Air2air's Full Frontal

[Air2air]

Wait!

This thread is waaaaaaaaay too long. There's a condensed version with just the pics and tech descriptions at Air2air's buildup - Summary. You'll get it through it much faster.

Then come back to post your comments on this thread, the original.











[YOUTUBE]

Long Travel

2. Demello Offroad custom bumper, nose skid and engine skid
3. FoxPro 2.5" adjustable bypass shocks front and rear
4. Donahoe Racing FJ race fiberglass hood and fenders
5. All-Pro 4.56 gears
6. ARB Front Locker
7.

Lucrum Light System

- first production model
8. Full internal race cage a la Demello Offroad

The Inspiration
Among 4WD vehicles, we left-coasters know Desert racers to be lighter and faster than their rock, trail and mud-oriented brethren. And often 2WD - as is the case with prerunners and some SCORE truck and buggy classes. Of course the desert-style FJ is currently pretty rare with only a few examples, like the Millen and the incredible Donahoe Baja 250 champion FJ.

The Excuse
Having just tweaked my front end pretty badly, it was either call my insurance and raise my rates, or sneak something onto the American Express and hope my wife believes it's for "repairs". Hmmm. So thanks to my lying abilities Jason Demello will make a streetable "sister" to the Donahoe truck that's missing only the internal cage. In fact some parts are from the spares set of the Donahoe truck.

The Disaster
2 weeks ago was the Adventure 4X4 Springfest, a world-class experience of people who are so kind they even eat frogeye's chili. And they do not swear murderous vengeance against him in the latrine later. My son James and I had the best day of wheeling ever and met the coolest people. I had to leave early on Saturday and after saying goodbye I headed out of the campsite and sped up towards the road. I hadn't forgotten anything. Except the whoop-de-do's directly in front of me.



Circled above. I think this is FJamming's photo. About 5 minutes after hitting the first one we hit the ground. I got a good birds-eye view of the Western US and after we sort of clunked to a stop I took inventory. We were alive. The FJ was not 6 inches high. It did not sound like a rock tumbler either.

I opened the door to get out. Had to push hard. SQUAAWWK. SQUEEAK. Well, this will be expensive. The fenders and hood showed a little excitement:





As you can see in the circled areas, when we bottomed out the tires pushed the fender wells up about a half an inch. More frightening to you the reader, my tires are not that much bigger than stock at 285/18/65. And I had the best lift in the business - Donahoe Stage 2, UCA's and Chubbies jounce shocks.

Because my fenders and hood are wasted, might as well replace them with glass. Resale value? Hah! (Gee, I really should go pay off my lease).

Notice my battery ground cable above - broke in half. The stock battery clamp broke, which makes a strong case for FJoel's Billet Battery Clamps.

So this thread will detail the next month as the ingredients are added at the Demello kitchen. And we HAVE to make it to Ouray. Stay tuned.....

[VP23271]

Air2air,

Sorry to hear about the mishap! If you don't mind me asking, how fast were you going and how deep were the whoops? Are we talking about dirt bike whoops/rhythm section? Those tend to get pretty deep and are spaced somewhat close.

You seem to have a good attitude about it and you and your son came out of it unscratched. The bright side is your gonna be able to do another mod! Looking forward to the write up and seeing more pic's!

[FJoel]

That's brutal!!

Sounds like you have some good plans though... can't wait to check out your rig at the summit!! (if you don't mind of course )

I think I have a clamp for that if it's a 1700... if it is 6.5" wide and can overhang the top by 10mm I know I do. Where did that steel sucker break?

[MudLovingFJ]

oh man, i cant wait to see what your rig looks like when its done. i think you are raising the bar even higher for us other fj folk.

sorry your rig got messed up, but remember, everything happens for a reason.

[swamp thing]

Air2air previously said:

More frightening to you the reader, my tires are not that much bigger than stock at 285/18/65. And I had the best lift in the business - 2.5" Donahoe Stage 2 and Chubbies jounce shocks.

Yeah, that's the crazy thing. When I first heard about your fenders, I thought they hit on the outer plastic fender - but are you saying they got stuffed into the fender well and still bottomed out? It's not the width of your wheels that are the problem - it's the diameter? That's scary.

I can't believe Toyota made it such a problem for just a small wheel upsize. First the body mount chop, now this.

I don't want 265's

[Daedalus504]

So I'm interested in the TC Long Travel Kit...What's the kit cost, around $3000 from looking around, and labor costs for installation? If you don't mind me asking!

[Fjamming]

It is those dirt bike kind of moguls...

I was at the DR open house. That kit will be awesome. Very tempted to go that route myself. Need more motivation.

[MudLovingFJ]

Fjamming previously said:

It is those dirt bike kind of moguls...

I was at the DR open house. That kit will be awesome. Very tempted to go that route myself. Need more motivation.

do it fjamming, do it!!!! (is that enough motivation?)

[4XX4]

Thanks for the pics you promised. What a downer. But like someone else said, an opportunity for new mods. And a lighter load.

Good luck and keep posting as you go.

[slither]

Sorry to hear about the mishap. It's funny how something as simple as that is all it takes to really fire up your vehicle. Always have to be looking and thinking when you're out on the trail. I know you spend a lot of time out there so it should be an eye opener for the less knowledgable wheelers out there. Hope all turns out well my friend.Looks like Donahoe released those parts just in time. Hmmmm you planned this didn't you? Just kidding. Good Luck. Oh ya are those chubbies going to be available? PM me I believe that puts me first in line?