FJ CRUISER OVERVIEW (what to look for and consider when buying)

welcome to guns gear networker everyone appreciates your tuning in today today I wanted to do a video that kind of addresses some things about the FJ Cruiser and a lot of questions that come up when either people are purchasing or you know looking to purchase or whatever or they've recently purchased that kind of thing they come up on all the forums they come up on Facebook pages so just kind of wanted to give you a brief overview of some things to look for when you're buying an FJ or considering one and things like that as great as the FJ is it also like any other vehicle it's known to have you know some few issues or problems that may arise that are kind of significant to those particular type vehicles this being the FJ so let's just briefly talk the FJ in general they made them from 2007 to 2014 until Toyota discontinued them in the United States they are excellent vehicles they are great they they changed in 2010 2007 to 2009 they had a different engine compared to the 2010 and up and they went through from 2010 to 2014 they stayed basically the same so and there's different variations of the model itself you've got a base model all the way up to a trail team's a TRD Edition and stuff like that so I'm not going to talk about all those you just have to research that in particular so a lot of times people ask about problems or issues with the vehicle itself because if you're watching this video you've probably already decided you like to look you like you know a lot of those type things so I'm gonna take this off the tripod it's going to be a little shaky throughout part of the video just because I'm having to walk around the FJ here but this is mine this is a no seven if you follow my channel you've seen it numerous times different projects I'm doing with it and things like that I just recently added new Rock sliders so one of the first things you want to look for when you're purchasing an FJ it's called fender bulges and that comes up quite often and they're usually if you look it's hard to see because I've got this air compressor mounted here but it's oh it's going on this side or the other side look for any type of bulging or tearing and they're pretty it's somewhat common I don't have it I don't even show signs of it so I've got a friend of mine that's got an O seven same thing when he was looking to purchase his as one of the first things I told him to look for did not see it on his and he's not had any problems so far there's no real reason for it I they supposedly made some reinforcement Corrections I think in the 2010 and up and for some reason we can't get it contributed to one specific thing like you know you off-road it a lot or something like that you're always going wheeling well there's guys that says hey I don't really wheel and mines got it so I don't know there's ways to stop it there's an old racers race car trick if you get a crack in a piece of metal you drill two holes at either end of the crack to stop it now the Bulge that's a little different I've seen heard of people actually even welding them that sort of thing so kind of just keep that in mind when you are looking at the FJ overall when you're first looking at purchasing look for the fender bulges and see if they're there the other issue that comes up occasionally is the rear door sometimes there's been a failure in this area here and again some people there's nothing that can contribute to one factor that's been causing that supposedly like you know somebody that's running jerrycans or heavy weight or off-roading and stuff some people that I've seen on the forums over the years says hey I've never done any of that I've got a factory tire you know and they still had problems mine shows no signs of it whatsoever so I don't know but there this this could be a failure point at some time in this area here where the hinges are so the other issue that comes up in the earlier models 2007 through through to in nine is what's called transmission shutter and that is usually talked about that the torque converter is going out now I've never when it's it when I say transmission shutter what I mean is at a certain speed my it could be usually it's around that forty to fifty mile per hour range and the vehicle vibrates some people said it feels like you're running over washboards some people says this very minor some people says it's pretty bad blah blah blah I've never heard of a catastrophic failure where you know the Catholic emerges blew out so keep that in mind some people say hey I just there and there are some fixes and well and here's what there's a few of them there is a some people will do a transmission flush and get it corrected so again I'm not gonna go into detail transmission flushes kind of research this is an overview so kind of research transmission flushes you can do it yourself it takes about fourteen quarts to do a full flush if you do a pan drop you're only getting about three out so this is a full flush that people talk about and some people said that corrected it some people use this additive that corrects it that's a little controversial but people have done it and used it and so forth so it's it's not going to be in your straight drive vehicles it's only going to be in your automatics with the torque converters on the I don't have a straight drive but one thing I can tell you on the straight drives throwout bearings clutches things like that you need to check for wear and tear on those usually a throwout bearing will have a little chirp to it even at idle so also that ones that come up is called the bump it's like when you come to a complete stop and when you release off the brake to go forward or maybe even not it'll feel like somebody kind of bumped you in the rear end and what that is essentially is the drive shaft is a two-piece drive shaft and it has a slip joint in the middle and what's happening is that thing is hanging up and then it's releasing all that once instead of being smooth so one way to correct that is to grease the all the points on your drive shaft and that usually takes care of that when on that on the others you cannot over grease for the most part where your you joints are however that slip yoke you can over grease and get it to hydraulic so don't do that just a couple squirts you know every I do it until I fill the