What did you do to your Cruiser today?

[Alan "Ace" Brown]

While down in Baja my alternator took a dump. And this only 11 months after the original was replaced. Local mechanics sourced one from a junked Tacoma and so far it's working fine. Very frustrating to have two alternators die less than a year apart. And why in Baja?

I had to swap batteries out from the trailer then limp to the next town and place myself at the mercy of these two mechanics who knew virtually no English. But after two days of waiting and worrying they got it fixed.




...via IH8MUD app

 

[RustbombFJ40]

That's bad luck. Did it go in the same manner as the other one?

 

[Alan "Ace" Brown]

That's bad luck. Did it go in the same manner as the other one?

Yeh, pretty much. The first notification that I had a problem was the airbag warning light which I don't recall seeing last time. But the CEL followed and more lights later. Had no choice but to keep going until power started dropping off. Swapped in the trailer battery and made it to the repair shop.


...via IH8MUD app

 

[Alan "Ace" Brown]

Just added an Ultraguage to the FJ. Simple plug and play but the menu options are a little bewildering. Showed me getting 21 mpg average on first trip but it was all downhill from Cedaredge to Austin. Fun toy.

 

[RyanR]

I replaced my interior LED's from "The other Mud Vendor" with some PFRAN LED's. The PFRAN LED's are at least 50% brighter but they are very blue. I would say 6500k color temp vs. 5000k on the old ones. I am replacing the previous LED's because the barely glow when the temps drop below 20 degrees and the rear LED had started flickering even during ideal operating temps.

I also installed the PFRAN reverse LED's. I haven't had a chance to actually use them at night but they seem like they are brighter at the expense of being a spot beam vs. a flood beam.

 

[RyanR]

Well I ordered a new passenger side mirror. Truck was parked on the street for a couple hours while I ate dinner and came back to find the glass inexplicably missing and the mirror housing smashed. The A-Pillar is also dented, looks like someone side swiped it. I am considering leaving the A-PIllar as is, the damage is pretty minor and I was considering a snorkel anyways which would conceal the dent.

I have a lot of parts stacking up and no time to finish projects. I have a 50" Curved LED light bar for the roof, I need to wire it up and make some mounting brackets for it. I have a couple small LED pods I am going to mount on the back of the roof rack to iluminate my trailer when I am loading/unloading it at night. I also have a Bluesea water tight box and a locking 12v outlet as well as a dual USB outlet that I intend to mount inside my RTT with a quick disconnect so it can be easily removed with the tent. Been thinking about picking up some Lifetime LED H4/9003 bulbs, a friend of mine is using them in his mini truck and I was impressed. Anyone else have experience with these?

http://www.purefjcruiser.com/lights...eadlights-for-fj-cruiser-20072014-p-5154.html

The PFRAN interior and reverse lights have been flawless so far, very happy with them.

Has anyone added roof lighting to their FJ? I am trying to figure out the best way to run my wiring, it looks like the A-Pillar panel doesn't have enough clearance underneath to run the quantity and guage I will need, I don't really want to drill a hole right through the roof but it looks like that may be my best option.

 

[john657]

I was getting slop in the steering of my FJ40 and double checked all the tie rod ends. I just completed a full frame off restoration which included all new tie rod ends. I also checked the center link while my oldest son turned the steering wheel side to side and I found excessive lateral movement in the shaft of the center link. I had tightened the adjuster cap as tight as it would go and still had too much lateral play.

I had a rebuild kit on the shelf and decided to take care of it. After disassembly and comparing the old parts to the new parts, I could not see any noticeable wear in the old parts. After reassembly with the new parts, all the lateral play was gone.

 

[Alan "Ace" Brown]

Added an Ultra-gauge a while back. Neat instrument that keeps track of much data. Best thing is the ease of deleting engine codes due to bad cats. Also fun to watch the fuel flow vary from about 3 mpg to 70+.

