Worst FJ40 Upgrade Ever

[FloridaLife]

Looking at the flip side of the coin from the thread "Best FJ40 Upgrade Ever", does anyone want to share if they tried something and ended up regretting it, and would not recommend anyone else try it?

 

[B y r o n]

I did this years ago and regret doing it. I wanted to carry a couple 5 gal cans and replace the factory tire carrier which was not great with 33x12.5-15 tires. I picked up a tire carrier that mounted to the body. Fast forward a bunch of years and I not only had cracks in the carrier mounting plates but also had cracks in the body panels. DO NOT ever buy a body mounted tire carrier. So far that has been my worst upgrade/modification. DON'T DO IT!

UPDATE: Pictures added:

 

[bikersmurf]

#1 on the list done by the PO’s PO… SUNROOF! I’d be surprised if was ever waterproof. 40 roofs flex too much for the seal to hold.

#2 Fibreglass over rust as a repair. Garbage. Traps water and leads to more rust.

#3 poorly done paint prep. Nothing worse than red confetti when you pressure wash the truck. So long shiny paint.

 

[FloridaLife]

Looking at the flip side of the coin from the thread "Best FJ40 Upgrade Ever", does anyone want to share if they tried something and ended up regretting it, and would not recommend anyone else try it?

Falling into the "What was the previous owner thinking?" category - upon arrival mine had:

1. Headlights mounted to the front fenders, run to a toggle switch inside. They also have evidently put two additional headlights on top of the roof and coming through it making a hole about the size of a dime to mount them, and two more additional headlights done the same way at the back. They must have been super afraid of the dark! Maybe they wanted to see if the vampires or the zombies were coming.

2. As you can see from the attached photo, they also had a super gigantic front bumper grill guard, I guess so that when they did see the zombies and the vampires coming they could run over them.

3. They must have gotten a rattle can of black paint and gone crazy with it. Spraying the vents on the side of the engine compartment and all the hinges black.

4. A CB radio mounted to the fiberglass top, creating yet more spots for it to leak.

5. And last but not least, they put the left and right side rear view mirrors from a 1969 Chevy pickup (or at least they look just like the ones that were on my 69 Chevy pickup) on in place of the originals.

See the attached pic to see the ugly duckling, which hopefully soon will turn into a beautiful swan.

 

[Chamba]

Worst 'upgrade' I see over and over on 40s: an automatic transmission.

Followed closely by tail lights mounted in the rear quarter panels like a Cheep.

There's a 40 which fits both of these fails on BaT right now.

 

[OGBeno]

Agreed. Auto tranny sucks ballllllz.

Shackle reversal= dumb in 1989 and dumb in 2026

Skyjacker suspension: 1989 was a good year for things other than suspensions for a Land Cruiser

Anyone who drills into the dash boards.

Dual shocks in the front= gayyyyyyyyeeeeeeeee.

12.50 tires

 

[diesellibrarian]

People need to stop doing this to their 40 series Land Cruisers:

 

[airon23]

Nothing too specific, but probably just the use of any aftermarket parts. It's always better going with OEM.

 

[FJBen]

 

[MDH33]

This beauty was on Facebook marketplace awhile back. I had to grab some pics for threads just like this one.

 

[1911]

View attachment 4072169

View attachment 4072170

Guilty of using those wire taps once, when I was in a hurry.

 

[sadovnik]

So far I agree with all the "Upgrades" mentioned above. I just want to add one that drives my OCD through the roof and it is the cutting of the rear wheel wells to add fender flares. Yuck!

 

[Rock40]

Ummmm, I’ll be unpopular. It was doing a full rebuild on an ‘69 F engine. Should not have spent my time and money on that

 

[MDH33]

So far I agree with all the "Upgrades" mentioned above. I just want to add one that drives my OCD through the roof and it is the cutting of the rear wheel wells to add fenders flares. Yuck!

You mean like these?

 

[Rock40]

You mean like these?

View attachment 4072261

Gosh dang! There is so much to take in there! Somebody spent a LOT of time fabricating that stuff

 

[sadovnik]

You mean like these?

View attachment 4072261

Maybe at some point that was a dualie...front and rear? Bonus points for the extra creative hood scoop, if that's what it was supposed to be.

 

[cbmontgo]

Tube bumpers.

Old 350 conversions.

Prisoner steering wheels.

Bestop anything.

Autozone tachometers mounted on the steering column.

Ain't Skeered decals.

Rounded rear fenders a la CJ-5.

 

[65swb45]

Tube bumpers.

Old 350 conversions.

Prisoner steering wheels.

Bestop anything.

Autozone tachometers mounted on the steering column.

Ain't Skeered decals.

Rounded rear fenders a la CJ-5.

The old Kayline was actually worse than the Bestop. Upper door hinge plate held to the windshield frame with sheet metal screws and a lower hinge post that you had to drill a hole in the flat of the rocker panel for.

But what about the few inches of door ahead of the lower hinge post? In the curve of the rocker panel? All fabric…that was held to the A pillar with snaps.

I don’t regret drilling extra holes in any of my dashes.

 

[igotta40]

Not a huge regret, or the worst upgrade, but putting on a tachometer was a waste of time. Oh well, it was the 80’s, days of my youth…..

 

[pb4ugo]

I've done some of the mods mentioned also, and still don't regret doing of them. I had a reason to do them, which still remains. Fender flares were a thing back in the 80's, but once I started doing hard tightly wooded trails in Appalachia, they were quickly peeled off.