[Turbo Dog]

Way back there I see you were considering converting to an old AMC 4cyl instead of a V8...I'm wondering if I could mount several rows of Briggs & Stratton style engines to the roof rack all connected front to rear like those multi engine dragsters, the use a belt to connect to a pulley with a chain sproket welded to it to connect to a chain to drive accessory devices....like really big wiper blades. That would give the FJ the look of a hottie batting her eyelashes!

 

[Turbo Dog]

Allright Allright, I'ze can now figure the right way to git that belt onto that sprocket. I called NASA and they said I could use their tri-poler meta-trans-molecular bonding system ta hold them two together :cheers:

Probelm is...they wanna be paid in beer and I can't buy enough for everyone at NASA:mecry:

 

[Alien]

I've been doing some research on an upcoming project for my fj. I'm going to remove the entire drive system and engine and replace all with the internals salvaged from a couple of Harrier jump jets. Yes, you heard me correctly! The Harriers were scrapped and purchased at auction for the recovery of strategic metals, but I decided to put them to better use. Please look for my build thread as my plans progress.
Alien

 

[Turbo Dog]

I think since I can't afford enough beer for all of NASA that I'll just use that crazy wild thing blow at their hair in the morning after I use her nylons twisted in a back started southern cross style patern to hold thos gizmos together. Dat'll do it

 

[SwiCago]

Steve, is this done yet :lol:
Please give us an update tomorrow.

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

Update of further modifications: One-wheel drive conversion


It's been a long year trying to finish up my conversion, not to mention a painstaking and expensive process. However, I finally got my FJ to the point of ultimate gas-savings and perfect on-road handling (even though I might have sacrificed a bit of off-road performance along the way).

With the help of a former AAMCO Transmission tech, we were able to design a one-wheel drive system for the FJ Cruiser.

We found that a rear axle from a '94 Tacoma fits in the FJ's differential housing (with only minor fabrication).

The nice thing about the Tacoma rear axle is that you can easily remove the left axle shaft from the diff assembly, thus leaving drive power to only the right rear wheel.

We swapped out the R&P's to 6.73's, which should ultimately provide some fantastic fuel savings. As you can see, there is only one (right side) axle shaft that provides rear drive power.

A can of Krylon silver paint cleaned up its appearance. And, without the added weight of the left axle shaft, replacing the diff was relatively easy.

The test drive yielded some unbelievable results. With power only going to one wheel, instead of two (or four), gas mileage jumped up another 2.7 MPG. Plus, the elimination of the excess weight of the left axle shaft, the heavy T-case and all the diff lock components makes the FJ handle like a dream on the road.

Off-road, it doesn't climb quite as well as it used to. But, gone is that annoying left rear wheel spin whenever you lose traction. :clap:

The only thing left to do is add another cup holder in the console where the T-case lever used to be.

If you ask me, one-wheel drive is the only way to go!! :cheers: :cheers:

 

[Senor Buckwheat]

Are you going to put a write up in the "How To" section? Maybe become a vendor on this board specializing in this or at least selling a kit?

On the subject of gas mileage, I heard a rumor that a person's gas costs would go down to zero if they did not drive a vehicle. You seem to know alot, any truth to this?

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

Are you going to put a write up in the "How To" section?

Then everybody will want to do it. :ugh:

I heard a rumor that a person's gas costs would go down to zero if they did not drive a vehicle.

Unless you live in Dallas. Then the evaporation factor must be taken into account. As usual, use the standard formula:

MPG multiplied by the Dallas ambient temperature at 2:30am plus 67.7% of the Starbucks "grande" coffee cost minus the gross national product divided by number of in-laws sleeping in your FJ. (Duh, I didn't need to tell you that . . . )

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

It's been many years since I first decided to make the jump from 4-wheel drive to 2-wheel drive. And then ultimately to 1-wheel drive.

Yep, they all laughed at me and called me crazy, but by bumping my gas mileage up to 47.8 mpg, I ask, who's laughing now?? 😜

Not only am I saving a bundle on gas, but instead of buying four brand new tires when the time comes, I only have to spring for a single tire. (To save even more, I've since gone with a small John Deere tractor/lawnmower tire for my drive wheel.)

Anyway, life is good with probably the only 1-wheel drive FJ Cruiser in existence. I'll update y'all again in a year from now. Time to get to work on a no-wheel drive system . . .

 

[corporallane]

got pictures?

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

I figured that today would be the appropriate date to post an update. Anyway, it goes without saying that all of the work and money (about $28,300 total) was well spent to achieve what I consider to be the ideal FJ Cruiser.

My major accomplishment since my last report was completely ditching the stock engine and replacing it with something more practical. All of that power coming from the original 4.0 liter V6 to just a single wheel drive vehicle kept burning out all of my harmonic convergence regulators, so I downgraded to a pair of 15hp Briggs & Straton engines connected in parallel (using the standard twin-efron double-stage reverse combiner from Harbor Freight).

Bottom line is, I now have a 30 hp 1-wheel drive FJ Cruiser that delivers better than 88 mpg. And, it has the ability to reach nearly 22 mph on the highway and capable of climbing almost a 2% incline.

Needless to say, life is good.

PS - It's still April 1st in my time zone at the time of this posting.

 

[ZerosFJ]

I bet one wheel drive is good for driving in ever decreasing circles.🤪

 

[LandCruiserSteve]

As most of you already know, my AncestryDNA.com results revealed my (distant) relationship with Elon Musk. And being the wonderful third-cousin-twice-removed that Elon is to me, he gave me a bunch of old prototype Tesla batteries for my FJ project.

Yep, that's right. I'm going electric!! 😊

A 1/4 horsepower Singer sewing machine motor has since replaced my Briggs & Statton lawn mower engines and it's powered by those old Tesla batteries. It took a while to create a beefy powertrain configuration, but patience persevered and it fits perfectly under the hood of my FJ.

And of course, I mounted solar panels atop of my FJ for unlimited charging capabilities of my batteries.

The end result: A one-wheel-drive, electric-powered, unlimited mileage, low-horsepower, mildly off-road capable, eco-friendly, very slow highway speed, essentially worthless FJ Cruiser. 😏