Builds A few mods from 7-25-06

[hammer1]

Corey, you constanty amaze me with your detail and perfection!. i am impressed, to say the least. i too will be adding outlets in the rear soon, after I decide on what 120v converter to use.
BTW...you selling the old box?

 

[Corey]

Thanks Hammer, it was Wayne's perfection to detail this time.
He is a wiring wizard, and it turned out much better than if I tried to do it alone.

Selling the old box, but a friend has offered to buy it for his 2nd gen 4Runner already.

The vehicle should have came with 12v outlets in the rear from the factory.

Not sure when my new one will get built.

 

[rfjtoy]

Nice work documenting the mod. Keep them coming.

 

[mbisson]

Corey, I bought the Blue Sea 12 gang fuseblock. Will it fit in that spot? Or should I look for the smaller one. I already have the 2 12volt powerpoints in the back and 3 next to the AT shifter. That's why I went for the bigger fuseblock. The 6 gang would have only left me one fuse left.

 

[Corey]

Yes, the 12 will fit.
Sol (Sbechtold) sent me his write-up on the dual battery installation (another future mod for me) and he has the 12 gang one in the same spot.

Wayne who helped me with mine Saturday said that he asked Sol about the bigger one, and Sol replied that he turned it at an angle in there and it fits.

By looking at Sol's write-up, it looks like it is straight up and down like mine.
http://www.yotatech.com/showthread.php?t=98031

 

[Corey]

New tires & wheels installed 7-31-2007

I really dig the stock 17" factory alloys, so much I wanted to buy a 2nd set and move up to a 285x70x17" tires, about the same as a 33" tire.

My current Dick Cepek Mountaincat muds are 265x70x17", and they look great, but a little out of place with the OME 3" lift.

With all of my past vehicles I have owned I have always ran two sets of tires.
One set for fall through spring (winter setup) and the best setup for spring through fall.

I have been wanting to get the same tires in the 285 size, but did not want to pay Toyota $340 a piece for the factory alloys.
Great wheel, only factory wheel I have every truly liked that much on any rig.
A little to steep at that price, although I have a few sources to get some used ones.

At the Greenwater run earlier in July I saw an FJ Cruiser (owned by member noworries) with some nice black wheels that made me again want to think about getting an aftermarket wheel.
With some research and getting a hold of the owner gain, I found out they are the Pro Comp 7089s.

He is running a RevTek 3" lift and 295 size tires with no rubbing, so this tells me that Pro Comp did their math and is overing these with zero offset and able to clear the large calipers of the FJ Cruiser.

I was able to score these wheels for $129 a piece from 4WD Parts who owns Pro Comp wheels/tires.
Les Schwab would have had to buy them for $209 a piece since they are a direct competitor of 4WD Parts Warehouse.

Here is the part # of the wheels I got.
http://www.4wheelparts.com/PDT64838.aspx

Les Schwab Tires recently added the Dick Cepek Mountaincats to their website.
http://lesschwab.com/tires/light_truck/mountaincatet.asp

You will not find these on the Dick Cepek website, as they are exclusively made for Les Schwab Tires.
Made in the same molds as other Dick Cepek tires with the familiar staggered DC impression on the sidewall.

These tires are also made by Cooper, and are pretty similair in design to the Cooper Discoverer STT tire.

They showed me out in the bay when we turned the wheels/tires lock to lock that they cleared the body mounts and also the calipers.
In getting new wheels for your FJ Cruiser, the important thing to pay attention to is the off set.
Mine are zero.

He asked me if I wanted to step up to a 295 since that is what noworries is running, but I stayed with the 285s.
They look great and 33" is big enough for me.

I did not notice any loss of power at all coming into work on the backway, and also going home on the freeway where I was able to put the throttle down some.

Went with black Gorilla small diameter Tuner lugnuts that take a special adapter/key to take them off with.

The new tires fill the wheel wells much better than the smaller ones.
Here are some pictures for comparison.

265x70x17 Dick Cepek Mountaincats with factory alloys:



285x70x17 Dick Cepek Mountaincats with Pro Comp 17x8 7089 series wheels:

 

[Corey]

Gorillas installed 8-10-2007

Attention if you have black aftermarket wheels:

When I had the new wheels and tires installed yesterweek, they did not have any black Gorilla locks.
They had to special order these for me in a set of 5 so I could do the spare tire too.

