Corey's FJ with a few mods!

[Wholesalestunna]

Nice rig

[Corey]

TXterra37 previously said:

I am looking at getting that roof rack awning for my X, it looks really nice and would be nice to have for all of our camping and beach trips. I just had a custom roof rack made and seems I will need to go the route of mini-bolts for the mounting, not sure yet until my rack gets back from the powdercoater...

Fernando hooked me up with these brackets.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/awning/1.jpg
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/awning/2.jpg
They work pretty good if you have a crossbar to mount them too.
I bet if you send him a pic of your rack he would have a way to mount it.

Wholesalestunna previously said:

Nice rig

Thank you Tuna.

[IZVERG]

Thanks for the link, will def have to keep him in mind.

[Corey]

Actually I installed it a few weeks back, but both brackets were not the correct ones, and new ones arrived to those of us who bought the first five ladders.
The new parts arrived 2-27-2009.

Saw the ladder mentioned over on FJ Cruiser forums website.
Very nice looking ladder, and this will allow me to undo the rear latch to my Autohome Maggiolina AirLand roof top tent much easier than jumping up on a rear tire.
Plus the ladder looks cool too

When the ladder was installed a few weeks prior to this buildup entry, the bottom clamp would not work, and they redesigned both the top and bottom clamps like the original one for their FJ Cruiser.

Installing it is pretty straight forward.
Below are some pictures of the install and finished product.

Tools needed:
13 mm Gear wrench and open end wrench on one end for the top bracket.
14 mm Gear wrench and open end wrench for the bottom bracket.
Assortment of Allen wrenches.

Pictures one through four show the ladder by itself, the new clamps, and the top and bottom clamps installed.



Pictures five through eight show the reason why my rig is filthy during the winter, two old growth fir trees I park under, ladder installed without spare tire, top of the ladder crooked after spare tire is on, and a shot with ladder and tire on.



Pictures nine through eleven show another ladder shot with the rear door closed, spare tire clearance, and a shot of the top bracket again.



If you have a bigger than stock size spare tire, you must pull the tire off the mount.
That top bracket is indeed on straight and flush with the door.
It appears the ladder became crooked though apparently after tightening up the spare tire.
I could hear the ladder creaking some as I tightened down the three lugnuts to the spare tire.
I can not figure out how it is crooked though, as the bolts are not bent, everything appears normal.
I am not going to fret over it though, the ladder is strong and secure.
I climbed up on it and even stood on the spare tire to examine the nice garden I have growing up on top of my tent.

I should have snagged a picture of that.
That will be cleaned off when warmer weather gets here and I break out my rigwashing supplies.

Links:
BajaRack
The FJ Cruiser ladder

[Corey]

Update on the ladder.
It appears the two holes at the top of the ladder are out of alignment, thus causing the way it looks when you look at the top bracket.

Sergio owner of BajaRack's is sending out a replacement ladder to me to fix this.

[CactusJK]

Great idea but I hesitate drilling holes in my ARB and don't want the old hinge holes to look ghetto. Any recommendations?

Corey previously said:

First I had the fridge on top of the cargobox, then I moved it to behind the drivers seat as seen above in a previous update.

It is much easier to get to the contents of the fridge now, but I still could not lift the lid up all the way, and I had to hold it open with one hand.

On my trip to Mt. Rainier in August, it was a PITA to have to hold the lid open with one hand, and move the contents with the other hand.

Awhile back I came upon a thread on IH8MUDs forum about relocating the hinges so the lid will open from the side.
The creator of the thread ended up putting together a kit so one does not have to hunt around for the parts.

The kit arrived today, and I could not wait to dig in on another project.
Total time was around a half hour or so.

While the instructions do not call for drilling a pilot hole for the self tapping screws supplied, I did drill a small 7/64th pilot hole.
I was careful to not drill into far.

I first put the hinge in place, and I went back in 1.5" from each end of the fridge to center the hinges.
I marked one hole with a felt pen, then drilled it.
I then put the hinge in place and used the 18v drill to put in the new screw.
Once it was in and tight, I then drilled one hole at a time and repeated with the self tapping screws.
So in other words, I did not drill all four pilot holes at once.

Once the hinges were in place, I then took out the top screws I had just put in and took the lid all the way off.

You then have to remove the stock hardware from the lid and the fridge for the stock hinges.
Once you have done that, you reuse the stock bolts (these are not screws) to fill in the holes.

I put the lid back on again and put back in the upper screws for the new hinges.
I then snapped close the stock latch, and all is very tight.
I did not opt to install the new clasp/lock supplied in Kevin's kit, as the stock hinge worked out fine in its original position.
Plus I will not have to modify the thermal bag by cutting a hole in it for a new clasp/lock.

