Hello
Our FJ was built with exploration in mind and keeping the little girls comfortable and safe. Its main use is as an exploration and camping vehicle. It mainly see’s old deactivated logging roads and such when we are out 4X4ing....generally to get into that new fishing spot or out of the way camping spot. We are blessed to live within hours of hundreds of lakes and rivers. The compilation and pictures and information below are meant to help those who wish to build a similar fun family getaway vehicle that is quite good at all types of off road wheeling.
Here it is presently:
Summer time shoes
Winter time shoes
From the factory it was a Vodoo Blue, trim class 'B' (Canadian thing).
So far the list is:
Expedition One Bumper Expedition One Off-Road Equipment with PIAA 510 & 580 lights
Accurate Gauge Hightest Rear FJ Bumper with all the options
OME Rack with PIAA 540's on Real Wheels light bar & KC rectangular on sides & back via PIAA Univ. Light Tabs
(rack & light bar has all wires ran through tubes...what a PITA....but worth it )
4X4 mods labelled rocker switches
Toyota Factory Rock Rails
OME 3" heavy lift
Body Mount Chop
05 TRD Gun Metal Grey Alum. 4Runner 16"X8 rims plus OEM 17" Alum. rims
35X12.50X17 BFG KM2's (summer) or 255/85/16 Cooper Studded S/T (winter)
Dual Battery System (ala CruiserLarry)
Aux. power points installed front & rear
Toyota Ipod gizmo
Dual Band Icom radio
Map light mod with radio display built in
Titan 12000 lb winch (solenoids mounted under hood)
Dif, Trany &Transfer Scuba Breathers
Toyota Receiver Hitch
Custom built storage box with hide away sleeping platform
4:56 gearing
K&N Filter
Below are picks of the rack install. The OEM rack was taken off and all wires were snaked through it by pushing a thin wire through first then tie it to the wires and pulling them through the tubes. What a pain in the ass.....but worth it. The rear & side lights were mounted with “PIAA Universal Light Tabs”.
Pix are below:
Makes for a nice clean install, but be careful with the OEM rack is delicate......don't ask.
After I installed the lights and ran the wires I had it wired into the wiring harness by a shop....mistake. Luckily they did nothing that was not fixable. I paid a handsome dollar for a good lesson I will never forget & re-did the work.
The switches I choose are the pre-labelled illuminated 4X4mods.com type. Color coded and arranged to the way my brain works. You can also see the dual battery switch in the bottom left corner. Pix below:
Open switch location will be for the interior winch control switch if you’re wondering.
I decided to set the Large PIAA lights on the bumper & light bar lights to only come on with the high beam. The Small PIAA 510’s, (pointed at the ditch) side & rear lights are your standard type light switch set up (i.e. flip the switch and you have light). This type of work as most know takes a few relays. I opted not for a fuse panel like most, but Hellas built in fuse relays mounted on a panel under the hood. See pix below:
The solenoid of the TITAN 12,000 lb. winch was mounted under the hood to keep it out of the harsh northern elements. The Titan has a nice cordless remote as well as a corded remote so this was a no brainer mod. I highly recommend this winch for the dollar.....its a very good value with excellent service from Roger @ Titan Winches Titan Winches and Offroad recovery equipment ::. The Dirty Parts dual battery mod is also shown. Also a excellent product with great service forn Larry @ Dirty Parts Home. See pix below:
The Scuba mods were done as well.....I opted for remounting the rear dif. Breather tube in the gas cap area with a OEM dif. breather cap on the end of the tube. See pix below:
Transmission and Transfer case breathers are under the hood....zap strapped to the fire wall for now. Again OEM threaded dif. breathers were used. See pix below:
We’ll after getting caught in a few bad bouts of weather out camping and some bear issues I decided I would like to have a way to sleep us all in the Cruiser if needed. So out came the measuring tape one afternoon and a box of beer later with with the help of a friend and his fully equiped fab. shop we created a security/utility box out of Alum. which has a sleeping platform the folds up and stores under the roll out drawer. Pic's below. More info can be found here:
Built my very own http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/interior-exterior-visual-tech/57469-rear-fj-utility-box-built-sleeping-platform.html
Storage below:
Addition of Fourtrex High Lift Mount then built my home made Axe & Shovel Mounts. Basically a Stock Car Ballest Tube Clamp with a 3/4 bolt and 2" Quick fist. Cost was about $ 40.00 per set. The cables to lock it all down are 24" custom made 3/8" Coated Air Craft Cable. I poped a whole in the axe head with a cutting torch to insert a lock. The High lift, Axe, Shovel and Box locks are keyed alike. I found the extra weight on the rack to be a issue due to its strength so all gear was remounted to the new rear bumper with swing out.
