Went and saw the new TT FJ cruiser yesterday

[bryan89]

after work, i stopped by the toyota dealer.
they got their first 2013 Trail teams fj cruiser in that morning.

I looked around inside and saw some things i liked and some i didnt.
up front the gear shifter and 4wd knobs now are black anodized. it looks much better.

I see that they added the crawl control knob to the headliner much like the 4runner system...i dont know if its worth a crap or not. someone please chime in if you know.

A-trac is still in the same location under the radio area. but they moved the locker switch up to the ceiling with the crawl control.

the one i saw didnt have the subwoofer, but seemed fine without it. loud as crap!

One thing I do not like is the rear seat head rests. they made them HUGE compared to the 2010 models i have been looking at. They make the blind spot even worse. The sales lady tried to tell me that the fold down...which they do, but the fold forward so its impossible to sit back there with them folded down. and they dont go in backwards...i tried.

so that is dumb.


the other thing i dont like is that they went back to the 2010 style trd wheels with the fake beadlock ring that is polished aluminum looking....why would you put something shiney on a completely blacked out and gray truck i dont know. to me the wheels from last year's TT would have looked much better. They were the ones with the wide flat black spokes...

priced at $35,900

anyways, just thought i would share.
open to any comments and criticism as I am hoping to buy one soon.

 

[Sam Stewart]

The crawl control is bad ass. Look up some vids of it on YouTube. You set what type of terrain you're on and it does the throttle and everything on it's own, all you have to do is steer.

That being said, hardcore wheelers like us may not want the truck to do everything. But, are you really going to take your brand new $36k truck and wheel it hard?

I personally really like the FJs. I would not own one for 2 reasons though. 1. I have a baby and the half door would be a huge pain to get her in and out. 2. The blind spots are horrible. I took one to Atlanta for a meeting a couple years ago and that thing was a nightmare on 285.

 

[Delancy]

That being said, hardcore wheelers

Hardcore wheeling and FJC are antonymous, regardless of crawl control.

Capable, yes, but takes a fair amount of cash to nominally increase overall capability, that won't get you too much further down the trail than stock.

 

[bryan89]

@ sam,

the crawl control knob i saw in the fj didnt have a "terrain type" setting.


basically, it was a truck on a rock, and the knob was to control the speed, from slow to fast.

i know what ur talking about though with the 4runner...they have settings for sand and snow i think..not just rock.


as far as the blind spots....i dont care. i want it. and i dont have a baby....so if thats the worst of it......SOLD. plus that is what moms drive mini vans for anyway

 

[bryan89]

@ delancy,
the capability of the fj cruiser is fine the way it is for what i would use it for...it would be 95 percent daily driver with occasional weekend trips of light wheeling and camping...

i would transiition my 4runner into something a little more hardcore and try to keep the fj mostly stock, less a bumper or two and some aggressive meats...

 

[Sam Stewart]

Yeah I was just looking at the new car features and it looks like they went to a single knob/dial on the FJC. It's just based on speed now instead of different modes like it was before.

 

[bryan89]

hey,
does anyone with an 2010 ish or earlier fj cruiser know what the width of the rear headrest mount holes are?

If i decide to go with the new one, I was thinking of ditching those stupid active head rests and going back with the low profile 2010 and earlier ones that match the middle rear seat.

But i wanted to make sure they would fit..

Sam, can you pull that up in the parts database somewhere, or maybe you have one behind the counter to compare with?

Thanks in advance fellas,
b

 

[Delancy]

I will measure and depict in a few hours.


Would do now, but relegated to driving the POS 6.0 F350 this morning.

 

[Delancy]

@ delancy,
the capability of the fj cruiser is fine the way it is for what i would use it for...it would be 95 percent daily driver with occasional weekend trips of light wheeling and camping...

The FJC defined, but will add this.

After having made every attempt at turning the FJC into something it's not, in my opinion, the one "mod" that the FJC can benefit from the most is TC swap for lower gearing.

That said, the crawl control, if it's as capable at controlling speed using the brakes as a Lefty or Atlas, may be just the thing it "needs".

