07 6MT Adventures/Build (1 Viewer)

[mtnbiker4evr13]

Posted a few times elsewhere but might as well start documenting my FJ. Looking at other builds helped me figure out what I wanted and some other handy knowledge.

Background: Been offroading for quite some time, building a Suzuki Samurai crawler and 2nd gen 4runner among a plethora of short timer vehicles. Found myself needing something that balanced being a reliable daily driver carrying 2 kiddos and can enjoy time in the woods doing weekend to week camping trips. My favored trails tend to not be well suited for anything bigger than a current 4runner and the post Covid car market is something awful for buying.

So I scoured tons of options and FJ's caught my eye, yeah the daily duty with kids is a decent compromise with the rear doors but the back seat room is way better than even a current crew cab Tacoma.

Finally found one worth pursuing that would save a ton of time on the build side from a Mud member down in Texas (being from Ohio the no rust aspect was a huge draw) so my mom and I did a Fly-n-Drive back in March over a long weekend.

Seller's picture from ad:

Highlights:
Exp 1 front bumper with 9k winch
Metal Tech rear bumper
Sway-a-Way front coilovers and rear springs ~2.5-3in lift
285/70 tires
Full Budbuilt skid plates
43qt fridge on slide out in back

The FJ was as described and fit exactly what I was looking for. So we left Austin TX mid day Saturday and had to choose how to get home. Having been a few years since my mom or I had been to New Orleans we decided to head that way and maybe find some beach time if possible.

Stopped in Elgin TX at Southside Market & BBQ because you cant go to texas and not have brisket. Also found a friend in the parking lot.

The drive was uneventful save for charging up the A/C which was a disclosed issue and surmised to be an evaporator core leak to be fixed later. I didn't take many vehicle related pictures but stopped at Cafe Du Monde for beignets and coffee before turning the hood north and heading to my place in western NC. Averaged 18/19MPG through the very flat south.

Once in NC I picked up a trailer I had from my parents that needed returned as I took my mom home to Ohio. I flew her down for the trip but since we were already road tripping might as well keep going. To my surprise the "little" 1GR yanked the trailer through the mountains of NC, TN and WV without issue, although single digit MPG

After visiting with my parents and addressing some baselining (filters, oils/fluids etc..) I headed back to NC but with some fun in store.

Had to stop at Hillbilly Hotdogs in BFE West Virginia. Unfortunately not open on Mondays but pictorial evidence was needed.

Also headed south on the scenic byway through WV.

 

[mtnbiker4evr13]

Ultimately landing at my destination for the day at Black Mountain Offroad park in Harlan KY.

Ran some "easy" trails from what our groups always did in Harlan. It was actually great to get to see some of the park I hadn't because when you go with guys in buggies they dont want to run the dirt roads to explore. All in put 2300mi on the FJ in the weekend bringing it home and found it to be awesome. FJ fits in with my 4runner for apartment life about like I do...

For daily duty its nice quiet and comfy. My previous DD was a 97 crew cab long bed OBS powerstroke so its a paradigm shift. Now the ol' powerstroke can just be a tow rig. Having a 6 and 2 year old has car seats in it at all times. The older one just gets in and out by himself and has no issues since he's forward facing. The 2 year old being rear facing, we get to "thread the needle" slipping in the side of his car seat but hes a big boy so will probably flip around to forward facing soon. Both love the FJ. Also the usual kid questions: "Daddy.. why does your car have 3 windshield wipers?" "What are those flaps above your head?" "Hey, your car doesn't have carpet! That's great for ice cream... can we get ice cream?"

 

[mtnbiker4evr13]

On to the "build", since I got it pretty well squared away it won't change much very quickly. I did find the STT pro tires that were on it to be worn a bit funny with cupping that made them sound like super swampers at highway speeds. With a trail run coming up with my club back in Ohio on a very rainy weekend I opted to have some new KM3's put on to quiet it down and also piece of mind with long trips. Stayed with 33s since I wasn't ready to regear yet.

Good timing on the tires since the Ohio trail ride was a muddy mess. Another great trip in the FJ and it surprised many.

Making use of my parents garage I did a once over after the trail ride and found a ripped CV boot. They had been worn since I got it so I carried a spare CV and swapped it on before heading home to NC

After getting back to NC I found one of the rear procomp shocks to be leaking a bit so I put on some Fox 2.0 remote reservoir shocks valved by Accutune. I ordered the mid range valve stack but the person called and recommended the softer one... hindsight being what it is I wish I had stayed with the more aggressive valving to match the front sway-a-ways but maybe they need to be revalved with a flutter stack...

 

[mtnbiker4evr13]

In July I attended the KYTLCA DBBB trail ride. I had ran the trails that now are part of the Hollerwood Offroad Park but hadn't explored or even knew about the tons of miles of trails around the area. The KYTLCA group is top notch and I highly recommend anyone to join them. The DBBB is also something extremely special.

On my way back also did 2 days of wheeling in Harlan because why not?

This was a great trip but did seem to cost me a front drivers side wheel bearing. Also on a solo trail ride on the DBBB came across the creek crossing near Old Fincastle that was a little close for comfort after looking at the air inlet inside the fender on FJ's. I had already done the "scuba" mod but those do no good with incompressible fluids in places that want compressible ones.

