Corey's 2007 FJ Cruiser Build-Up Thread

[Toddski]

I have to stop looking at this thread. Your gonna get me in trouble, i want one!!! I will swing by today and check it out.

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[Corey]

Originally Posted by strap22

Corey the FJ looks great. Glad we could help. You can let the cat out of the bag about the install if you want. I am sure others will be anxious to read about it.

OK
I was asked to use my FJ for some real world testing by TRDParts4U and they arranged the install with ARB.
They also arranged with a certain Toyota magazine owner to photo document the entire install for an upcoming issue.

I gotta tell you, that is one of the best shops I have been too, and the techs there of course really know what they are doing.
Great operation.

And seeing wall upon wall of ARB bumpers, Air Lockers, snorkels, ect, is enough to make a grown man cry.

Originally Posted by JJ Fan

WOW. Man Corey your FJ looks great. nice work, showed my wife the pictures and asked her if she had any last minute ideas for christmas, she replyed with ya right we just made the first payment. ha ha....

Ya gotta have the jolly fat man in the red suit bring you a few things.
Christmas mods are fun to install over the holidays.

Originally Posted by Toddski

I have to stop looking at this thread. Your gonna get me in trouble, i want one!!!
I will swing by today and check it out.

Sounds good Todd, and I have a few stickers for you.
I will be back to my main job site in about 30 minutes or so.

[Corey]

You can use this mount for your iPod, cell phone, or a GPS.
I already have a very nice iPod mount, but it is kind of in the way of my A Trac and E Locker buttons.

I may move the iPod up above now, or use this for a GPS mount depending if I can get a signal there or not.

Very easy to install.
1. Take off the plastic wing with one screw at the bottom of your stereo dash and pull it off.

2. Take the small metal piece and put it under the screw by the stereo, and mount it.

3. Put the dash plastic wing back on again.

4. Use the two small acorn nuts to put the rest of the Panavice mount to the smaller piece.

5. You can pre-mount the PortaGrip to the backing plate first like I did.

Here are some links:
FJ Cruiser Panavice mount
Model # 751372007

Panavice PortaGrip mount to put your toys in
Mode #l 702 PortaGrip

[airrikk17]

corey whats the price range for the panavice and the portagrip , i emailed the northwest saleman and havent heard back yet.

airrikk17

[Corey]

They were each around $19 to $20.
I set my iPod in it this morning to test it out, I forgot my GPS at home
I wanted to test to see if it get get a lock on the network way up in the sky or not.

Actually I kind of like having iPod up there.

[Corey]

I had one of these for the ARB bumper on my '91 4Runner.
To be honest with you, I never ran it.

The mount uses Maglites flash light mount clips used to hold their flash lights to things.
The clips bolt to the black metal plate, and your license plate does the same.
Then you push the clips over your roller fairleads to hold it in place.

I did keep it behind the passenger seat just in case I was asked by the law to put it on.
But in the four years I ran the bumper on the 4Runner, not once was I ever looked at for not having a front plate installed.

The new ARB bumper for the FJ Cruiser has two holes that you insert plastic screw hole mounts into so you can mount your stock plate to.
This will clear your fairleads for your winch.
You can see the white plastic inserts in my first photo below above the roller fairleads.

In the next two pics you can see the roller fairlead license plate holder.
The company that makes it is Kilby Enterprises.
However back then when I was inquiring about them, I found it cheaper to buy from a vendor that sold them for Kilby.
They are 4Wheeler Supply.

The plate will no doubt just reside in the FJ Cruiser until I get pulled over.
The asked where my plate is, I will let he/she know I have one and install it then.
I think they are pretty laxed around my area about having a front plate on an aftermarket bumper.

[Corey]

I wanted to have protection on my Elocker motor as I have heard they can be quite vulnerable to getting smacked by rocks/logs that you may navigate over while out on the trail.

I contacted owner Jim to see if he had one, and he said indeed he did for the Tacoma, and it also fits the FJ Cruiser to a T.
Here it is on his site.

I do not have an installed picture of it on my rig, so I am using one of Jim's from his website.
The first picture though is mine taken on my PC desk.