 

[RyanR]

Added an Ultra-gauge a while back. Neat instrument that keeps track of much data. Best thing is the ease of deleting engine codes due to bad cats. Also fun to watch the fuel flow vary from about 3 mpg to 70+.

Ace, are you still liking your Columbus? Any regrets or anything you would have done differently? I saw your thread about swapping the stock mattress for the Exped pad. I am thinking about selling the Hannibal tent to a buddy and switching to the Columbus as well. The travel cover on the Hannibal is now falling apart and needs to be replaced but the tent itself is still in fantastic condition and has served me very well over many trips these past few years. The only thing that has me looking at the Columbus is me liking to sleep in and then I'm scrambling to pack up the tent while everyone is waiting for me to hit the trails. A trailer would solve this dilemma as well but living in an apartment downtown Denver now and I don't have a second parking spot for it.

 

[Alan "Ace" Brown]

No doubt the Columbus is a lot faster and the reason I got it. No regrets or issues. The zipper on the door I use most got rough from too much use. New slider and it's fine now. I do wish the zippers were a little more robust.

I am considering building a solid topper on my trailer. If I do the Columbus will be for sale. Be aware this is the small model with mattress at 48x76. You might find it cramped but it won't overhang the FJ roof.

 

[RyanR]

No doubt the Columbus is a lot faster and the reason I got it. No regrets or issues. The zipper on the door I use most got rough from too much use. New slider and it's fine now. I do wish the zippers were a little more robust.

I am considering building a solid topper on my trailer. If I do the Columbus will be for sale. Be aware this is the small model with mattress at 48x76. You might find it cramped but it won't overhang the FJ roof.

I may well be interested if it's something you are planning on doing before next summer. I've already sold the Hannibal at this point. As an aside I finally gave up trying to get ahold of Hannibal or any of their resellers. Contacted Tepui they were super helpful gave them the dimensions and a new (Tepui Branded) cover for the Hannibal was in the mail same day.

 

[RyanR]

So I haven't had time to get to any of my big projects but I did get one small one knocked out this evening. Picked up some Rockford Fosgate speakers for the dash and door. Nothing fancy but after seeing the stock door speakers while replacing my passenger side mirror I figured anything had to be better!

Punch P132 3.5" Coaxial Speakers - DASH
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001P86SP2...UTF8&colid=3NG5QKJ9P4R4L&coliid=IF79QTP8596KV

Punch P1692 6x9" Coaxial Speakers - DOOR
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001P86SE8...TF8&colid=3NG5QKJ9P4R4L&coliid=I122YNVMTWPGG7



Install is very straight-forward. Use a small flat head screw driver and pop the dash panels above the speakers off. There are 4 fittings holding them in place, they pop out very easily, just make sure you pull straight up so you don't damage them or snap them off.

Once you have the panel removed you will see the stock speaker and bracket. Just unbolt the bracket and the speaker comes out with it. (In this photo the bracket bolts have been removed) You will need to unclip the stock speaker harness to pull it all the way out.

I then cut the Toyota speaker harness off the stock speaker and soldered it to my new speaker.

Now the new speaker is quite a bit larger than the stock speaker. It is in fact quite a bit larger than the bracket holding the stock speaker as well. What I did (And this seems to be the common approach) is re-use one of the stock bracket bolts and then just used a self tapping screw to anchor the other side. The speakers ended up sitting nice and flat and are quite secure with no rattles.

The only other thing you will need to do is remove the cone from the bottom of the dash panel. It is just a plastic peice attached with some little plastic rivets. A couple snips with some dykes and they come right off. Once done, snap the panel back on and enjoy.

I would reccomend installing one side and then turning on the stereo and setting the Fade to the Front and then using the balance to compare L/R stock vs. new. The sound quality difference is astonishing!

This took me a solid hour to install in my apartment building garage including two trips up the elevator to solder the harnesses. I was also taking my time and doing a little trial and error. In a proper garage with everything on hand you could easily knock this out in half that time.

