My FJC

Just for Larry:

Smacked up front skid (from Mojave Road racing Jeshua over the whoops - estimated speed 40mph):


Torn driver side crumple zone (same as above):


Stuck:


And banged up:


Still waiting on the damage assessment from MAF...

Wise words of the day from Hiroko: "Stop! Your truck isn't going to last 10 years if you keep driving like that! Then your baby will be gone." ...kinda works better with the Japanese accent.

Latest update: 19 February 2008

Table of Contents

In this post:
In the second post:
In the third post:

In the fourth post:

In the fifth post:

In the sixth post:

In the seventh post:

In the eighth post:

Image are interspersed within the text - click on them for larger versions.

Disclaimer: Since some people have asked me: I am not affiliated with MAF in any way other than I really like working with them and my rig has served as a test article for some of their products. Opinions expressed here are from my own honest evaluation.


0. Introduction

- Gallery:

Mojave Road
Pomona Offroad Show
Odessa and Bismark Canyons, Calico
Red Rock Canyon
Panamint Valley
Saline Valley



- Organization
My non-daily-driver Black MT 2007 FJC is the focus of this thread. I've got this page organized with a little introduction on how the FJC was setup when I bought it and following that, is organized by the type of modification. The only section with labeled subsections is the Introduction. In every other section, the individual mods are listed in the prose (too hard to breakout - but they're location within the Sections is given in the Table of Contents). Since the write-up is too long, it is split over multiple pages (for part two click here, part three click here, part four click here, and part five click here or click on the link at the bottom of this post.)

- Motivation for Build
Although I did not know what I wanted when I started, my objective for the vehicle is now to be a non-daily-driver, "expedition"-style machine. It's not going to be a rock buggy (so no SAS..., yet..., maybe next year) and it's not going to be a desert-racer (so no long-travel suspension). Yet, I wanted it to be capable of reasonable rock traverse-ability and moderate-to-long range desert and mountain trail drives. Ask me tomorrow and my objective will have changed

- Before and After Photos


- Who Did all of the Work on my FJC?
Almost all of the work on this truck has been undertaken by Man-a-Fre. This is "largely the truck that Man-a-Fre built." I've had a great time building up this truck with these guys - all in coordination with Steve Hayes at MAF. For more stuff on latest MAF developments / products, also check out their section on this forum.

The only major piece of work not done at MAF was done at Inchworm Gear, in coordination with Jim Christiansen. This involved replacing my stock transfer case with a new "lefty" transfer case plus a crawler box, regearing of front and rear diffs, and addition of an ARB front air locker.

In addition, I have had some repair work (and the installation of new front upper control arms) done at Toyota Land Cruisers (TLC) in Van Nuys; and I have bought bits from most vendors that have bits you can buy for an FJC.

- Suggestions
I did this write-up partly to keep track for myself of what we've done to the truck, but also to be interesting and useful. There's a lot of material and organization is a challenge. If you read this and have any thoughts on how I could improve navigation or things you'd like to see me write-up or areas where more information / detail would be useful, let me know (post up a reply or send me a PM).


1. Ancient History

I bought my black FJC in June 2006. I got it with the full upgrade/convenience/whatever package in order to get the ATRAC, locking rear diff, but also largely out of shear ignorance. This is the first offroad vehicle I have ever owned, and aside from some occasional wheeling (but sometimes challenging: Red Rock and Death Valley / Panamint) in my buddies stock Taco, I had not known much about offroading before I owned my FJC. The first photo is my "fresh from the dealer" version of the truck. Although I bought the stock sliders, roof rack, and skid tray with the truck, they took a few weeks to get fitted. In the mean time, I wheeled the truck in Red Rock Canyon, Panamint and Death Valleys (all CA), Hurricane, Canyon Lands, and Moab, Utah. With the stock slider and skids, I did several more trips to the CA areas, above, plus a few areas in the San Gabriel and San Bernadino mountains, CA. I didn't modify anything until October 2006. Once I started, I found I couldn't stop...

IMAGE-> The Bone Stock FJC.

IMAGE-> Stock FJC on Trail in Utah (I).

IMAGE-> Stock FJC on Trail in Utah (II).