Any FJ Cruiser owners/wheelers out there?

[TacomaJD]

Been helping the girlfriend find a new SUV and ended up settling on an Infinity FX35.....FINALLY.. Fawking indecisive women. Upon the 100's of Craigslist ads I've scoured through, I've realized FJ Cruisers are now down cheap enough to where poor one legged kids can afford them. I would be selling my 2500HD gasser, and replacing it with the FJ, while still having the Saturn for the 30 mpg goodness. This option, would allow me to tag along on Eric's coat tails, on them mall crawler trails. Although, I wouldn't even wheel as hard as he does because I would **** a golden baby if I scratched/dented a body panel. Too OCD for all that lol. But it would be nice to be able to get back out on some of the rides with all you fawkers and booze cruise the main trails. Hell I might even consider going back to Stoney Lonesome if I end up with an FJ :****:

From what I can tell, they are typical in the area of the reputable Toyota reliability, so I'm not worried about reviews on whether they are reliable, I already know that answer. I expect the mpg's to be not so good....but it will be much better than the 11mpg my current truck gets. I am aware of the rugged interior, and actually dig it. It looks to me like it would be simple to lift and with the linked rear and independent front, it would perform decent enough offroad to follow all you cool cats around....with the a/c or heat on I'm not sure if all the 4wd's come with the rear e-locker, but that would be a plus too.

To me, they seem like the Wrangler of the Toyotas, only better.....bc errbody knows Jeeps suck.

Anybody wheel one moderately? Got one as a daily driver? I guess I'm just looking for conversation over the matter, as I have not fully committed and listed my truck for sale yet, and am still weighing the pros and cons. I know trucks are higher than giraffe ***** right now, so maybe I'll be able to get mine gone once (if) I commit to listing it. I believe I can survive without a truck bed and the slightly smaller cabin space. Don't need to haul anything heavy enough to merit having a 3/4 ton truck, so things are as right as they'll ever be to sell the tow rig and slide into something else.

 

[TBItoy]

Re:

Fj cruiser or 4th gen 4runner either one.

Or hell, if you really want to save some jack, get a good 3rd gen 4runner.


Best advice is dont lift it with any spacers and such, just aggressive tires and lockers.

 

[TacomaJD]

Re:

Fj cruiser or 4th gen 4runner either one.

Or hell, if you really want to save some jack, get a good 3rd gen 4runner.


Best advice is dont lift it with any spacers and such, just aggressive tires and lockers.

Not really gonna be saving any, as I figure I can sell my truck for what a decent 07 or 08 FJ costs with about 100k on the clock. I am strictly after the FJ, if I were to go to something else, I probably go with an 05ish Sequoia over the 4runners. I don't really have a big reason to get rid of my truck, I'm just really fond of everything about the FJ's. Some decent vids on Youtube of them wheeling. Buy some metal bumpers, have someone fab up some rock sliders, do skid plates if it doesn't already have them. Winch, just in case, and I think I'd have a sweet little booze cruiser that would still be nice enough to daily drive or take trips in.

 

[kushKrawlin]

**** I have watched a lot of videos of them out west crawling some serious ****. Looked stock as hell also... They must do ok cause some of them rocks they climb, u stall or slip and you die.

 

[85toyo]

This was at KOH a few years ago. I lost the good video of him bouncing rev limiter going all the way up then all the way down the dune but this guy was giving it hell.

 

[5BrothersFabrication]

If done right, you could SAS it and DD it!

 

[TacomaJD]

Re:

****, I'm trying hard not to get bit hard by the wheeling bug again lol I would be right back at square 1, I already has a SAS'd streetable Taco! I have always like the FJ's, just never been able to buy one because I've needed to pull a trailer the last 5 yrs and couldn't afford both my truck and an fj.

Nick, why do you say no lift, other than the premature wear it puts on the front end? Even some of the mall crawler trails have bigger rocks/ruts on them, so I would figure any ground clearance gains to get the rockers up a little higher would be a plus. Seems like the OME 3" lift and 33's or 34 "skinnies" are popular amongst the FJ crowd.

If I ended up with one, I definitely would not want to sacrifice any streetability....like 85% street, 15% mall crawling trails.

 

[money_pit_yj]

Why not buy muddinmetals Lexus?

 

[TBItoy]

Why not buy muddinmetals Lexus?

X2

****, I'm trying hard not to get bit hard by the wheeling bug again lol I would be right back at square 1, I already has a SAS'd streetable Taco! I have always like the FJ's, just never been able to buy one because I've needed to pull a trailer the last 5 yrs and couldn't afford both my truck and an fj.

Nick, why do you say no lift, other than the premature wear it puts on the front end? Even some of the mall crawler trails have bigger rocks/ruts on them, so I would figure any ground clearance gains to get the rockers up a little higher would be a plus. Seems like the OME 3" lift and 33's or 34 "skinnies" are popular amongst the FJ crowd.

If I ended up with one, I definitely would not want to sacrifice any streetability....like 85% street, 15% mall crawling trails.

Just to be easier on the CVs and tie rod ends.

A mild lift would probably be ok, just don't mall crawler it out and stack spacers and dumb **** like that.

