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November 2019 Rig of the Month - Firemedic831!!!

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#1 · (Edited)
November 2019 Rig of the Month: Firemedic831



BEFORE:



AFTER:




We'd like to congratulate Firemedic831 for having the November 2019 Rig of the Month! And this month we are going to try something different by posting the questions to the interview with Firemedic831 throughout the month instead of all at once!


Hayden: Tell us a bit about yourself (Family/pets, work/school, hobbies/interests, location, etc.)

Firemedic831: About me Hmm were would i start lol . My name is Jeff and i grew up in the Bay Area . I have 2 wonderful Kids , My son Zak and daughter Alyssa . Both still live in Florida . I moved to Florida when i turned 21 and pursued my Racing career . At the time i worked for Yamaha and raced Motocross . I also did construction work to help pay for my racing . One day i was driving and just thought to myself i am tired of chasing checks from people and i was going to get a normal job and i had always wanted to be a Firefighter , Not sure why because i knew nothing about it In fact i had never even been in a Fire station . I honestly did not know how to even become one . So i went down to the Collage and signed up for EMT class And by luck a class was starting the next day . After about 2 weeks of class and me not having a single clue What they were talking about in class I stayed after one day and talked to the teacher . She explained to me most if not all in the class were Firefighters and that to get a job you had to be Duel certified ? She also explained to me what some of the things meant like COPD ALS ect ect . . She told me that you had to get sponsored to get into a Fire Academy and that a Fire Dept has to do that . I left there that day in a fog but went straight to the City Fire Dept . That day was the first time i had ever step foot into a Fire Station . Long story short , 6 months after that day i was already into a Fire academy ( That SUCKED ) i was the President of the Florida state VOL Fire Fighters and i had graduated with the highest grade in the EMT class . 1 year to the day of stepping foot into that station i was Hired as a Full time career Firefighter . I tested against 378 others and was actually 3rd on the list but was picked over the other top 2 . 1.5 years later i was the youngest and fastest Firefighter in that departments history to make the rank of Lieutenant . I had taken a bunch of classes that to me were Fun like High Angle Rescue , Confined Space Rescue , Water Rescue , and trained my dog in water Rescue and she actually worked for the FD . Then BOOM 9-11 i was just getting off shift and driving home when i heard on the radio and my pager went off . 18 hours later i was at Ground Zero . My dog ( Tally ) and i along with 1 other was sent up since i had confined space rescue training . There is a big difference in going to school for a week and the dealing with what had happened . After that my career kinda got fast tracked . F.E.M.A. made what is called F.I.T. ( first in teams ) there are 5 in the US and when big things happen a team gets deployed to go in first and get things sorted . I was chosen to Lead a team . I was able to cross train in all sorts of things like working with gas companies , water plants , DOT , Counter Intell , Haz Mat ect ect . You name it i was trained in it . There are alot of things that happen in this world thats all i can say about that . I put in 20 years and retired , that lasted about a year I moved to Oregon to be close to my family again and i really liked the area . I built a log cabin for my parents friends and things kinda grew from there . I was offered a job to run the So Oregon division for a Portland based building company . I stopped racing About 3 years ago after another bad injury . Both of my kids are doing great My son is a school teacher and my daughter works for Victoria Secretes .





Interview continued on Page 3!

 
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November 2019 Rig of the Month Interview Continued

Hayden: How did you come to own your FJ Cruiser?

