins with new bearings and races
-Sleeves to weld into arms by the consumer (for getting the tie rod height exactly where you want it)
-Studs, nuts, set screws and jam nuts for knuckle to arm connection.

Other things you will need- 3/4" heims, tie rod and drag link tube, and grade 8 5/8" bolts for the heims. I highly recommend Ruffstuff Specialties for heims and all other bracketry for your build. Great products that last, great prices, and great customer service.

For leaf springs I highly recommend Davez Offroad for a super nice front hanger with 2" wider spacing. This keeps your u-bolts out of where your diff is, and gives you stability while maintaining good flex. Shackles coming soon, but if you need to save money for now, do what I did and put both spacers on the inside rather than one on each side. Davez Offroad has awesome Toyota parts at awesome prices, and he's a super good dude who will help you out.

Lastly you'll need to cut down your stock arms into lower trunnion bearing caps. Band saw, chop saw, grinder with flap disc, and whalla, you have some caps that saved you some money. If you want nicer caps with bling, stay tuned for the big trunnion bearing kit that includes new lower caps and bigger pins for the arms.

Standard kit price: $975 plus shipping and sales tax for NM deliveries.

Patent pending.

We are Hellfire Fabworks and we are here to stay. So stay tuned for more upgrades to this kit, as well as other products. We will only sell what we are willing to run.

Please call me with any questions or to place an order
619 395-0665 -Billy

INSTALL NOTE: BIRFIELDS WILL NOT FIT THROUGH THE KNUCKLE AND WILL NEED TO BE IN THE KNUCKLE BALL PRIOR TO KNUCKLE INSTALLATION, THIS IS KOWN AS THE CAMO METHOD WHICH I HAVE ALWAYS USED IN THE PAST.
 
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#2 ·
holy long post batman.

btw, pics and website coming soon, but you have probably been following my thread in the toyota forum if you're reading this. ready to ship in less than 3 weeks. i have a waiting list for the first batch, but there's a chance that not all will place their orders soon enough to keep their spot. speak up and i will add you to the list to see if you can get a set before the next run, which will be about 3 months out.
 
#5 ·
thanks tyler!
I need 2 sets right now! Way to get it done Billy ;) I hope others see this as a big thing, this was way more work than it might seem...Finally a real High Steer for an FJ80 axle!
and thanks dan!
 
#6 ·
still waiting for some quality pics, but here's a few in the mean time.
the arm in the first pic is rough cut, unfinished, and not as nice looking as the production arms of course.:laughing:

the 3rd pic is a display arm without the tie rod and drag link holes.
 

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#10 ·
how did you manage to flop on the pinch? makes for a good advertisement though?
 
#14 · (Edited)


Ummm isnt adding the 80 series axles supposed to make it more stable!!? lol just sayin'

Heres the truck these need to go on billy, it make the axles look wider!!

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=999198

Im the guy in St.louis that you spoke with about buying up some of my 80 front axles (5) call me sometime if you still have my #. I am needing 2 sets of these arms, 1 for the narrowed 83 and for the UZed 4Runner
 
#15 ·
Ummm isnt adding the 80 series axles supposed to make it [I]more[/I] stable!!? lol just sayin'

Heres the truck these need to go on billy, it make the axles look wider!!

[url]http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=999198[/url]

Im the guy in St.louis that you spoke with about buying up some of my 80 front axles (5) call me sometime if you still have my #. I am needing 2 sets of these arms, 1 for the narrowed 83 and for the UZed 4Runner[/QUOTE]

lol, call me some time. i lost your number. i'd like to see these on both your rigs, they are pretty cool for sure. i've been wanting to put a 1uz in my 83 for a while. if i sell a few hundred sets of these i just might get to.:laughing:
 
#19 ·
:smokin:

Not at all!!, I have got the mounts that will bolt the 1UZFE right into your 22r mounts and finding a UZ isnt hard at all and they are damn cheap now too.

I will give you a call later this week and we can work something out.
right on!
hi billy do you have a email i can contact you on to order a set to bring into australia? be great to run these on my truck at the 2012 tuff truck challenge,cheers
sales@hellfirefabworks.com

there's a lot of aussies that i'd like to get these to, and hopefully it wont take too long to get these3 over there. i know this is a popular axle for you guys.:smokin:

thanks, -billy
 
#22 ·

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#27 ·
i'll post up later this evening.
What are you waiting for then, lets get some shipped out!
i have to wait til monday when our incorporation documents are in our hands. i know it's silly, but i have to play by the rules. thanks for your patience though, i'd love to ship them today but i can't.
 
#33 ·
thanks for all the interest! my phone is blowing up along with my pm box.:eek:

website is up but not coming up under a search just yet.

copy and paste this into your browser to see it: http://hellfirefabworks.com/

it's not 100% finished yet, but it's a nice start.:D
 
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