Builds A few mods from 7-25-06 (4 Viewers)

[FJMouse]

Quote: "With this new Arkon CM330 mount, the iPod sits higher in the air, thus easier to reach the controls on the iPod.
Here is the URL to it
http://www.arkon.com/ipodaccessories.php
Scroll down to the CM330."

I was looking at one of those. It lookes like it is in a cup holder, correct? The cup holders in the MT are in a different location and I don't think it would be good for the iPod. I would not be able to see it. Has anyone else found a good way to mount the iPod?

 

[TexasBadlands]

Dude, you're killing me. I think you are not married, otherwise there would be a woman holding you back from all the time you spend with your new girlfriend.....

 

[Corey]

Quote:
I was looking at one of those. It lookes like it is in a cup holder, correct? The cup holders in the MT are in a different location and I don't think it would be good for the iPod. I would not be able to see it. Has anyone else found a good way to mount the iPod?

Yes, it goes into the small innder cup holder.
I just updated my website too in the mods section with info on the install.
You sure this will not work for ya?
Another place you might think about is that open flat spot next to the drivers side vent by your window.
You would have to get some type of holder, then use 3M sticky tape or Velcro to hold it in place, the get a longet cable to snake to the aux input on the FJammer.

Quote:
Dude, you're killing me. I think you are not married, otherwise there would be a woman holding you back from all the time you spend with your new girlfriend.....

Nope, deeevorced long ago, and the kids are grown.
I am currently on my 2nd or 3rd childhood, I have lost track.

The FJ Cruiser has given me new vitality on life, and I am having so much fun moddin' the heck out of it.

Hell, it has not even been off road yet, but it sure is gettin' ready
I have 600 more miles to go 'till I hit 1K, then the oil gets changed, then it is going off road.

 

[rfjtoy]

I am on a roll tonight, somebody help me!

Lund Vent Visors
Good gosh, I just got the email today that these were being shipped.
FedEx pulled up right at 5 PM, and here it is 5:45 PM and they are completely installed as I type this.

It was so easy.
Roll down your windows all the way.
Take a small scrub pad and clean the window channels, then swipe it down with some alcohol pads.

Peel back the sticky tape a bit, then insert into the channels.
Once in the channels, push the visors up into position, then peel the three pieces of tape per vent visor.
Roll up your window to hold them in place while the sticky tape cures.

You can order these vent visors from
http://deflectors4less.com/toyota-fj-cruiser-avs-in-channel-ventvisors.html

I ordered them a week ago, not to bad on the shipping.

They were really to easy to install, and I like the in channel ones much better than the tape on ones I ran on my 4Runner.

Here are a few pics.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/index.php?dir=fj/vent_visors/

Does this visor prevent the wind from messing up your hair?

 

[Corey]

I sure hope so, with the windows down a bit, it sure whips around in there.
I will not know until tomorrow sometime after taking it out for a spin.

But I got them mainly to keep rain water off of the window switches and door panels.

 

[Corey]

Does this visor prevent the wind from messing up your hair?

OK, just took a trip to the dealer, was itchin' to get out, as I spent 5 hours washing, claying, the waxing the rig.
First wash since I took delivery.

Dealer had my plates in, and I drove there with both windows down.
It is a lot less windy in the rig with the vent visors on, but you are still going to get some wind, but not as much.

Before I was getting tons with both windows down only half way.
I hardly getting any at all now with the windows half open.

I emailed my parts manager there too last night to see if they can carry these.
People should let their dealers know about these, as they are top notch quality, and only take 10 minutes to install both.
Probably less for some, but I am super anal when it comes to doing stuff, so I take my time.

 

[FirstToy]

Great work Corey, keep pluggin' away at the mods!

So you guys know; while Corey wheels his stuff in the WA mountians, he also keeps his trucks pristine- his 91 4Runner won a car show award and he is, as you can see, a perfectionist w/ the mods.

