Little Girl the 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser

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theBROFESSOR

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I was going to wait until I had a few more things done to my FJ before I posted this build thread but I'm afraid I will forget something and leave something out and I really want to post this to remember for myself all that I have done and went through to make this exactly what I want to do what I want. There are a ton of nice things out there that you can buy if you have an endless supply of cash but thats not me. Living on a city employee budget I'm going to have to scrape and scratch and put in for some OT in order to try and make this what I want.

So this is the day we saw our "little girl" for the first time.
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I had an '08 Ford F-250 that was nothing but a money pit. I have a friend who works as a salesman at the local Toyota dealer and I wanted to go back to Toyota because I loved the last one I had. He had a Tacoma that I was going to look at. But he was late getting there that morning so the wife and I decided to look around. She saw the FJ and said, "I've never seen one of these before. I like this." I had seen them. I had always loved them but never thought I could ever afford one. We looked inside and drove it. The numbers were right so after they cleaned it up it was delivered to the house.

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I was working that day but my wife came outside when I met the guy at the house and she snapped a few pics. I was so freaking excited. It was older and had a lot of miles (about 124k), but the CarFax was about 40 pages thick where the previous owner had taken meticulous care of her. Everything was in perfect shape. Bone Stock except for a tow package that had been added. So my dream of building my dream FJ started...

But before it started I had to pay sales tax and buy tags, pay property tax, etc. So there was no money at this time for accessories. But that didn't keep me at home. I had to get out and explore! So on my first day off I headed to the Ozark National Forest in north AR. I went to the Ranger station and got some maps and off down the dirt roads I went. I found the Zing Trailhead and started down an OHV trail and realized very quickly this was not the place for street tires...especially worn out ones. I turned around and headed home very shortly. I arrived at my house and found my front left tire had a stick shoved in it so I went to the local used tire shop and purchased 4 pretty good AT Tires. Much bigger beefier and made for offroad.

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Sales tax paid, personal property tax paid, tags paid and first months payment paid. NOW we can start building our "little girl." I found some money that I could use and it was perfect timing. The week of Black Friday was upon us so I started researching deals and seeing what I could get for the most money...what I wanted so bad and what I could wait for. Amazing how fast the money runs out!

The Saga continues...until next post! BROfessor Out!
 

theBROFESSOR

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Trying to catch things up a little on this thread. Good and bad is that I try to stay on the trails and forest roads as much as possible and its hard to do that and upgrade things at the same time. I'm not one that really like to work on vehicles, I would rather be adventuring in them. lol. Wish I could find a way to do both. Just don't have a vast array of tools at my disposal in the wilderness. Might make for some good YouTube videos though. lol

Anyway, got my new front and rear Smittybilt bumpers in along with my Smittybilt winch.

Front bumper - https://www.4wheelparts.com/Bumpers-Tire-Carriers-Winch-Mounts/Smittybilt-M1-Toyota-FJ-Cruiser-Winch-Mount-Front-Bumper-with-D-ring-Mounts-and-Light-Kit-Black-612850.aspx?t_c=64&t_s=26&t_pt=6410&t_pn=S/B612850
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Let me tell ya. For a backcountry Arkansas boy thats a lot of parts. lol. The light kit was really nice and bright once installed. Very good quality and the wiring harness is top notch. The bumper is amazingly built. Very heavy. I think the two crates that came on a freight truck stated together was about 700 lbs. The coating on the bumpers is awesome and should last about 6 lifetimes. Which is about how long I plan on keeping this FJ.

The Winch - https://www.4wheelparts.com/Winches-Winch-Accessories/Smittybilt-XRC-9-5K-Winch-Synthetic-Rope-Gen2-With-Aluminum-Fairlead-98495.aspx?t_c=18&t_s=300&t_pt=100702&t_pn=S/B98495
https://www.4wheelparts.com/Winches-Winch-Accessories/Smittybilt-XRC-9-5K-Winch-Synthetic-Rope-Gen2-With-Aluminum-Fairlead-98495.aspx?t_c=18&t_s=300&t_pt=100702&t_pn=S%2fB98495
It took me putting together and taking apart the electronic controls on the winch about 6 times before I finally got it into a position that would work and not rub my front grill. Plus it also states that you should not install the cables from the electric box until AFTER it is installed on the bumper which is a bunch of bullcrap and impossible unless you have hands the size of a 1 yr old. There's no possible way. But all in all it wasn't a problem and i got it done in just a few hours in the freezing cold. The winch works like a charm and love the synthetic line cable. Do yourself a favor. It is worth the money for the synthetic line. Spend the extra. You will not regret it.

