OEM Hitch

The hitch that came with the FJ, when I bought it, was somehow slanted to the right. I looked everywhere to see if there was any damage but nothing was visible.  I found one weld that was further back on the left side which made the slant.

                         Hitch rack leaning to the right.

This was a Reese hitch that was held on by six lag bolts. I took off the tow hook on the driver's side and tried to take off the third screw. This was one that was passed through the frame. It was very rusted and I had to get the PB blaster.  I left the hitch on for a couple of days with only the two rusted bolts and periodically sprayed them. This did the trick and I was able to take those off with the wrench. Then it was just a matter of putting on the Toyota hitch. Instructions on how to install it on is in my previous post when I had the silver FJ.  The only difference is that the valance I ordered was a TT part that was already painted black.

The results:

             

The Reese hitch went to recycling.

I also installed the wiring for the hitch which only took about 10 mins since I had already performed this installation once before. The hard part is going to be taking out the Reese wiring. It is very involved and the cables run to the right and left rear lights with another cable going all the way to the battery. For now this wiring is just tucked underneath.

OEM Cargo Cover

I was tired of draping over a tarp on top of everything in the trunk. I finally found a good deal on an OEM used cargo cover and placed it over the subwoofer. I had to take off the sub (the hard part) and using the two top screws I attached the two straps that button to the top of the cargo cover. These go over the subwoofer and the other side uses the existing hooks to attach. So now I don't have to lift a tarp and I can access all my gear immediately.

Yakima Sparetime

I picked up a Sparetime from a very nice couple on Craigslist. They had picked it up this year and barely used it. Now that they were getting rid of their Jeep, they didn't need it. It was practically brand new.

The install was easy. I took off the spare tire, put on the plate with the large tongue and placed the tire back on. After placing the rack on with the knob fully tightened, it was very loose. I then took everything off and swapped in the medium tounge. With everything placed back on again, it fit perfectly.

Now I can open my trunk without having to swing out the old rack and I can use my rear parking sensors. The old rack sat behind the sensors and they would beep continuously if they were on while backing up. The old rack will still be used for family rides where I will carry more than two bikes.

I also noticed that the short tongue piece was missing. After contacting Yakima via email, they sent me the tongue, the bolt and a hex key to me the next day - free! This is one of the reasons I only buy Yakima products.

I might swap out the hitch next since I don't need to use it now. I noticed, when I bought it with the FJ, that it was crooked. I took a look under it recently and saw that it was bent underneath which caused a tilt towards the right.

New transmission

At 95k miles the FJ started stuttering at 2000 RPM when shifting from 3rd to 4th gear. I took it in to the dealership and they said they couldn't do anything about it since they didn't know what the issue was. After reading through the forums I saw a posting about the torque converter. I took it to another dealership and showed them the problem and told them what the issue was. They replaced the entire transmission with a remanufactured Toyota part after paying the difference from the aftermarket part that the extended warranty company wanted to install. Everything is working well now.

Black Out

I picked up a few silver pieces from the forum and sprayed them satin black.

First was the rear which is easy to take off with just screws and one plastic push holder.  The three silver parts were then very easy to take off.  Once the black parts were installed, the ladder caused a problem when placing the entire bumper in.  The door had to be partially open to get the bumper to slide in underneath.

Then the front was swapped to black.  You do not need to take the front bumper off.  Basically just take off 5 screws holding the plastic splash cover directly behind the bumper.  You can then squeeze an arm in there and pop off the white tabs holding the wings. Then just put on the black wings and make sure that all the tabs slide into the slots. The first was easy but the second wing didn't want to go in properly.  I finally was able to align all the tabs after three time of trying. The middle valence is easy to take off.  The bling skid plate does not need to be removed. You can place your arm through the large holes and get to the screws holding the valance.  For the top two screws you must take off the mesh. To do this, just locate the three plastic push holders between the radiator and the lights.  Once this is done, you can push in the plastic grate above the valence and have access to the top screws.  Unfortunately you will need a 10 mm flat wrench which I did not have with me that can be used to slide between the metal bumper and the screw. Once loosened it can be unscrewed by hand.  This will be done soon.

Finally got to the front valence.

GOBI Ladder

So I picked up a ladder from a local guy who rolled his FJ for a really good deal.  That was the good part.  The bad part - missing brackets.  So I call up GOBI.  Finally, after multiple emails that went unanswered and phone calls that weren't answered, I received the brackets over a month later.