Hopefully, other FJC owners will follow suit and post up their own threads w/ cool little stuff.. and big stuff!

*a bit OT- but in case you guys missed it, powderpig has a thread sticky "Techie ideas for the FJC"- Ideas for improving the FJC that Toyota will read! Contribute!

 

[Corey]

Thanks for the nice words FirstToy.
Finally bought a 4' ladder today at Lowes, as I could hardly reach the roof the other day when I washed and waxed the rig.
It is a lot higher than the 4Runner was.

With the ladder I was finally able to put up the Yakima 10V mounts and Slee's Hi-Lift mounts.
I did not however put the jack up there to test it yet, to much to do here, I will try to snag a pic later this week with the jack up there.

Yakima 10V mounts on the rack slats

Slee's Hi-Lift mounts mounted up to the Yakima ones

Where to purchase parts
Yakima 10V slat mounts
Slee's Hi-Lift mounts

You want the ones in the lower right corner, not the ones at the top of the page.
Also you can order his as seen with Yakima Mighty Mounts, but I am not sure if they are the 10V ones or not.
You would have to drop Christo a phone call or email to find out.
If they are, you can get it all in one shot.

 

[Corey]

iCarKit ipod adaptor

This is an iPod adaptor that charges your iPod and works with the factory radio of many makes.
The company is iCarKits.com
My specific model is the I-Toyota-R unit.

You can control your iPod 3 ways.
From the iPod itself, your head unit buttons, and your steering wheel controls.
You have full functionality of your iPod.

Only drawback is the unit needs a firmware upgrade, and I hear it will not be out until 60 days.
I will have to send in my unit.
Why?
'Cause there is no frickin' text listing the name of the song.
Any factory head unit that can display text is suppose to show you the same thing your iPod shows on the screen.
Right now it just shows the song number.
But other than that major snafu, it is a great unit.

Once the firmware update comes out, I will ship the unit back to have them reprogram it.

Here are some pictures.
All the parts laid out
Lotta wires for sure and connectors.
You do not use all of the connectors.

The head unit
Very simple to pull the dash apart.
I have not done so in over 20 years, and it was really easy for me to do.

At the bottom of each side are 2 screws you must take out.
Once they are out, you grab the side strips from the bottom and pull upwards.
It will takes some force, but do not be like a gorilla, you may snap one.
They have tangs in them that push into the dash in the middle and top, and they have to break their connection to come out.

Once the side strips are off, remove 2 more screws that hold the faceplate for the heater controls.
Once you have it pulled off, there are 3 plugs you muse disconnect.
You need to push in the little plastic catches to make the plugs release.
Set the faceplate aside.

After the faceplate is out of the way, use a socket set with a 10mm socket and remove the 4 bolts.

Hook up the cable like it tells you in your manual, it is pretty straight forward.
I may update this thread later with a pic of the cable for the iPod I ran from the head unit to the glove box.
You lower the glove box by squeezing the sides in, and it will drop all the way down.
I used a screwdriver with some tape on it and the end that goes to the iPod and shoved it from behind the head unit into the side of the glove box.
Also the black box is just sitting behind the head unit, I did not tie it down for now.
Will see if it rattles while going into work.
There is a lot of room behind there.

I also may pull all of this apart later and see if the cables are long enough so the black box can also be stored in the glove box.
This will facilitate it when I need to send in the unit for its firmware upgrade.

You can store your iPod in the glove box or in your cup holder.
Since I already had a custom iPod cup holder mount I bought a few weeks back, I am going to use it.
You can close the glove box and have the cable run out the top, and it does not look bad at all.

Here is the iPod back in the cup holder mount.

When connecting all of this up, pull your radio fuse.
This is much easier than pulling the 3 plugs at the back of the head unit.
Also reset your iPod by pushing the menu button and the button in the center of the wheel to reset it.
After doing so you can fire up your head unit and select CD1 from your head units buttons.

