Might be going FJ. Need advise

M

Moroney167

New member
So I loved my 99 4runner, when time came I needed newer I went with a 2015 Trail. Love it to death only been just over a year with it and 26,000 miles. Has exceeded my expectations of a soccer mom wagon wheeling. I ended up happy keeping it mild with 2.5" front lift and 1.5" rear (884 coils on 5100's front and 1.5" SAW coils rear.) Although I always urged to go with a bigger coilover kit like icon or similar I couldn't justify being I knew main point of vehicle was work and back and many many highway trips. My wifes vehicle is our 2015 TRD sport access cab. just 5100's all around .85 front wheel and tires (trd beadlock.)

A very long story short, we are trading in the wifes truck and my 4Runner for a new 4door TRD Pro tacoma. It fits what we need, and what she wants as a DD. It is a mall crawler to the max but she has a long love for Tacoma's and we do regret not getting 4 door last time, which we got her truck in a pinch due to what dealer had at time. I love my runner but eliminating my larger payment, along with her payment for one combined truck having luxuries my runner has and her truck feel we will be happy. And towing our camper when needed which the runner did so we had room for dogs or luggage.

With that said I am beyond happy to make the FJ our own. I have plans of using my beadlock wheels off tacoma which are what come on the trail teams. 285's and now decide suspension. I am all for going for it, but hate to overdue it when not needed.

1. keep simple with 5100's and a coil of choice for 2.5-3" lift. Also rear coils

2. Basic toytec style coil over and UCA's with matching rear. Or complete OME kit with UCA which is same as 1 just addition of arms.

3. Icon kit with tubular UCA's and I will probably hold back on piggyback resi's. I live in NY and although ton of highway driving trips, the only wheeling we have is slow creeping through trails and rock rock rocks all over. So Hate to buy something ment for a BAJA race and just never utilize it. However with the FJ I plan to try wheeling more than before.

Thanks for reading way to long of a post!
 
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The TRD Pro Tacoma has FOX Internal Bypass Shocks... personally I would just drive that vs something that is going to have 5100s when it comes time to play...

You should see if they make a 6112 for what you want to mod... that would be so much nicer than a 5100 and something more middle ground from a full coilover.

If you have the money for ICON stuff, get it because you want more control and fine tuning capability... its not really a baja race shock either... its valved different than truck that use shocks for that. Its digressive... and it makes for nice on-road drive as well. Its my first choice for a high end general purpose rig.
 
Have you bought it yet? Personally, having wheeled with FJCs in the past....I wouldn't buy one. They have horrible visibility and the rear seating for adults is severely lacking and they just aren't all that capable...not that a 4Runner is much better without a lot of work (other than seating, better rear doors and visibility).

The FJCruisers forum is probably a good place to get more info....but it's obviously pretty biased in favor of the FJC.
 
Bumbo said:
The TRD Pro Tacoma has FOX Internal Bypass Shocks... personally I would just drive that vs something that is going to have 5100s when it comes time to play...

You should see if they make a 6112 for what you want to mod... that would be so much nicer than a 5100 and something more middle ground from a full coilover.

If you have the money for ICON stuff, get it because you want more control and fine tuning capability... its not really a baja race shock either... its valved different than truck that use shocks for that. Its digressive... and it makes for nice on-road drive as well. Its my first choice for a high end general purpose rig.
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My real question is just that. I honestly don't have one issue purchasing full icon kit. My only reason I want answered is knowing I'm not buying a kit that is designed for something I won't do. I do plan to wheel. However it is slower more crawling stuff. That's just what we have however I will drive the wheels off of it.


Sean K. said:
Have you bought it yet? Personally, having wheeled with FJCs in the past....I wouldn't buy one. They have horrible visibility and the rear seating for adults is severely lacking and they just aren't all that capable...not that a 4Runner is much better without a lot of work (other than seating, better rear doors and visibility).

The FJCruisers forum is probably a good place to get more info....but it's obviously pretty biased in favor of the FJC.
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I do appreciate your input. I did plan on buying one a year ago, due to price of used versus the new runner I couldn't pass up a new vehicle for almost matching price. And although the pro we get will be a blast, I will enjoy it when I can although being the wife's. we will use it and when we can. However I will wheel FJ mostly. I do understand the blind spots. ITS BAD! Been a few days driving it Andy almost got it figured out already. Here is the hook. I didn't really buy it. The wife's father passed and he just got this. We have taken ownership of it and due to a bit of centimental value she and I do want to keep. And as they would wish its a great off-road vehicle. Enjoy it! And how I see it. I can trade both my new toyotas in and we get out reliable new 4 door Tacoma for travels. Camper towing. Whatever we need for really and we prefer a truck over SUV. And with trading both in, we should be able to have the new TRD pro in driveway loaded and paid off in full when we pick up. Therefore look into a nice 8 acre piece of land I would like to one day build on!
 
Moroney167 said:
My real question is just that. I honestly don't have one issue purchasing full icon kit. My only reason I want answered is knowing I'm not buying a kit that is designed for something I won't do. I do plan to wheel. However it is slower more crawling stuff. That's just what we have however I will drive the wheels off of it.
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Good suspension is good suspension... personally I like having the capability, and the headroom to do a lot more. I will use it if I have it, but if you know for a fact you just dont need that type of hardware, then the $$$ money saved will be better spent on other areas... like gearing and lockers, as an example...
 
Bumbo said:
Good suspension is good suspension... personally I like having the capability, and the headroom to do a lot more. I will use it if I have it, but if you know for a fact you just dont need that type of hardware, then the $$$ money saved will be better spent on other areas... like gearing and lockers, as an example...
Click to expand...