I thought this would be an easy install but it was a little harder than I thought.  The lining up of the top bracket was easy.  Once the ladder was hung and the top bolts tightened, the bottom bracket was almost impossible to put on.  The ladder was sticking way below the door panel and the bottom bracket was not long enough to wedge into the bottom of the door.  So I added 3 washers on the top bracket to bring up the height of the ladder, which helped a little.  I then left the nuts loose so I could push the ladder up from bottom while I was placing on the bottom bracket.  I had to wedge the left side(looking from the outside) so that it would move up level with the right.  That was really hard to do while tightening the hex screw little by little since the allen wrench would hit the door after a quarter of a turn.  The bar for the rear door wasn't much fun either.

Once everything was tightened I noticed that the ladder was crooked.  I yanked it to straighten it and all was fixed.  What an ordeal.

I think the design needs to be reworked in the following areas:

1. The top bracket is straight where the left top side of the door (from outside) curves down.  This caused the ladder to sit crooked.  The top bracket should have accounted for that by making the left screw post higher than the right.

2.  The bottom bracket is way too short.  It should have been made longer on the sides in order to take into account the overhang on the bottom of the ladder.

3. The metal strip that is supposed to be for the screws is very flimsy.  The bottom bracket should be made so that there is a built in plate that moves when you adjust the screws.  This sheet metal with double sided tape "plate" was horrible.

Other than that it looks great once it's on.

External GPS Antenna Install

I kept losing satellite reception in certain areas and decided to purchase an external antenna for the OEM GPS unit.  Ebay had a ton of external antennas and I purchased the Garmin brand that fits the OEM handheld.  I had to cut the antenna in order to get the wire to pass through the firewall where I had passed all my other electrical connections for the auxiliary lights.  The connector for the antenna was just too big to force through.  So I bought a set of coaxial ends and a connector from RadioShack.  Once I had all the connections soldered on, I passed the connector that goes to the GPS through the hole where the power cable was and plugged it into the GPS.  It got much better reception with the external antenna.  The wiring was passed through the same way down the windshield channel as the auxiliary lights.

Coaxial connectors in gold.  Other cable is power from the cigarette lighter.

Connection on back of GPS for external antenna.  The other side with the cover still on is for a mini USB plug.

External antenna placed right behind the light bar (steel).  This antenna is very magnetic and also contains some sticky glue on the bottom for extra adhesion.  I tested with and without the antenna and it gave me at least 3-5 ft extra accuracy in this position.

5' Firestik II CB antenna / spring

Since my old antenna kept breaking on the weak point in the middle where a nylon separator screwed into the metal parts, I purchased a firestik II with tuneable tip.  It was easy to set up and all I did was modify my homemade mount/bracket by drilling bigger holes and insulating the antenna from ground.  Once it was up, I hooked up the SWR meter and tuned it.  It seemed to work best when the tip was screwed out as much as possible.  The SWR readings were much lower than that of the old antenna.

I also came up with a contraption to hook the antenna when not in use.  I had a few stainless steel items and chose the best one.  The rope on the other end was tied to the roof rack.  It bent the antenna just right and it did not touch the rear door.

The first time out with the antenna up, the homemade bracket swung way back and hit the plastic pieces.  To fix the problem I placed a bend in the bracket which touched the door hinge.  This kept it from swinging up and down.

SWR reading for channel 40 - Perfect.  No reflected signal whatsoever.

SWR reading for channel 1 - under 1.5

Antenna sticking straight up.  Only using a rope to hold it down.  The stainless steel contraption I made was slipping against the outside and rubbing the antenna.

Ocean City/Assateauge - Yakima RocketBox 12 / Roof Rack Mount Locks

Went to Ocean City in MD on Memorial Day weekend and needed way more space than I had in the trunk area so I decided to pick up a roof top box.  After researching all the soft rooftop bags and reading that they all leaked, I opted for the hard box.  The Yakima RocketBox fit perfectly on the stock roof rack cross bars.  The hard part was lining up everything to be sitting perfectly in the middle.  After that, it was simple and easy to load/unload since I have the rock rails to step on.  The box can also be opened from both sides which is convenient.

