School me on FJ Cruisers please (1 Viewer)

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I bought mine in August of '06 and drove it until April of '14. I kept it stock until the summer/fall of '08 running some of the back roads here. Then I went to the Summit in Ouray and Moab afterwards and was bitten by the off road bug again. I hadn't been to Moab in 4 years and I missed it a lot. I came back home and in I think August I started on the mods with a 3" suspension, bigger tires, front and rear bumpers, skids, sliders, dual battery, winch, and some lights and then the next year I added the swing away can holder in the rear, changed out the rear springs and went from WE 2.0 shocks to the 2.5 version. It was a great rig and no problems with only the normal maintenance on it until around 2012. I lost a couple of injectors, a sensor, and a primary catalytic converter/exhaust manifold. I got it fixed and it was good again for awhile. I had been put on short and then long term disability and after having worked tons of overtime for several years I was bored silly so I started exploring all around the area here and down into the corner where WY, CO, and UT meet. I put about 25,000 miles on that year just on the dirt roads and another 10,000 on the pavement. I started having a noise and thought it was the tires which were shot and so I put new ones on and then I started having a rub on the drivers side upper control arm. I ended up having the whole front end rebuilt and it was like new again. I don't know for sure what caused the problem with the injectors, but I'm pretty sure my front end problems were from all the dirt road driving I did that year. It was a great little vehicle and I always had people stopping to say hi and ask about it. They were also pretty popular around this area for awhile and at one time I counted 30 of them in the area which doesn't have all that many people. I'm in the biggest county and the total population is like 43K and most of those are in two towns that are 15 miles apart. Sadly I traded mine off on a new Tundra in April of '14. With my bad back it was getting hard to climb into it with the lift and I really couldn't do the stuff like Moab anymore which is what I built it for so it was stuck doing dirt roads. I've thought about buying another one when I pay the Tundra off and then keeping it closer to stock and having it as a second vehicle and fun truck. I would recommend them. Oh an when I traded it I had a little over 203,000 miles.
 
I found an automatic 2007 with 169k and the owner is a mechanic. Asking around 13k, looks very clean.

He said he changed the timing chain at 165k. Sounded odd, so I asked him why and he said "It had a timing correlation code and Toyota issued a TSB on some of the chain components so I went ahead and had everything under the timing cover replaced with the proper updated components. The repair is under warranty for 3 years/36,000 miles and the warranty is transferable. The vehicle ran fine with the correlation code, however, I wanted to be sure the vehicle was in great mechanical shape before selling it with all check engine lights out."

I guess that makes sense.
 
Also, here is some eye candy. A 2017 FJ Cruiser for you guys.
2017 FJ.png
 
Drive a 4 Runner in comparison (Same Chassis + Usable back Seat & Usable Rear Window)

FJ's go for some crazy $$$$ used.
 
Drive a 4 Runner in comparison (Same Chassis + Usable back Seat & Usable Rear Window)

FJ's go for some crazy $$$$ used.

I think if I can find a decent used one for $12k I'd be good, but I hear you. I like the compact size. Is it the same as a 4runner in length?
 
FJ 184"
4 Runner 191"
 
Thanks, not enough difference to matter, but a 2007 4runner looks dated already and is still around $10-12k. I think I'd rather have an FJ.

Edit: I take that back, the 2007 4runners look pretty good still, but like the style of the FJ personally.
 
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Every time I go to the dealer for service they want to buy mine.
I told them they cannot afford it, plus why would I want to trade it in or sell it since I have built it up since July of 2006 to the way I want it.
 
Mine dealer does the same. I bought it new in '08 and like an idiot I sold it in '11. After a 5 year search I found it for sale again about 3hrs away. It had a leaky front axle but otherwise was every bit as solid as it was whe I sold it. You can't go wrong with these things. Buy one and don't look back.
 
/////the pre-2010 FJ Cruisers can accommodate the TRD supercharger./////
Besides the obvious question of "which racetrack are you heading for?",
would the supercharger be a worthwhile $5k+ investment for off roading up a super-narrow trail at 2 MPH ?
I fail to see where a supercharger "fits" any off road obstacles, especially as it is a "power-robber" in low rpm situations.
I go back to my earlier post, if you want an FJ buy a 2010+ model and don't worry about the supercharger :)
If you like superchargers, go buy a car already fitted with one from the factory.It will have a warranty.:)
Nothing wrong with superchargers, but they don't really fit with off-roaders on obstacle courses or real off-road trails, but thats mho
 
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Anymore info on the timing chain TSB?
 
Looking in the Blue room, seems some info on timing chain problems may be tensioner related. The best thing to check is that all the recall work has been done, especially the seatbelt anchors. If a seller does not have paperwork from a dealer assume it wasn't performed.
 
/////the pre-2010 FJ Cruisers can accommodate the TRD supercharger./////
Besides the obvious question of "which racetrack are you heading for?",
would the supercharger be a worthwhile $5k+ investment for off roading up a super-narrow trail at 2 MPH ?
I fail to see where a supercharger "fits" any off road obstacles, especially as it is a "power-robber" in low rpm situations.
I go back to my earlier post, if you want an FJ buy a 2010+ model and don't worry about the supercharger :)
If you like superchargers, go buy a car already fitted with one from the factory.It will have a warranty.:)
Nothing wrong with superchargers, but they don't really fit with off-roaders on obstacle courses or real off-road trails, but thats mho

I wasn't advocating he get a pre-2010, just pointing out a difference.

A couple points to make though, the TRD supercharger is a Toyota product and is warranted when installed by Toyota.

I have one that was paid for by the PO of the vehicle, I wouldn't have paid for it but was happy to buy a truck that already had one. It has about 60k miles since the install and it has been very reliable.

I use the FJC off road frequently. On steep hills where power is needed it is great. In the lower rpm situations it doesn't rob any noticeable amount of power. Even rock crawling there are sometimes situations where the rpms get up there high enough to get the supercharger going and in that case the extra torque is nice.

Obviously there are better mods to improve offroad capabilities, but I've been happy with mine. And man it is fun when you can open it up. This is my DD so even as much as I wheel it, it gets most of its miles and seat time on pavement.
 
///TRD supercharger is a Toyota product and is warranted when installed by Toyota.///
Slightly off-topic but I had to research the street legal nature of this for my home state. Ca does allow this supercharger to be smog compliant. Thats good news. In case anyone is interested it is a CARB Exec order 425-49 . Two SC's are available, one for 07-10 FJ's and one for 10-14.
 
The only TRD supercharger that was available was for the '07-'09 FJ with the older engine. They never made one for the '10 and up. They also discontinued them through Toyota about a year ago for the FJ, Tacoma, and Tundra. They are now sold under the Magnuson name which is who made them all along only now they don't have TRD name on them. They still don't have one for the newer FJ the last I've seen and just have a note on their site that they are working on them.

As far as people using them off road there are several on the FJ forum that wheel with them regularly and there have been very few problems reported with them. Using a little restraint and not getting on the throttle all the time people have gotten better mileage than stock, have a better experience towing, etc. so pretty much a good addition if one could afford it. If they were installed by Toyota they were covered under warranty. Now Magnuson has it's own warranty for them.
 
///They never made one for the '10 and up.///
Thats interesting, Magnuson name did come up but Ca does allow them on 10-14 vehicles regardless of whats available now since they were previously tested by CARB. Probably not an upgrade I would go with but thats interesting news on SC's. Probably for a future post but would be interesting to know what everyone thinks is the best $5k upgrade? I recently spent $4k on Walker-Evans suspension and KM2's and found that to be a great upgrade.
 

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