Corey's 2007 FJ Cruiser Build-Up Thread

[Corey]

I had two different type of awnings on my last tent trailer I had, and they are nice for shade to sit under, or to get out of the rain. Saw this brand mentioned in a few threads on a few Toyota forums, so I decided to give it a try. It also came with two nice camping chairs, but I am not enclosing pictures of those since those are not a mod to the rig. You can view the chairs at the website. They are very nice Owner Fernando was a great guy to work with, and also made me some custom mounts to attach to the awning so it would attach to my Yakima crossbars. You can see how the mount attaches to the two channels on the rear of the awning, and also how it attaches to the crossbars in the first two pictures below. Setup is a little easier than take down, same as with my tent. But one person can do this easily. It is also free standing since it has two supporting horizontal tubes, but you will want to use the enclosed stakes to stake down the white rope loops you see at the bottoms of the vertical tubes, and also attach the two rope guy lines to the white rope loops at the top of the vertical tubes and stake them out. This will be better for any wind that will kick up. But I had it setup with a light hot breeze outside for around 20 minutes a bit ago, and it was very stable. I am also enclosing a video that shows just how fast you can deploy the Maggiolina AirLand roof top tent. It is easy, in fact too easy. YouTube Video Links: Camping Lab

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[BT17R]

Really well thought out mods (rooftop tent and awning), nice job!

My entrepreneurial side would take your rig with a full freezer and go to the trail head or boat launch with a magnetic sign reading "Ice Cream $3".

Very cool setup, Corey. You're an FJ ambassador, no doubt.

[Corey]

He he, thanks Bob.
That would mean adding my CBs PA horn I bought two years ago that I have not got around to installing yet.

I could then play ice cream truck music over it

Loaded up the rig yesterday for the upcoming long weekend.
I have decided I am going to pursue moving the fridge to the left rear seat area.
That will make it easier to load gear.
The rig is quite packed now, but I have more room if I wanted to load stuff up higher, but then I would not be able to see out the rear window.

[Foulball]

You can see out of your rear window?

I don't even bother.

[YeloSub7]

Even though this beast isn't SAS'd (yet )This has got to be the coolest FJ in the WORLD!

[BajaTaco]

It just keeps getting better and better Corey! Nice job.

Ok, the next pics we see better be of you out camping in the boonies...

[Strap22]

You know Corey is a web wheeler.

[Corey]

Originally Posted by Foulball

You can see out of your rear window?

I don't even bother.

Even with the fridge back there, I can see out, as the fridge is lower than the ARB.

Originally Posted by YeloSub7

Even though this beast isn't SAS'd (yet )This has got to be the coolest FJ in the WORLD!

Thanks, no SAS for what I drive.
I like to keep the rubber side down

Originally Posted by BajaTaco

It just keeps getting better and better Corey! Nice job.

Ok, the next pics we see better be of you out camping in the boonies...

Thanks Chris, they should be.
I have Friday off, and I am heading out that morning to nab my site for the weekend.

I will be reviewing a lot of this gear I have bought as of late too

[Corey]

Originally Posted by strap22

You know Corey is a web wheeler.

Wheeling on my PC table is a blast

[Strap22]

Originally Posted by Corey

Wheeling on my PC table is a blast

I shouldn't be talking......I haven't been camping or wheeling since I got the 4th Gen. Hope to get out a few times before the FJ Summit. I miss sitting around the

[aviator]

web wheeler pic hahaha
I was thinking Corey you need to add some tunes to that set-up video... maybe the sax solo from the old Benny Hill show?
Taking a long long weekend eh? must be nice... We just had ours and I got stuck workin' on the Sat.

[Corey]

Tomorrow is detailing day.
It has been since last September when I last Porter Cabled the rig.
Doing the three step tomorrow with the Porter Cable:
Griots clay
Griots Machine Polish #3
Best Of Show wax.
My rig needs a detail bad.

But Sunday is where the new mod comes in.
It will take a good amount of time Sunday morning.

I have not been happy with my ARB fridge mounted to the top of my cargobox.
I can not see in the fridge for one thing, as the lid hits the ceiling when opening it.
If the fridge sat lower on the deck it would be OK.

Member kcfunke (from the big FJ forum) told me how to get the rear seat bottoms out.
Reading the manual and some info from him on how to pry off the plastic covers on the back of the bottom seat cushion, I should be able to mount my Engel Slide Lock that holds the fridge stationary to it.

If all goes well, I will have some pictures of the new location for the fridge.
This will make it so much easier to stock/raid the fridge.

Oh, and as I was taking my rear seats out, a cute girl next door said see liked my Hummer.
I had to explain to her it was a Toyota FJ Cruiser, and not a Hummer.
She drives a Ford Explorer.

She thought it was cool on the heritage of it (explained how the FJC pays homage to the the FJ 40), as she actually has seen the old FJ 40s once I explained to her they had the same type of body style as the Jeeps.

[Strap22]

Originally Posted by Corey

Oh, and as I was taking my rear seats out, a cute girl next door said see liked my Hummer.
I had to explain to her it was a Toyota FJ Cruiser, and not a Hummer.

I think you may have wax in your ears.....what she said was..................... I forgot this is PG.

[aviator]

ohhh you're going straight to the firey place for that one ... look out down there!

[Corey]

Originally Posted by strap22

I think you may have wax in your ears.....what she said was..................... I forgot this is PG.

He he he he...
She was barely legal, 18 or 19

On a sidenote Phil, I am ecstatic about the ARB fridge I bought from you.
It had been running 24/7 since last Thursday when I stocked it up for the camping trip I did not make

I had a four day weekend, and my rig sat from Thursday after work (2 PM) until Monday morning about 5:30 am when I hit the grocery store.
That is almost four full days.