bump again once the bump starts I'll crawl back under and throw a couple and that's the easiest one to get to by the way it's in the very middle for the most part of the drive shaft and then you can do it so maintenance is key on any vehicle and so make sure you're changing out your rear diff fluids and all your differential fluids and things like that with these mileage miles per gallon oh my god this has been talked about it seems like every third post or something on Facebook is about miles per gallon you know if I had a bumper what does it do to my miles per gallon if I had a you know a light bar what does it do month to my miles per gallon it's a little sore subject for some people on the forums and stuff I get it if you're driving an FJ I don't care what mod you have I don't care what size tires any of that normally your miles per gallon is going to be somewhere between 14 and 18 and the reason I say that because I've heard such variations of it the different people claim different stuff and that also are they doing it accurately even checking their miles per gallon but I would say a realistic number is probably 14 to 16 depends on your driving habits what you're hauling what you're not things like that the more weight and stuff like that you add just the fact of the matter these are not Priuses they're not you know those type of vehicles that are going to get great miles per gallon so just keep that in mind the FJ Cruiser as a whole holds its value really really well so it's been rated as one of the highest resale value vehicles basically ever produced other than like really really old collectible type cars you know you're 65 Mustangs and things like that as far as a modern-day car this thing really really holds its value so you can realistically buy it drive it and it really lose no value and maybe even gain value if you've got a pretty decent deal on it to begin with so keep that in mind this is a if you go back and look at the history of the FJ 40s which these are modeled after they they obviously are collectible now and I feel like this is going to be collectible there's been actual articles written about this they've interviewed Toyota executives you know as far as hype in the dealerships and stuff like that these things hold what they call a hi book so they are very high very sought after by dealerships so if you have one and you're wanting to trade it for a 4runner or something like that just because it doesn't meet your family needs anymore make sure that you are getting the most out of it the best way to get the most out of it is to sell it a tree full retail price I would ask full retail price of your current year model mileage and stuff like that and then maybe even add $500 to it just to see where you're at in the marketplace and it varies from region to region so keep that in mind one other thing that can happen I've seen it almost almost everyone eventually will probably get it it's a design flaw the seat right in this area is going to have a tear mine was real thin it actually wound up tearing I sewed it back so it looks okay at best but I checked around in some upholstery shops you cannot find this material so just keep that in mind they make all kinds of aftermarket covers and leather and neoprene and all that so if you're wanting to protect it that's one way like I said I just sewed mine back it looks okay but just keep that in mind that what happens is the foam underneath this fails first which causes it to not there's like a little metal frame in here and it starts rubbing on that as you're getting in and out of the vehicle over time so that's what's happening there so that's another thing that you may find on when you're looking at if you see a hole there just keep in mind that most fj's a lot of mostly most but a lot of them have that spot there on it so I'm trying to go over my list here another thing to look for and this is any vehicle I don't care what it is it's rust for some reason I've seen some of these fj's that were really rusted out underneath especially usually not the body panels but a lot of times the underneath components the frame things like that so and I know some of the maybe Tacomas and stuff I had some rust issues at one time that really caused some people some problems I've seen a video one time of a tacoma that looked like new on the outside but the bottom was just basically rusted out so you want to try buying one from one of the southern states probably you know North Carolina South Carolina Arizona you know maybe worse dry so just keep that in mind when you're looking that that rust can cause you some problems if you do have rust or you want to prevent it it prevent it fluid film it's a spray or brush on you can do a bunch of different applications with it and it is known to prevent rust and it is not permanent it's not a paint or anything it's like a it's made of lanolin oil actually is what it made of and used in the military is used in marine applications things like that some people just put fluid film under there's some people opt to you know paint and things like that I've to do both so I do fluid film about once a year and then I just go in and put another coat of paint so mine is like new underneath has no rust no wear I mean you might find a speck here there on a piece of one of the components but overall very clean just trying to go through my list make sure I'm going over everything with you modifications so unlike the Jeep the FJ has a lot of potential aftermarket parts but it doesn't have quite as many case in point is these limb risers that you see on mine they don't really make a you know a you know company made settle em risers so if you want limb risers for the Jeep you can balm for something like the FJ you're gonna have to make them yourself but normally and they're starting to phase out some trail gears a good one they had a bumper that was kind of cool as a big stinger bumper they're no longer manufacturing it anymore I think that was part their fault to be honest with you it had some laser-cut logos right in the front that I think hindered their sales but they no longer make it so there's some people phasing out what they're carrying what they're making for the FJ some people ask about LED lights or upgraded LED lights so the interior lights on this oh seven was terrible you mean you could barely see anything so I've