Toyota has issued a press release announcing the 2011 FJ Cruiser line up. It is nice to see the line continued with some improvements. The main changes look to be in the electronics with an improved stereo with additional phone and bluetooth controls. The Trail Team special edition will be a solid Army Green with…
Suspension
The White Knight Lifted
by tomas •
I chose to lift our new Toyota FJ Cruiser using All Pro Off Roads suspension components. Our last FJC had the OME lift installed. For the price the OME lift is a very good lift, however I found the rear to be a little soft and the performance during long runs on ruff roads to…
Trail Armor
Rear Differential Skid
by tomas •
All the off-road adventures that we went on in our last Toyota FJ Cruiser beat up the rear differential housing. With a quality diff skid now available from Bud Built I decided that our new FJ Cruiser build needed differential protection. I purchased the skid as bare metal and finished it with black Rustolium Hammered…
Electrical, Electronics
Better Chassis Grounding
by tomas •
With the increased power demands and better battery in the FJ I figured it was time to upgrade the chassis grounding. Toyota uses a wire gauge that I consider to small for the demands that we are going to place on it. With the new grounds in place the starter does turn noticeably faster. First…
Electrical
Rear Wiring Harness
by tomas •
In an effort to build our new Toyota FJ Cruiser in the cleanest way possible I am creating custom wiring harnesses for all my electrical accessories. Today’s project was building the harness for the rear of the FJ. This harness will provide the power to the accessories mounted in the rear of the FJ as…
Trail Armor
New Bud Built Skids
by tomas •
It has been a slow week working on the new Toyota FJ Cruiser. I have been waiting for the man in brown to deliver parts. Today I received my new Bud Built skids. The quality and workmanship of these skids is exceptional. I will be painting the skids with Rustolium Hammered Black in the next…
Mechanical
Safari Snorkel Installed
by tomas •
This morning I installed my new Safari Snorkel on our 2010 Toyota FJ Cruiser. ARB does not spec the snorkel for the 2010 but the SS415HF Snorkel can be made to fit. To get the Snorkel to work on the 2010 there are a few different steps that must be taken. First remove the Air…
Electronics, Electronics, Ham Radio
Icom IC-2820 HAM Radio Installed
by tomas •
I chose to install a new Icom IC-2820 in the new build. This radio is a dual band VHF/UHF radio with D-Star support. What is really cool about this radio is the Head Unit mounts separate from the Mic. The Radio is mounted next to the Inverter in the right rear of the FJ. It…