Okaayyy, it’s my turn to stand up in front of the class. Hi my name is Josh and I’m an FJ addict. I’ve been building up the FJ for some time. Between FJ, work, kids, and wife, It seems that I will never have the time to write a build up, and so I kept telling myself, “later.. later..” enough of that. So here goes..
There was a big flood in my area when I was a kid. I can't remember how high the water was, but the residents were running away for safety. We were about the last few families who left the area. My dad’s sedan obviously couldn’t make it, so we planned on getting out of the area with the delivery pickup truck. Gas engine made it stopped shortly after leaving, and so we had to get out by foot. And so we did take our thousands little steps in the midst of eerily quiet neighborhood… until there was a wave from the only passing car. It's an fj40 or more likely a bj40, and my dad gave him a holler for help. The driver kept going until my dad screamed his name. Apparently he knew the guy, and It was his not so distant relative. I knew the face, he came to our house like every two months.
We planned to go to a relative house by hitchhiking a trailer truck, and all we needed was to get to the main road. And that moron didn't want to give us a ride for whatever freaking reasons. Anyway not only did I learned about selfish101 lesson there, but I also learned about offroading cars there. That car is just triple awesome in my book. When the flood was gone, the flood survival plans were gone too. But we kept getting this flood now and then. Fast forward we still have the freaking flood, but now, I gotta take my elderly parents, wife and two little boys to safety. So here is my life long dream to build up a rig that could take us out of the flood.
Btw, this is what I do to my car, doesn't mean it is safe though I believe so. And so please don't use it as a guideline to build up yours. Point is I'm no expert and I'm not afraid to make mistakes (knock on the wood). Life is boring without some experiments and mistakes, don't you think? Learned a lot from IH8MUD threads, hope I could contribute someway somehow.
The 3 points that I keep in mind are: reliable, able, and comfort. The top 3 cars for me are fj40, mercedes g-class, and land rover defender. Imho, D90 is very able, but not ergonomic for a 5’8”, and not reliable. Parts are scarce and expensive when you're not in the uk, it easily make it unaffordable. G gets all points checked until major parts are needed. Can't afford the parts. Fj parts are easy to find here in Indonesia, able, but not quite comfortable. So i figured I'm gonna make it more comfortable, more space, and saves on the gas. For fairness, I'd chose a d90 if I'm in UK, G in germany, and Jeep in the US. I don't like to scratch my head for parts. I drove a chevy k5 blazer when i was in the US. So my hats off to you guys who goes after FJ40 in the US.
Shoot, I hit a full page already, no wonder wife not interested in hearing FJ stuffs. ok more pics less talking:
Step 1: Buy an FJ
BJ is so pricey here is not worth it. Don’t like B engine that much, and plan to change it to 12ht.
The ads shows this (’81 fj40, 2f, 3speed, all stock):
There was a big flood in my area when I was a kid. I can't remember how high the water was, but the residents were running away for safety. We were about the last few families who left the area. My dad’s sedan obviously couldn’t make it, so we planned on getting out of the area with the delivery pickup truck. Gas engine made it stopped shortly after leaving, and so we had to get out by foot. And so we did take our thousands little steps in the midst of eerily quiet neighborhood… until there was a wave from the only passing car. It's an fj40 or more likely a bj40, and my dad gave him a holler for help. The driver kept going until my dad screamed his name. Apparently he knew the guy, and It was his not so distant relative. I knew the face, he came to our house like every two months.
We planned to go to a relative house by hitchhiking a trailer truck, and all we needed was to get to the main road. And that moron didn't want to give us a ride for whatever freaking reasons. Anyway not only did I learned about selfish101 lesson there, but I also learned about offroading cars there. That car is just triple awesome in my book. When the flood was gone, the flood survival plans were gone too. But we kept getting this flood now and then. Fast forward we still have the freaking flood, but now, I gotta take my elderly parents, wife and two little boys to safety. So here is my life long dream to build up a rig that could take us out of the flood.
Btw, this is what I do to my car, doesn't mean it is safe though I believe so. And so please don't use it as a guideline to build up yours. Point is I'm no expert and I'm not afraid to make mistakes (knock on the wood). Life is boring without some experiments and mistakes, don't you think? Learned a lot from IH8MUD threads, hope I could contribute someway somehow.
The 3 points that I keep in mind are: reliable, able, and comfort. The top 3 cars for me are fj40, mercedes g-class, and land rover defender. Imho, D90 is very able, but not ergonomic for a 5’8”, and not reliable. Parts are scarce and expensive when you're not in the uk, it easily make it unaffordable. G gets all points checked until major parts are needed. Can't afford the parts. Fj parts are easy to find here in Indonesia, able, but not quite comfortable. So i figured I'm gonna make it more comfortable, more space, and saves on the gas. For fairness, I'd chose a d90 if I'm in UK, G in germany, and Jeep in the US. I don't like to scratch my head for parts. I drove a chevy k5 blazer when i was in the US. So my hats off to you guys who goes after FJ40 in the US.
Shoot, I hit a full page already, no wonder wife not interested in hearing FJ stuffs. ok more pics less talking:
Step 1: Buy an FJ
BJ is so pricey here is not worth it. Don’t like B engine that much, and plan to change it to 12ht.
The ads shows this (’81 fj40, 2f, 3speed, all stock):