It goes on with three bolts that you already have that hold the motor cover in place.
If you pull the bolts out gently and do not break the gasket seal to the motor, there is no need to replace the gasket.
Simply insert the guard in place, and bolt back up.

[Christopher Strong]

Nice tool mounts on the top rack, but how are you going to reach them? Have you mounted the rear-door ladder, or just standing in the back?

I'm sure you have a solution.

I'm going to order that neat panavise mount next week!

[Corey]

The Hi-Lift one I can reach easily, and still can reach it with the OME lift.
The axe and shovel one I can reach by standing on the left rear tire.

There will be a solution though before to long to put the axe and shovel on the side like the Hi-Lift, just waiting for the product to be finished so I can test it out.
Then I will be able to reach them as easy as the Hi-Lift.

I think you will like the Panavice mount.
Right now the iPod is up there instead of in the lower mount.

[Corey]

Pretty darn cold today to be doing mods, but Santa brought me an early Christmas gift today.
Got a brand new Hitachi cordless drill, so I decided to go out and install my Ramsey Wireless Remote for the winch that I use to have installed on the '91 4Runner.

Piece of cake to install, did not even need the directions, I remembered from the last time.

Basically you mount the receiver box where you want, it needs no power of its own.
You plug in the antenna cable and mount your antenna where you want it, it has a magnetic base.

Then you plug in your winch line that goes to the control box, and the other end goes to the black receiver box.

In the pictures below you will see the parts all laid out in the first picture, the second picture shows the receiver box screwed to the firewall.
The third picture shows the antenna mounted to the ARB bumper via its magnetic base, the fourth picture shows the cable stored by the winch line, and lastly picture five shows the cable plugged into the solenoid.

I am also including a video I shot of me pulling a stuck FJ Cruiser.
Yes, it does happen sometimes, even FJs are bound to get stuck once in awhile.







Click here to view the 1.89 MB WMV format video.
Might be best to right click and save it first, then view it.

Here are some good links to some installs I had linked on my 4Runner section.
Ramsey has a nice video of it in action, and there is some real good reading on this in the other links.
The remote will work up to about 100' away.

Ramseys site with video

More info from Ramsey

Installation and testing from RockCrawler.com

I have used the remote before in the past with the 4Runner, and it sure beats holding the bigger remote that came with the winch.

[BT17R]

Nice installation, you're about ready to take on anything now.

That FJ extraction video was awesome. Just shows what proper gear in the right hands is capable of. Reminded me of the scene in 'The Gods Must Be Crazy' where the Land Rover winches itself up into a tree.

[Toddski]

Originally Posted by Corey

I am also including a video I shot of me pulling a stuck FJ Cruiser.
Yes, it does happen sometimes, even FJs are bound to get stuck once in awhile.

Your a goof
Too funny...

[Christopher Strong]

Good thing you were there to pull out the other FJ; looked pretty stuck.

I did not even think of standing on the tire. My brain must be gone.

[Corey]

Originally Posted by Toddski

Your a goof
Too funny...

Todd, I hope :xmas3: brings you a CB for Christmas.
We have a few who want to head up to Greenwater and do some snow.

[Corey]

Drove into work this morning with the Garmin in the new mount.
Useless, it can barely get a lock on the network up in the sky.
It picked up a bit, but not good enough.

I like having the iPod up there though, it is easier to reach the wheel on it to select playlists than reaching below in the other mount.

The Garmin worked great laying it on the dash in the grove of the drivers side glovebox.
I need to find a way to mount it so it points up to read it.
Kind of hard to read it this morning there with it on its side.

Found out my speedo it dead on though, it tracked with the GPS beautifully.

[Corey]

Good news for those wanting to carry a small GPS like the Garmin eTrex line.

I put the Garmin in my lower mount where the iPod use to be.



For some reason even though that mount is lower than my new dash mount, the Garmin on the way home did not skip a lock on the satellites.

Works great there.
From now on the lower mount will be for the GPS, and new upper dash mount will be for the iPod.

Although this does not hold a full size GPS like you would use to find a store or directions, it will hold the smaller GPS units that you take 4wheeling so you can capture your waypoints to put on your PC.

