Builds A few mods from 7-25-06 (1 Viewer)

[Corey]

First major expensive mod, the Clifford Alarm.
http://www.clifford.com/matrix/responder/default.asp
Parts #s from Cartoys do not match up with the site, but mine has two remotes.
One plain remote, and the two way LCD one that acts as a pager too.
It also beeps when the alarm arms itself and disarms.

I also had a separate DEI battery backup alarm installed.
This way if a thief cuts the main battery wires to disconnect the Clifford, the battery backup alarm will wail straight for about 4 hours on its own internal battery.

It is hooked up full time to the main 12v battery to charge it, and if it senses no power, it will wail, and it is just as loud as the siren for the Clifford.
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.

Both are state of the art, and better than my DEI Python 650 I had in the 4Runner.

OK, on with a few visible mods.
The Bandi CB antenna mount.
Mount just put on
With 4' Firestik II antenna attached
Unit by itself

Cargo box from the 4Runner.
It fits nicely, but the tie downs in the back of the rig do not match up like in the 4Runner.
There are four of them, but I will have to do some thinking here to secure it.
Do not want it rolling in case the shiny side of the rig ever does a 180.
The cargo box

That is all I am doing today, will work on more over the weekend.
Hope to get the Bentup sliderz installed, and also the Slee/Yakima brackets for the Hi-Lift jack put up on the roof rack.

 

[Corey]

Onboard air installed Friday afternoon

Got my onboard air system installed.
Drilled 4 holes into the top of my cargo box and mounted the Powertank bracket, and it is rock solid.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/powertank_bracket.jpg

Powertank installed
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/powertank.jpg

I bought this tank a few months back to replace my black one I use to have in the 4Runner.
I had to let that tank go a few years back when I was on my layoff from Boeing.

I like C02 as it is very fast, faster than an air compressor.
One 10 lb tank will refill about 30 tires from 15 psi back to street pressure after 4wheeling.

You can run air tools with it too.
Here is a very old video of my taking off my lug nuts on the 4Runner to put my winter tires on.
http://pnw4runners.com/tando/impact.mpg

 

[Corey]

Bentup sliderz installed Saturday morning

7-29-2006

A few hours after breakfast is all it took.

Brake cable bracket you must remove first, the closest one to you.
Brake cable bracket

Passenger side slider ready to go

Passenger side mounted

Brake cable bracket back in place
Notice that these are also gusseted.

There were a few nicks in the powder coating from shipping or making them, but that is to be expected.
You can see a touchup on the front part of the passenger side.
I have not sanded it, and probably will not.
I threw some old black touchup paint on it with the brush in the bottle.

Drivers side
One

Two

14 mm socket for the brake cable bracket
13 mm wrench for the sliderz bolts.

It is to hard to use a socket on the sliderz bolts.
I have some metric Craftsman ratchet wrenches that worked perfect for this.
Ratchet wrenches are a joy to work with if you have never used them before.

 

[FirstToy]

nice, I can tell this is going to be a good thread

man, look at the clean belly! hehe

 

[Corey]

Thanks!
That oil drip spot, funny, there is one just like it at work too.
That is from the leaking power steering pump of my '91 4Runner that was ailing.

More to come, OME lift with springs and shocks, and an ARB bumper with my Warn XD9000 winch left over from the 4Runner.

 

[Corey]

iPOd mount on the cheap

Ipod mount on the cheap.
I am on a roll now.
Very cheap mod!

Several years ago I bought a squeeze mount at Radio Shack to hold my Garmin GPS.
It itself hooks to another mount that mounted it to the heater faceplate controls.

I unbolted it from it today, and took the inner cup holder out of the main cup holder at the front of the console.

The squeeze mount I have bolts to the inner cup holder when it is flipped upside down.

You then take it and squeeze the sides of it and gently push it into the main cup holder upside down.

Presto chango, by gosh it turns into a iPod mount.
You can adjust the angle of it too.

I am sure Radio Shack still carries these mounts, or you can find them online somewhere else.

Well, we have the Bandi mount for the CB antenna for the back door, I am going to name this the Corey mount

Here are two quick pics I just took.
I still have to bolt the mount to the cup holder, it is just resting there for now.
But it is time for bed, it can wait until tomorrow.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/ipod/DSC00005.JPG
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/ipod/DSC00006.JPG

 

[UltraFJ40]

I can't wait to see your FJ in a year or two. You'll have it completely tweaked.

Do you have any sellers remorse as of yet? And have you taken it on any of the trails that you took the Runner yet(sorry if thats been mentioned in another thread, but I don't read the FJ forums much)? If so, how'd it compare?