You then should have full control over your iPod with the steering wheel controls or the head unit buttons.

It is pretty trick, but I am ticked off about the text thing.
If they do not make good on it, I will demand my $$$ back.

Also since this is controlled via the dock connector plug, you do not have to mess around with a volume control on the iPod.
When using the aux connector on the FJammer head unit with a stereo mini cable, you had to have the iPod cranked up all the way.

To see the manual on how to install the unit and a cool Flash movie on how it works, here is the URL
http://www.diceelectronics.com/ipod_integration.htm

 

[Corey]

Maglite mount in the cargo bay

Sunday morning was a great day to work on the rig.
I bought a few Rubbermaid kitchen organizers to spruce up and organize my cargo boxes middle drawer which is mainly for hand tools.
It sure makes it easier to find stuff now.

Next on the days menu is the Maglite install.
In the 4Runner I had the Maglite mounted with C clips to the front passenger side Husky floormat.
The FJ Cruisers floormats do not really allow me that option.

I could have bolted/screwed the C clips to the passenger side of the lower console, but I really did not feel like doing that.
Something about a new rig I am a little more cautious on drilling

In the back is a perfect spot, the right side cargo door that covers the storage bin.
Owners of the subwoofer from the factory do not have this option though.

I used oversized washers in the back on the bolts to keep the weight of the light from ripping/breaking the plastic from the weight of the light, especially when bouncing around off road.

The head of the Maglite also is facing towards the back.
This will prevent the light from shooting forward if I am ever in a situation when the rig stops to fast.

I am very happy how this turned out.
And my website has also been updated with the info.
On with the pics...

 

[Corey]

Not to rest upon Sundays small Maglite mod, I had yakked with Les Schwab Tires Saturday about the Cooper Discoverer STT tires I have been wanting.

They are unavailable right now in the USA almost in the stock size of 265x70x17 which equal 32".
He did locate a set of 4 this morning in Pennsylvania, and I had him get them shipped, they will be here in a week.

But...I changed my mind.
Les carries a tire made by Cooper for Dick Cepek called the Mountain Cat.
They are so new they are not shown on Dick Cepeks site, or on Les Schwabs site.
When you look at them, you can clearly see they are made from the same mold.
They changed the sides a bit, and a little on the tread, but you can see the mold is pretty close.
These are still actually Cooper STT tires in disguise

I got $200 for 4 of my stock tires that came on the rig.
Not bad considering I have 1,200 miles on them.

These tires are beefy!
They are actually quieter than my Wild Country TXRs I ran for the past 8 years on the 4Runner, but the tread is way more aggressive, a true mud/dirt/rock tread.

They want some feedback from me on these tires since they are so new.
They do have a low hum, and I hope that it gets louder as they break in.
I like loud tires

They also had one demo mounted to a really cool Les Schwab brand (Ultra) wheel called the Allied 891/892 in a 17x9, and they mounted it up.
I think they had that demo tire and wheel waiting for me since it fit the FJ just right
Nice wheels, and $128 each, about $75 cheaper than the AR Mohave Teflon wheels I was thinking about.

Anyways, I can not wait to get my rig off road for the Fall Colors Run coming up and test out these new bad meats.
If I like them well, I will get five of them sized at 285x70x17 and new wheels come spring to run as my spring through fall set, and the current set will become the fall through spring set.
Nice thing about having two sets is it makes them last quite a few years.
I did not opt today to replace the stock tire on the tailgate.
I will do that before winter.

 

[Corey]

Home brewed shovel mount for stock rack

On my '91 4Runner I had made a home brewed shovel mount using the Yakima Snap Arounds, some long bolts, and some Yakima plastic wingnuts.
The shovel I had bought at Lowes hardware.