 

[camoninja]

My wife daily drives her 2012 TRD . she will also wheel the hell out of it. i mean were not stupid and understand that is not a purpose built rock killer. but it is great for booze cruises and very capable. the rear locker is nice.
ALWAYS turn off the damn Atrac when in 4 wheel.
we have installed the TRD exhaust, k&n, sliders, 285 mud tires and have a river raider snorkel to install in the next few weeks.
i don't like having the air intake in the wheel well. we do way to much mudding.
your on the right path. a good set of skids and sliders plus proper wheel placement with the ifs and your good to go.
The truck drives like a race car on street. i mean she scares the **** out of me running 85+ and drifting turns on mud tires.

I would not do spacers. they will wear out the drive line extremely fast.

Do you have any little ones? it can be difficult to get kids into the back seat until they can climb in by them self.

GET ONE!!!! we need more FJ's around this area.

 

[muddinmetal]

The Lexus is way to rough for JD, it is a 50/50 rig now (trail/road) and needs paint in a bad way...

All I have to say about the new FJ floatbobbers is you can't see shi*t out of them when backing up, at all :****:

 

[ToyotaTom]

I had an FJC a few years ago and loved it. It's a good DD, and can be built into a pretty capable wheeler. The suicide doors are a pain in the ass if you have kids in car seats.

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

I just finished up doing a waterpump/rad/alt/random junk on one last week at a little over 130k. If you do any of the work yourself,stock up on pb blaster and a compact impact wrench. I'm guessing yota torques everything like crazy from the factory, it took a 3 foot breaker bar to pop the bolts that held the alt :****:

Its got decent skids upfront from the factory, probably 1/8th. Didn't look to much past the front end tho

 

[TacomaJD]

That blue one looks good! Did you have a lift? And what size tires?

The girlfriend has a 7 year old, no babies between us yet. But like I said, she will be cruising around in an FX35 family wagon before long, so the back sests and suicide doors shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Tyler, I never have even thought about them looking like a float bobber hahahaha spot on, that's funny.

I'm glad she settled on an FX35, I've always loved those things, sumbitch is nice and has every option on it. Been took care of. 119k miles, maybe it will last her a while with lottle problems. They are talked about highly in terms of reliability on forums. I told her unless I mechanically approve before she buys, she can pay someone else to get it fixed. She was wanting a damn Jeep Liberty or Commander.....that was a big hell no. Lol

 

[ToyotaTom]

It had an Old Man Emu lift and 33" BFG KM2s. AllPro bumper front/rear, BudBuilt belly/gas tank skid, and sliders. It's also had the factory e-locker in the rear and an ARB up front. It was set-up for mild wheeling, camping and driving to work.

 

[TacomaJD]

It had an Old Man Emu lift and 33" BFG KM2s. AllPro bumper front/rear, BudBuilt belly/gas tank skid, and sliders. It's also had the factory e-locker in the rear and an ARB up front. It was set-up for mild wheeling, camping and driving to work.

That sounds like just what I need! I'm very close to listing my truck. I'll be the one legged curb hopper!

 

[grcthird]

Pay attention to the dash on the FX35, if the finish starts to bubble, you can get it warrantied, even with the mileage. What year are you looking at getting? If it has the HID headlamps, which it probably does, you'll **** the first time it needs a headlamp bulb or ballast, $$$. They aren't bad cars and have good power. Lemme know if you have any specific questions on them, I have worked on a ton of them.

 

[Eddyj]

I have a cousin with one. He worked at Toyota dealership for a while and Honda and talk to service managers, they told him they seem to be holding up well. He runs a 32ish bfg all terain with spacers. Last time I talked he said he is ditching spacers and getting it done right.

He loves it. Does a little kayaking and trail riding.

 

[TacomaJD]

Re: Re: Any FJ Cruiser owners/wheelers out there?

Pay attention to the dash on the FX35, if the finish starts to bubble, you can get it warrantied, even with the mileage. What year are you looking at getting? If it has the HID headlamps, which it probably does, you'll **** the first time it needs a headlamp bulb or ballast, $$$. They aren't bad cars and have good power. Lemme know if you have any specific questions on them, I have worked on a ton of them.

A girl I know had one and that's the first thing she mentioned, the dash bubbling. I will keep an eye on it. It's a 2005 and it does have the hid's, it's the black one I posted pics of. She wasn't crazy about the brick orange interior (see pic above) but I think its badass! I told her if she didn't like it, I would buy the damn thing from her and drive it lol. One of the sexiest suv's out there imo. And I fawking love the sound of those engines even with stock exhaust!

I have a cousin with one. He worked at Toyota dealership for a while and Honda and talk to service managers, they told him they seem to be holding up well. He runs a 32ish bfg all terain with spacers. Last time I talked he said he is ditching spacers and getting it done right.

He loves it. Does a little kayaking and trail riding.

A buddy of mine has one for sale right now, lockers, 3" lift, tires, about 100k miles, in my price range, but i know I won't be able to sell my truck fast enough to grab it. Day late and a dollar short.

 

[Toddy]

Re: Re: Any FJ Cruiser owners/wheelers out there?

A girl I know had one and that's the first thing she mentioned, the dash bubbling. I will keep an eye on it. It's a 2005 and it does have the hid's, it's the black one I posted pics of. She wasn't crazy about the brick orange interior (see pic above) but I think its badass! I told her if she didn't like it, I would buy the damn thing from her and drive it lol. One of the sexiest suv's out there imo. And I fawking love the sound of those engines even with stock exhaust!

A buddy of mine has one for sale right now, lockers, 3" lift, tires, about 100k miles, in my price range, but i know I won't be able to sell my truck fast enough to grab it. Day late and a dollar short.