Corey's FJ Cruiser buildup

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
EDIT:
Not sure how I got two threads, but this is the older one.
The more complete on is there.
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18563


I have been working on building my rig worthy of an expedition type rig since I got it July of '06.
I have a buildup thread on YotaTech and others, but it would take to long to copy it all here.

But I can copy the last few entries here, and then continue to update this thread when I update my others.

The buildup from the beginning

Here are the past few entires starting with the install of my Maggiolina roof top tent, Camping Labs awning, and the ARB fridge relocation I finally got around to yesterday.

Maggiolina AirLand Roof Top Tent installed 3-21-2008

Spring has sprung, thus a new year of mods having been dormant over this past winter.

There is a constant joke on a few FJ Cruiser forums that goes around in threads asking "Can you sleep in it."
Of course you can, member LandCruiserSteve (a moderator over on fjcruiserforums.com) has proven that by building a nice bed system in the back of his rig that accommodates him very well.

With the way I have my rig setup in the back, that will not work out for me.

I have been looking at roof top tents as of late, and finally settled on a fiberglass one made in Italy like Wayne has.
Many thanks to Wayne (member KD7NAC_07FJ) for helping me make a selection on this model, it is the same one he has on his FJ Cruiser, the medium model.

Wayne used Yakima Lowrider clamps on the stock FJ rack, and then 58" crossbars held in place via the Lowriders.
The AirLand mounts to the crossbars.

I went to the shop Friday the 21st of March to get it installed, and they recommend I use four crossbars instead of two to distribute the weight, as that is the way they have been doing them.

I just got done opening it up for the first time since I left the shop after the install, and I am really impressed with the quality of the AirLand unit.

It cranks up just like a tent trailer (I have owned two of them in the past) after undoing two latches up front, and one latch back aft.

After cranking it up you can grab the aluminum ladder from inside and extend it.
It is fully adjustable to accommodate any vehicle.

Once I had the ladder up I climbed inside and took out the three pillow it came with and put the flannel pillow cases on that I bought.
For the medium AirLand tent, full size sheets are a perfect fit.
The bottom sheet is a fitted one, with the top sheet being the normal tuck in type.
I still need to pick up a warm down comforter, and the size that will fit will be a twin as to not have to much over the sides.

Getting up and down the ladder for me was not that difficult at all.
Now when exiting the tent and coming down backwards, you want to use caution since you can not see the rungs, you feel for them with your feet.
If I can do it, anyone can.

After getting the sheets on and the pillows in place, I climbed up inside for a few pictures of the interior, then I laid out like I was going to sleep in it.
There is plenty of room, and my feet do not even touch the ends of the tent wall.
I am about 5'10", and I did not feel cramped at all.
There is plenty of room for a second person too, and possibly a child if you have one.
It would be better with just two people though.

And not once did it feel rickety to me.
It was very stable, and a very cool feeling being up in the air like that.
I have a feeling I am going to sleep very well in this tent.
The best thing of all is being able to pull into a site whether in a regular campground, or when you are out 4wheeling, Overlanding/exploring, and just whip out the hand crank and crank up the tent and have your bed all setup in less than one minute.
This is the real advantage to a unit like this.

Here are a few pictures of the AirLand.






Links:
Maggiolina AirLand tent
Autohome's main site in Italy
Lowrider clamps
58" crossbars
Rack n Road Bellevue, WA. store
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000PKCCF6/ref=nosim/ihco-20"]Full size flannel sheets[/ame]
Lacrosse down comforter, full-Ultra Warmth model

The Rack n Road store I visited (official reseller of these for WA. state as seen on AutoHome's website) has a team of top notch installers/manager working there.
Evan (store manager) and Colin were the two installers who installed it.

Shortly before I left too YotaTech member nickr9287 showed up, he also works for the Bellevue store and is an installer.

If looking for a system like this or any Yakima or Thule type of gear for your rig around our area, give these guy's a call.
Great team to work with.

Probably around sometime in May I will have some camping pictures from up at Greenwater with the tent all setup in the outdoors, and some other new camping gear I have been hoarding up on for a good time out in the woods.

With this I think my rig is nearing completion.
Still have to settle on a rear bumper, there are still a few in works.
The selection is getting bigger all the time.

