RanchoRunner
New member
Hey, everybody!
Last night I bought an '06 Galactic Gray Mica Limited 4x4 with V8. Still having second doubts, but I guess it's too late to do anything about it other than enjoy it!
A little background:
I'm in my early 50's, living in Southern California, and am married with two sons, Steven (24) & Scott (27). I've been wheeling what seems like forever, since ~1977. In fact, I learned to drive stickshift in my friend's VW Thing on Coyote dry lake, near Barstow, CA.
My first off-roader (actually first car) in 1975 was a '71 Dodge Colt 4-door, on which I put wider tires. I drove it around in the desert, which taught me alot about picking the right lines and how/when to get on the go pedal and when not to.
I finally got a '72 FJ40 in 1979, which I still have (though, I'm rebuilding it, so it's not running). I drove it as my DD until 1999, when I bought a '00 Nissan Xterra. The old gal (FJ40) has somewhere over 300k miles (been through three speedometers).
I drove my Xterra extensively, and was one of the founding members of So Cal Club Xterra (SCCX). My son, Steven, now drives my old Xterra as his DD, in Louisville, KY. It's got somewhere around 150k miles, many off-road.
In 2009, I bought an '07 FJ Cruiser for sentimental reasons, having the FJ40. A big reason was plans to buy a 3500+ lb. trailer, but the DW fell in love with a slightly larger trailer, so we compromised -- we got the larger trailer, an '11 Rockwood Roo hybrid trailer. This trailer weighed ~4800 lbs, empty, so with our gear, I'm sure we were exceeding the FJ's tow rating. This, and the extremely poor side/rearward visibility prompted me to buy our latest vehicle last night: an '06 Galactic Gray Mica 4Runner Limited 4x4 with 4.7L V8, which is rated to two 7000 lbs.
I look forward to gathering an immense amount of knowledge from this board and it's members, like I did on the FJ Cruiser forums. The Cruiser will be going up for sale as soon as I get as much as possible moved over to the 4Runner (lift, tires, ham/cb/FRS radios, nav hu, etc.).
I do have one very big question for the group: This is the first time I've ever had a leather interior (I really preferred a Sport Edition, but these days, it is extremely difficult to find anywhere near the home "20", a reasonably low mileage Sport with V8 and side air bags, which were a requirement for me). My concerns are about how well the leather will hold up in the off-road environment? Any comments?
Also, can anybody comment on how much penalty I'll be paying off road with the longer wheelbase and lower breakover/departure angles (compared to the FJC)? As previously mentioned, I will be installing the 3" Toytec Ultimate Lift currently on my FJC, along with the 285/70-17 Mud Terrain KM2's.
Sorry I'm being so long-winded...TIA for your wise comments...
(Mr.) Lory J
Last night I bought an '06 Galactic Gray Mica Limited 4x4 with V8. Still having second doubts, but I guess it's too late to do anything about it other than enjoy it!
A little background:
I'm in my early 50's, living in Southern California, and am married with two sons, Steven (24) & Scott (27). I've been wheeling what seems like forever, since ~1977. In fact, I learned to drive stickshift in my friend's VW Thing on Coyote dry lake, near Barstow, CA.
My first off-roader (actually first car) in 1975 was a '71 Dodge Colt 4-door, on which I put wider tires. I drove it around in the desert, which taught me alot about picking the right lines and how/when to get on the go pedal and when not to.
I finally got a '72 FJ40 in 1979, which I still have (though, I'm rebuilding it, so it's not running). I drove it as my DD until 1999, when I bought a '00 Nissan Xterra. The old gal (FJ40) has somewhere over 300k miles (been through three speedometers).
I drove my Xterra extensively, and was one of the founding members of So Cal Club Xterra (SCCX). My son, Steven, now drives my old Xterra as his DD, in Louisville, KY. It's got somewhere around 150k miles, many off-road.
In 2009, I bought an '07 FJ Cruiser for sentimental reasons, having the FJ40. A big reason was plans to buy a 3500+ lb. trailer, but the DW fell in love with a slightly larger trailer, so we compromised -- we got the larger trailer, an '11 Rockwood Roo hybrid trailer. This trailer weighed ~4800 lbs, empty, so with our gear, I'm sure we were exceeding the FJ's tow rating. This, and the extremely poor side/rearward visibility prompted me to buy our latest vehicle last night: an '06 Galactic Gray Mica 4Runner Limited 4x4 with 4.7L V8, which is rated to two 7000 lbs.
I look forward to gathering an immense amount of knowledge from this board and it's members, like I did on the FJ Cruiser forums. The Cruiser will be going up for sale as soon as I get as much as possible moved over to the 4Runner (lift, tires, ham/cb/FRS radios, nav hu, etc.).
I do have one very big question for the group: This is the first time I've ever had a leather interior (I really preferred a Sport Edition, but these days, it is extremely difficult to find anywhere near the home "20", a reasonably low mileage Sport with V8 and side air bags, which were a requirement for me). My concerns are about how well the leather will hold up in the off-road environment? Any comments?
Also, can anybody comment on how much penalty I'll be paying off road with the longer wheelbase and lower breakover/departure angles (compared to the FJC)? As previously mentioned, I will be installing the 3" Toytec Ultimate Lift currently on my FJC, along with the 285/70-17 Mud Terrain KM2's.
Sorry I'm being so long-winded...TIA for your wise comments...
(Mr.) Lory J
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