We're talking about a similar phenomena I noticed when I'd go on event bike rides (road bicycles). I'm not a thin, in shape person, but I've been on rides where the 'in-shape" guy with the $5,000 bike wasn't getting up the hill any faster than I was on my $600 starter bike. I've since upgraded to a bike that's about twice that value, but I did so because I figured out what I wanted after a couple seasons on the $600 bike. Living and riding at 6,300 feet elevation helps too, but $5,000 bike guy didn't need to know that.
With my FJ, it's now about wheeling with people who have more experience, learning from them and figuring out the wheeling I want to do, and then mod for that.
__________________
They took the bar! The whole, f***in' bar!
Location: Well ain't this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere!
Posts: 851
Re: FJs and Mods
I say mod as needed. I live in a region where people spend $10,000 on offroading mods with absolutely no intention of ever leaving the pavement. The first time I took my FJ offroad I thought, "this is the most fun and this thing is awesome just like it is." Then I tried something a little harder, and every time I get the rare opportunity to get out and try something else, I want to try something a little more challenging. I know that the time will come that I will want some good skids or maybe a lift to get me a little more clearance, but I will cross that bridge when I get there. For now, I am just enjoying the heck out of this awesome offroading machine Toyota built.
__________________ Jenny
BONE STOCK (except for BFG TA KO's) '07 Titanium Metallic FJ - 5 A/T - 4X4 - CQ - GY - UR2 - DO - P4 -
HOOK'EM HORNS!
Down in town the bars are full and the drunks are picking fights...
I went to Tellico today and was happy to have my sliders and skids on the rocks, just a little pounding. The 3" lift did not hurt either. I will say that we wheeled with 3 of the Trail Team rigs that are almost stock and they did well also.
I think a lot of it comes down to experience as many above have mentioned and also the lines you chose to take on the trail. I am a rather agressive driver and like to take a more challenging line more often than not. The down side of this is the higher chance of trail damage. That is the reason my rig has armor and a lift, and things like beefed up CVs and a front locker in the works.
If my trail riding consisted mainly of sand and mud, I would not require any of the above Mods. That is the beauty of the FJ or most any capable 4X4, you can take the base package and make it what you wish.
Check out Peterson's 4Wheel & Off Road this month. There is a piece on building a 4X4 for a few different types of wheeling
__________________ " "The next best thing to playing and winning, is playing and losing"
I live in typo hell, excuse the typos
Of course my FJ experience is from the outside(passenger at Harlan and Tellico) but as the driver of heavy duty 4X4 trucks over the years for farm use and off roading for necessity and certainly not for enjoyment...I think that the FJ with or without mods is still an amazing creation. Having experience with 4X4 Jeeps, (that I found MAJORLY temperamental, not dependable for actual work or as daily drivers and lacking in creature comforts). The FJ is comfortable for travel, daily driver and has impressed me off road and on the farm.
So, what I am seeing here is a few people complaining about some parts that they do not consider to be up to par. Well, IMO for only two model years on the road, they are pretty darn nice vehicles. Give them a break, they need to work the bugs out. The FJ is a really dependable and exceptionally useful as an all around vehicle. I also understand that to make a profit Toyota had to make a vehicle for 75%+ soccermoms and white collar wannabes AND the 25%- who will ever lock into 4L someplace other than the gravel driveway.
If you want a fine example of mods go spend $40K++++ on a Ford F350 Powerstroke and then drop another $8K in mods to get the bugger to actually earn a living for you in the field. Then complain about the price your lower control arms....
I am pretty happy with this FJ that will sell for every penny that has been put into it over the last two years, mods and all. (Check current sales prices on the used FJ's). I took a $13,000 loss on that aforementioned Ford truck.....
As Forrest Gump says:"And that's all I have to say about that...."