More AirLand pics in next post.
Ten picture per post limit here, I had to many.
 
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Corey

OverCamping Specialist
Tent pictures continued...



My goal in the future is to mount the tent to a Chaser type of trailer.

airlandL.jpg


1_chaser6.jpg
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
Camping Labs Awning installed 5-16-2008

I had two different type of awnings on my last tent trailer I had, and they are nice for shade to sit under, or to get out of the rain.

Saw this brand mentioned in a few threads on a few Toyota forums, so I decided to give it a try.

It also came with two nice camping chairs, but I am not enclosing pictures of those since those are not a mod to the rig.
You can view the chairs at the website.
They are very nice

Owner Fernando was a great guy to work with, and also made me some custom mounts to attach to the awning so it would attach to my Yakima crossbars.
You can see how the mount attaches to the two channels on the rear of the awning, and also how it attaches to the crossbars in the first two pictures below.

Setup is a little easier than take down, same as with my tent.
But one person can do this easily.
It is also free standing since it has two supporting horizontal tubes, but you will want to use the enclosed stakes to stake down the white rope loops you see at the bottoms of the vertical tubes, and also attach the two rope guy lines to the white rope loops at the top of the vertical tubes and stake them out.
This will be better for any wind that will kick up.
But I had it setup with a light hot breeze outside for around 20 minutes a bit ago, and it was very stable.





I am also enclosing a video that shows just how fast you can deploy the Maggiolina AirLand roof top tent.
It is easy, in fact too easy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHd77e7PbIE

Links:
Camping Lab
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
ARB fridge relocated 5-31-2008

OK, some of you may have read that I have mentioned my neighbor here before who is a weatherman for the FAA.
Most of the time he is right about the weather.

He told me it was going to rain today, the day I wanted to spend about five to six hours detailing my rig.
The local news stations said no rain today, it is coming tonight.
Well, it started raining here about 9 am just after I finished up my ARB fridge relocation project.

I was just finishing up with the mandatory snapshots and was going to vacuum out the rig and wipe the interior down of dust when it started in raining.

Anyways, below are some pictures of the fridge move.
I like it a lot better where it is now.
I can access the lid to load/unload grub, and actually see what is in there.
I still can not raise the lid all the way up to the ceiling, but I can raise it far enough to see very well inside.
There is a guy on IH8MUDs forum who has put together all the hardware for the hinge relocation kit to make the lid lift up from either side instead of from the end, and after I order that from him, I will be able to raise the lid all the way up and let it stay open.

Here is a comparison when it was mounted in the rear.



The first two pics show the seat back cover in place and then removed.
Picture three shows the Engel Slide Loc screwed down to the plastic cover.
I had to move the plate around some so it would avoid the D ring and raised hump it resides in so the plate would sit flush.
Pictures four five and six show the fridge mounted to the Slide Loc.

I drilled small pilot holes into the plastic, and after tightening the screws down, they do not contact the metal underneath.
If I was worried about needing more strength, I can get longer screws and drill the holes deeper and into the sheet metal underneath.
I also used two extra screws this time instead of four like I did when it was mounted on top of the cargo box.

This will give me more room to load my camping gear now.
For the long stuff like the Cabela's picnic table and Camp Kitchen, I will load them in from the rear door and shove it towards the passenger seat.
This should speed up the loading process quite a bit.

The best part though is being able to access my fridge much easier and see what is inside of it.

If you do not mind giving up your rear drivers side seat, this is a good way to mount your fridge.
I can still put up the passenger side rear seat with the fridge in place.
I may even put the bottom seat cushion back in too for the rear passenger side, as it is currently out right now.
But the drivers side will stay this way indefinitely.



 
Last edited:

maxama10

Welcome to Nevadafornia
You are a man serious about his fire prevention!

Why do you carry two?

I enjoy reading your build over on yotatech:26_7_2:
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
Thanks Dominic, your rig is coming along very nicely.

Max, I have two because the big one by the Powertank is safe for using on the interior or under the hood.
The chemical will not mess up your wiring or cause corrosion.

The smaller bottle to the right is just an elcheapo type, and I would only use that on an external fire such as brush, wood, ect.
The chemicals in that type will ruin your wiring in your vehicle.

I have info on the bigger one on my site and my other buildup thread.
 

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