euclid
SILVER Star
I bought my truck on a whim, to replace my 5th 4runner. I love the 1st gen 4-runners, but no back doors and the smaller size wasn’t working for the way I was using my truck at the time. In fact, I picked up my 89FJ62 on my way back from a 4-person 5 night canoe trip, a tight trip in a 1st gen 4runner. I can remember driving south from Memphis, where I bought my truck, and thinking that it barely fit in the lane and that I couldn’t reach the door on the other side from the driver seat. It felt huge.
The very first mod I made on my truck was to replace the 8” black wheels and 33” tires with a very clean set of OEM wheels and a set of 31” BFG TA/KO’s. I would never need 33’s, and I wanted the truck to be as close to stock as possible. Soon after that I replaced the front bumper with a new OEM one because the chrome on the original bumper was in bad shape. The way I use my truck as well as my build philosophy has changed a good bit since then, but a central goal of mine remains: keep the truck looking as stock as I can while modifying it to do what I want it to do. I’ve taken a lot of teasing on the forums over the years for how much I labored over how to make modifications, but the end result is a truck that is exactly mine.
About 6 months after I bought my truck I sliped into the internet black hole known as the 3FE list, a yahoo group created for 3FE owners (FJ62’s and FJ80’s). This is where the obsession began for me. Within 2 years I went from a guy that owned a cruiser to a total fanatic. I also learned more than can be explained. Only the guys that were there back then will ever understand how little I knew then compared to now. I read the list like a maniac. I asked questions. I got made fun of and then asked more questions. Ken, Steve, Lee, Dunbar, Esh, Dearborne, and many others helped me along. Later I volunteered to help moderate that list, organizing the tech that was being created. I saw this as a way I could give back to the community that had helped me so much. Soon ih8mud came along, and I had another venue. Along about that same time I was helping start CottonLand Cruisers, the Mississippi chapter of the TLCA. Bodean, Clutchee and others encouraged me to try out trail riding. That’s when it really got bad. Roof rack and sliders were first, then the slippery slope had begun.
Ebay pics early 2002 with OEM wheels and tires on it. Seller kept the pictured wheels and tires, I got black wagon wheels and 33" mud tires.
The very first mod I made on my truck was to replace the 8” black wheels and 33” tires with a very clean set of OEM wheels and a set of 31” BFG TA/KO’s. I would never need 33’s, and I wanted the truck to be as close to stock as possible. Soon after that I replaced the front bumper with a new OEM one because the chrome on the original bumper was in bad shape. The way I use my truck as well as my build philosophy has changed a good bit since then, but a central goal of mine remains: keep the truck looking as stock as I can while modifying it to do what I want it to do. I’ve taken a lot of teasing on the forums over the years for how much I labored over how to make modifications, but the end result is a truck that is exactly mine.
About 6 months after I bought my truck I sliped into the internet black hole known as the 3FE list, a yahoo group created for 3FE owners (FJ62’s and FJ80’s). This is where the obsession began for me. Within 2 years I went from a guy that owned a cruiser to a total fanatic. I also learned more than can be explained. Only the guys that were there back then will ever understand how little I knew then compared to now. I read the list like a maniac. I asked questions. I got made fun of and then asked more questions. Ken, Steve, Lee, Dunbar, Esh, Dearborne, and many others helped me along. Later I volunteered to help moderate that list, organizing the tech that was being created. I saw this as a way I could give back to the community that had helped me so much. Soon ih8mud came along, and I had another venue. Along about that same time I was helping start CottonLand Cruisers, the Mississippi chapter of the TLCA. Bodean, Clutchee and others encouraged me to try out trail riding. That’s when it really got bad. Roof rack and sliders were first, then the slippery slope had begun.
Ebay pics early 2002 with OEM wheels and tires on it. Seller kept the pictured wheels and tires, I got black wagon wheels and 33" mud tires.
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