FJ as a capable off road vehicle

[LesseW]

I owned a FJ for 2 years and then my wife decided to fall pregnant.... i sold the FJ and bought a Prado as a family car.

3 years down the line, I have a serious itch to buy a FJ and upgrade it over time with OEM components to do some serious 4x4.

I am a Toyota man, I will not buy a Jeep or any other oil leaking POS... what are your opinions on making a FJ a capable off road (serious obstacles) vehicle?

[david bfreesani]

SFA, 4"- 8" lift, 35-40 tires.

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[Wave]

How much do you want to spend?

The FJ has the best ground clearance of all Land Cruisers standard, which is great, there are add-ons for days both locally and imported, even TRD intake, charger, brakes and suspension, never mind all the non-oe stuff from the states. You can build a FJ into a monster

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[LesseW]

I am thinking of buying a FJ with 100k on the clock for less than R300k. I do not want to spend more than R100k over time to upgrade it

[XJ Junkie]

... what are your opinions on making a FJ a capable off road (serious obstacles) vehicle?

Compared to what vehicles?

[LesseW]

Not comparing it to any other vehicle, purely making the FJ a good off-roader.

[grips]

FJ is one of the best from the showroom to 4x4 vehicles available. Best stock sand driving 4x4 out there. Add front locker and decent tyres and few will keep up. The 4.0l 1GR engine will outlast all v6 engines in its class.

[Mike Nel]

Tans besig met my FJ se “upgrades”

- 285/70/17 Cooper STT Muds
- Suspension ( besig met huiswerk)
- Rock Sliders
- Gearbox protection
- Diff Guard
- Bumper ( wanneer standaard een beskadig word)

Alles saam is R100K.

En daai upgrades gaan jou n baie goeie off-road FJ gee, maar jy kan altyd beter

Eks op n FJ WhatsApp groep van meer as 100 manne en die konsensus is dat 3-4 duim lift jou max moet wees.

35 duim wiele sal ook lekker wees maar dan moet jy begin kyk na die gearing.

Laat weet my of jy op die WhatsApp groep wil kom sodat jy jou vrae kan vra. Jy sal baie antwoorde kry

[XJ Junkie]

Not comparing it to any other vehicle, purely making the FJ a good off-roader.

They are really good out of the box just by adding chunkier tyres. The only sand dune limitation is it’s autobox.

But it’ll never be in the top 5 all rounder serious 4x4s

[Mike Nel]

Not comparing it to any other vehicle, purely making the FJ a good off-roader.

They are really good out of the box just by adding chunkier tyres. The only sand dune limitation is it’s autobox.

But it’ll never be in the top 5 all rounder serious 4x4s

That’s actually a good thread by itself Neil. Top 5 4x4’s. Standard and non Standard

[XJ Junkie]

That’s actually a good thread by itself Neil. Top 5 4x4’s. Standard and non Standard

Of all time or just current?

[HermanS]

Not comparing it to any other vehicle, purely making the FJ a good off-roader.

They are really good out of the box just by adding chunkier tyres. The only sand dune limitation is it’s autobox.

But it’ll never be in the top 5 all rounder serious 4x4s

This is interesting. I thought they are high up on the list?

Why is it not a top 5 contender?

Which 4X4s make up your top 5 list?

[LesseW]

Dankie Mike, sal jou laat weet oor die Whatsapp groep, vir nou speel ek nog eers net met die idee.

Thanks for the feedback so far!

[Chris Stoffel]

Just add chunkier tyres and lift it, like have been said. Then use the rest of the money to go wheeling. Wheeling is practice and practice makes perfect. Or something like that.

[XJ Junkie]

This is interesting. I thought they are high up on the list?

Why is it not a top 5 contender?

Which 4X4s make up your top 5 list?

Before mods, it’s an IFS for starters, which is already its biggest compromise due to the characteristics that go along with this suspension type, like strength, wheel travel, axle leverage, non constant ride height & flexibility for modifications.
Changing this is possible but very very expensive.

Then they only make auto which doesn’t have the flexibility of a manual. Whilst constant drive to the wheels is desirable, an autobox won’t be able to compete with manuals on certain obstacles.

It’s low range reduction is only about the same as your average 4x4 bakkie & less than the entry level Wrangler.

It also doesn’t help that coupled with the soft low range & the autobox, it’s very peaky engine output only happens very high up. The Pentastar engine suffers from the same but this is offset by its massive reduction multiplication. The old school FJ had massive reduction.

The off-road angles aren’t that great either when compared to the competition. But they aren’t terrible, just not as good. The older FJ had much better angles.

Not everyone will agree with me but I have a belief that any vehicle that has a 2wd version cannot be regarded as a thoroughbred 4x4.

But I like the FJ very much & would have one before a JK. The main reason being its compromise. But it just isn’t a hardcore vehicle.