I decided to go offroad on the OSV trail in Assateauge.  Unfortunately the trail was backed up by three hours and, since we were on our way home, we decided to try it out next time we go.  It was nice seeing some of the horses and the beaches.  Also took a nice pic of the FJ, with the RocketBox, next to a flag when leaving Ocean City, which was very fitting for this weekend.  You can see the locking lug nuts I used on the roof rack mounts, which was much easier than using a bike lock.

OEM GPS install

I found a great deal on an OEM GPS that included the Garmin Quest 2 GPS and the installation kit that is installed where the dash storage compartment is located right above the steering wheel.  Installation was fairly simple.  First disconnect the battery.  Then take the center console apart by unscrewing the 4x4 shifter knob, take a few screws off and slide it back a few inches.  After this, you just take off a few tabs and hinge the console that has all the switches on it to reveal the cigarette lighter plug.  Disconnect it and add the harness that splits the lighter connection into two.  Plug in the lighter connection on one end while passing the other end with your hand up to the storage compartment area.  The compartment was easy to take off.  Two screws and a small screwdriver to pry one end up.  Then just pull up to take it off.  Once the compartment is off, it is quite easy to "thread" the connector from the cigarette lighter split to the dash/speaker kit.  It has a small white plug that you just plug in from underneath.  The wire leading up is then zip tied and the sponge tape wrapped around the zip tie areas.  Then just pop the dash/speaker kit into place and push down to pop the tabs in.  Two screws with covers and you're done.  Then just put in the GPS and turn the key.

Subwoofer install

I picked up a subwoofer from someone who was getting rid of theirs.  It took about 10 minutes to install.  First I had to take off the two covers on the passenger side wheel well area in the trunk.  Then the hooks were unscrewed.  Next was placing the subwoofer into the empty hole that was left.  In order to screw in the top screws of the subwoofer you need to take off the cover.  This required a hex key for the four bolts/screws.  Once the cover is off, use the hook screws to screw in the top of the subwoofer.  Then the cover goes back on the sub.  There was a plug already for the sub, which was easy enough to connect.

Next was the dash switch install - pic #1.  That was even easier.  I took a small flat screwdriver and popped the blank cover.  Behind it was the plug for the switch.  Just plug it in, push the switch in and you're ready to go.

The guy I bought it from was using the lower cover and screws for another aftermarket sub he was placing in there.  As a result, I had to order the cover from the dealership - pic #3.  So that is the final step.

The sub does make a very noticeable difference but only for the lower bass frequencies.  If your music contains mostly treble and a little bass, then the sub is not noticeable since any bass that comes out goes through the large speakers in the front.  But when you do have a song with lots of bass, this sub kicks in and rumbles.  Many times I have lowered the volume since the sub was overpowering.  Sometimes even having to lower the bass through the head unit or switching it off altogether.  I've had other stock and some aftermarket systems that did not compare with the loudness of the FJ system w/ sub.

$1400 Oil Change and 4Runner

I decided to take the FJ to the dealership to have an oil change.  I haven't had a chance to do it myself and the garage I usually go to change my own oil was closed for repairs.  I also had an old spare tire swapped in for the new spare that came with the FJ from the dealership.  That new tire along with the other three will be sold.

So after waiting 2 hours for an oil change, the mechanic comes back to get me and shows me a couple of things wrong with the FJ - rear differential was vibrating and the water pump was leaking.  Seems that the rear differential needs to be replaced completely along with the water pump, of course.  Luckily, I bought the extended warranty and it won't cost me a penny.  So I jokingly ask if they have any FJs as courtesy cars but he says no and comes back with a new 2011 4Runner.  I was very impressed.  It is high off the ground and feels like a refined FJ.  It takes the bumps much better too.  It has much more than the FJ with the exception of a rear diff lock.  If anyone is in the market for a capable offroad vehicle with refinements I would definitely suggest test driving one.  The handsfree bluetooth is very good as well.  It streamed my music off the iPhone and I could use the car(stereo/steering wheel) buttons to control my iPhone.  No wires.  Nice.

4Runner (Note: iPhone pixel saturation line)

The service guy is informing me of the progress every day.  Apparently they had all the parts for the repairs except for the differential bearing, which will arrive sometime next week.  I told him to take his time because I am enjoying the 4Runner.  I might stop in to watch them take the differential apart so I can see the damage.  Pics will be posted if I am able to go.

