This thread is designed to be a comprehensive, continuous, and easy to use description of my vehicle mods and why I got them. I update the main sections that link off this first post. The main narrative thread extends for many posts, which are unfortunately disconnected (but you can get between each of the "parts" via the clickable part list at the bottom and top of each main-thread post, and from the Table of Contents). However, if you use this first post as a table of contents, you can scan through everything without having to "search" the thread. A detailed breakdown of the table of contents follows this brief list of section headings:
0. Introduction
1. Ancient History
2. Bumpers
3. Suspension and Related
4. Skids and Sliders
5. Exhaust
6. Roof Rack
7. Lights
8. On Board Air
9. Gearing, Diffs, and Lockers
10. Recovery Gear and Storage Thereof
11. Battery
12. Wheels, Tires, and Brakes
13. Interior
14. Navigation, Communications, and Electronics
15. Camping Modifications and Extras
16. Engine
17. Auxiliary Fuel Tank
Latest update: 14 June 2008
Table of Contents
In this post:0. Introduction- Gallery
- The Build-up Section
- Organization
- Motivation for Build
- Who Did all the Work on my FJC?
- Suggestions
1. Ancient History
In the second post: (click here)2. Bumpers- ARB Front Bumper (Bull Bar)
- D-ring shackles
- All-Pro Rear Bumper
3. Suspension and Related- Old Man Emu (OME) Heavy Front and Rear (3") Suspension "Lift"
- What is a Coil-Over?
- Flex with the OME Heavies - What's the RTI?
- Man-A-Fre Extended Brake-lines
- Total Chaos front Upper Control Arms (UCA)
- Man-A-Fre/4+ Rear Lower Control Arms
- All-Pro Rear Upper Control Arms
- Shaking Mounting Bolts Loose
- (Anti-)Sway-bar (and removal thereof)
- Jounce Shocks (AKA "chubbies")
In the third post: (click here)4. Skids and Sliders- The Stock Skid (AKA "Bling") Tray and Stock Rock Rails
- Man-A-Fre/4+ Skid Trays
- Making the MAF/4+ Plates work with the Inchworm Lefty+Crawler
- Man-A-Fre/4+ Rock Rails (Sliders)
- Total Chaos Front Lower Control Arm Skids
- Total Chaos Spindle Gussets
- Rear Differential Cover / Skid (AllPro and AllPhase)
- TLC Trailing Arm / Rear Lower Control Arm Mount Skid
- All-Pro Rear Lower Suspension Mount Skid
- Inchworm E-Locker Guard / Skid
- Manik TailLight Guard
5. Exhaust- FlowMaster Offroad Muffler
- Custom High Clearance Exhaust
In the fourth post: (click here)6. Roof Rack- Gobi Ladder
- Demello HiLift Jack Clamps
- FourTreks Shovel and Axe Mounts
- Jerry Cans and Roof Mounting
- What Would I Do Differently if I Were Starting From Scratch?
- Garvin Basket for Roof Rack
7. Lights- Bumper-Mounted Driving and Fog Lights
- (old) Manik Front Roof Light Bar with Hella Driving Lights
- Cowboy4x4 Front Roof Light Bar with Hella Driving Lights
- Daytime Running Headlights Switch
8. On Board Air- Compressor or CO2? Why not both?
- QuickAir 3 Compressor - For Tires and Front Diff Locker
- Heat Problems with Under-the-Hood Compressors
- The CO2 Ultimate Air 15 Lb "Multiforce" System
- Where do You Fill CO2 Tanks?
In the fifth post: (click here)9. Gearing, Diffs, and Lockers- Stock Setup and Thoughts There Upon
- Manual or Automatic Transmission?
- The ATRAC / Rear Diff Hack
- Front Diff Locker
- Differential Regearing
- Inchworm Lefty and Crawler Box / 4 Speed Transfer Case
- Crawl Ratio and Components
10. Recovery Gear and Storage Thereof- HiLift Jack
- PullPal
- Spare Parts and Tools (including X-Jack)
- First Aid Kit
- Jerry Cans
- Max Axe and Shovel
- Sand Ladders
- Warn Winch and Accessories
- Fire Extinguisher
In the sixth post: (click here)11. Battery- Dual Battery Setup by MAF
12. Wheels, Tires, and Brakes- The Problem with Stock Bridgestone Duelers
- The MasterPlan: All-Terrains and Full-On Rock Crawlers
- BF Goodrich All Terrains
- ProComp "Street Lock" Wheels
- SpiderTrax Wheel Spacers
- Body Mount Chop and "Plastic Surgery"
- Pitbull Rocker Tires
- Stazworks Dual Beadlock Wheels
- What Size Tires Will Fit an FJC and What Does "Fit" Actually Mean?
