Curious about the Cruiser (1 Viewer)

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Northern CO
Doing research on some Yotas and curious what the drawbacks of the FJ are. I've found that there are weak axles on the 2007 years, which I have no problem upgrading if the price is right on a clean one. What else should I be looking for? I'm sure there are some master threads out there for this kind of thing, does anyone have links?
 
lower down on this page:
 
Not sure where the weak axles comes from. I have a 2007 and never had an issue with axles or CV joints.

I do wheel it a bit and have been fortunate to run the Rubicon twice.

Issues, rust if the vehicle is from anywhere road salt is used.

Back seat is mainly for kids, ok for adults for a while.

I'm sure the article listed above has more.

Also, FJ Cruiser FAQ.

Hope this helps.
 
Early build dates on the 2007 model year had a very high chance of coming with badly manufactured rear differential ring/pinion gears. They were over-hardened during manufacturing and too brittle for offroading. The rest of the rear axle is up to par. By Feb 2007 (check the born on date on the sticker on driver side door frame), the gears were corrected. There were no issues with CV axles, or front differential gears to my knowledge.

If you plan to put bigger tires and regear the diffs, this is really a non-issue.
 
Early build dates on the 2007 model year had a very high chance of coming with badly manufactured rear differential ring/pinion gears.
Maybe so, but I’ve driven over 175k now, 130k of them with 35”s. I have the very first of these, manufactured 2/2006. No problems with the axles. Front wheel bearings is only which are needed to change.
 
You're might be asking about wheeling but they suck for daily driving, the back seat situation is super annoying if you have to use it because of the rear doors. Most probably don't mind.
I don't like the swinging rear hatch either

Most probably won't mind as well but I hated the general limited visibility while driving
 
You're might be asking about wheeling but they suck for daily driving, the back seat situation is super annoying if you have to use it because of the rear doors. Most probably don't mind.
I don't like the swinging rear hatch either

Most probably won't mind as well but I hated the general limited visibility while driving
All of those are very ok to me. 😍
 
Maybe so, but I’ve driven over 175k now, 130k of them with 35”s. I have the very first of these, manufactured 2/2006. No problems with the axles. Front wheel bearings is only which are needed to change.
You must be one of the lucky ones. I've have seen others with no issues too. I went thru 3 sets of ring & pinions covered under warranty. When I jumped to 35s, I regeared to 4.56.
 
I knocked a number of teeth out of my (April 2006 built) 2007 ring gear climbing Wipeout Hill near Moab, but was able to finish that trip and drive 1,000 miles home on it. The dealer I bought it new from refused to honor the warranty; I used that opportunity to re-gear with 4.56 gears and run 34" tires.
 
Just rust and general maintenance at this point.

Auto trans trucks should really have had full or partial fluid changes by now. Belt, plugs, other fluids ect.
Manual trucks are full-time 4WD which is IMO nicer than the Auto ones, but I have an AT anyway.

We are seeing a lot of paint failures on the leading edge of the hoods it seems.

If it needs a windshield, that is a pain in the rear so keep that in mind / if at a dealership maybe work one into the buy if it needs one.

07-09 can be had with a supercharger - keep your eye out for that as you never know!

Leather wrapped steering wheel is a must for me...part of Upgrade package - most have it.

Make sure she has the rear locker.
 
People love to hate on the visibility but its not horrible. Rear doors are a little annoying in cramped spots but you don't see torches and pitchforks for every extended cab pickup thats setup the same. Rear seat and rear leg room is the same as a 4th gen 4runner, again no angry mob for those.. the hate is overplayed.

I daily mine with 2 kids, it was inconvenient when my youngest was rear facing but no problem now he's flipped forward. I wish the rear seat windows at least popped out on one side for airflow but thats the kids' only complaint.

Soundproofing in the back could be improved with stick on matting. Windshields are rock magnets but the built in sun visor is handy from the roof overhang, don't need sunglasses 90% of the time haha. Overall, love my FJ and don't mind the quirks.
 
My 07 with 244,000 miles has been great. Got it new in the summer of 2006. Just replaced the clutch at 243,000 because the noisy throwout bearing got annoying. It’s never let me down and it has done anything I have asked it to. I also think they get a undeserved bad rap.
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Been daily driving mine since 2014 when I bought it new. Light trail use too, where it kicks ass. Never had any major breakage; only normal maintenance items. Mine came with a backup camera which helps a ton with the rear visibility limitations.
 

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