Thinking of buying a 2007-08 FJ Cruiser (1 Viewer)

[Musher_Vic]

Hello,

I previously owned an 89 Toyota pickup,4 x4 3.0, 5 speed manual, before I retired it for an 04 Xterra, 4 x, 5 speed, 3.3. I am thinking of looking at a few 07-08 FJ Cruisers. Any issues with these early models that I should be aware of? I go off-pavement every day, mostly hauling my sleds dogs to the trail. I am leaning toward a manual, mostly because that is all I have driven for over 20 years. I want a rear locker.. Any advice will be appreciated.

 

[iwashmycar]

The EARLY 07s supposedly have weak rear diffs... i am talking like summer 06 builds. You can see the production date on the driver door tag.

All manual FJs have the locker. If it doesnt have ATRAC (switch) you can add the switch and have it!...so long as the locker is there.

07-09 could have fender apron cracks inside the engine bay. They beefed them up for 10+. Also beefed up the rear diffs in 10+ to the 8.2" Doesnt mean the earlier ones are bad by any means...just fact. 10+ also have dual VVTi and get ever so slightly better mileage.

Other than that, it is typical check for rust, leaks, wear...buy. Youre going to LOVE it if you have had the XTerra a while. I just ditched my 03 X. Do not miss it though it was actually pretty reliable and worthwhile.


They have a few 'packages'. You can get a BASE BASE truck...no tint, no keyless, no cruise, no little mirror lights. Up from that you get "convenience" - it has the keyless, tint, cruise, ect. Then you get "upgrade" on that - alloys, color matched door panels, FJammer radio, dash gauges, ect, and lastly "upgrade 2" adds the woofer. There was an offroad package...all that adds is Bilsteins (which would be worn out by now), dash gauges (if the upgrade package didnt add it) and 16x7 alloys. Obviously there are the Trail Teams and the 07TRDs...which have color matched roofs, 16x7.5 alloys, Bilsteins, ect.

 

[Musher_Vic]

Thanks for all the info I washmycar. I bought the Xterra new so I have had it 11 years/170,000 miles. It has been a good vehicle and definitely worth the 21,000 I paid for it. I added Billsteins and BFG ATs. Just have been thinking about getting something a little bigger with more power. And I love the voodoo blue.

 

[BMThiker]

iwashmycar covered most things you need to look for. You won't likely find any base models. I've never seen one that didn't have the marker lights on the mirrors, electric door locks, etc. and suspect they never sent any from Japan.

Anything with a build date after Feb 2007 should have sturdy differentials in them. If you plan to re-gear the diffs anyway, then I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 2007-2008. The 2010 and up models also changed from the familiar canister oil filter to a cartridge type which becomes a real PITA if you ever put skid plates on your FJC. I think the best year model to buy would be a 2009, because it still has the original VVTI (and oil filter), the gear sets are good and the fenders were reinforced.

 

[iwashmycar]

and suspect they never sent any from Japan.

au contraire

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/foru...any-you-got-your-fj-no-tints.html#post1153137

 

[Musher_Vic]

Thanks. I have found a nice 08 fsbo and he is willing to dicker . It is an automatic though. And a nice 07 with a 6 speed at a dealer. Milage and price are the same at 115g and 15g. My prejudice against automatics is basically because I have not owned a vehicle with an automatic tranny in 21 years. Both vehicles are loaded Voodoo blue machines.

 

[iwashmycar]

I bought an auto as this was my first SUV...first wheeling SUV...I am glad I could learn the truck and do technical trails and what not with it. That said, I want a stick now. The full-time 4WD aspect is awesome..sure you lose a couple mpgs but they feel 10x more planted all the time. For example in a straight line on the road I will put it in 4HI and it feels so much better than in RWD only. I'd say stick with your gut.

 

[BMThiker]

au contraire

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/foru...any-you-got-your-fj-no-tints.html#post1153137

OK, I lose, you found ONE.

