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2006 Ultimate Adventure 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser Build Part 6Part 6: The Final Shakedown of an Awesome Toyota From the December, 2006 issue of 4Wheel & Off-Road By Fred Williams Photography by Alan Huber, Clifton Slay, E.M., Fred Williams
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For the past five months we've been giving you an inside view of the buildup of our official Ultimate Adventure Toyota FJ Cruiser. It's always fun to take a brand-new truck and tear it apart in hopes of building something even better than what was offeredfrom the factory, and the UAFJ was no different. Yes, it's a lot of work, especially when modifying a vehicle that has never been offered before to the public, since many of the systems are totally brand new, but it's also great to start with a nice, clean frame and body, fresh from the factory drivetrain, and a unique-to-the-public body style. Plus, we were lucky that a majority of the FJ Cruiser components are used cross-platform with other models such as the Tacoma and 4Runner, and these vehicles have been available for at least three years, making certain modifications less of an uphill battle. In case you didn't know, BFGoodrich Tires is the title sponsor of Ultimate Adventure, and as such we built this truck around the largest, most aggressive tire they offer, the 39x13.5R17 Krawler T/A. We've run these tires in the past, and with the proper air pressure and enough gearing and motor they never disappoint whether on or off road. Of course in order to run a tire this large and use it on harsh, abusive trails requires body clearance, a strong drivetrain, and supple suspension. Over the past few months we installed exactly that under our Ultimate FJ while it was at All Pro Off Road in Hemet, California. But in addition to giant 1-ton axles, super low ring-and-pinion and transfer-case gears, and the added boost of a supercharger we also installed a custom rollcage, a flexy coilover shock suspension, beefy bumpers, and a hearty winch for extraction help. With this final installment of our Ultimate FJ we'll show you the last few steps involved in getting it ready. We'll go over the parts and tools we carried along to make the trip less stressful, and we'll also tell you how some of the components fared on the trip down rocky canyons, over massive dunes, and through bottomless mud pits.  When we last left off, our...  When we last left off, our Ultimate FJ was ready to roll out of All Pro Off Road and head north to get exhaust, paint, and a few final touches before the trip, but first we had to bolt on the tires and wheels. Again this year we are running BFGoodrich 39-inch Krawlers on bead-locked rims. However, to try something different we tracked down these bead locks from Poison Spyder Customs. In fact, these are prototypes for a new wheel the company will be offering, and they performed flawlessly. In fact, the wheel and tire combo was never balanced before the trip yet easily ran at excessive highway speeds with nary a vibration.  With the truck running and...  With the truck running and a few parts still on order, we headed north to Santa Rosa, California. This small town has been home to the final few buildup steps of the last four official Ultimate Adventure vehicles and for good reasons. Flowmaster is located there as well as our favorite paint shop, KC Customs. Unfortunately we also ran into some low-life bandits while there who not only broke into our tow rig and stole our wallets, but also made off with a camera containing the entire exhaust installation photos. Luckily Flowmaster came through with some shots of its new FJ Cruiser kit.  Though not exactly what we...  Though not exactly what we used, the standard kit will bolt or weld on and give the stock 4.0L V-6 a much healthier sound. Dyno tests have shown a 5 percent torque gain, plus both the standard FJ Cruiser kit and the custom system we used on our Ultimate FJ contains 2 1/2-inch 16-gauge aluminized steel pipes with a 50-series SUV muffler and a 4-inch stainless steel exhaust tip.  With now more than 3,000 miles...  With now more than 3,000 miles on our custom Flowmaster exhaust, we still love the sound it makes. It's not annoyingly loud on the highway or trail, yet it gives off just enough of the appropriate growl that a part expedition, part trail rig should have. When combined with our URD supercharger we installed last month, the aluminum V-6 can breathe deep and pull hard.  In addition to the paint and...  In addition to the paint and exhaust destinations in Santa Rosa, we also visited Fabworx Off Road again this year. The Fabworx crew has always come through with some last-minute assistance on our project trucks and this year was working overtime on coworker Jerrod Jones' Blazer project (see that build begin on page 54). Even so, they were willing to lend us use some space in their shop over the weekend to get some badly needed bodywork finished prior to paint. Notice the blue tape showing how much rear bumper we had to slice off to clear the Krawlers.  To clear the 39s we trimmed...  To clear the 39s we trimmed a small portion of the front of the rear wheelwell and a large part off the rear bumper and rear inner wheelwell. After cutting we took some thin sheetmetal and welded it in to cover the holes. To slowly spot-weld the pieces into place, we used a Hobart MIG welder on one of the lowest settings. Another benefit of doing your first bodywork within the wheelwells is that you can cover it up with a thick coat of spray undercoating if it's not perfect.  We also installed the driveshafts...  We also installed the driveshafts from Tom Woods Custom Driveshafts. Woods supplied us with a rear 1350 CV shaft at the Atlas transfer case. We also installed a driveshaft parking brake at the rear of the Atlas that uses a small rotor and caliper attached to the stock brake handle. Up front we have a similar shaft that utilizes 1350 U-joints. Woods supplied a second rear shaft with dual U-joints just in case a rock snagged our stock shaft.  In order to keep the driveshafts...  In order to keep the driveshafts happy and Walker Evans racing shocks from overextending, we installed a set of limiting straps from Poly Performance on the FJ. These quad wrapped straps have nearly zero stretch, and we ended up using a 17-inch strap in the rear and a 15-inch up front.  Back in our July issue we...  Back in our July issue we put the call out to readers that we were looking for a paint scheme for the FJ and whoever submitted the winning scheme would win a set of BFGoodrich tires. The flood of entrants came in with everything from scribbles by 2-year olds to full blown masterpieces. In the end we needed a simple classic design that hearkened back to old-school Toyota days, plus a color that wasn't currently available on an FJ but was still bright enough to pop out in photos. This winning design came from David Spreitzer of Corona Del Mar, California, and its three dashes reminds us of early 80's Toyota decal schemes found on many mini-trucks.
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