[!Cruzer!]

Introducing.... Casper the 03/08 TT!!


Named by my wife after this guy

for no other reason then the fact it is white!! Gotta love that logic!!

THE BACKGROUND

We arrived in the US from Australia in September 07, where growing up I had owned a lot of landcruisers of all models, from 40's to 80's, and competed in rally x and rock crawling events for a few different teams. I met my wife when i had a HJ45, she was from a family that lived in a small beachside community called Rainbow Beach where beach access for vehicles is permitted, and as a result we spent a lot of time on those beaches and for a lot of trips around our home state of Queensland, Australia. When we decided to pack up and move to the LA for her job, we regrettably had to sell my small collection of 'cruisers, i think i missed them more then my family lol!

Landing in LA we saw our first FJ cruiser - and knew we had to have one - we fell in love with the look of it and that big grille and round headlights staring at ya! We bought our first FJ, the Smurf, A used VB 07 in November, and unfortunatly in Mar 08 it was put to an untimely death by a repeat drunk driver who decided he wanted to see what it was like to drive in the other lane and hit us at around 50mph

Not all bad news though - we ended up getting enough to buy a brand new FJ, our first brand new car. Not being able to find a VB or SF, we were about to settle for brick when this rolled into the dealership on the truck in front of us.

We had to have it, so we did

THE MOD BUG

Our first trip out with our club Gold Coast Cruisers we did with a whole 120 something miles on the truck, and we went to what in the future would become a regular stomping ground of mine, BC109 situated on lockwood Valley Road off the 33. The FJ surprised the hell out of me with its capabilities, in stock form going almost everywhere we wanted it to (albeit lifting a wheel here and there

) and i knew instantly what a cabable truck this could be. That monday i started a job with a company called Man-A-Fre and before i knew it it was to late, the mods piled on and i seroiusly considered working for parts instead of money

Started with a 08 Trail Teams FJ Cruiser (Upgrade package 2 and Offroad package rolled into one handy little vehicle)

Under Hood
Painless/My own design Dual battery system
Seperate Relay Center
Third Fuse box
ARB Compact Air Compressor

Engine
K&N Original filter.
Safari Snorkle
Doug Thorley Y Pipe
TRD exhaust with Custom high clearance tailpipe
Mobil 1 Syn Oils.
Man-A-Fre Auxillary 19 Gallon gas Tank
JET V-Force Interceptor unit
URD Supercharger kit

Drivetrain
4.56 gearing front and rear
Front ARB Air Locker
Rear E-Locker

Suspension
N140s/886
1.25 in 4Crawler body Lift
Man-A-Fre Front Upper Control Arms
Custom Long Travel Coils
N74L Shocks
MAF Custom Hi-Angle Rear Links
MAF Hi-Angle Upper Links
Removed Rear Sway bar
Removed Front Sway Bar
Crow Enterprizes Limitng Straps front and rear
MAF Adjustable Panhard Rod

Brakes
Man-A-Fre Stainless Steel extended brake lines

Tires and Wheels
315/75R16 BFG Mud Terrains on ProComp Streetlock Rims
1.5" Billet Wheel spacers

Lights
2x Hella 4000's on the front bar.
4x Hella 500s, with 100w bulbs on Defender light Rack
2x Hella 550 Fogs on side of roof rack
Hella Worklight on Kaymar rear bar
Hella Headlight Upgrade bulbs
Vision X Tantrum LED Rock Lights
Aeroflow HLC Covers
underhood LED bar

Armour
MAF Stingray Front Winch Bumper Mk2 (3 Hoop)
Bushwacker Flares
Man-A-Fre Skid Plates
Man-A-Fre Shock Protectors
Man-A-Fre "Frenched" Lower link skids
Man-A-Fre Wide Rock Sliders
Kaymar Rear Bar/ Wheel Carrier / Gas Can Carrier
Total Chaos Front Lower Control Arm Skids
Trail Gear Diff Plate
MAF interior 6 point Sport Cage

Electronics
Secondary Fuse Box
Secondary under seat 400w Inverter
Midland CB with 4ft Firestik
Handheld CB
Pair of FRS
Scanguage 2
Sirius Radio
Lowrance XOG CrossOver NAV system
12v Power outlets 1 in the centre console and 2 above the rear 115v power supply
ARB 60l Fridge/Freezer
Trac/ABS/VSC Off Switch mod
Locker Anytime Mod
Laptop with GPS and overland navigator Topo and Sat.

