Bought silver 4x4 FJC in Vegas - drove back to Tejas - Pics from the road trip

Since most of the dealers in Texas were playing the (OVER MSRP) game, and since I had a meeting in Vegas last week, I called a dealer there and worked out a deal over the phone and had the FJ I wanted waiting for me. When I arrived, there were no surprises - all went smooth and I was out of the dealer and on the road in 40 minutes - Very cool.
The drive back to North Texas is about 18 hours of seat time - it took us over 2 days because my wife had to stop at every Indian Trading Post /souviner shop on the way; hence, I can vouch for the cargo capacity after this trip.
It holds 15 indian dream catchers, 3 pairs of moccasians, 300 pounds of petrified wood, 10 toy-bow&arrow sets, and much, much more....

The FJC rides very smooth, very quiet (even with roof rack), and PLENTY of POWER. I opted for the 6-speed manual and was doing about 80 in 5th gear with plenty of RPM's left and (several times) forgot to shift into 6th. The 6-speed is great and probably one of the biggest improvements when compared to a NEW FJ40. It's nice to have a very low gear and be able to cruise at 70/80/90 without sounding like the tranny is going to blow up.

The system computer DOES NOT govern the speed like I would have guessed - I would have lost this bet big time. On one of the long straight-aways between Amarillo and Tucamcari (after the engine had several hundred normal miles) I pushed it to over 105 and slowed after seeing traffic ahead. At 105mph the suspension & steering was stable, and it rode as smooth or smoother than any other SUV - Except my H3 - The governor kicks in at 100mph and shuts off fuel supply.

Wheeling was fun - see the pics below.
Sorry for the poor quality photos - They came from my Palm Pilot camera phone.

Congratulations! Sounds like a fun road trip.

The Toyota dealer that lives down the street brought home a blue FJC and has been in and out all weekend...he "got on the go pedal" around the corner when I was outside and it sounds like that FJC will haul ass.
Your silver looks good!

Skid plate

Thanks - It was fun.
Interstate 40, which is the old Route 66, has the Santa Fe Railroad running parallel for most of the trip across the USA, and the railroad-service roads are great for wheelin. I've already put a tattoo on my skid plate

Congratulations on your purchase! What a GREAT story!

And a six-speed, eh? Exactly what I want, and good to know you gave it a workout!

I've been told, BTW, that the top speed is governed at 115. I don't know that for sure, though.

Should have looked East of Dallas. In Texarkana, they are selling at MSRP, not at premium. I just put deposit on one. I had a friend that looked in Dallas area and he was told they were going 5K above MSRP. I guess you would'nt have been able to have the benefit of the road trip that way though. Glad to see you got it off the pavement.

I called houston, new orleans, San Antonio, etc... and some "offered" to order me one for MSRP, with a 4-6 week wait; to tell you the truth, when I found out about my business trip to vegas, and called ahead to see what they could do - and they said they had one with my name on it (deposit over the phone), my mind was already made up.
The road trip was a blast and it was the first time my wife got to do any wheelin; she likey.

Awesome pics. Where along I40 did you find access to the railroad service roads? I'm new to Albuquerque and looking for someplace easy to start a bit of offroading. I drove around for miles today looking to dirty my car up enough to take some respectable pics.

Wheelin in the southwest

Not 100% sure on the exact location, but I can get you really close, which should be good enough because good spots seemed to be available for most of the trip across Arizona.

I do remember that there was an old-restored gas station museum (very cool) that is supposedly famous and on all the tour bus stops right across the street from where we were wheeling in the old Silver-mining town of Hackberry. The cool drive was between Hackberry and Kingman Arizona -
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-arizona/HackberryStore-600.jpg

Good Luck

I can not view the pictures, nor could I last night.
I would like to see them though.