Since Yakima has the 10V Mighty Mounts that let me mount the Slee Hi-Lift mounts, I knew Yakima would have the equivalent of a mount that would let the bolt go vertically, but the mount would be horizontal.
With the bolt vertically, this would allow the same shovel I used before to be able to sit on top of the FJ Cruisers rack slats.

I called up Yakima and they were clueless.
The tech people there are trained to only tell you what fits your rack that they have in their rack guides.
The guy I spoke with said I had to use Yakima Universal Mighty Mounts, as that is all that fits.

I told him I beg to differ, but your 10V mounts fit perfectly, as that is what Slee turned me onto when I contacted him.
I told the Yakima guy I wanted a horizontal mount that had the same shape as the 10V.
He said he did not know, but I finally got it out of him that the 23H should fit.
Now was that so hard to tell me?

I ordered up a set from RackOutfitters.com and sure enough, they fit perfectly.
However my old bolts I had used on the 4Runner were a little bent, so I had to buy new ones.
The size you want is 5/16-18-4
Also since I took off two of my racks slats when installing the Hi-Lift mounts, the two slats left were to far apart to make the shovel work with its two holes that are drilled in it.
I had to add back a slat and move it in front of the most forward slat, and that worked out perfectly.

Here is a shot of just the 23H mounts on.


Here is a shot with the new bolts.
The other plastic Yakima wingnuts I had used were to small for the new bolts and the 5/16th nut that Yakima has you insert into the 23H.
Luckily I had some old 5/16th Yakima wingnuts laying around from some old Yakima thing I bought years ago.
You can also use a standard metal wingnut, but the advantage of using the Yakima ones are they are much bigger to grab onto.


And finally a few shots with the shovel in place.
One nice thing too about mounting it more forward like this is I can step up on the sliderz to get up and take the shovel off.


It turned out pretty good, and I have two of the 23H Mighty Mounts leftover that I can use for another project up on the rack.
Maybe the kitchen sink I can mount to them.

While I was up there working on the roof, I tried to finally mount my 48" Hi-Lift on the Slee mounts.
It is not going to happen.
Jack is to heavy, and I can not get close enough on the ladder to heft it up there.
Chalk it up to getting old.

I am still working with a friend on making a Hi-Lift mount for the spare tire, or I may end up getting the Demello Hi-Lift mounts for the side of the rack in the future.
Not as hard to put the rack on the side as it is trying to put it all the way up on top.

I do not see why everyone is in such a hurry to ditch the factory FJ Cruiser rack.
I like it a lot, and with a little creativeness, you can do a lot with it by fabbing up your own stuff like I did the shovel mount here.
With the two leftover 23H mounts and buying another box of four mounts (would use four mounts), I could fab up a nice jerry can mount adding back the fourth slat.

 

[FirstToy]

Corey,
you better slow down or you'll be done and bored within a year!

This is turning into a nice tech buildup for a new rig. Maybe I should consider starting a ROTW for the FJC tech guys...

Also look in the FAQ for the OEM roofrack mod that shortens the rack- looks pretty cool I thought.

Tires- they look good! The center lugs remind me of the Mickey Thompson ATZ... I was considering the Cooper SST's but if these are the same for less $$....hmmm! Tell us how they shape up on the trail and freeway, thanks!

 

[Corey]

He he, I know.
When I traded in the 4Runner I thought it was going to take forever to mod the new rig.
I am almost done, but then are we really ever done
The mods though are keeping me very busy, and this rig is a ton of fun to work on.

Just a few more things, the 3" OME lift, ARB bumper, my old winch, and a solution to mounting the Hi-Lift lower for me, and the off road mods will be just about done.
In the future too perhaps the new rear bumper ARB is working on.
Oh, and future stereo upgrades too.

I have seen the shortend rack that a member here did I think around May?
It looked pretty good.

These tires I dig 'em.
They are getting a little louder too, and nothing wrong with that.

Will not know how they will do off road until Ocober the 7th, we have our anual Fall Colors Run planned in the shadows of Mt. Rainier.
I think we may have some snow up there by then too, so that should be a good test.