 

[Alan "Ace" Brown]

I am very serious! Today I just purchased a 2015 4Runner and my FJ and trailer are for sale. I have yet to establish details or prices but will do soon.

 

[RustbombFJ40]

Nice. I looked at them but couldn't get over the price tag.

 

[RyanR]

I am very serious! Today I just purchased a 2015 4Runner and my FJ and trailer are for sale. I have yet to establish details or prices but will do soon.

Very cool! Congrats on the new ride! Let me know when you decide on the tent... I may be interested in the whole trailer package too.

 

[bluecruiser]

I am very serious! Today I just purchased a 2015 4Runner and my FJ and trailer are for sale. I have yet to establish details or prices but will do soon.

Planning to build it up like your FJ? Or are you on to different stuff now? Congrats on a nice new rig.

 

[Alan "Ace" Brown]

It's already into a build; tires and lift so far. I don't plan to go much beyond the mild level. Never did enjoy rock crawling. My goal now will be more expedition style trips. Three in the planning right now. Devils Highway in March, Copper Canyon in May and Idaho, Oregon, Nevada in June.

The trailer is posted for sale in the MUD classifieds now.

 

[RyanR]

Got my Tepui Autana Ruggdized tent installed. Haven't had a chance to take it out and use it, the annex hasn't even made it out of its bag yet. Hopefully I'll have a chance to remedy that soon!

Also just placed an order for some Bilstein 6112 Front Coilovers, 5160 Rear Piggyback Shocks and Toytec RCC2.0 Superflex Rear Coils. I can't wait to receive them and promptly toss them on my giant pile of parts I am hoarding but have no time to install!

 

[Alan "Ace" Brown]

Got sliders on, custom fabbed at Rockworx in Montrose. Also painted front "bumper".

Ace

 

[RyanR]

Well, I finally head some free time and got a couple projects done.

Tore apart the front doors and installed about 10sq ft of Stinger Roadkill in each. I did the outside skins, inside skins and a few parts of the plastic skin as well. Really made a nice difference. Knocking on the outside of the door now sounds like knocking on a tree trunk, it sounds incredibly solid and really cut down the road noise in the cabin. I plan to continue this madness and do the front footwells, drop the headliners and do the front half of the roof (I get a fair bit of lightbar, roofrack, tent, wind noise) and also door the rear wheel wells and quarter panels. I am impressed with the stuff, very easy to apply and no odor.

While I had the doors apart I went ahead and cut the stock speakers out of their plastic frame and dropped some Rockford Fosgate Punch 6x9's in to match my 3.5" dash speakers. Very straight forward, cut the speaker out with a utility knife, used a pair of dikes to cut the plastic support basket off the back and then re-used the plastic frame. The new speakers dropped in like a glove and I just soldered up the terminals to the stock harness so they would remain a plug and play install/removal.

And my big project. Repainting my bumper and installing a Smittybilt XRC 9500lb winch. A bit of a pain. I had to clock the clutch about 30 degrees so the free spool lever poked out the access hole in my bumper, and also had to cut a notch in that access hole so the handle would clear. What was supposed to be 2 hours turned into a couple days of painting and grinding. The best part was after 3 coats of paint I went to assemble and realize the holes for the fairlead were too small and had to be drilled out. Not a big deal since they are covered but I put a couple more coats of paint on them to prevent any rusting. I'm quite pleased with the final results however.

After dealing with a couple vendors trying to get a set of the Bilstein 6112 Coilovers and 5160 rear piggyback shocks and continued issue with availability I decided to scrap that plan and give Iron Man's Foam Cell Pro system a try. A little bit of an impulse buy so we will see how it works out for me.

For the curious:
http://excopoffroad.com/?product=iron-man-foam-cell-pro-suspension-system-for-fj-cruiser

I hope everyone is getting out and enjoying the summer!