If you live near the Bay Area in Northern California, you might have seen this FJ doing its commute. It's hard to miss among the CRVs, Celicas, Mercedes, and Land Rovers. Sitting on 39.5-inch Boggers and sporting one of the rarest body configurations available, Brian White's '65 Toyota FJ45 is certainly no normal commuter ride, but for Brian it's his daily driver. A mechanic by trade, Brian can afford the luxury of having his toy be his sole vehicle, driving it to Hollister to wheel, and even down to Pismo Beach for the annual Surf 'N' Turf Land Cruiser event where we first caught up with this FJ two years ago. Back then it was super clean, the fenders hadn't been touched yet, and the Boggers hadn't seen years of daily driving.
But Brian's done a good job of keeping it together since it's also been his wheeler for the last five years. Considering that Brian started with a $500 cab and chassis 10 years ago and went from there, we're pretty impressed with what he's come up with.
Pushing this green machine around is a carbureted Chevy 396 big-block that was tweaked with a Performer intake and Quadrajet carb, with a Comp Cams 4x4 cam giving its heartbeat all the way into the NV4500 shift box. An FJ55 custom five-core radiator cools all that engine. One piece for FJ fanatics to admire is the ultra-rare '63 "Land Cruiser" emblazoned grille that Brian was able to find. It sits right in back of that original Warn 8274 winch. | 
Getting all that spin from the NV4500 is a pair of doubled-up NP203 and NP205 transfer cases used to give Brian a 1:1, 2:1, or 4:1 gear ratio to his axles. A Northwest Fab doubler kit was utilized in the build, and surrounded by a generous cage that protects it from being whacked by rocks. Dropping from the rear transfer case are a 1350 U-joint rear driveshaft and 1410 U-joint front. The front driveshaft has an extreme 24-inch-travel yoke with the splined section being almost the entire length of the driveshaft. |
Bringing up the rear is a disc-brake-adorned Chevy 14-bolt outfitted with 4.10 gears and a Detroit Locker. Brian linked that to his FJ45's frame via lower suspension beams borrowed from a '60s 2WD Chevy. These, plus triangulated upper links, keep the axle and 39.5-inch Boggers in place, while the chassis rides on coil springs originally meant for the front of a hot rod. | 
Chevy running gear was plucked for all it was worth. The front Dana 60 was cut down a foot for the desired width under the FJ's front clip. It's held onto the frame with a stock leaf, spring-over suspension that incorpo-rated a shackle reversal Brian fabbed at his house. |
Brian's four-point-rollcage-filled interior is pretty clean since it's his daily driver as well. An assorted mix of Auto Meter liquid-filled gauges and original FJ cluster gauges lets Brian know what's going on from his Steel Horse seats. For his transfer-case shifters, Brian adapted some Snap-on Tools handles in place of his shifter knobs. Pretty sweet and totally functional. | 
When we first met Brian, he had a great-looking green and white hardtop on his FJ. Now he's decided to sport an equally cool and rare white soft top that is a little more conducive to off-road abuse. Brian still has the hardtop at home, but ever since he rolled it, he no longer wheels with it on. If you look closely you might be able to spot the custom bolts that Brian added so he can drop the bedsides off and turn his daily driver into a flatbed off-road vehicle and not crumple that sweet-looking and hard-to-find bed. |