upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
Man, in recent years has any vehicle stirred such extreme reactions?? Some people LOVE them, some people loathe them..... so whats the deal? Being a Land Cruiser purist (with a brief, yet happy experience with Rovers), I admit, I made snide comments about the FJ Cruiser for its styling, its ergonomics, its lack of reaching what it could have been, that it is NOT a real Land Cruiser. I mean, look at the model codes, the engine codes.. blah blah blah... Ok, point taken. Funny though, as the things do have Land Cruiser DNA, sharing the platform with the Prado, and the domestic 4Runner (though shortened). I am coming from my 80 series, and my more recent 60 series, f engines, cavernous space, legendary reputation.... Can an FJ Cruiser meet my needs for my overland type travels along with a daily driver? Will it hold up? Can you actually see anything out of one??
Oh man, so my intent with this thread is to document a bit, my experiences with one of these vehicles, coming from the background of a Land Cruiser guy, a person who travels a bunch and tends to beat the hell out of vehicles. So, here is a bit of backstory to set the stage.....
My fiance and I were expecting our first born shortly. We got a great deal on an FJ60 from my good bud KC in Lander for $2,500. We were looking for something inexpensive to use while we were living in Wyoming. I have an FJ80 thats been my adventure mobile since 2001 that is at our place in Michigan's UP. The 60 was going to be our back country rig, the vehicle to help us move to Colorado, and family mobile, but not daily driver. The 60 did alot of stuff great, and for $2,500 I couldn't complain. Travelled the Red Desert, Colorado, the Oregon Coast, Idaho, and a bunch of other Wyoming stuff with it. But with a kiddo coming and some big repairs in the 60's future, we decided we wanted a vehicle that was the following.... safe, reliable, durable, comfortable, capable, versatile, and more fuel efficient than a Land Cruiser. The 60 was getting me 18-21mpg pretty reliably but my FJ80 struggles to get 12. I have been considering 100 series for awhile, but for the price and age, I felt that an FJC was a better value.
The 4 liter is brauny and has a good reputation, no timing belt service, and with the automatic, is rated for 21. My first tank with our FJC, fully loaded from Jackson driving to CO returned 23mpg! The FJC is much smaller. My concern is packing, and making stuff fit. I tend to base camp and use my rigs to get to remote places for other activities so having a big Land Cruiser offers alot of versatility for hauling stuff, sleeping inside, etc.... Yes, it is a compromise...
The fact is, the FJC stock for stock is more capable than an 80 series, a 60 series, or a 100 series. Seemingly, outside of a Wrangler Rubicon, there isn't much out there that can keep up or surpass one offroad. Now, I am not a rock crawler, it holds no interest to me. Nor really the idea of running trails for the sake of running trails. That said I like having the capability to get into tougher places or get to awesome views so I do need something with more capability than a Subaru. I have done a lot of "overlanding" with Subaru's and found them to do alot of things well, don't get me wrong. We were loooking for something to handle most anything. With an OME 3" lift and 33's, an FJC can handle 98% of the stuff out there. The drivetrains seemed robust, think Tacoma, 4Runner, and Prado running gear and with a 105" wheelbase (versus 111" for an 80 series) the thing turns well, and is nimble. I like this recipe.
Now if I can get around the ergonomics..... More on that later but for now let me just say, after the test drive, I didn't find them bad at all. And the C pillar blind spot?? Come on, how terrible of a driver do you have to be to use that as an excuse? The mirrors work great, and if you are incompetent enough to have to look over your shoulder... you can see anyway. Yes the C pillar is big but not nearly big enough to hide a car. My biggest gripes really are the distance of the windshield from the driver and the visibility up. Visibility out and down is good.
After many vehicle considerations like 4Runners, Tacomas, Land Cruisers, Wrangler JKUR's, Xterras and a few other randoms, the FJC was my pick for the best all arounder. Not the prettiest, not the most capable, not the most comfortable, not the roomiest, probably not best at anything... but what it was is pretty good at everything. Justification set.....
Our 80
So we went from this...
To this.....
It is a 2007 with front and rear Warn bumpers and a Warn Powerplant HP setup. The FJC has A Track and the rear locker. Other than that it was stock. We picked it up at a local dealership in Jackson, and since have moved to Colorado with it. My fiance actually went into labor while we were test driving it, and on the way back from the hospital with our little one, picked it up and brought it home too.
One of my hallmarks for a rig being good is how FEW things you need to do to it to make it durable and capable. My past rigs all were fairly minimalist in my approach. Especially with Toyotas, keep them as stock as you can, use OEM parts is the Mantra. So for this, my approach remains the same.
Long term plans include an OME 3" heavy lift, a Baja Rack utility rack, mount my roof top tent on it (since sleeping inside is not an option, and we have a 2 week old baby now with us), 33's, and finally a storage solution that will work for our needs. Since the thing has $3,600 in bumpers and winch, and already has the Toyota sliders which will be good enough for my means, the only other thing I can think of doing might be some additional armor underneath.
I am going to use this thing for a daily driver, for exploring Colorado and Utah backcountry as well as for some upcoming trips we have planned including Alaska and Mexico. So there you go, thats my plan. We have had the FJC for two weeks now and have taken it out a bit in CO. First upgrade was tires. It had stock size 265/70/17 studded snow tires that were about as fun as they sound to drive on in the summer.
Good Year Duratracs 285/70/17 which works out to basically being a 33x11. I won't go into the well discussed merits of these tires but will just say, I think they might be the best all around tire for an overland rig, especially one that will see snow.