- Mounting the PitBulls
- Tire and Wheel Weights
- Extended Brake Lines
- DBA Brake Disks
- Green Stuff Brake Pads
In the seventh post: (click here)13. Interior- Arm Rest
- Overhead Dome Light
- Extra Power Outlets
- Side Sun Visors
- MPAC Rear Door Storage System
- Life Hammers
14. Navigation, Communications, and Electronics- CB Radio
- On Board Computer with RAM Mount
- Garmin 376c GPS
- Scan-Gauge II
- i47 iPod Adapter
In the eighth post: (click here)15. Camping Modifications and Extras- The ARB Fridge
- Rear Door Lock and Latch
16. Engine- Snorkel
- Hood Louvers
17. Auxiliary Fuel Tank
Image are interspersed within the text - click on them for larger versions.
Disclaimer: Since some people have asked me: I am not affiliated with MAF in any way other than I really like working with them and my rig has served as a test article for some of their products. Opinions expressed here are from my own honest evaluation.
0. Introduction
- Gallery:
Mojave Road
Pomona Offroad Show
Odessa and Bismark Canyons, Calico
Red Rock Canyon
Panamint Valley
Saline Valley
- The Build-up Section
This is a write-up on my FJC in the vein of a "member's build up". I had seen that such sections had proven cool and useful for other clubs, and so
I proposed something similar for FJCruiserForums.com. The mods were kind enough to setup such a section in May '07,
and here we are.
- Organization
My non-daily-driver Black MT 2007 FJC is the focus of this thread. I've got this page organized with a little introduction on how the FJC was setup
when I bought it and following that, is organized by the type of modification. The only section with labeled subsections is the Introduction. In every other section, the individual mods are listed in the prose (too hard to breakout - but they're location within the Sections is given in the Table of Contents). Since the write-up is too long, it is split over multiple pages (for part two
click here, part three
click here, part four
click here, and part five
click here or click on the link at the bottom of this post.)
- Motivation for Build
Although I did not know what I wanted when I started, my objective for the vehicle is now to be a non-daily-driver, "expedition"-style machine. It's not going to be a rock buggy (so no SAS..., yet..., maybe next year) and it's not going to be a desert-racer (so no long-travel suspension). Yet, I wanted it to be capable of reasonable rock traverse-ability and moderate-to-long range desert and mountain trail drives. Ask me tomorrow and my objective will have changed
- Before and After Photos
- Who Did all of the Work on my FJC?
Almost all of the work on this truck has been undertaken by
Man-a-Fre. This is "largely the truck that Man-a-Fre built." I've had a great time building up this truck with these guys - all in coordination with Steve Hayes at MAF. For more stuff on latest MAF developments / products, also check out
their section on this forum.
The only major piece of work not done at MAF was done at
Inchworm Gear, in coordination with Jim Christiansen. This involved replacing my stock transfer case with a new "lefty" transfer case plus a crawler box, regearing of front and rear diffs, and addition of an ARB front air locker.
In addition, I have had some repair work (and the installation of new front upper control arms) done at Toyota Land Cruisers
(TLC) in Van Nuys; and I have bought bits from most vendors that have bits you can buy for an FJC.
- Suggestions
I did this write-up partly to keep track for myself of what we've done to the truck, but also to be interesting and useful. There's a lot of material and organization is a challenge. If you read this and have any thoughts on how I could improve navigation or things you'd like to see me write-up or areas where more information / detail would be useful, let me know (post up a reply or send me a PM).
1. Ancient History
I bought my black FJC in
June 2006. I got it with the full upgrade/convenience/whatever package in order to get the ATRAC, locking rear diff, but also largely out of shear ignorance. This is the first offroad vehicle I have ever owned, and aside from some occasional wheeling (but sometimes challenging: Red Rock and Death Valley / Panamint) in
my buddies stock Taco, I had not known much about offroading before I owned my FJC. The first photo is my "fresh from the dealer" version of the truck. Although I bought the stock sliders, roof rack, and skid tray with the truck, they took a few weeks to get fitted. In the mean time, I wheeled the truck in Red Rock Canyon,
and Death Valleys (all CA), Hurricane,
, and
. With the stock slider and skids, I did several more trips to the CA areas, above, plus a few areas in the San Gabriel and San Bernadino mountains, CA. I didn't modify anything until October 2006. Once I started, I found I couldn't stop...
IMAGE-> The Bone Stock FJC.
IMAGE-> Stock FJC on Trail in Utah (I).
IMAGE-> Stock FJC on Trail in Utah (II).
This post has eight parts. Click below to navigate:
Part One <- You are here
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
IMAGE-> The Bone Stock FJC.
IMAGE-> Stock FJC on Trail in Utah (I).
IMAGE-> Stock FJC on Trail in Utah (II).
IMAGE-> Front bumper, winch, shackles, and also bits of the front OME suspension (yellow) and the MAF/4+ front skid tray.
IMAGE-> Rear bumper with shackles.
IMAGE-> The weight of the bumper, winch, and skid plates really had my truck feeling down (top panel). Thankfully, the OME heavy lift was all the truck needed to feel back on top of the world - and standing about 2-3" taller than before! (bottom panel).