__________________ I think that my preference for single horsepower puts me a particular disadvantage around here......
Location: Clarks Summit,Pa-Not to far from Paragon Adv. Park
Posts: 353
Re: FJs and Mods
As stated several times in this thread," Build to suit YOUR needs. Although I think the highly mod'ed rigs like Air2Air are very Cool, All of that would be useless to a guy like me. I'm the guy who runs fire roads & light trails on the weekend's & drives the FJ all week for work. I've so far have add'ed a Toytec 3" & 285 BFG A/T's. That's all I need to cover my skill level, I know when to draw the line in the woods. Hope to make the next FJ run at Raush Creek,(looked like fun,sorry I missed). As my skill level increases, so will the mod.'s. Just my 2 cents
I don't know how I feel about all of this. There is no doubt that many of us who go mod crazy don't NEED 90% of the crap we stick on our rigs. I think depending on mods to get you up the trail is silly, and won't do much to help you. Of course things like armor, suspension, tires....the basics can and do help compensate for driver error, but there are also tradeoffs. All the extra weight from armor, bumpers, winches, gear, etc... can actually present ADDED challenges to the driver. Now if you screw up and fall off a large rock or something, you'll be happy that you have skids and beefed up control arms, but better driving skills might have kept you from falling off in the first place.
Do I need all of the mods I've thrown on my rig for my usual driving needs? Absolutely not. Do I love all those unnecessary mods? Hell yes! I wanted to build up my rig so as to be able to handle any situation I may find myself in, and to make it a fun on road driver as it is my DD. Where I wheel currently in michigan, I really don't need most of my mods, and the extra weight is a handicap in the deep sand and mud I often play in. But I want to be able to jump in my truck and drive to Montana, or Moab, or Cali and get out on terrain that may be totally unavailable in my normal wheeling areas.
I'm not gonna lie, I also enjoy my mods for the attention they get. I like when little kid runs up to me at the gas station and freaks out about how sweet my rig is and asks his mom if he can sit in it for a min. Or when other offroaders or car buffs approach me to ask about various mods etc. It gives me a chance to talk about a vehicle I LOVE, and I've made a few good friends so far working on our rigs together.
I agree that if you are gonna mod, you want to have a plan. I admit I was ignorant to that fact in the beginning and I ended up replacing some mods that I should have researched better, Removing some all together, and finding that I needed more mods to install the mods sitting in my garage. It was a good learning experience, though it did cost a few G's for that education.
Anyhow... i'm rambling. Mod, don't mod....its all good. Driving skill is number one, but it sure helps the learning curve to have a little protection for all the screw ups you'll encounter on your way to better skills. I learn a little more every time I wheel, and have a blast doing it!
__________________
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
A lot of people suffered from too much too early mods. Wasting money on mods that aren't needed or worse, mods that require other mods just so they can make it work. They go about it with no plan in mind. Often times, driver education is much more needed then mods.
There you go. A plan is needed first. And that is what I had in mind from the start. Storm chase vehicle in the making.(there is a post someplace on here about that stuff) First got rid of the stock rubber. See how that worked out, before lifting it. Added more weight to the front end with a winch bumber. See how that works and how it sets. Next up the winch to add more weight. Now I see how it sits and rides on the stock suspension. Still rode great but now did need to be leveled up, ( no sense driving into water covered roads with the nose pointing down) raised it up 3" with OME. Ok the lift was done and checked out. So the diff was dropped one inch, to line things back up again. Then polished it off so far with the matching rear bumper.
During this work I looked into and prepared for possible problems ahead of time. ( even measured the garage before lifing, 2" clearance, won't be having a roof rack here) Pretty much everything was installed tried for awhile then moved on to the next step. Over the span of time I bought it in Feb 2007 to present.
Now the next step will be as time allows. Since I only finished off putting the rear bumper on a few weeks ago. Now it's off to look into some sliders to put on the side. Not much of a need for rock sliders here in Kansas. But I have another trip to Colorado Springs in July. That I plan to be ready for whatever I come across now.
I had a plan/list and checked things off before moving on to the next step. Doing it this way has worked out in a great way.
__________________ 2007 FJ Cruiser
K&N Inhaling, TRD Exhaling
Toyo Open Country MT's
Warn Front bumper, Warn Powerplant HD winch, Warn Heavy Duty Rear Bumper
ARB Rock Sliders and Skid Plates
Bud Built skid plates
OME 3" medium/heavy lift, Toytec left front spacer
1" differential drop kit.
Vinyl Graphics by myself.
TomTom 720 Nav, Bandi Mount - deciding on CB
" "The next best thing to playing and winning, is playing and losing"
A lot of people suffered from too much too early mods. Wasting money on mods that aren't needed or worse, mods that require other mods just so they can make it work. They go about it with no plan in mind. Often times, driver education is much more needed then mods.
2007 FJ Cruiser 
Linear Mode