Finally got the FJ back after a week.  They needed to get another part - pinion seal - which they did not have in stock.  It was nice not placing mileage on the FJ for the week.  The first thing I noticed after the repair was that 4WD was responding faster than before.  It used to take a while to shift from 2WD to 4WD and back.  Now it's almost instantaneous.

Washed/Waxed, Scratches and Swirls Gone

So after almost 8 months of not washing the FJ, I decided to take care of it on the outside.  I noticed that the dealer that I bought it from fixed some deep scratches and buffed the whole FJ.  This buffing left swirl marks all over which were visible when the sun hit it.  I had a few branches fall on the sides as well, which put in some minor scratches.  I read up on detailing info. on how to fix the swirls and came across some stuff from Meguiars - Scratch X 2.0.  So I bought a bottle seeing that the instructions were fairly easy - rub until there is no more in any direction you like.  I gave it a thorough wash and then proceeded to rub the Scratch X in the areas where I could visibly see the scratches.  Then I proceeded to use it on the areas where I saw swirls.  Once I was done I put a nice coat of carnuba wax on it.  It looked 10x better than when I bought it!  All the swirls were gone and the scratches were not noticeable.

It did such a great job that I used it on the wife's silver Volvo.  She had scratches everywhere.  Even a foot long one on the hood, which is not visible now.  All the minor scratches were easily taken off.  Her's looks at least 100x better than when we bought it.

Larger scratches were on the bump out right above the rear tire.

Alarm system

So after I forgot to lock my doors and I left my iPod in the truck it was gone the next day.  I decided to buy an alarm system.  I found a great price on the factory system and had it installed a few days later at the dealership.  I read through the instructions but it was way too much work for me to install.  They had it done in about 3 hours.  They worked around all the aftermarket wiring and didn't charge me extra for it.

It was a real pain to put in all the settings I wanted.  You have to go through so many hoops to make it work that I finally had it down after the 6th time!  After all the settings were in place it worked great and I liked the motion sensor.  Now if I forget to lock my doors it passively arms.  Didn't get much of a discount on the car insurance though.

"Free" BFG AT's

The dealer that I bought the FJ from couldn't balance the cheap tires they put on there.  They were brand new tires too.  So I suggested that they place the originals on there - BFG AT KO - and use the spare as well.  That way they would only have to buy 3.  They went for it and I asked to keep the other street tires that were on the FJ when I purchased it.  I left one as a spare and bought a cover for it.  The other three are now in storage.

BFG AT's.  Rear is spare, front is new.  Some bluish tint-like material was around the sidewalls.

A few weeks later - washed and detailed.  No more bluish tint around new tires.

TRD intake

Well, I didn't sell my TRD intake from my previous FJ.  I never put it up for sale since it was missing the rubber piece that sits under the box and has two threads sticking out of both sides.  Since I was missing the piece, I bought a long screw at Home Depot and found a bicycle handlebar adapter that was the perfect size to use as a spacer.  The nice thing about it is that it was able to fit once the long screw was in place.  It took a bit of work to get everything just right but after I tightened all the bolts inside the airbox everything was just perfect.  No movement from the airbox at all.

The filter was extremely dirty.  I had an old AEM cleaning kit from one of my earlier automobiles and used that to clean.  There was so much grime it took about 4-5 sprays of cleaner and rinsing from inside to outside.  Once it dried, I used the oil from the kit and let it soak for a day.  There was a little excess that dripped off into the rubber end, which I wiped off.  I also checked the filter a few days after install and there were a couple of drips at the bottom of the airbox that I cleaned up.

Installation was fairly simple with the exception of the homemade spacer.

Finished install.

CB Radio

Well, my dad had an old CB in his shed and I noticed it when I went for a visit.  The middle of the antenna was missing a cover and it looked a little old.  The cigarette lighter adapter didn't even work and I had to buy one from Radio Shack.  I spray painted the antenna flat black.  The center was also a copper wire wrapped around a nylon cylinder that had screw threads on both sides.  Unfortunately, nylon doesn't hold up very well when screwed into metal.  I left the antenna in the back and it snapped the nylon thread after the tire changing place I went to threw my old tires in the back.  I then soldered the wire to the top part of the antenna, epoxied over that, wrapped it in wire loom and electrical tape.  This wasn't sturdy enough so I bought some heavy duty shrink tubing at Home Depot. This did the trick.  I also didn't have a bracket and I wasn't about to dish out over $40 for the Bandi mount. That's the cost of a cheap CB radio!  So I took an old piece of metal from my homemade axe and shovel mount and drilled some holes into it to fit the antenna bracket.  It fit nicely with a screw that I had to cut to the correct length so that it would not touch the door.

