[digitalwoodsforager]

I've finally bought an FJ after wanting one for a while. It's a 2010 with only 44K miles on it. Immediately upgraded to a Kenwood blue tooth touchscreen stereo. My next thoughts lean towards a new SOLID bumper with a winch.
I've seen lots of good looking ones, but I live in Maine and we hunt some places where ATV's struggle. Really would appreciate advice on what's the best one.
Not particularly computer thread literate, but would like to know what's the best bumper set up and LED headlight system
thanks for helping newbie

 

[kevinrfoote]

I've finally bought an FJ after wanting one for a while. It's a 2010 with only 44K miles on it. Immediately upgraded to a Kenwood blue tooth touchscreen stereo. My next thoughts lean towards a new SOLID bumper with a winch.

I've seen lots of good looking ones, but I live in Maine and we hunt some places where ATV's struggle. Really would appreciate advice on what's the best one.

Not particularly computer thread literate, but would like to know what's the best bumper set up and LED headlight system

thanks for helping newbie

Lots of good threads on aftermarket bumpers. I really wanted in with and "integrated" winch mount and options to replace fog lights. Having one that was air bag comparable (actually tested) was nice too.

I have an ARB and the US distributor was very responsive to questions when I needed to adjust stuff and mount burnt out lamps. People are happy with many others too. I see expidition bumpers and they have a cool look.

I've also seen some cheaper ones with rust and peeling coats after a few years.

Here's a pic of mine.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[busterfuzz]

Another ARB fan, as I have one on my 11TT and it is air bag compatible. Warn winch SYNTHETIC LINE, 10k capacity. People often buy a winch with too low a capacity, don't make that mistake! You WANT synthetic line for a couple of reasons, should it break during use, you do not have danger of it whipping back and killing or injuring someone, including you! ARB itself adds several hundred pounds to front of vehicle and cable winch line can add 200lbs plus, while synthetic about 75 lbs. You will also need to change at least front shocks and springs to compensate for all this weight and I went with Toytec Boss coilovers that are fairly easy to adjust and mine sits level, including no lean from driver or passenger side. You could get away with adding them in rear, unless you get swing out rear bumper with bigger tire
and wheel; or carry heavy load in rear

 

[busterfuzz]

My apologies, meant to say "get away without changing the rear", unless

 

[BIGGUY]

All of the bumpers are air bag compatible. They don't use crash sensors, but a type of deceleration sensor that detects a sudden drop in the speed/motion of the FJ. There have been several FJs in wrecks over the years with after market bumpers that still had the air bags go off.

Check out the bumper buyer's guide on the forum as there are a bunch of different styles from a stock looking setup to a plate bumper to tube style bumpers. It just depends on what you like. Some bumpers are a lot lighter too so you need to look at the weight as some will need a new suspension to keep from sagging with the weight of the bumper and winch. I had an All Pro front bumper with a Warn RC9500 which was the "Rock Crawler" winch. It had synthetic line and the weight of my total bumper, winch, line, and a pair of lights was less than some brand of bumpers without anything else.

Here's the link to the section with the buyer's guides or comparison threads of all kinds of different stuff.

Buyers Guides & Product Comparisons - Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum

 

[2010armygreen]

Lots of good ones out there. Take a look through the build threads!

 

[digitalwoodsforager]

THANKS TONS-such good information.
it's been door deep once and managed to find bottom and crawl out of a nasty woods road scouting deer spots.
I'm going to take your advice on both the cable and shock change.
All the best!
kc

 

[digitalwoodsforager]

Kevin-so I really like the 2010 but after reading about the trail model I might go shopping for a 2014 trail. Rather reboot/rebuild this-maybe start with a newer version. Anything I should be looking for specifically. I don't need the ultimate trail (the blue kind of weirds me out)-but a trail for what I use it for sounds worthy of tracking down one that is a little newer. The Kenwood blue tooth works but not as good as the stock one that was in my 2015 forerunner (which was really not truck enough). Little stuff like the bluetooth, exterior temperature gauge, winch/bumper are things that I'm looking for! You've built one that I really like the looks of! Thanks and Merry Christmas!

 

[SilvFx]

Kevin-so I really like the 2010 but after reading about the trail model I might go shopping for a 2014 trail. Rather reboot/rebuild this-maybe start with a newer version. Anything I should be looking for specifically. I don't need the ultimate trail (the blue kind of weirds me out)-but a trail for what I use it for sounds worthy of tracking down one that is a little newer. The Kenwood blue tooth works but not as good as the stock one that was in my 2015 forerunner (which was really not truck enough). Little stuff like the bluetooth, exterior temperature gauge, winch/bumper are things that I'm looking for! You've built one that I really like the looks of! Thanks and Merry Christmas!

except for the optional crawl control feature, there is really nothing different between a '10 and '14. And, no real difference other than cosmetic between the base models and the Trail Teams models.

Dont let that stop you from getting exactly what you want, just dont want you to think you are getting anything extra performance wise from the '14 model that the '10 doesnt have.