Rear Bumper - https://www.4wheelparts.com/Bumpers-Tire-Carriers-Winch-Mounts/Smittybilt-M1-Toyota-Rear-Bumper-with-D-ring-Mounts-and-Additional-Rear-Lights-Included-Black-614850.aspx?t_c=64&t_s=26&t_pt=3486&t_pn=S/B614850

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The rear bumper was a whole different story. Cut the original bumper into 3 pieces, throw the middle part in the trash and then reinstall the side pieces. There is no going back after this. You reach at this point the "point of no return." That scares me a little. But I went for it. Went down to the local Wal-Mart and picked up a cutting wheel for my handheld grinder and went to cutting. My wife FREAKED! But oh well I went for it. Not too bad of a deal. The bumper is very heavy duty just as the front. The lights...and then there was the lights...

After the mountain brackets were installed (oh and they assume that you have a receiver hitch so I had to shim up one of my brackets with some washer I had laying around the garage.) I proceeded to install the lights. I ran the really nice pre-wired wires through the cab firewall and then down underneath my vehicle. Yeah the wires were about 4 feet too short. I thought what? This product said it would fit my vehicle. Long story short after about an hour on the phone with Smittybilt, I was told that this is a generic "off the shelf" wiring light kit and any parts you need other than what is included is on me. So that kind of throws a wrench into the whole "this product will fit your vehicle." And since the FJ cruiser is about one of the shortest vehicle made, like a Jeep (did I just say that?), and so I'm pretty sure this light kit will not fit anything but a smart car. Rant over.

After all was said and done the new bumpers looked awesome and I am very pleased. Although they were not what I wanted, they were what I could afford at the time. For the Demello bumpers I wanted front and back I was looking at around $4500. These I got were on sale at www.4wheelparts.com for $1400 for the two. I couldn't beat that nor could I justify the other when there was such a large price difference. No I didn't get the swing out spare i wanted nor did I get the brush guard I wanted but I did save about $3k and I could live with that for now. When my children and ex-wife stop milking me for all I am worth I will find another nice FJ and build it like I want. For now, I am pleased with what I have and I can get myself and others out of bad situations.

Finished pics to Come. BROfessor OUT
 

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theBROFESSOR

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Installed a Smittybilt light bracket that attaches to their front bumpers through the fairlead along with a cheap light set.

Bracket -
Bracket fits nicely and easily onto their bumper and looks really cool.

Light -
Wiring Kit -
All in all just under $50 for the lights. I don't have any other off road lights on the FJ except what came with my bumpers so I thought that would be a good investment and yeah for the price they are really bright and I like the looks also.

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The wife also looked on my Amazon wishlist and saw I had some red shackles on there which she picked up for me. What a woman. lol. All in all it came together and I really like the functionality and looks. One thing I have noticed in talking with others and being out with others on the trails is that I get to use my winch a lot because it is easy to get to. Apparently some of the other setups have problems plugging their controls into their winch and its a hassle. Takes me 1/2 a second. So my winch gets a workout. LOL.

Til next time...BROfessor OUT
 

theBROFESSOR

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Ordered a Trasharoo and installed it on the spare tire. Love it. It is exactly what I wanted. Enough to hold a little trash that I can pick up when I'm out on the Forest Roads or Trails. I always try to pick up at least 10 things every time I go out so that I leave it better than I found it. I also went to Wal-Mart and bought a can of Scotch-Guard and sprayed the whole can on it to make sure it was as weatherproof as possible and lasted as long as possible.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Scotchgard-Heavy-Duty-Water-Shield-10-5-Ounces/52668446?action=product_interest&action_type=title&beacon_version=1.0.2&bucket_id=irsbucketdefault&client_guid=9f90861c-2490-411f-39b9-03d4fd210e9b&config_id=106&customer_id_enc&findingMethod=p13n&guid=9f90861c-2490-411f-39b9-03d4fd210e9b&item_id=52668446&parent_anchor_item_id=13281231&parent_item_id=13281231&placement_id=irs-106-t1&reporter=recommendations&source=new_site&strategy=PWVUB&visitor_id=SLaNTJoQ629bKXATHCi_ZI