Here is the trailer it pulls around when we disapear into the bush for several weeks and need to carry a ATV and the boat:
And my prefered exploreing set up:
I hope all this info helps someone, I know it would of helped me at the start. More pictures are added through out the following pages of additional modifications listed above. My Cruiser is built for getting me & my family into camping/fishing spots & recreational well rounded off roading. If I can help I will. Enjoy it...life’s to short.
This is a Icom IC-208H dual band two way radio mounted on SwissArmySuv's Scan gauge map light kit.
The head unit is mounted under the plastic next to the power plug in the back. The antenna is a V Band dual band, attached via Bandi mount. Mic is plugged into a RJ45 plug in the center console mounted flush with the plastic (drivers side).
No visble wires at all other than the mic cord from the center console. I ran the wires under the plastic in the back then under the door sill. From there they split off with the mic wire run under the rubber flooring into the center console. The Face plate wires are ran up through the passenger side door pillar along the headliner. Power wires to the map lights are run along the head liner down the windshield pillar into the a tap at the fuse panel. SwissArmySUV's directions for his map light kit where perfect . Power to the head unit is ran through a existing grommet located right behind my spare battery. The speaker is located under the passenger seat.
Up graded the trailer to a custom moded Chalet trailer:
The front box holds the propane tanks, chainsaw, generator & BBQ as well as a 15 Hp 4stroke out board cardle (designed to support 40 Hp jet) and has a electric winch to pull the 16' Alum boat on top.
Added a cargo net to keep the camping gear away from the kiddys:
Added power ports in the front and the back:
Up graded the old air compressor to a Titan Max....wow does that thing throw out air :
And the biggest contrubution to my FJ is a new rear bumper with swing out. This one holds fuel cans, high lift as well as an axe & shovel. Love it. Plus the OME Heavy lift finally is a tolerable ride quality (not to stiff any more):
Have not updated this for a while.
I like the looks of the OEM rack but fuctionaly it is darn near useless. I recently installed a Baja Rack Basket to improve its utility and Baja Rack Fuel Can Carrier. The Baja Rack modified OEM rack has seen a few hundred kilometres now of rough forest service roads and a couple mild trails with lots of camping gear and zero issues, squeaks or rattles. Sure helps turn the OEM rack into a actual functional unit. I used the OEM rack cross bars to support the fuel can carrier instead of using the supplied Baja Rack clamps. Nothing wrong with the Baja Rack stuff, its very well made and secured to the rack rock solid, just wanted to have the fuel cans as far back as possible. Simply drilled holes through them and used Baja racks supplied stainless steel hardware. I was actually quite surprised that the aluminum was fairly thick on the OEM crossbars and I have no worries of cracking. Baja Rack was amazing to deal with.....that Sergio fellow really knows how to treat customers (polite, friendly, professional, excellent communication & quick)....he searched for the lowest cost shipping and saved me just over a hundred dollars.....highly recommend Baja Rack. Here are some pictures:
Great looking truck. Did you have to chop the body mounts to make the 255/85-16 tires fit, or was the OME heavy lift sufficient? Do you get any rubbing when the front tires are fully stuffed?
Thanks guys.....88gspd take a look at my member picture gallery to get an idea of the room the tires have. I did not do the body mount chop. The 33X12.5X17 do touch the upper control arm (UCA) occasionally, as I have seen scuff marks on the UCA in the dust ....but never have I heard rubbing on full stuff. I had the benefit of learning from the forum so it all works well. The winter rims and tires are special edition TRD rims & Cooper ST-C - 255/85/16’s. No rubbing issues with these on the UCA, brake callipers or body mount. UpHill the next mod is a sleeping/storage type box such as Landcruiser Steve built. Except my design is one box with the platform that comes apart and stores in the main box under the drawer. It will also house an air compressor and a rifle. I have it drawn out and almost all the supplies.....just not the time. Thanks for the comments.
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