Agree on the outlook. I am all for having it and not needing it, over when you need/want/wish you had it and don't! I settled just to go for it. Being I am going from my runner to the FJ... not saying a downgrade, but more of a capable offroader. And will help say lets go that way... I would rather it built right and not conservative as my runner is. Although does the job I still want it. Money not being issue, however, no need to go stage 5 or crazy for what i'll be doing. Thanks again for input looking forwards to black friday sales and get the truck going!
 
I'm not sure the FJ is that much more capable than a TE. I think what was novel about the FJ was that it had the option of a rear elocker where a 4th gen 4runner did not until the TE of 2009 and the 5th gen TE. But this is another debate.

Before you settle on a suspension think about if you will be putting on steel bumpers and winch, and if yes how soon you will do that and if the suspension you choose or...choose based on if it will be able to support the added weight.

Then...If I would have to do it again with either an FJ or 4runner I'd opt for a setup that includes the metaltech4x4 long travel kit. It's the only one that I've witnessed that makes a huge difference creeping over rocky trails. With the Rear lower control arms so you don't bend the stock ones on those north east rocky trails. Some after market upper front control arms could get you more flexy and back into alignment... but makes it easier to fit larger wider tires for sure.

90% of my offroad buddies are in FJCs and they claim that they have a much easier time fitting 35s with 16" rims over the 17". So something to take into account if the those taco wheels you want to use are 16" or 17"

But don't forget the usual rock sliders and skid plates.
 
I'm not personally a fan of buying vehicles that have been discontinued from production. Just to give you a non-suspension related perspective.
 
I had a 2007 FJ, I just got rid of it for a 2016 4Runner.

I had the Icon suspension (Stage 2) with the Billet UCAs and loved it.
I was running Nitto Trail Grapplers in 285's on it.

I loved the truck, but after 10 years (got it in 2006, when they first came out), it was time to make a change.

I had a 1st Generation T4R, a 1st Generation FJ, now it was time for a more refined model...

You'll love the FJ
 
picked up an 07 4x4 FJ for my wife this Summer and we love it! Has a great factory ride height and plenty of power..much better than the 3.4. We don't have kids so the interior seems just fine for us.

Blind spots are the worst thing about the FJ...luckily it has parking assist. I bought with high miles but did a bunch of general maintenance and still feels great. Now has 197k miles...I was thinking about lifting and even got an OME kit but may not even do so now...Its just a real good road car and daily driver so may just stick with the 265 70 17's and keep it comfortable.

I think you'll love it too...I did put a TRD catback on it, sounds great!
 
I got a 2007 FJ when they first came out. Went through the modding craze from the very beginning. It's been SAS'd now and is a dedicated offroad vehicle. Got a 2013 TE 4-Runner to replace it as my daily driver. Swapped the entire suspension (Icon Extended Travel coilovers, Icon Billet UCA's, Sonoran Steel LCA's, Icon Remote Reservoir rear shocks, Sonoran Steel rear panhard bar) over to the 4-Runner and added a Shrockworks front bumper and CBI rear bumper. I do light to moderate wheeling in the 4-Runner and save the more extreme stuff for the FJ. I did plenty of extreme stuff in the FJ prior to getting it SAS'd (nearly all of the really difficult trails in Moab including Pritchett Canyon). As a daily driver I like the 4-Runner much better. For offroad use I liked the FJ (prior to the redo) more. If you're planning on taking it offroad on a regular basis I don't think I'd scrimp on the suspension. The Icons do seem to need to be rebuilt fairly regularly so Fox or King may be a better option since I haven't seen many reports of them needing to be serviced very often. As to the blind spot on the FJ, I found some replacement mirror inserts back in the early days that resolved the issue but I have no idea if they're still available.
 
I too had an fj when they first came or. I loved everything about it except trying to get small kids in the back.

I went with an OME lift and was very happy with it and didn't cost a ton of money.

I had a manual tranny. Supposedly all manual trannies came with an elocker and all I had to do was put in a switch and I had an elicker. Not sure about any other years besides the 07.

Fjcruiserforums is a great site with a ton of useful info.
 
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As an update to the blind spot problem on FJ's, HERE'S a current solution to the problem. I've seen good reports on this particular product. As I mentioned previously, I bought something similar shortly after getting my FJ and it resolved the problem entirely.
 
Don't get the 6MT, the ****ing thing just sucks with t/o gremlins that may or may not have been fixed.

The 2010 and on have had the ECM tweaked a bit.

Early 07 and 08 models have cracking fender issues with aftermarket bumpers.

At some point (I forget when) Toyota finally allowed the rear locker and ATRAC to work simultaneously.

Most lifts and wheels will work for both the 4th and 5th gen 4Runner and FJC--the FJ can take 16" wheels, because of its smaller brakes.

The interior is shit. The visibility is shit.
 
A buddy of mine has an FJ-S. His only complaint is the hassle of opening the rear door to take out his kid. But really, it's like that with any car so I think he is just taking it overboard. But other than that he loves it.
 
superkenny9192 said:
A buddy of mine has an FJ-S. His only complaint is the hassle of opening the rear door to take out his kid. But really, it's like that with any car so I think he is just taking it overboard. But other than that he loves it.
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I have a 2013 FJ. Those suicide doors are a real pain when parked between two cars...when you open both doors (rear door cannot open without the front one opened) to let someone out of the back, you and the person are now trapped between the car parked next to you and the two open doors. I can imagine what a pain that is with a kid, kid bag, stroller, etc.

The FJ has some designs flaws, but I love mine.
 
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