$5 well spent

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theBROFESSOR

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Not sure if I should even add this one here but it will be beneficial as far as my Overlanding goes. I found an Aluminum Receiver Carrier on Facebook Yardsale. I'm always hestitant to buy stuff second hand the pics weren't very good but when I arrived this was more than I ever bargained for. I got this lightweight aluminum carrier for $40.
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Although I won't be taking it on many adventures (if any) it will serve me in another fashion...dedicated trash runs. It will also to help during deer deason as pictured here to tote deer food and dead deer so that I won't have to put them inside to transport. lol

But the main reason will be to tote trash outside the vehicle on dedicated trash runs as we did this past week.

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Til next time...ride safe. BROfessor Out.
 

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theBROFESSOR

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Everyone knows with the limited space of the FJ Cruiser, you need more external room. I recently purchased and installed this amazing rack from Garvin Industries. Looks awesome and will hold quite a bit of stuff in a not so ordinary place. Look very forward to being able to utilize this area.

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Great quality from a great company. Thank you Garvin for still making products for the FJ Cruiser!

http://www.wildernessracks.com/index.php/fj-cruiser/trail-rack-fj-cruiser.html

Ride Safe! BROfessor Out!
 
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theBROFESSOR

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Received my Rough Country 3" lift in. I was so excited. When I installed my Smittybilt bumper and winch on the front, it pretty much sat my front end down on the bumpstops. I looked like a Funny Car about to head down the drag strips. Headlights and Offroad lights projected about 10 feet in front of the vehicle. So I had to do something. I found a great deal on a great product. It has good reviews and a good price so I went for it.


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I have a good friend who is my motorcycle mechanic. You can only fit a motorcycle in his shop so we took everything apart in the yard and put it all back together. Looks so much better now! Have much better clearance and now I can put bigger rubber on. Pretty excited about the overall look!

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Until the wife makes me stop spending money...let the packages keep coming!

BROfessor Out!
 

TerryD

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Everyone knows with the limited space of the FJ Cruiser, you need more external room. I recently purchased and installed this amazing rack from Garmin Industries. Looks awesome and will hold quite a bit of stuff in a not so ordinary place. Look very forward to being able to utilize this area.

Great quality from a great company. Thank you Garvin for still making products for the FJ Cruiser!

http://www.wildernessracks.com/index.php/fj-cruiser/trail-rack-fj-cruiser.html

Ride Safe! BROfessor Out!
I really like that rack over the spare tire. When it comes time for a bumper with a tire carrier on it, I'm going to have to look into one of those. That looks like a great place for a tote with your recovery gear in it.
 
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theBROFESSOR

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Nice pics! I just got an FJ not too long ago, and have been eyeballing the Smittybilt bumpers. Good to know you felt like you needed a lift after you got em installed!!!
As you might can tell from this pic it lowered my front end about 3 inches.

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All of my travel off road was pretty much riding on the bump stops.
 

theBROFESSOR

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I really like that rack over the spare tire. When it comes time for a bumper with a tire carrier on it, I'm going to have to look into one of those. That looks like a great place for a tote with your recovery gear in it.
It is really a nice rack. Plus you can get mounts for each side for Rotopax for each side. It is strong and you can also get a little kit (they sent it to me free) to place helper brackets from the rack to the spare tire to be able to increase your load.

I have to admit this rack is pricey but I really enjoy the use I get out of it. And it looks cool.
 
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theBROFESSOR

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So I realized that it takes way too long to be able to deflate tires with an ordinary tire gauge. I ordered a set of these from Amazon. They are really easy to set and really easy to use. Much cheaper than a lot of versions out there, but as long as you use loctite on them when you set them they work perfectly. Plus the kit comes with new valve stems, a valve stem tool and an air pressure gauge.

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Sometimes you can even find them on Ebay for cheaper also.

Ride Safe. BROfessor Out