1966 Toyota FJ Cruiser V8 - Cross-Trainer

The front axle is an oddball Dana 61 from a Dodge pickup. Wolf Machine manufactured a ring-gear spacer to allow the use of a 5.13 Dana 60 gearset with the ARB Air Locker. The axle still uses 30-spline stub shafts, but the stubs will be upgraded to 35-spline units when funds allow.

The interior is Spartan and functional, with race seats, five-point harnesses, and the necessary toggle switches and digital gauges. The Hurst shifter controls the reverse manual valve body in the TH400 transmission.

Another desert-racing touch is the removable lightbar that holds six Lightforce 140 Lance lights. Weatherpak connectors and rod ends allow the lightbar to be easily removed when the hardtop is employed.

The bed of the FJ40 houses a 20-gallon Summit Racing fuel cell and dual battery boxes that hold Optima RedTop batteries. Sheetmetal was added to raise the inner fenders and allow more uptravel without added static ride height.

The rear suspension uses a triangulated four-link with Blue Torch FabWorks brackets and 2x0.250-inch 4130 tubing with SamCo flex joints. The links work in conjunction with 14-inch-travel Fox coilovers, 150 lb-in Hypercoil and 325 lb-in QA1 coil springs, and Fox air bumps.

17x8.5 Walker Evans beadlocks hold 39.5x13.5-17LT Super Swamper Iroks. The tires offer good ground clearance and enough sidewall to soak up small bumps at speed.

The suspension has plenty of travel to keep up with the speeds created by the stroker engine. Right now the Achilles' heel is the carburetor, which sloshes fuel in rough terrain. The carb will soon be replaced with fuel injection.