Overall the bracket was flimsy as certain folks pointed out.  So I went back to Home Depot and found a much thicker chunk of metal from which I plan on making the next generation bracket.

So a fully functioning CB radio for $11 --> $6 for the cigarette lighter adapter with fuse, $2 bracket and $3 for shrink wrap = $11.  Seeing that purchasing a cheap CB is about $30, the bandi mount is $40 and an antenna is another $35 or so, I think I made out.  I'm also not planning on using it much so it made sense not to spend $85-$100 for a CB setup.  I would also have to tune it, which would cost another $30 or so for an SWR meter.  This one was already tuned for the antenna it came with.

Original equipment and color

Nice coat of flat black Rustoleum

Bracket and original antenna mount

Side view of full antenna.  Thick part up top is the nylon copper wire area that was reinforced.

Brush Guard / Skid Plate / Bike Rack

Finally had a chance to put on the brush guard and the skid plate.  I touched up the brush guard due to the damage it took from the totaled silver FJ.  I also had to hammer the driver side brackets back into place.

First was the brush guard since I needed to access the bolts from underneath the bumper.  This install was quite easy since I had already done it on the silver one.  I also printed the template correctly this time.  It seems that it is made for an 8.5x14 sized piece of paper.  I selected the option to print the actual size on the 8.5x11.  It worked great.  Everything lined up and I drilled through perfectly.

The skid went on next.  It took me a while to get the rear bolts on again since I hand made the spacers.  But it finally went on.

At this point I had the hood up still.  When I went to put it down, the bug shield that was on the FJ when I purchased it hit the brush guard.  Just when I thought I was finished.  It was easy enough to take off the bug shield but I didn't realize that there are plastic clips holding the metal screws.  Someone over torqued them and a couple were loose.  I had to use an adjustable wrench to hold the bolt inside the hood and finally take off the adapter that holds the bug guard.  Finally I was able to take it off and the hood went down.

I also took off the ski racks and put on the bike rack on top.  There is a hitch bike rack on the back as well.

So remember to take off the bug guard if you put on a brush guard.  Next up is the TRD intake once I find a missing part that I left on the old FJ.  Then the lights will be wired.  After that is rustproofing the underbody.

Pic shows brush guard.  The black skid isn't noticeable unless you are close up.

Light bar

My Tuffy light bar from my silver FJ was still around so I placed it up top.  Very easy to install, especially with the DO rails/steps.  I left all the wiring in tact so now all I have to do is run the wires to the battery and through the firewall for the switches.

The ski racks that came on the FJ were taken off prior to installing.  A bike rack took it's place up top.

It's looking like an off-road vehicle now.  Next will be the brush guard and the skid plate.  Once that is finished, the TRD intake is going in.   Then it's going up on a lift and the surface rust on the axle, frame  and shocks will be cleaned and then painted over.  

Demello Rock Rails

I decided to take off the stock rock rails and place on my Demello's that I bought for my silver one.  The kids were having a hard time getting in and out.  I placed them side by side and the stock ones have a larger diameter tube.  They also weighed much more than the Demello rails even though the Demello rails are much longer.  You can see the differences immediately.

Even though I liked the stock rails and the way they looked, they were not as functional as the Demello rails.  Not only did it help with getting in and out of the FJ, but they also helped in the next few items that I placed on roof rack.

Demello on the left.  Stock on the right.

Stock up front.  Demello in the back.  Notice the fins on the stock between the two rails.  Very thin compared to the thick chunks of steel between the Demello rails.

Stock bracket.  The stock rails seem to be quite nice.

Demello rail.

Stock rail.

Wndow Tint

I decided to tint my windows a little darker than usual to make this FJ match the rear windows a little better and make it uniform black all around.

Skid Plate

I decided to repaint the skid plate that I placed on my silver FJ.  First sanded down, washed and then sprayed with PlastiDip.

TRD-SE

So after finding a great deal on a TRD SE, I decided to sell my Ridgeline and purchase the second FJ.  I have the Demello rails, brush guard, skid plate, and light bar, which didn't sell for the prices I was asking.  Luckily all this was stored away.  Every part will be placed on this FJ.

And the saga begins ...