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Old 05-24-2007, 02:55 AM   #1 (permalink)
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My FJC - Part One



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

Last edited by mir207 : 06-14-2008 at 02:30 PM.
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Old 05-24-2007, 07:29 AM   #2 (permalink)
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Re: the mir207 machine

Nice pic. That's how to do it, no mall shots!
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Old 05-24-2007, 08:47 AM   #3 (permalink)
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Re: the mir207 machine

Stunning! I am looking at rims & tires with a bumper to come hopefully by years end. K
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Old 05-24-2007, 02:09 PM   #4 (permalink)
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Re: the mir207 machine

Great looking rig.
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Old 05-24-2007, 05:01 PM   #5 (permalink)
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Re: the mir207 machine

Yeah definitely the scariest lookin rig around. Tuff, man. Hope to see it in Ouray.

What are your "Wheel well mods" ?
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Old 05-25-2007, 02:38 AM   #6 (permalink)
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Re: the mir207 machine

Just got it back from Inchworm today. Holy mother of... 13:1 on the combined tcase for a total crawl ratio of 247!!! I've never driven an MT that you CANNOT STALL before Delirious from that and a 6 hr drive down the 5... Hmm, the lefty+crawler doesn't do much to make the drive quiet But who cares at 247:1 !!!
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Old 05-25-2007, 02:47 AM   #7 (permalink)
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Re: the mir207 machine

Quote:
Air2air previously said: View Post
Hope to see it in Ouray.
I'm currently signed up for the TTORA Rubicon run from July 9-11. If I survive, maybe I should just hit the 80 and come straight out... Very tempting...

Quote:
Air2air previously said:
What are your "Wheel well mods" ?
I currently have both the stock Duelers on the stock wheels and a set of 33" BFG AT's on Procomp 16" "street lock" rims (but needs spacing). At this point, with regeared diffs, the stock wheels/tires are past usefulness. Anyone wanna buy 5 stock wheels and tires with a cover?

The new thing is that I have some dual beadlock wheels on order from Stazworks - they use a nice inner ring that traps both beads against the rim, kinda like the H1 hummer rims or like having the Staun inflatable beadlocks on there. I'm looking at putting a 35"(+/-1") tire on there: still looking at interco and pitbull, and less likely a couple of other tire choices.

Quote:
kiskat23 previously said: View Post
Stunning! I am looking at rims & tires with a bumper to come hopefully by years end. K
Quote:
RESE previously said: View Post
Great looking rig.
Thanks alot.

K: what rims/tire combo you looking at

Rese: you're here in SoCal - now I finally have the rig back, we should do a run somewhere...

Last edited by mir207 : 05-25-2007 at 03:01 AM.
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Old 05-25-2007, 07:08 AM   #8 (permalink)
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Re: the mir207 machine

Quote:
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I'm looking at putting a 35"(+/-1") tire on there: still looking at interco and pitbull, and less likely a couple of other tire choices.
If you are going 35's, you have a ton of great choices from Interco (plug plug) that you can go with. The Iroks would be badass, but the 35's are 14.5" wide, and would probably not fit. The 33's though are 13.50" and could probably be fit with some effort.
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Old 05-25-2007, 07:18 AM   #9 (permalink)
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Re: the mir207 machine

Quote:
mir207 previously said: View Post
Just got it back from Inchworm today. Holy mother of... 13:1 on the combined tcase for a total crawl ratio of 247!!! I've never driven an MT that you CANNOT STALL before Delirious from that and a 6 hr drive down the 5... Hmm, the lefty+crawler doesn't do much to make the drive quiet But who cares at 247:1 !!!

Welcome to the Inchworm Crawler Club Mark! You're going to love your new blue boxes. The gear driven cases do make a little more noise, but it will get better once you get some miles on it. You'll also notice that the heim joints on the triple stick linkage are making most of your noise. I sprayed some spectro dirt bike chain lube (sticky gooey stuff) on the heims in an attempt to gum them up a little and the noise is substantially less now. You will also reduce the noise when you get that boot installed.