These are acorn lugnuts like the others on there now.
If you have aftermarket wheels that use the acorn style of lugnut, here is the part number for a set of 5 black locks.
71631NBC
http://www.gorilla-auto.com/product...productName=ACORN+BLACK+CHROME&image=5713.jpg

Same size as the lugs, 12mm x 1.50.
They do not list the part number on their website since these were a special order.

I am also going to start keeping my torque wrench in the rig to keep these torqued all the lugs torqued properly.
They torqued them to 100 lb which I believe is correct for Toyota wheels.
I would have to look it up in my manual, but that is what they do Toyotas to.

 

[BladeRunner80]

I have a question about the iPod Dice link. Is the factory aux input still used when the DICE link is installed? I have a sirius radio that I plug in their too and I was wondering if I will still be able to use it.

 

[Corey]

Yes you can.

When I had the DICE unit (sold it to a Tacoma owner) when pushing the button on the FJammer headunit, the aux option was still there to use that port.

 

[BladeRunner80]

Why did you sell the unit? Were you unsatisfied with it?

 

[Corey]

No longer needed it, I have a deck now that has the iPod interface built in via its touch screen.

http://www.yotatech.com/f96/pioneer-avic-d3-installed-3-31-2007-a-113238/

 

[BladeRunner80]

Thanks Corey! I like the deck you added. I have a Street pilot III, but I want built in navigation. I may have to follow your lead on this. Oh BTW, nice looking Cruiser, you've done some nice mods to it. I use to wiring and tweaking things on my 40, but the FJC is a bit more intimidating! Keep the posts coming!

 

[Corey]

Thanks Blade, it has been a lot of fun modding the new rig.

 

[Corey]

Fourtrek's Hi-Lift mount relocated to ARB 8-23-2007

Several months back I bought Luke's mounts to secure the Hi-Lift to the factory rack.
Info can be found on that in this thread.

I wanted to see how the rig will handle on mountain roads by taking the Hi-Lift off of the roof and putting it up front on the ARB bumper.

I thought I needed 2" rings, but when I got those they were to big.
Luke sent me out a smaller 1 7/8" set of rings before I even got the 2" one in the mail to ship back to him.
Luke is a stand up guy.

Member CactusJK from the fjcruiserforums had the same problem, and he confirmed last week with me the 1 7/8" would work.

This morning I pulled the mounts off the 1 3/4" rings on my rack, and put the new rings on the ARB bumper.
Good fit!
A little gap, but it tightens down great.

I had to angle the mounts up a tad to clear part of the ARB bumper, and I also have to run it with the foot in the upper position.
If down like I ran it before, there are bolts on it that hits the bumper.
I got a nice scratch on the bumper when test fitting it

Below are a few pics of the install.



A shot from inside the cab.
The Hi-Lift will not interfere with my line of sight.



A shot showing just the mounts.
I may end up taking those shiny knobs off before they end up in some kid's collection.
Kind of like when kid's steal chrome valve stems.
Been there before...
Now I just run black rubber caps all the time.



I am anxious to see how it rides now on the mountain road I drive when I go up to Greenwater where I wheel.

 

[Corey]

A slight update to the new mounts

I moved the Fourtrek rings out to within about 1/8" of the vertical bars on the bumper.
If you do this, you will not even have to measure first, the Hi-Lift should fit right onto it.

This also lets the foot hang in the down position now, and if your Hi-Lift is sportin' a WabFab Sliderz Adaptor like mine, it will not stick up in the air like in my previous post.

It looks a lot better this way.

 

[BRICKTOP]

Corey,
Great thread man. I wish I didn't need all my room in the back so I could get that fridge!
Anyways, I just wanted to ask you if you were still happy with the Mountain Cats and if you're fairly sure the 295s will fit. I am running 285-75-16 10 ply BFGs on the stock TRD wheels, but I have a set of stock steel wheels (17") that I want to get shoed up for more aggressive off road driving so I don't mess up the TRD wheels. I have the OME HD lift front and rear.
Since you've been through a few different ones, what is your recommendation?

 

[Corey]

Thanks Brick.
I am very happy with the Cepeks, hence why I now own two sets of them.