Thanks for the pics and

Doug M.

 

[Corey]

Hi Doug, I kind of miss my 4Runner, but it was pretty well used up.
The FJ is so much more technoligy wise way ahead of the game with the E locker and A Trac system, and everything else about it.

I am diggin' it

No trails yet, I have around 220 miles on the odo, and I want to wait until 1,000 miles to get the first oil change out of the way, the CB in, then I will take it up to where I go all the time and test it out.

I will be sure to get pics when I get up there.

 

[FirstToy]

Corey's 91 4Runner was sweet. Really clean.

Corey, I like the way you are plugging away at all the mods to your new rig. And better yet, documenting it and sharing it with us!

Pretty soon, this thread is going to be a great resource- heck it already is!

 

[Corey]

Thanks FirstToy, I like to document all of the stuff I do.
You should see the HUGE section I had for the 4Runner, it was 5 pages
http://pnw4runners.com/tando/modtoc.htm

Hopefully tomorrow I will get the Slee Hi-Lift mount onto the roof rack, and my CB coax run.
Not sure if I will get the CB in or not.
It is a huge Cobra, and I am taking my time on figuring out where to put it, or just say screw it and get a smaller one.

If I get the Hi-Lift mount up, I will be sure to post pics of the jack up on the roof.
This dang roof is way more up in the air than the 4Runner, a lot harder to work on.
I do not know how the FJ Trail Team guys accessed those Yakima Rocket boxes they have on top of some of their rigs.
You gotta be 7 feet tall almost to reach way up there, short of standing on the rear side tires to access it up there.

 

[TexasBadlands]

Dude, I just don't know where I am going to mount the CB..........
I was hoping you thought of something clever today. Before I got the vehicle, I thought that right side opened up into a big compartment, but no, the glove box is UNDER that big patch of nothingness. If the glove box weren't down there, I would seriously think of putting it there.

Also, for those who joined TLCA and have the little metal plaque for their dash, it does fit directly into that little 'coin' hole in the center behind the shifter. Like it was made for that or something.

Dunno about the CB.... Going to think of it later. I might make something to mount it.

 

[Corey]

Maybe a pedestal coming up out of the rear console out of the hole, and the CB can face forward?

I know there is plenty of room on the headliner, I just od not really want to have to fork out a huge bill in labor to Cartoys to get it done.

 

[TexasBadlands]

Maybe a pedestal coming up out of the rear console out of the hole, and the CB can face forward?

I know there is plenty of room on the headliner, I just od not really want to have to fork out a huge bill in labor to Cartoys to get it done.

Yeah that was just what I was looking at. However, you could place a steel plate on the floor behind the center console, with velcro over the bottom to velcro it in place to the floor..... single post coming up with plate to mount to bottom of CB.... CB facing forward, at about 20 - 30 degree angle..... this would have the face meet the top back of the console out of the way of the arm rests........

 

[Corey]

Tex, I took the huge honker out to the rig and held it above that opening in the back of the console.

It just clears the drivers armrest, but will not if you add the passenger one which I plan on.
It looks awfully tight.

Another good spot is right on the back of the console facing up.
The left rear seat will even fold down flat and clear it, however the passenger side rear seat if you fold it forward will hit the CB and not allow you to fold the seat flat.
Like bummer man.

A Cobra 25 would fit down into that hole for the console, the Cobra 29 is about 1/2" or so to wide.

The glovebox with the CB mounted to the front is looking like the best spot for it.

 

[TexasBadlands]

Tex, I took the huge honker out to the rig and held it above that opening in the back of the console.

It just clears the drivers armrest, but will not if you add the passenger one which I plan on.
It looks awfully tight.

Another good spot is right on the back of the console facing up.
The left rear seat will even fold down flat and clear it, however the passenger side rear seat if you fold it forward will hit the CB and not allow you to fold the seat flat.
Like bummer man.

A Cobra 25 would fit down into that hole for the console, the Cobra 29 is about 1/2" or so to wide.

The glovebox with the CB mounted to the front is looking like the best spot for it.

Yeah I got the passengers arm rest. I did also place the unit flat on the back of the console and it looks pretty good there too. Yeah I also looked at sliding it into the back of the console. If you start using a saws all... let me see what you end up with !

I think I might look at fabing a mount tomorrow. I want to look at it a little more before slapping it under the glove box door.

 

[Corey]

If you can come up with some type of a mount that works, I would buy one.
You mught have a market for it just like Bandi does for his "bandi mount" for the antenna to go at the back of the door hinge.