 

[winnie]

I have a Jan/07 build 2007 FJC and the rear diff went, just out of warranty, of course ... took the opportunity to re-gear to 4.56 and add an ARB front locker ... based on the thread on the Blue Room (i.e. folks that had a rear diff issue) seems it happened more with automatic trucks than 6 speed trucks ... not sure why or how accurate that is, but I do know a neighbour bought an 06 build date, 2007 FJC, 6 speed that he put 160k+ miles on with no diff issue before trading it in on a Tundra ...

Other than that bump in the road, no complaints about my truck ... still as much fun now as it was new ...

good luck ...

 

[Musher_Vic]

Thank you. All this information is really helpful.

 

[iwashmycar]

Yeah I think it may just take one unfortunate tire grab to snap it... Mine is a Sept 06 date....original 80K mile diff to my knowledge. Wheeled but not hard. I like crawling and slow pace 4LO. I do let my ATRAC do it's job though. If it snaps its just an excuse to get a better Nitro set or regear!

 

[Musher_Vic]

I bought an auto as this was my first SUV...first wheeling SUV...I am glad I could learn the truck and do technical trails and what not with it. That said, I want a stick now. The full-time 4WD aspect is awesome..sure you lose a couple mpgs but they feel 10x more planted all the time. For example in a straight line on the road I will put it in 4HI and it feels so much better than in RWD only. I'd say stick with your gut.

I am a little baffled. Is the system on the 6 speed like an all-wheel drive system, I.e. Suburu, but with the option of going into 4lo or 4hi?

 

[iwashmycar]

I am a little baffled. Is the system on the 6 speed like an all-wheel drive system, I.e. Suburu, but with the option of going into 4lo or 4hi?

Something like that. It has a center diff behind the manual trans unlike the auto. Not sure what percentage of power goes each way though.

 

[Musher_Vic]

Very cool. Thanks.

 

[Musher_Vic]

The 6 speed I am looking at has a build date of 8/06 and 113,000 miles. If the differential was going to go, would it have gone by now, or is there a good chance it will go before it hits 175,000? My 89 Toyota pickup was so bullet proof I am surprised Toyota sold trucks with weak differentials.

 

[winnie]

from everything I've read, the opinions point to a differential in the 07-09s that's too small for the truck (8" ring-gear if I remember correctly), but mostly a manufacturing flaw in SOME of the early build ring-gears ... they went to a slightly bigger ring-gear 8.25" in 2010 ...

there's a fairly lengthy, early thread on FJCruiser Forums where people who had a problem with their rear diff were asked to post (can't recall the title)
and as I said above it seems the issue occurred in automatic trucks more than 6 speed trucks ... nothing scientific with that conclusion ...

I think all you can do is get the truck inspected, try to determine its history and the rest is a leap of faith ...

 

[BMThiker]

Has not as much to do with 8" size as it did with a bad supplier in earlier models. It typically did not break under normal driving conditions, only when driven off road and with a little more stress (throttle). The bad gears were over-hardened and therefore were more brittle than spec.

Automatics had slightly different gear ratios in the differentials (3.73:1) whereas manuals had 3.90:1, so parts were not the same. I know plenty of folks who had the same vintage as mine that did not break their rear diff gears.

Bottom line is if you intend to run bigger tires anyway, you will want to regear the diffs to 4.56 or 4.88 depending on how big you go.

 

[Joegasamanian]

I'm selling mine for 19k 150,000 miles fully loaded heavy modified dd in the classified

 

[billybronco]

Greeeeeaaaaatttttt......I just checked. Mine was built in '06. Sweeeeet. I've got a faulty diff with the durability of peanut brittle. Awesome.

No wheelin' for me I guess.

 

[winnie]

not all the early builds had a problem ... how many miles are on it ... if there was an issue maybe the 3rd was replaced a long time ago ... some people had it replaced under warranty ... as for wheeling, as someone said above stress was a factor i.e. too much throttle ...