The guy who had the Pro Comp wheels that caught my eye says he is not rubbing at all with the 295s.

Since you have the black steelies too, your 295s might tuck in close enough.
If not, you may have to get the body mount shaved.

I am still going to have that done one of these days for if I step up to a taller tire later.

 

[Corey]

HalGuard HG250R fire extinguisher installed 9-14-2007

Saw this mentioned on fjcruiserforums.com website in a search for fire extinguishers.

The nice thing about the HalGuard system is it is a "premium clean agent" which means it will not corrode like a dry chemical fire extinguisher can.

You can spray this stuff under your hood, under your dash, even your home computer and it is not suppose to short circuit or corrode anything.

Here is some info from their website:

HalGuard? is no ordinary fire extinguisher.
It contains an electrically non-conductive"clean" extinguishing agent that rapidly turns into a gas.

The clean agent used in HalGuard? has passed extensive testing by Underwriters Laboratories, and meets FAA requirements.
It can be found on commercial aircraft, and is used by airport fire fighters and on the flight line.

Hand held HalGuard? extinguishers are available in either compact 1.4 lb. and 2.5 lb. sizes, or larger 5 lb., 11 lb., and 15.5 lb. units.

The larger sizes are USCG approved, and meet DOT requirements for the heavy duty truck market.
65 lb., and 150 lb. wheeled HalGuard? extinguishers offer maximum clean agent protection for the pit lane or large facilities.

Their website

The HR250R (chrome available if ya wanna shine )

* No thermal shock to electronics
* No mess or damage to vehicle or surfaces
* Liquefied gas extinguishes hard-to-reach fires
* Does not impair operator's vision
* EPA approved
* Listed and rated 2B:C by Underwriters Laboratories
* Rechargeable
* Made in U.S.A.
* 2-strap mounting bracket
* 6' - 10' discharge range
* High quality steel cylinders
* All metal valve construction
* Compact, lightweight, easy to use
* One year limited warranty

I drilled 4 holes into my Powertank bracket and bolted the HalGuard mount to it.
I may raise it up to the next higher position, have not decided yet.

I also have to test fit the ARB fridge tomorrow to make sure it clears the bottle.
I am pretty sure it will.

I have a few other areas where I could remount it, one would be the face of the middle drawer of my cargobox.
Already had it positioned there, and the drawers will all open fine.

I bought this from a reseller, they have many listed on their site.
More than likely you will also get charged a $20 hazardous shipping fee, and it has to come ground.
They do not ship these on aircraft.

 

[Corey]

I added the Kidde dry chemical one a few minutes ago to the plastic lift off tray in the back.

Used a few stainless bolts and nuts, the same ones that held it onto my Husky floormats when they were in the 4Runner.

The Kidde will be used for outside fires not rig related since it is a dry chemical unit.

 

[Corey]

Total Chaos Fab upper control arms installed, 10-2-2007

Upon having the FJ Cruiser lifted late last year, I noticed a bit of wandering at highway speeds.

This happens to 2005 + Tacoma users too, not just FJ Cruisers.
Upon researching the Internet (wonderful thing that thing be) I learned problem can often be traced to the caster being to high for the alignment.

The stock upper control arms often do not give enough adjustment when dialing in the caster.
I checked on Total Chaos Fab's website, and saw that is what they say.

When aftermarket lifts are installed on these model vehicles the OEM suspension design looses caster.
By altering the factory caster, the vehicle will lose on road handling & performance and has a tendency to wander when driving down the road.

TC developed the UCAs to add caster to the suspension when aftermarket coil over shocks and other lifts are installed.
This will increases overall handling and aids in the alignment of the vehicle.

These new arms also eliminate the ball joints as they utilize what is known as uniball technology.

You can see in my alignment chart from the other day that the caster was to high, not within specs.
With the addition of the new control arms, the alignment is now within specs.

I had my local Toyota dealer install these while I was at work.
They were happy to do it, as they realize they may be getting more requests from lifted FJ Cruiser owners.

I really wanted to see how they improved the ride on the freeway coming home from work today, but alas I was bucking high winds, and the FJ was getting tossed around a bit.
I will have to wait for a much calmer day to get a feel how much the ride has improved with the addition of these.

They sure do look nice though