 

[Corey]

CB coax is in

I tried to run it underneath like I saw a few others do on various forums, but I would need to have the rig on a lift.
I decided to drop it right down from the bandi mount and run it behind the bumper, then up through a rubber grommet inside the left rear pocket where the jack is.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/cb/DSC00013.JPG

I was thinking about drilling a hole into the forward part of that long compartment, but I was not sure if I could snake the cable through, even with a coat hanger.
I decided to just bring the coax out the top of the access door where a slight opening by the handle you pull to take the door off.
It worked out good.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/cb/DSC00014.JPG

From there I am able to hide the coax underneath the plastic directly in front of the D ring on the floor.
You can see the coax where it rests in the left side of the picture.
It is all hidden quite well.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/cb/DSC00015.JPG

It runs along the side and exits underneath the passenger side rear seat.
From there it tucks underneath molding again, very stealth.
Sorry, this picture turned out fuzzy.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/cb/DSC00016.JPG

From there it travels along side the passenger threshold moldings, and I have it tucked underneath again for that stealth look.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/cb/DSC00017.JPG

I had just enough coax left to exit out where I will probably end up having the CB mount to the glove box.
I can not really think of any other place for now where to mount the monster Cobra 29.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/cb/DSC00018.JPG

You can see the coax here where it comes off of the bandi mount and tucks behind the rear door where it exits behind the rear bumper and down to that grommet as seen in the first picture.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/cb/DSC00019.jpg

Next up is getting the CB mounted, but that is for another day.

 

[Corey]

CB is in, 8-06-2006

OK, I got up Sunday morning, took my power wire out to the rig, and I did not want to go drilling through the firewall or a grommet on the firewall.
New rig, I chickened out

I called up Cartoys and asked them if they might be able to run the CBs power cable through the firewall for me, and they said yes, it was easy.
Yeah, easy for them to say, they do this kind of work daily.

Drove up there, and also took gigantor (Cobra 29 CB radio) with me.
I told the tech I had installed the same CB myself into my '91 4Runner on the glove box, and he said piece of cake.

I also showed him how I ran the cable down behind the bumper, and up through a grommet in the storage bin on the drivers side.
He said he could bring it in right at a wire bundle, and also this would give me more cable up front, it was kind of tight.

On with some pics.
The bandi mount he cleaned up the way the coax comes off it it, you can not hardly see the coax.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/cb/DSC00020.JPG

Here he has the coax going into the cable bundle for all the wiring for the rear door.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/cb/DSC00021.JPG

Here is the coax inside of that storage bin again.
I am not sure how he ran it from there, but it is all stealth.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/cb/DSC00022.JPG

Couple shots of the CB on channel 4.
Remember, channel 4 for 4x4
That is the channel we always run when out wheeling.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/cb/DSC00023.JPG
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/cb/DSC00024.JPG

I did not snap a shot of the hookup to the battery, I forgot.
But I am sure it is stealth, just like when they wired up my alarm system a few weeks back.

Now it gets better.
They use to do CB installations long ago, but they got out of it.
They have no SWR meter to tune it.
They did not even attempt to tune it, I said I would since the Cobra 29 has its own built in SWR meter.
Just another reason I wanted to keep big bertha.

I fired it up on channels 1, 20, and 40, and my SWR match was .50 to .75.
A good match is considered 1.5 and below.
I am getting just as good a match as I did when it was on the ARB bumper.

Now it gets even better.
In Bandi's installation instructions for his "bandi mount", he says to scrape away a little paint to get a good ground.
I did not scrape anything.

I did not have to tune the tip at all on the Firestik II antenna.
I lucked out, and a few days ago after getting my new antenna, I even screwed out the screw on top a bit for kicks.
I guess I got it right

I hated to pay for this today, but it is a lot more professionally done than I could have done.

Now all of you know that the glove box is a good area for the CB, even a monster like mine.

I ran it this way in the 4Runner for years, and never had any complaints from passengers about leg room with the CB.
At the angle it is at, no problemo.

 

[Corey]

New iPod mount 8-11-2006

New iPod mount installed.
Yes, I am doing away with my homemade one.
The base on it had a crack in it, and the iPod sat pretty low.

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.

Here are a few pics of it.
http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/ipod/DSC00031.JPG

http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/ipod/DSC00032.JPG

It is totally adjustable for tilt back and forth, and the clamps on the side to hold various MP3 players besides the iPods.

You also use the inner cup holder to insert the Arkon unit into, then insert the whole assembly into the larger cup holder hole.

This is a lot nicer than the homemade one I made a short time back.
You can see the old one on the passenger floormat.

Go ye forth and buy one now, you will not be disappointed.

 

[Corey]

Lund Vent Visors 8-11-2006

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/