The rig started right up as normal, and the dual battery switch was in the stock only battery location.
The fridge hardly uses any juice at all.
I am sure I could have pushed it to day five (Tuesday morning for work) but I had to go get vittles as my youngest son was over, and he can eat.

During the work week the yogurt drinks and vanilla milk shakes I had in the fridge I would just take them out of the fridges inventory for work all this week.

I can not say enough how COOL this ARB fridge is.
Anyone thinking about getting one of these for camping/traveling should give strap22 or trdparts4you.com a PM and line one up.
There is no comparison between this and a regular cooler.

I even used it during a power outage at home during the winter.
I already had it in the rig, and I set it to freeze mode and dumped the contents of my home freezer into it to keep from spoiling.
The fridges main compartment at home would be good enough to keep the food in it safe for a day or so, so no worries on that.
I was concerned about my freezers contents though, and the ARB fridge saved the day.

[Corey]

Originally Posted by aviator

ohhh you're going straight to the firey place for that one ... look out down there!

I will see if she wants to help wax the rig
No, I think she lives with her boyfriend there anyways.

[Strap22]

Glad to hear the fridge is doing so well. I love mine. I have used it alot and even kept ice cream in it for the weekend an it hardly draws any juice. Best investment I have ever made. No more soggy sandwiches.

[Corey]

Originally Posted by strap22

No more soggy sandwiches.

And that right there is only one of several reasons to invest in one of these.
I actually got away from ice chest coolers back around '92.
I used a Coleman 12v/110v one when camped at a state park or facility that had hookups.
That fridge though would drain a 12v battery overnight if using it that way.

And I also used (still have it in my closet) a Dometic 12v/110v/propane fridge I bought back around '92 or '93.
Same outfit that makes them for RVs, only this one was portable.
I would run it inside the tent trailer plumbed via extra hose I plumbed up to run off the tent trailers main bottle up front.
It too would drain a battery overnight if using its 12v function, and it also is bulkier than the ARB type, and it can not get as cold or freeze like the ARB one.

The ARB type is the best choice since it uses hardly any amperage.

[aviator]

I was going to ask you how the camping went but i see you did not go...

[Strap22]

He like to practice packing for a trip....I wish I had the time like Corey to practice.

I do agree with his comments on the ARB fridge. The best investment in gear I have ever made. We have a new shipment coming in so if anyone is interested send your request to info@trdparts4u.com

[Corey]

ARB fridge relocated 5-31-2008

OK, some of you may have read that I have mentioned my neighbor here before who is a weatherman for the FAA.
Most of the time he is right about the weather.

He told me it was going to rain today, the day I wanted to spend about five to six hours detailing my rig.
The local news stations said no rain today, it is coming tonight.
Well, it started raining here about 9 am just after I finished up my ARB fridge relocation project.

I was just finishing up with the mandatory snapshots and was going to vacuum out the rig and wipe the interior down of dust when it started in raining.

Anyways, below are some pictures of the fridge move.
I like it a lot better where it is now.
I can access the lid to load/unload grub, and actually see what is in there.
I still can not raise the lid all the way up to the ceiling, but I can raise it far enough to see very well inside.
There is a guy on IH8MUDs forum who has put together all the hardware for the hinge relocation kit to make the lid lift up from either side instead of from the end, and after I order that from him, I will be able to raise the lid all the way up and let it stay open.

Here is a comparison when it was mounted in the rear.



The first two pics show the seat back cover in place and then removed.
Picture three shows the Engel Slide Loc screwed down to the plastic cover.
I had to move the plate around some so it would avoid the D ring and raised hump it resides in so the plate would sit flush.
Pictures four five and six show the fridge mounted to the Slide Loc.

I drilled small pilot holes into the plastic, and after tightening the screws down, they do not contact the metal underneath.
If I was worried about needing more strength, I can get longer screws and drill the holes deeper and into the sheet metal underneath.
I also used two extra screws this time instead of four like I did when it was mounted on top of the cargo box.

This will give me more room to load my camping gear now.
For the long stuff like the Cabela's picnic table and Camp Kitchen, I will load them in from the rear door and shove it towards the passenger seat.
This should speed up the loading process quite a bit.

The best part though is being able to access my fridge much easier and see what is inside of it.

If you do not mind giving up your rear drivers side seat, this is a good way to mount your fridge.
I can still put up the passenger side rear seat with the fridge in place.
I may even put the bottom seat cushion back in too for the rear passenger side, as it is currently out right now.
But the drivers side will stay this way indefinitely.

[BT17R]

Much better now! Really opened up storage space, well done.

I'm worried about that lump sitting behind you unrestrained, though it's in a much better place lower down and closer to the FJ CG. Maybe it would be possible to rig a restraint strap using the forward floor tie-down loop and front seat cushion bracket mounting bolt.

[Corey]

I might be able to Bob.
You can see in the second picture back towards my Tupperware firstaid kit (have had that one since the 80s) a D ring on the cargobay floor.
I am sure I can rig up some turnbuckles to work with the handles on the fridge.
Or maybe even some straps.

I have some FJ Cruiser blue straps, they might do the trick and look trick at the same time

[aviator]

Only problem I see is you can't recline the driver's seat anymore... but if you were feeling sleepy [or frisky] I guess you could crank up the tent double quick...

What I might have done [creating a whole lot more work lol] would be to rebuild the drawer thingy so it was on one side of the bed {stacked} with the ARB on a slider to one side so you just slide her all the way out to get in to it kind of deal. looks good your way though...

[Corey]

I like the drawer system I have now, paid $300 for it summer of '01.
I was thinking of having a carpenter at work make me a new drawer setup with a slider for the fridge, but I would be about $500 into it.

I really like the fridge where it is now, much easier than opening the rear door.