 

[mtnbiker4evr13]

Up to 9k miles on the FJ and had the evaporator core leak go from needing a can every 4 weeks to not even holding one for a day... also the compressor had a knock while running that I wasn't super confidant in. Chose to put new Aisin A/C evap core in, compressor, expansion valve and drier. Took an entire day to tear down the dash for the evap box but once charged its been silent and ice cold. In my downtime in evenings I've cleaned up some wiring which has been easy since it had the Bussman relay bank for auxiliary electronics, added rock lights and fixed missing/broken trim pieces.

Then for my birthday I gave myself the gift of getting snork'd. $120 Amazon special, I like the look of the TJM style better but the air flow is restricted with their piping so the ARB knockoff seemed like a better function over form option. The build quality is really good and install went pretty well. I drilled my fender holes one at a time so I could keep the hole size as small as possible. Still unnerving hogging a 4.125" hole in your fender... you pay monthly for...

Outcome is nice though. And air inlet temps are basically ambient now when moving. Thats about a 10-15 degree drop from the factory location! Also my pup Maggie photo bombing.

I appreciate my buddy lending me his driveway for all these wrench sessions. He came home as I had the entire dash out of the FJ scattered across his yard "uhh... I don't even know what any of those parts are to ask where they are supposed to go... I hope you do...". He had similar thoughts when we did the brakes on his 2nd gen Tacoma too.

So we are officially caught up to current day. Have some more trips planned for September and October but no big mods planned this year.

Eventually would like to be on 35s with 4.88 gears but also have some 1 tons in storage and am not opposed to an FJ80 based front setup... All that being said the IFS works great and people seem to run 37s without diff failure (CVs not so much). I run 8" elockers front and rear in my 4runner and it has seen 12 years of serious abuse under a 4800lb rig with dual cases following buggies with only 2 diff failures. First was 4 years in after some spirited bouncing to get up a waterfall and recently after breaking a side gear as elockers do on 37s. Hopefully the diff in the FJ holds up like I think it will on 33s. I know there are a lot more failures on FJ's with the bad batch or R/Ps early on and more HP under a heavier rig... but we'll see.

 

[iwashmycar]

Looks like you found a nice one! Great read!

 

[-MaTTi-]

Stayed with 33s since I wasn't ready to regear yet.

There is no need to regear 6M/T w/35’s. The overall (highest) ratio is same with 37” than stock 32” and auto.

 

[mtnbiker4evr13]

There is no need to regear 6M/T w/35’s. The overall (highest) ratio is same with 37” than stock 32” and auto.

Yeah the 3.90 diffs and lower final ratio in the trans definitely help on the highway. Auto's converter torque multiplication at slow speeds is helpful there.

I live in the mountains so 33s already can be felt with all the armor. And offroad the crawl ratio is still pretty steep in technical stuff.

The 1GR and 6 speed is pretty awesome though.

 

[mtnbiker4evr13]

In October I met up with some friends in Slade KY, had planned to take the 4runner since it was going to be a hard trail oriented ride but last minute scheduling changes had my kiddos coming with. Instead of driving a sketchy crawler 4hrs each way we took the FJ... to wheel with buggies...

We let the big rigs hit the crawly stuff but followed along everywhere else. Did have to go up Carburetor Hill and made it unassisted right after watching a TJ blow a rear axle shaft on the same line there were some surprised sXs drivers in the peanut gallery. Skid plates got a big workout but no damage other than some scratched paint.

Did some Thanksgiving exploring on some trails/roads I've had mapped on GPS forever.

Started at Hurricane Creek and worked my way on gravel roads south through the Blue Ridge Mountains.

 

[mtnbiker4evr13]

Blue ridge continued- Readers familiar with the area probably know exactly which way I went.

Views reminded me of Ouray/Telluride, without the 1000ft cliffs of death

Have a few more routes to explore this fall while the forest roads are open.

 

[mtnbiker4evr13]

Another year and still kicking.

I think this was its first snow EVER being from TX..

Various trips around the southern Appalachians

And sunk it.. In its defense, the ruts were cut by SxS's. Pulled into the hole and felt the skid plate touch, so tried reversing and promptly popped the passenger side CV which was probably cracked already.

Pulled it out forward and threw the spare axle in. Turns out the serpentine idlers were none too pleased with life and all needed replaced 3 months later the floor finally dried out.

Also celebrated the 200K milestone!

 

[mtnbiker4evr13]

Continued..

Made it to GSMTR in Windrock but failed at taking pictures. Was cool to run some of the more scenic trails and pose on Panther Rock. It had been 10+ years since I was there in a Samurai trail rig

This past weekend was the annual Slade KY trip with OH guys around Hollerwood park. Sunday was a solo run on some of the DBBB since the other rigs are less road worthy

Can't complain with the simple setup, I have started collecting parts to solid axle it with an FJ80 front I'd flip to driver's drop. But, the current IFS isn't holding it back except in places it shouldn't be anyway so, rethinking that one. Did snag some 4.88 gears to throw in when these 33s wear out and bump to 35s. Budbuilt skids, sliders and rear bumper get a constant workout being low, super stable as it sits

I'm still spoiled from having dual cases in my crawler so the NWF Toyota underdrive is attractive but worried about giving up highway manners with either heat or noise from the crawl box.

I need to get better about taking pictures while wheeling but I do most of my stuff solo and not for the "Gram".