On the freeway though these feel just as smooth as the stock ones did.
We had some heavy rain the other day, and they handled great.

 

[Corey]

Sunday morning mod, the axe mount

With two leftover Yakima 23H Mighty Mounts and two of the hex bolts leftover also from the shovel mount project, I present you with my custom axe mount.

Went to Lowes and picked up a fiberglass handled True Temper 36" Premium Michigan axe, part number 118590.

Drilled two holes in the handle 21.75" apart after measuring the distance between the two bolts once they were mounted.

The axe fits neatly besides the shovel.

I am loving these Yakima Mighty Mounts.
It would be very easy to get another set and more hex bolts and mount a jerry can holder up there.
I may do that, but I would carry water instead of fuel.



I do not see why some are so fast to get rid of the factory FJ rack.
With a little imagination, this rack rocks, and I actualy like the look of it better than the Gobi racks.

 

[Go4aRyd]

I can't stand on top of the factory rack. I need the height for photography...thus the Gobi on my ride. I agree, if you are a DIY kinda person, the stock rack can be made to support much more than at first glance. (yea - I considered custom fabing a platform for the stock rack, but I couldn't wait until after winter dor all the fab and mods it would have taken me to get it right).

BTW, I did the same thing for my axe/shovel for my gobi using a couple pairs of old yakima bar mounts - exactly same concept. Great minds must think alike!

 

[Corey]

Glad to hear the Gobi is working out for you.
That is cool youused left over Yakima parts too.
I have a ton of winguts and clamps dating back to the mid 80s from them.

Did you happen to see this issue of 4WD Toyota Owner magazine?
There is an FJ40 in it near the end.
The guy is local in my state, and stands on top of his rack to shoot pics too.
http://www.zendogstudio.com/RC_web/index.htm

 

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

Originally posted by Corey
It has a key hole on top to turn it off for when you go to get serviced and they may need to disconnect your main battery.
If you do not disarm it, it will wail when they disconnect your main juice.

Can you please post picture of your back up alarm? Mine is similar to this but I do not know if it made by DEI and do not have a label.

Congrats on your new FJ Cruiser

Thanks.

 

[Corey]

FourTreks Hi-Lift Mounts Installed 10-05-2006

Noel, I would rather not post publicaly where the backup alarm is.
____________________________

Ahhhh, nothing like a mod on a work night to rush me, so excuse me if I type fast, gotta hit the hay in a bit.

These mounts use the circle rings that are similar to Demello's.
They have a bigger wingnut on them though.

I still have my Slee mounts up on the roof, I gave up on them since I can not heft the jack up.

I gotta tell you, putting these mounts on was a piece of cake.
I angled up the bolts that you slip the jack over so it would lean in towards the FJ Cruiser.
I can lift the jack up with ease to do this, I stood on a small step stool, will try it later without the stool, but I was in a hurry to get this mod done by tonight.

To purchase these, contact owner Luke at FourTreks Precision Off-Road Products.
Here is the direct URL to the product.

The diameter you want is 1.75", and you will see it listed in the drop down list to purchase them.

Also on the Hi-Lift is WabFabs Hi-Lift adaptor.
The Wabbit makes them in many sizes to fit various diameters of sliderz.
His device will allow you to use the Hi-Lift with your sliderz and not worry about the jack slipping off of them.
Here is the URL to WabFab.

Here are some pictures below including a break down of the parts in the first photo.

 

[Corey]

Not really a mod, but it goes with the Hi-Lift just as much as the Wabbit's WabFab Hi-Lift adaptor.
Look in the upper right corner of the Hi-Lift.

Just picked it up from Central 4WD.
This one is made by Daystar.
http://www.central4wd.com/category.aspx?page=id|15387

It simply slips over the jack and handle and keeps them from rattling.
I had some Velcro strap on there before, this will be much better.