 

[Mtbcoach]

X2 ^^, best money spent hands down was on the Lefty.

If the "crawl control" is anything like what I've driven in the 4Rnr, it worked well. Not the same as a Lefty but not bad for an option from Toyota...

 

[Sam Stewart]

hey,
does anyone with an 2010 ish or earlier fj cruiser know what the width of the rear headrest mount holes are?

If i decide to go with the new one, I was thinking of ditching those stupid active head rests and going back with the low profile 2010 and earlier ones that match the middle rear seat.

But i wanted to make sure they would fit..

Sam, can you pull that up in the parts database somewhere, or maybe you have one behind the counter to compare with?

Thanks in advance fellas,
b

Unfortunately, not that easy. If I look one up for a '13 it's just going to give me a part number. Same for the '10. No cross reference available through Toyota.

X2 ^^, best money spent hands down was on the Lefty.

If the "crawl control" is anything like what I've driven in the 4Rnr, it worked well. Not the same as a Lefty but not bad for an option from Toyota...

The system looks to be the same as what's in the newer 4Runner and 200 series. The only difference is that they went to one dial that controls speed and have "recommended" speeds for each type of terrain.

 

[Delancy]

Outer



Center





I'd grab one out of a used on the lot, and test fit, if you can't deal with them.

They have some funky curves around the seat backs.

 

[bryan89]

thanks man,
yeah i thought of the center thing to. its definitely smaller. but i am willing to bet the width of the outer ones is the same year to year.

i will have to try that this weekend.
thanks

 

[1911]

hey,
does anyone with an 2010 ish or earlier fj cruiser know what the width of the rear headrest mount holes are?

There are two different sizes; the outer two are the same width apart but the middle head rest has posts that are closer than the other two. If I had my keys handy I would go measure for you, but I'm out in the shop/office and the keys are in the house. Maybe in the morning?

X2 ^^, best money spent hands down was on the Lefty.

I'll third that. Love my lefty; low gears rule!

 

[tonopah1234]

I purchase a 2013 TT, and really like it. Crawl control is a nice feature.

 

[islander671]

I purchase a 2013 TT, and really like it. Crawl control is a nice feature.

Can you post some pics of it?

 

[OlyWaFJ]

For those of you who continue to whine & complain about the FJC's "blind spots" after reading a review article in a magazine written by someone who's shoes have never seen the dirt let alone the tires on their car (which is probably something without an engine, running off of batteries and 20" tires), man up and deal with it! Every FJC since it's release in the Spring of 2006 has had two LARGE mirrors located on the side of each door, learn to USE them! Adjust the mirrors so you barely see the sky or the side of your rig and the 'blind spots' magically disappear! If you are still uncomfortable with the use of these magic mirrors take your FJC to a curvy dirt road somewhere that has some elevation to it and drive the FJC in reverse only using the outside mirrors for a mile or so. Problem solved, now stop your whining, & go buy an FJ! Hell these new ones even allow you to use the A-Trac and the E-locker at the same time! I had to wait 3 months for my FJ to finally arrive on August 26, 2006 I have since driven it over 105k miles so I have a bit of experience behind the wheel with these rigs.

 

[Delancy]

Hell these new ones even allow you to use the A-Trac and the E-locker at the same time!

There's a hack for that.

My 08 has always been capable of and no hack has been done.

Since no slippage is detected in the rear, only pulses the front brakes, so similar to locking.

 

[elkaholic]

The system looks to be the same as what's in the newer 4Runner and 200 series. The only difference is that they went to one dial that controls speed and have "recommended" speeds for each type of terrain.

If that is the case, there are two modes for the rotary switch (based upon my 200). On selects terrain and dials in the A-Trac for the amount of allowed wheel slip. On the 200, there is a separate switch that you depress that gets CRAWL control setup. Then the dial is for speed.

My $0.02 which is all I have left after buying a 200 ..

 

[Sam Stewart]

My $0.02 which is all I have left after buying a 200 ..

Yeah I know the controls are different but it looks like the operation of the system is essentially the same. They are taking some control away from the driver going to one dial tho. The system does the thinking for you and based on your chosen speed, adjusts for diff terrain.