Firemedic831:
4 years ago i got hurt pretty bad racing , Certainly not the first time but for me that was going to be the last . After a little bit i found myself in sort of a depression . My entire life i have raced motorcycles and then worked as a Spec Ops Firemedic . I am still young and now retired and i can only Fish so much LOL . I had decided i was going to drive up to Alaska ( my dream trip ) and i am not really sure what i was looking up but i came across the X expedition overland guys , and i was hooked . At the time i had my Tacoma ,but i did not want to have my trail rig to be my daily driver . In it must have been 2007 i was in Tellico for the Great Smokey Mountain Trail Ride and a Friend of mine who works for Toyota brought a Brand new VD blue FJ , I believe he had 1 of the first to hit the US ? Anyways i thought it was pretty cool . He had used it to tow his FJ40 up . At the time i had the zebra stripped 4runner and was sitting at the bottom of Slickrock trail watching some other rigs attempt the climb and along comes a group of FJs all stock brand new . I was thinking how in the hell did they get those up here ? I was kinda laughing to myself because the guys were are decked out in FJ gear . pants ,shirts ,gloves hats, FJ Trail Team . I just sat and watched as these stock FJs went right up things that many including myself were struggling with in very built rigs . So for my Alaska rig i knew i wanted a FJ . I had not even sat in one or driven one but just knew it was what i would need . I found a VD Blue FJ 6 speed had a lift tires lights and some other stuff and at first i was set to get that but started thinking I do not really like the wheels and the tires sucked , i do not want to keep the lights ect so after all was said and done i would be replacing most of what i was buying . Pass I then seen a very Clean Black FJ all stock and was a DRs car . I bought it without even driving it , it looked like it was brand new .


Hayden: Is the FJ Cruiser your first off-road vehicle? If not, what was the first vehicle you took wheeling?

Firemedic831: No the Fj was not my first off-road truck . I have had so many its hard to remember all of them . I have had at least 30 Toyota 4x4s, a couple Blazers , 2 broncos, 1 old and 1 newer , several Jeeps ( Deb disregard that last part ) even a few Dodges, and VW baja bugs. In 1986 i had just got my DL and had a Toyota 4x4 on order i wanted a red 1 but they only had tan and white at the time so i was waiting for a red 1 . My Mom had seen a Black truck and told me to go look at it. It was a Chevy S-10 and had been all done up by the dealer lift wheels tires ect. and it had the v6. At the time that was really cool and it was fast, or so i thought, lol. I bought the S-10 and that poor truck took more abuse than any truck should ever have to. Back then though Trucks were growing and if you did not have 44s with 50 shocks you were lame . The S-10 was pretty much maxed at 31s .




Mod List:
2009 Fj Cruiser off road package

Front:

Radflo 2.5 coil overs
Icon upper control arms with delta Joints
TC spindle gussets
Wheelers off-road Red brake lines
Energy suspension Bushings Red
All New OE lower control arms ( looking hard at the TC expedition Arms )
Mid states wheel bearings
CVJ-axle High angle CV boots Red
456 gears with ARB locker ( maybe changing soon )




Rear:

Radflo 2.5 long travel shocks with Resi
Metal Tech Med . Long travel springs
Metal tech Extended SS brake lines
Resz Fab Pan hard bar
Resz Fab upper links
Resz Fab Lower Links
FJ Toyman shock skids red
Opor Rear link mount skids
Marlin Crawler E locker motor skid red
ECGS FJ Dana 60 with 456 and ARB locker





Bumpers:

Metal tech phantom stage 3
Come up 9.5 gen 2 seal winch





Resz Fab 2.5
Come up 9.5 gen 2 rsi winch

Demello hybrid sliders

Rear custom high clearance bumper

RSI steel skids Bash , Trans , TC ,

Iconic Fab Canister skid



Wheels :
KMC xdm 137 fmj Fisrt set of 16s they made

Cooper STT pro 315-75-16



Exhaust stock reworked for a High tuck

Atlas 4 speed transfer case (I have not installed)

Custom built drawer system in the back

AJT dash knobs

Refined cycle Fire Ext mount

Cobra Cb

Bandi CB Ant mount

Demello Hi lift jack mounts

4 gal Rotopax gas can



Red Goat Fab Body mounts



Powertray ARB comp mount with Blue sea breakers




HPI silicon rad /heater hoses red

Iconic Fab Molle rack

Rear half Wrap



BD squadron sport lights

LUX rock lights






More Coming Soon!

 
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