FJ Cruiser Four Year Review

[Corey]

It is that time of year again.
The rig just turned four years old last Saturday the 24th of July.
Also hit 30K on Friday the 23rd.
I have a short commute of around twenty nine miles round trip for work, so the miles do not pile on very fast.

No issues to report with the rig at all.

Took the rig into the dealership Monday after work for a 30K checkup which consisted of:
New filters, air and cabin
Drain and refill front/rear differentials and transfercase
Clean brakes and adjust parking break
Replace PVC valve
Replace spark plugs
All the other usual safety inspection stuff, no worries.

Rig feels slightly stronger going up hills taking less go pedal, so perhaps the sparkplugs helped, although the rig never felt sluggish in anyway to me, and as most how have seen my rig, they know it probably far exceeds its birth weight.
I bet I am pushing right around 5K lbs with all the gear I carry.
Standard everyday gear, not including being packed for a camping trip.
How much do kitchen sinks weigh anyways?

With everything on my rig I manage to pull a consistent 17 MPG using Super Premium.
This is around 60% city/40% freeway driving.

With mudtires and a tent on top 24/7, driving has to be adjusted somewhat compared to a stock rig.
Even the addition of the tires makes for keeping alert more with freeway speed driving.
I may switch to AT tires in the future, but not really thinking about that now.
The current tires have been on the rig since the summer of 2007, and they look almost brand new tread wise.

Only one current picture with the new BajaRack model MG, this is the current look of the rig as it sits today.
Will be getting better pictures later in August when I tame a week off to go camping.

 

[hman913]

Was there a need to replace the PCV valve at 30k?

 

[Corey]

It is on the dealers list of items to replace.

 

[Gumby]

Mine's about four years old now with about 80K. They do like plugs every 30K. Makes a difference.

They are really easy to do. An hour with very simple tools would save you $2-300 over the dealer

I'm a firm believer in synth in the transfer case and diffs too, unless you're off road a lot and have to change it frequently.

 

[Corey]

I use to do my plugs in the past on all of my vehicles, but since it had to go to the shop anyways for diff/transfercase fluids, I had them do it all in one shot.

 

[Aztech]

Maybe it was the drive down from Ak, or maybe you don't do nearly as much driving as I do, but mine will turn 3 in December and I'm already past 30K. Yours looks really nice though.

 

[Corey]

Thanks.

It is my very short commute to work each day that keeps the miles low.
Where I work now is probably the shortest work commute I have ever had.

 

[Kosmo]

70k here, nothing to report other than the throwout bearing which is a story in itself. Thank you for reminding me that I need to do plugs again.

 

[7228]

if your dealer does the 5k service of clean and adjust braks on your fj its not worth the $ there is not much thay can adjust. you can do it by seting your hand barack every so often.