[airrikk17]

corey , i jsut ordered my dice i pod controller and im going to use the dice ipod mount holder too, i only have a nano, but if i ever upgrade to a reg ipod it will hook up nicely for movies on a video screen if i evergo that far .
i plan to mount the holder i nthe small tray on the center console that us 6mt guys have , ill have to do some trimming of the mount , but i tihnk it will go nicely there.

airrikk17

[Corey]

Sounds good.
Sometimes in the morning before I go into work I will cue up a music video on the iPod and watch it and have the system cranked.

Gets me pumped up for a days work

I never watch a video and drive though, bad news.

[Christopher Strong]

It's certainly the angle; the GPS signals are not very strong and are easily shielded by the roof/dash.

I'm planning to mount a GPS antenna on the vehicle; I'm debating if I want to mount it on the ARB bumper, on the hood-area between the vents, or on the roof.

[Christopher Strong]

Does anyone have any experience removing the headliner on an FJ with the side-curtain airbags???

[airrikk17]

i installed my dice ipod controller today along with the dice cradle , very nice , no loose wires hanging around for the ipod charger or link, makes it really clean. and the sound quality fro mthe ipod compared to burned disks is awesome. good choice corey.

airrikk17

[Corey]

Thanks.
Keep an eye on it though.
Many are reporting problems with the DICE unit not coming on sometimes when they start the vehicle.

If that happens, turn off your vehicle, then start it up again.

Yes, you are basically rebooting your rig to make the DICE unit work.

Sound quality is far better though than using the headphone out jack on the iPod to the aux. in jack on the dash.

[Corey]

This is purely cosmetic, but I dig it.
Ellis Precision makes a lot of cool aluminum custom stuff.
One item he has been making for the FJ Cruiser crowd is a customized battery clamp hold down.

He can make them in any color you want.
I went with clear anodized, and had YotaTech.com inscribed on it.

Below are two pictures of it.
He will be looking into the 4Runners and trucks too if anyone is interested in getting any.
But for now he has had a ton of orders from fjcruiserforums site.

The PC remotes are in the first picture to show you the size of the clamp in comparison to them.

[Corey]

I bought a new winchline from Winchline.com to replace my old one.
The old line was good still, and I will either sell it or have it made into 2x50' extensions.

Went with a new line as I was not happy with the clasp hook on the end of the line.
It has seized up on me to many times, and I really liked the safety thimble I saw on Winchline.com's website.



I put up a Tech Article in the Tech section with much more detail than I will have in this post here.

http://yotatech.com/showthread.php?t=104679

A link to the line I picked up.

[Corey]

Yep, I know, I already have some good homemade axe/shovel mounts as seen in this thread way back.
And they work great too, but I have to use a ladder to put them up inside the rack on top of the slats, kind of a pita.

I really dig the Fourtrek Hi-Lift mounts I have, and they can also be seen in this thread way back.

Luke at Fourtrek released a dual mount that can hold two Quick Fists rubber mounts, and each set will bolt onto his modular aluminum rings.
The rings for the FJ Cruisers rack are sized at 1.75".

For a change I decided to mount the setup on the rear.
I can easily reach the shovel and axe by opening the door, stepping on my Warn hitch/D ring shackle receiver, then stepping up on top of the bumper.

The first few pics show the rings 24" apart, as I had emailed Bandi how far apart his were, but his shovel has a straight handle, and not the D ring like mine, so I had to make my rings about 18" apart to work.

Please excuse the gunk you will see inside of the open door near the roof in picture two.
The rig hardly gets washed at all during the winter, and that is a combo of dirt, dust, and gunk from the fir tree that hovers over my rig where the rig sleeps at night.

In picture three you can also see the Fourtrek Hi-Lift mounts with the nice big knobbers on them.
Makes it very easy to spin on/off the knobs.

Fourtreks site
Axe/shovel combo
One set will do both tools
Just the axe mount or shovel mounts
http://www.fourtreks.com/modular_axe_mounts.html
http://www.fourtreks.com/modular_shovel_mount.html
They are identical.
If getting the dual mount like I just installed, you will need a set of rings too.
1.75" is the diameter, and Luke also has the shopping cart link already with the FJ Cruiser listed in there.