upgraded those to LED lights inside I've upgraded the headlights to LED these are last fit LED insert just plain bulbs you insert in a lot of people as soon as you ask that question about LED bulbs in the headlights some people wig out and just go crazy Oh it'll spill like it'll be too bright for other people blah blah blah it doesn't have the right you know housing for it for projection and things like that totally not true in my in my opinion I've got last fit LEDs and here they sponsored a video that I upgraded these these have been great I've not had any issues the lights very clean and nice and it it does if you adjust your headlights correctly you can have you know crappy headlights and not adjusted correctly and people are not going to people are going to bright light you and you're going to bother other drivers with these LEDs I might have a man checked them as far as you know what is standard height I think it's four foot in North Carolina but anyway the in other states may vary blah blah blah but anyway I forget what it exactly is but my point is if you put them in and adjust them correctly you might have to adjust them just a little bit lower but these do not spill light they not just you know felt reflecting you know bright light everywhere they actually do really well so keep that in mind tons of accessories like set a RB is a good one to go to tons of bumpers there aren't Bunya bumper manufacturers that are small in my design as far as their company size so that a little slow as far as getting stuff out to you and things like that so have patient with some of those understand what you're getting into when you go into it you know is it in stock is it not so forth another thing that comes up all the time this is like oh my god what size tires can I put on my FJ so what size lift and it's like the number one question that's actually made fun of that question so much that you'll somebody post up a different thing all together and some I'll ask what size tires are those so I'm running two 85-77 teams on mine and I don't really know what lift I have in mind it was like this one I got it I was told it was a three inch lift we hadn't really been able to hammer out exactly what it is I know it's got Bilstein shocks but I don't think they're 50 100 so I don't really know what I have so you're gonna have to look at and when people ask that question does it will it rub well that really depends on your offset of your wheel a lot of different things these are 2010 wheels called the bullet hole wheels so these were upgraded for when I got it already to the 2010 style bullet hole wheel which I prefer a like these about as good as any factory I mean I'm sorry any custom wheel that you could find so I just stuck with them I like it these are 285 77 teens with no body mount chops so when I mentioned body mount shop that was another thing so to get things to fit it not rub you may have to come in here and it is doing if I can get this camera to cooperate it is done right in here you take this off and you have to chop off part of the body supposedly it's not shown any ill effects for people that do that it's done all the time with the fj's so you might have to do that with your setup it depends on the size lift tires the offset how wide your tires are all kinds of things a lot of guys run spacers I personally don't like spacers that's just me spacers put more wear and tear on your suspension parts your wheel bangs and things like that but I understand the guys that like it I think it does look cool too that water all you know stance but to me I like to you know mind if you look down the side of mine the tires get the right angle are basically barely outside the fender just by a little bit and I like it that way that's just me it's easier to get on trails it's it's an error foot plan on a trail and that sling rocks and mud and everything on the side people ask a little bit about color personal preference they had a rainbow of colors when it came to the FJ so you know just to name a few the titanium which is the silver which is this one I think the one called iceberg which was white black I think the other ones black cherry which is kind of a purplish color there okay and I don't know all the names ones yellow one is a voodoo blue which is a brighter it's a bright blue but it's not the there's another one called Calvary blue that's a little lighter than the other the very the differences you'll see in the rooftops white compared to the same body color match that's where you get into the trail team stuff so if you see one you know a lot of people will paint the roof sometimes they'll do it just to kind of make a trail team look they'll have it painted wrap or rounded line something like that some people like the look they don't like the white so they'll paint it black or write a line at a wrap it or something like that me personally I like the white it kind of looks vintage just like it was originally done matter of fact I'm thinking about probably doing a white grille bezel around the lights and all so just something to look at that you know to think about but a lot is like I said all kinds of modifications and stuff you can do to these they're great vehicles overall and but I just wanted to kind of do an overview of the FJ and what to look for and stuff like that some of the complaints you'll hear about the FJ is the suicide doors and I've got a young son that ride in the back mostly so it's hard to get in and out sometimes in parking spots where there's somebody beside of you because we're having to open both doors and get him out and stuff like that so it's a little tough and I get that blind spots people talk about that with these things they said they can't see well I grew up driving trucks and box trucks and things like that for work and so I didn't have any rearview I had to use my mirrors so adding these simple mirrors right here blind spot mirrors help with no issues to be honest with you something like that so keep that in mind it windshields they are notorious for getting chips and cracks and the reason is is because the angle of that windshield is basically pretty close to straight up and down so that can cause a problem because the rocks don't have a way to kind of glance off they hit and they they just crack so when you have a windshield replaced on these part of the procedure to do that