Disclaimer: For those that are now going to whine about a crawler making noise after reading this post, get over it they all make noise. Go drive an old Toyota truck and listen to the geared cases. That exactly the way they are supposed to sound.
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Old 05-25-2007, 02:43 PM   #10 (permalink)
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My FJC - Part Two

This post has eight parts. Click below to navigate:
Part One
Part Two <- You are here
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight



2. Bumpers

- ARB Front Bumper (Bull Bar)
My first major mod (the gobi ladder was my first true mod, see roof rack section) was the ARB bullbar front bumper, with Warn winch, and fog and driving lights (set up like this). The winch is described in the "recovery" section and lights in the "lights" section. Since installing, we've added a CB antenna mount and some extra recovery points to the bumper. While I like the extra clearance of many of the other aftermarket bumpers, and there is a downside to the weight of the ARB bull bar, it turns out that you can drive this bumper straight into a vertical wall of rock - and get away with it. It is truly "A Real Bumper". Sitting as far out as it does, you can bang the bumper at a range of angles without doing body damage - this can be useful if you're truly as unskilled a driver as me. Certainly, the extra width of the bumper has saved my ass (or at least the front fender bodywork) on a number of occasions. The loops provide good protection for the stock lights and the upper part of the front body work.

IMAGE-> Front bumper, winch, shackles, and also bits of the front OME suspension (yellow) and the MAF/4+ front skid tray.

- D-Ring Shackles
In order to improve the recovery options, we added mounts/brakets for D-ring shackles (left and right of the winch). They were welded and through-bolted. I used the MAF / 4+ parts.

- All-Pro Rear Bumper
The stock rear "bumper" also had to go, since it was hanging in several pieces from the rear of my truck by October '06. Turns out: you cannot reverse the stock bumper into a vertical wall of rock and still expect it to be OK. Thankfully you can do so with the AllPro rear bumper (see bottom of page), and it also has great lines and clearance. Again, mounts for D-ring shackles were added by long-bolting and welding. The reverse sensors work fine with this bumper. The only downside I can see is that it doesn't include a swing-out tire carrier or jerrycan carrier. That might be the only reason I would switch at some point in the future...

IMAGE-> Rear bumper with shackles.


3. Suspension and Related

- Old Man Emu (OME) Heavy Front and Rear (3") Suspension "Lift"
All the weight, especially the front bumper with winch, had the FJC drooping like a... Well, it was now drooping. Being "oh, so Hollywood" afterall, it was now time for a lift. Actually, lift is a bit of a misnomer. What I did was replace my stock suspension system (struts and springs) with an aftermarket suspension system. There were two effects: 1. My ride stiffness changed, 2. My default ride height changed. The overall range of the articulation in the front was not (cannot be) changed because it is controlled by the pivot location and size of the control arms. While the 6" lifts (like the ProComp) do move the front axle downwards (a "diff drop"), most "suspension lifts" do not. In the back, the axle was pushed down by the longer struts / springs. The suspension was installed at Man-a-Fre.

I went with OME simply because it was the most commonly installed (at the time) and because they're so widely and reliably used world-wide. A lot of debate swirls over what the "best" suspension / lift is. The OME heavies give about 2-3" of lift over stock, which is nice additional rock clearance. They have a very "truck"-like ride, which I like. It is much more rigid than stock, but I'm now so used to it that when I'm in a stock FJC, I'm like "whoa, something's gone all squishy with your suspension". With my current vehicle weight, the extra stiffness of the OME heavy setup is useful in limiting bottoming on bumpy trails (it doesn't stop it, and I'll still bump my wheels into the top of the wells more often than I'd like). Bottom line is that I like the OME heavies, though I've never had anything other than the truck other than the stock and the OME suspension.

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).

- What is a Coil-Over?
The OME is a full coilover suspension replacement. Often you'll read on the forum about "coilover vs. stock vs. OME" - but all front suspension systems for the FJC are coilovers (even the stock suspension is a coilover upfront). This simply means the coil (spring) sits over the strut (or shock absorber). In the rear, the spring is not over the strut, but it's still a spring and strut system (rather than a leaf-spring, for example). What people may be mistaking the term "coilover" for is an adjustable system such as the Walker Evans / AllPro