I will keep this thread updated with my trials and tribulations and my honest feedback regarding this platform. In the meantime, here are some pics of our outings thus far with it....
The night before the big move to Colorado, the Tetons gave us one last great sunset. Packing a 60 series worth of stuff into the FJC was not going to happen.
Evening on Shrine Pass
Descending from Leadking Basin to Crystal
Schofield Pass Rd
The old Mill in Crystal
Oh man, so my intent with this thread is to document a bit, my experiences with one of these vehicles, coming from the background of a Land Cruiser guy, a person who travels a bunch and tends to beat the hell out of vehicles. So, here is a bit of backstory to set the stage.....
My fiance and I were expecting our first born shortly. We got a great deal on an FJ60 from my good bud KC in Lander for $2,500. We were looking for something inexpensive to use while we were living in Wyoming. I have an FJ80 thats been my adventure mobile since 2001 that is at our place in Michigan's UP. The 60 was going to be our back country rig, the vehicle to help us move to Colorado, and family mobile, but not daily driver. The 60 did alot of stuff great, and for $2,500 I couldn't complain. Travelled the Red Desert, Colorado, the Oregon Coast, Idaho, and a bunch of other Wyoming stuff with it. But with a kiddo coming and some big repairs in the 60's future, we decided we wanted a vehicle that was the following.... safe, reliable, durable, comfortable, capable, versatile, and more fuel efficient than a Land Cruiser. The 60 was getting me 18-21mpg pretty reliably but my FJ80 struggles to get 12. I have been considering 100 series for awhile, but for the price and age, I felt that an FJC was a better value.
The 4 liter is brauny and has a good reputation, no timing belt service, and with the automatic, is rated for 21. My first tank with our FJC, fully loaded from Jackson driving to CO returned 23mpg! The FJC is much smaller. My concern is packing, and making stuff fit. I tend to base camp and use my rigs to get to remote places for other activities so having a big Land Cruiser offers alot of versatility for hauling stuff, sleeping inside, etc.... Yes, it is a compromise...
The fact is, the FJC stock for stock is more capable than an 80 series, a 60 series, or a 100 series. Seemingly, outside of a Wrangler Rubicon, there isn't much out there that can keep up or surpass one offroad. Now, I am not a rock crawler, it holds no interest to me. Nor really the idea of running trails for the sake of running trails. That said I like having the capability to get into tougher places or get to awesome views so I do need something with more capability than a Subaru. I have done a lot of "overlanding" with Subaru's and found them to do alot of things well, don't get me wrong. We were loooking for something to handle most anything. With an OME 3" lift and 33's, an FJC can handle 98% of the stuff out there. The drivetrains seemed robust, think Tacoma, 4Runner, and Prado running gear and with a 105" wheelbase (versus 111" for an 80 series) the thing turns well, and is nimble. I like this recipe.
Now if I can get around the ergonomics..... More on that later but for now let me just say, after the test drive, I didn't find them bad at all. And the C pillar blind spot?? Come on, how terrible of a driver do you have to be to use that as an excuse? The mirrors work great, and if you are incompetent enough to have to look over your shoulder... you can see anyway. Yes the C pillar is big but not nearly big enough to hide a car. My biggest gripes really are the distance of the windshield from the driver and the visibility up. Visibility out and down is good.
After many vehicle considerations like 4Runners, Tacomas, Land Cruisers, Wrangler JKUR's, Xterras and a few other randoms, the FJC was my pick for the best all arounder. Not the prettiest, not the most capable, not the most comfortable, not the roomiest, probably not best at anything... but what it was is pretty good at everything. Justification set.....
Our 80
So we went from this...
To this.....
It is a 2007 with front and rear Warn bumpers and a Warn Powerplant HP setup. The FJC has A Track and the rear locker. Other than that it was stock. We picked it up at a local dealership in Jackson, and since have moved to Colorado with it. My fiance actually went into labor while we were test driving it, and on the way back from the hospital with our little one, picked it up and brought it home too.
One of my hallmarks for a rig being good is how FEW things you need to do to it to make it durable and capable. My past rigs all were fairly minimalist in my approach. Especially with Toyotas, keep them as stock as you can, use OEM parts is the Mantra. So for this, my approach remains the same.
Long term plans include an OME 3" heavy lift, a Baja Rack utility rack, mount my roof top tent on it (since sleeping inside is not an option, and we have a 2 week old baby now with us), 33's, and finally a storage solution that will work for our needs. Since the thing has $3,600 in bumpers and winch, and already has the Toyota sliders which will be good enough for my means, the only other thing I can think of doing might be some additional armor underneath.
I am going to use this thing for a daily driver, for exploring Colorado and Utah backcountry as well as for some upcoming trips we have planned including Alaska and Mexico. So there you go, thats my plan. We have had the FJC for two weeks now and have taken it out a bit in CO. First upgrade was tires. It had stock size 265/70/17 studded snow tires that were about as fun as they sound to drive on in the summer.
Good Year Duratracs 285/70/17 which works out to basically being a 33x11. I won't go into the well discussed merits of these tires but will just say, I think they might be the best all around tire for an overland rig, especially one that will see snow.
I will keep this thread updated with my trials and tribulations and my honest feedback regarding this platform. In the meantime, here are some pics of our outings thus far with it....
The night before the big move to Colorado, the Tetons gave us one last great sunset. Packing a 60 series worth of stuff into the FJC was not going to happen.
Evening on Shrine Pass
Descending from Leadking Basin to Crystal
Schofield Pass Rd
The old Mill in Crystal
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