Originally Posted by Badmeat

What kind of clearance between the tire and UCA do you have? Do you think if you had a 285/70/17 instead of the 255 width in the 33 that it would rub?

Originally Posted by little_joe

Thank you for posting this, it's refreshing to see a completely functional build that is somewhat stealth. Really like what you've documented so far, and will continue to follow!

1 thing: The Eibach shocks are digressive, they do not have progressive valving. I recently communicated with an engineer at Eibach and he confirmed they are digressive, almost bordering on linear.

O and I agree with you on the rear springs, seems a bit undersprung to me (and I have 0 extra weight on my '04 V8).

Originally Posted by gimlithepirate

FJ Cruiser wheels have a 15mm offset, as opposed to stock Limited wheels that have a 25mm offset. A 265/70/18 on a 25mm offset rubs, particularly when articulating. A 285 is 0.75" or 19mm wider than a 265, but that's spread on both sides of the offset, so you 10mm further away from the UCA, but 9.5mm wider tire on that side of the midline.

Based on the math, my guess is it would rub. However, that is assuming you use an FJ Cruiser wheel. If you can get something closer to a 0mm offset you would be fine. You just have to watch it as the more offset you get, the worse body mount rubbing is.

A lot of folks on this forum have run 285's. Honestly, with how many people are running 35's these days there are some good options for getting to much bigger tire sizes.

I stuck with the pizza cutters because of concerns with UCAs, and because all cars in ABQ get trash gas mileage. Not sure if its purely altitude, or altitude with weird gas and traffic patterns, but even my friend's prius loses 15-20% of its gas mileage around here.

Originally Posted by gimlithepirate

After buying a used , I am always a fan of preventative maintenance. I knew from the pre-purchase inspection that I needed new CV boots. What I did not know until I got home was the CVs were cheap after market units.

Also, at 178k miles it had no record of any timing belt being done. I'm guessing it was at some point, but with no idea I was not about to risk it.

I DIY as much of my own maintenance as I can. So far, a timing belt is near the limit of what I will do, but I seem to have a knack for taking on bigger and bigger projects...

Initial Maintenance:

• New OEM CV axles
• New timing belt and water pump using AISIN Kit
• New Thermostat
• Coolant Drain and Fill
• Oil Change
• Power Steering Fluid Change

All of this went according to plan, EXCEPT for part of the timing belt. Had the belt changed out and everything was moving along all hunky dory. I did take the radiator out, which let me get my impact in to make taking off the crank shaft bolt way easier.



I got to the part where I bolted thermostat housing on... and righty-tighty become righty-loosey. Bolt completely sheered off in the block


Thankfully, I was able to get it out with a screw extractor and some patience.


I had some bolts of similar length and thread count from my Isuzu in my garage, though I did have to shorten one with the dremel. After that, I was able to cinch everything up, and have her back on the road!

Originally Posted by TheCaKid

Would you mind sharing some info on the CV replacements? I know these are probably in my future sooner rather than later as they are starting to show some cracks but no leaks yet. I inquired at the dealer last time I was there and I think it was about $2500 total for both. I know you used OEM but how hard is the install, etc.

Originally Posted by montijo505

Hello fellow Burqueño. Nice build so far. If you have questions and or issues about building the NWTI bumper @alia176 is your man. He's local and just built one. He's also very friendly, he doesn't bite, I promise.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by gimlithepirate

There are three options for CV axles. OEM are about 400/piece online. If you currently have OEM, you can get remanufactured joints from CVJ for 250ish. Lastly, you can go the cheap route and get NAPA axles for like 125-150/piece. In terms of quality, if you onky drive on road, NAPA work. If you offroad, you will blow through them in no time flat, you need to go with CVJ or OEM.

In terms of the process there are several guides on this website. Long story show, it's pretty easy. For me it was less than half a day of work. You basically take the front tires off, disconnect the LCAs, and pop them out. There is a thread that describes the other seals you need tk grab to make sure you get everything taken care of at once.

Originally Posted by TheCaKid

Thanks, I've been doing some research on the process and what it would actually take to do. I'll probably go the CVJ route, as even though it's not gonna be a rock crawler or anything too extreme, I'm planning to build something out that can get me off the beaten track, plus deal with the terrible roads for skiing.

Definitely happy to hear it's an easy job -- some of the threads have scared me a bit with the tool list and not always having access to a garage, as I live in a city apartment. Worst case I'll buy parts, and see what labor would cost between the dealer or a local 4x4 shop.

Originally Posted by gimlithepirate

If the weather is decent this is doable in a parking lot. That said, you do need specific sizes of sockets, and probably a BFH and some kind of punch kit to get them out.

Once out, it's not too bad, though getting the seals to set is a little nerve-wracking.

Originally Posted by TheCaKid

For sure -- the 2 tools I'd need to acquire/borrow were the BFH or a slidehammer to get the CV out and the massive socket to get the axle nut off. Maybe it's a good excuse to get that DeWalt Impact I've looked at haha

Also ya the seal part for sure made me think twice. I'd prefer to do the work on my own and would definitely like to tackle some bigger projects on this one than I've done in the past, but the description I read on those seals definitely made me think twice.

Originally Posted by gimlithepirate

For the socket itself, autozone will rent you an axle nut socket set for free. You will need either an impact or a big cheater bar to get it off though. A big cheater bar is 20-30 at Amazon or HF, and if you want the impact Rigid sells a great one at home depot. Makes a lot of things easier.

For the seals, if you want to make it easy, take the seal to home depot and get some pipe that's the right size for pushing it in. Makes it way easier. Or you can tempt fate like I did and use the CV itself to set the seal. It might work, it might not. It did for me.

You will leak a little bit of oil, so it's also a good time to change your front diff oil. Autozone carries a Chevron full synthetic gear oil in the right weight for our cars that's pretty cheap.

Originally Posted by TheCaKid

You're a braver man than me on the seals! I think I'd definitely go the pipe route to fit them. Appreciate the info though on the axle nut -- I hadn't thought about
AutoZone rentals for it.