is they have to remove that top panel or trim piece at the top they also have to remove the two side pieces here and on the other side and this piece up here right there so that in itself can cause problems to people that in a windshield industry that are not used to doing it so one thing you want to make sure of when you call ask have they've done fj's before that doesn't mean they're gonna tell you the truth and just make sure that they have the factory clips to replace all of that stuff back now that top trim piece may or may not can be salvaged I was told by when I chipped mine a crack mine they told me that oh I got you got to replace it some people said you can only get it from Toyota it was really expensive one company that I've wound up using they said oh yeah we got those trim pieces they're aftermarket they said do you mind us not at all as long as it looks fine and they they went up salvage in mind they said you know I think we can we might can get it off and salvage it and not damage it it's pretty thin so it's actually clipped in and got a little strip of like a silicon type glue so sometimes they'll damage it they'll bend it to the point they can't use it so but make sure that they are putting back everything with good factory clips because those cowling pieces on the side are been known to get missing soon after doing a windshield repair so whoever you get to do it make sure and call around I was quoted anything from up to $700 I think I wound up paying about 280 or something like that complete use of reusing my trim piece so that's that's kind of like I said it's it's all over the board as far as what it cost these have three windshield wipers in the front one in the back so good windshield wipers are key in my opinion to any vehicle but keep that in mind that it does have three windshield wipers which is unique to this vehicle I hope that covers everything just kind of overall and I'll continue to do others if you got any questions in particular or maybe something you've got your own an FJ and there's something I missed in this discussion about the FJ feel free to put that in the section below but we kind of went over everything as far as resale and all those type things you know kind of what to look for as far as buying general maintenance stuff like that oh one other thing that comes up too I'll mention this because they made different variations some of them did not have certain features and one of those features is the a track button so a track is utilizing your ABS system during off-roading to help move power from one wheel to the other if one spinning or off the ground so some of them you'll find the F J's will have the rear diff lock but it will not have an A track button well that wiring and system is still there you just need to buy the button usually you can find it on the eBay Amazon somewhere like that and then all you have to do is plug in play it's literally pull the panel the little switch panel that's blank and then pull put the plug it in and snap it in you're done you've got a trite friend of mine bought one that did not have the rear diff I'm sorry had the rear diff not the 8-track and he added it you know just that was one of his first modifications the rear diff you cannot add a rear diff if you do not have it it's like a major undertaking to do that so keep that in mind if you're really kind of wanting those features you're gonna have to find an FJ that has it so just think about that some other things like the cluster gage at the top that has the ink laminar the compass and the time clock in it that is not if the wiring is usually there I think and you can buy that and add it but like I said friend of mine his did not have that so the subwoofer is in some it is not in some others so again look at the package overall as a whole some of that can be added pretty easy some of it cannot so just just keep that in mind when you're looking at purchasing if any of those things are important to you so but anyway the stereo and these are okay at best so a lot of people change those out that's another modification that people like that the radios are okay at best but you know not great so anyway guys I hope that was helpful to you if you know again if you want to if you're looking at purchasing one you have a different question maybe I didn't hit during this discussion be sure to ask that below you only Neph J and you and you know I missed something that I should have talked about feel free to put that in the section below and then we'll so everybody can then follow up as they're watching the video and see other things that I may have missed that will be helpful to them when they're purchasing some of the forums and Facebook pages you have the FJ Cruiser for them you have FJ cruiser nation you usually have local areas too on Facebook like you might have one in South Carolina or Georgia so it may be FJ cruiser Georgia or whatever so those guys are pretty helpful don't get discouraged if people are a little rude on some of those facebook pages if you ask a question because and the reason that is kind of what brought this video around was because people ask those questions almost like twice a day and it just gets old to some people instead of doing the research people just blew them throw out a question so I get it but just keep that in mind most people are very friendly when it comes to fj's in those forums and stuff but just if you get a little pushback understand why it is ask a lot these have been out long enough that most all these questions that you may have have been answered so when you guys hope that was helpful to thank questions post those below if you would like our videos give us a thumbs up down there in that section if you would share content it's also down there in that section helps us get the word out about guns and gear Network and as always guys like share and subscribe bring another video shortly have a great day

Channel: Guns and Gear Network

Views: 253,300

Keywords: BUGOUT, BAG, Survival, SHTF, FJ, CRUISER, GUNS, GEAR, PREPPING, Preparedness, ZOMBIE, APOCALYPSE, homesteading, bushcraft, knife, ammo, firearms, camping, emergency, Tactical, fj cruiser review, fj cruiser overview, fj cruiser video, arb bumper, fjc, fjc review, FJ Cruiser Review

Id: QStsEYmLi-g

Length: 27min 28sec (1648 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 10 2018