Up Top
Stock Roof Rack
Defender Racks Roof Light Bar
4 x Clamps (2 for Hi Lift and 2x for Shovel/Axe)
Canvas Cargo Carrier for big camp trips

Recovery/Safety Gear
20lb Co2 tank
Fire Extinguisher
Maglight
Emergency Hammers on sides of front center console
60" Hi-Lift
Hi-Lift base
Hi-Lift isolator
ARB snatch block
ARB tire deflator
ARB tire repair kit
D Shackles
12' tree saver
20' snatch strap
Drag Chain
Shovel
Axe
Rear LCA x 2
Rear UCA x 2
Front UCA x 2
1 ea front and rear shocks
CV
Tie Rod End

WHATS NEXT?

My next plans for Casper are

SAS

 

[fjessence]

lookin ready to conquer any trail, what kind of tires are those, never seen that tread pattern before

 

[FJ-Piper]

I think I saw you out in Villa Park last Sunday, was that you? your rig is lookin 2Sweet!

 

[FJ-Piper]

Well then, be warned, there is another TT with a snorkel and shovels just like yours driving around in SoCal.

I'm going to install the Snorkel on my 1 year anniverssary with my FJ Feb 19th.

How did your rig do on John Bull? Did you do the whole thing?

 

[!Cruzer!]

hmm might have to track that person down lol

just check for the kaymar rear bar - theres only 3 of those in the country currently fitted to FJ cruisers!

JB - yup, did the whooole thing - only bit of trouble we had was on a rocky hill climb halfway through before the lookout/picnic area - but we did it, and if all goes to plan money wise - doing it again next weekend!

 

[CADavebert]

can you give us some more pictures and info on the rear bumper and setup? Looks interesting.

 

[GTKrockeTT]

Oh yeah, Doug, I Stole your layout

it's all good, i "borrowed" from others as well.

casper is truly one sick ride.

 

[DominicG]

can you give us some more pictures and info on the rear bumper and setup? Looks interesting.

Its the man-a-fre that never got a publicly anounced release but is randomly seen here and there

 

[fjessence]

i believe its called the kaymar, its on the manafre site to check out if needed

 

[FJVP]

Very Nice Rig!

 

[!Cruzer!]

Thanks for your comments all, its a slow work in progress

Its the man-a-fre that never got a publicly anounced release but is randomly seen here and there

i believe its called the kaymar, its on the manafre site to check out if needed

Gold Star for you two.
can you give us some more pictures and info on the rear bumper and setup? Looks interesting.

Yeha the bar is made by Kaymar, and only available through Man-A-Fre. The reason it hasnt been actually launched yet is because we dont have any in stock - shipment form Australia is expected later this month. It's tough as hell and is better for dropping into things then the stock plastic bar - as well as it carries your tire and a fuel can on the rear, swings open and latches easily one handed. I'll get some morepiccies of it up tomorrow at work, or you can see some at Man-a-fre.com.

 

[raYGunn]

Looks awesome! The smashed FJ is a total bummer though! :'(

P.S. Your signature is majorly broken ;D

 

[!Cruzer!]

Yeah the poor old smurf, turned out to sort of be a blessing in disguise though!
Oh, and i fixed my sig, thanks for that!

 

[!Cruzer!]

over the weekend i killed the police... the fun police that is

I put in a VSC disable switch and a "locker on demand" hack which allows me to use the locker , as well as a rear door open button for the inside.

 

[!Cruzer!]

Complete update first two posts of mine

 

[Mikescruiser]

Wow your rig's lookin very good

 

[FunJunkie]

Very nice! 8)

 

[!Cruzer!]

Updated, changed a few things since my last post!

 

[FunJunkie]

WOW man you have really built her up. cant wait till we can wheel again bro!

 

[!Cruzer!]

Updated first post. lol. Only took me almost a year right?

I'm slowly ploading all trail pics form the last two years with my FJ onto my facebook page in my sig.