Picture one below shows me holding the lid open with the fridge in the rig.
The lid hits the ceiling and will not raise up all the way.

Picture two shows the hinge on with three screws in place and a pilot hole ready for the fourth screw.

Picture three shows the new hinges in place and the lid open.
Note that the lid stays open too.
It has an adjustment screw you tighten to cause friction in the hinge, thus allowing the lid to stay open in any position.
Way cool man

Picture four shows the new hinges in place and the lid off ready for me to take off its hardware and the fridges hardware for the stock hinges.

Picture five shows the fridge back in its native environment, and the lid open as if I was going to access it for grub.
The lid clears the ceiling just fine too.

This retrofit will make an ARB or Engel fridge that more enjoyable to access the interior of it.

This kit gets the two thumbs award





Click here for the instructions and to order the kit.

The thread on IH8MUD that started it all.

[Corey]

CactusJK previously said:

Great idea but I hesitate drilling holes in my ARB and don't want the old hinge holes to look ghetto. Any recommendations?

There are zero hinge holes
It uses the same clasp on the front to lock the lid down.
The only new holes you are drilling is on the side for the new hinges to let the lid open up all the way.

And on the inner lid towards the rear where you took out the stock hinges, this explains why you will not see any holes.

You then have to remove the stock hardware from the lid and the fridge for the stock hinges.
Once you have done that, you reuse the stock bolts (these are not screws) to fill in the holes.

And this explains why there are no holes in the front, as I did not install new side hinges, the old front stock one works well, and no modification to the thermal bag is required then.

I did not opt to install the new clasp/lock supplied in Kevin's kit, as the stock hinge worked out fine in its original position.
Plus I will not have to modify the thermal bag by cutting a hole in it for a new clasp/lock.

[CactusJK]

Looks like a quality kit. I will see if they are still avail. Thanks!

Corey previously said:

There are zero hinge holes
It uses the same clasp on the front to lock the lid down.
The only new holes you are drilling is on the side for the new hinges to let the lid open up all the way.

And on the inner lid towards the rear where you took out the stock hinges, this explains why you will not see any holes.

And this explains why there are no holes in the front, as I did not install new side hinges, the old front stock one works well, and no modification to the thermal bag is required then.

[Corey]

CactusJK previously said:

Looks like a quality kit. I will see if they are still avail. Thanks!

You are welcome.
This is a very easy mod to do, and it lets you have much greater access to your grub, and not to mention no more holding the lid up with the opposite hand.

[Corey]

OK, there was definitely something wrong with my first ladder as the holes drilled on top of the ladder where not aligned correctly.
Plus my bottom bracket kept popping off and also knocking off the doors shock that holds it in the open position.

Ladder number two arrived Friday the 20th of March, and I dug into it this morning.
I hope this is the last time I have to take off my spare tire now for the ladder.

The new ladders upper part has the holes drilled correctly, and there is a new surprise, the bottom bracket has been totally redesigned with a hook that ties the bottom bracket and the bottom ladder together to keep them both tight and to prevent the bottom bracket from popping off the door.

I have not had time to take it fir a road test yet to see if any flex pops off the doors shock again, but I will know by Sunday when I go grocery shopping.

Onto the new installation.

Tools needed:
13 mm Gear wrench and open end wrench on one end for the top bracket.
14 mm Gear wrench and open end wrench for the bottom bracket.
Assortment of Allen wrenches.

Pictures one and two show the ladder fresh out of the box and the brackets.
Note the new bolt that ties in the bottom bracket and the bottom of the ladder flange.

Picture three shows the new and improved ear above the wrench that now lets you get a ratchet wrench on.
Before for just that bolt I had to use the open end of the wrench.

Picture four shows the bottom bracket and the new bolt that ties it and the ladder together.



Picture five shows a different angle of the bottom bracket bolt.
Picture six shows where I lined up my top bracket in relation to the top of the door.
Picture seven shows indeed the holes are aligned correctly, not out of alignment like my first ladder was.
Picture eight shows the bottom bracket from the inside view with it tightened down.



Picture nine shows an outside view of the bottom bracket and ladder now tied in with that new bolt flange system that was revised for the new ladder I received.
Picture ten a view of the ladder in place without the spare tire.
Picture eleven shows the clearance with the spare tire on.
It is barely up against the 285x70x17 tire.
Picture twelve shows the spare tire back in place.



Overall it seems to fit better than the old ladder since it has the holes drilled correctly on top, and with the newly designed bottom bracket holding the ladder and it more securely together.

Links:
BajaRack
The FJ Cruiser ladder