FJ Cruiser (2)
Jul 30th, 2007 by Shreesh
Sayonara Running Boards
It seemed a bit silly to have a lift and be driving around with the running boards so I decided to eBay them. Heh, heh, I used eBay as a verb. This was the first time I had sold anything on eBay and a lovely gentleman from Washington purchased them from me. Since there was a shortage of the OEM boards I got $10 more than what I had paid for them. On the other hand they only had 1,500 miles on them…
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Buh bye running boards! |
Skid Plates
At the Chowhound picnic in Golden Gate Park an old infirm European gentleman ran aground on a log and got himself in a very bad way. WTF! I don’t want that to happen to us on the trip! BudBuilt skid plates to the rescue to protect the delicate underbelly of the truck.
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Budbuilts – function without the Bling. |
Air Horn
The stock horn on the FJ is pretty wimpy, especially when on a trip to India we saw the benefit of having a powerful horn in a sea of traffic. From a truck supply store in India we present… Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Oh, the humanity – its a loud and cacophonous Stebel Air Horn!
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Oh, the humanity what a dreadful picture! (Click for a better one) |
Car Alarm
We will be carrying insurance on the car during the trip, but we wanted to make the car hard to steal. Given enough time and motivation any alarm can be circumvented but the Clifford Matrix 5.1 from Custom Car Alarms should discourage the impulse thief. The alarm is hooked up to the air horn and comes with a paging remote that beeps if the alarm were to be triggered. We also opted for the glass break sensor, and the tilt sensor to keep our wheels from being heisted.
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Remote for the Clifford Matrix. |
Cargo Barrier
I spoke with Troy Hoffer of Superior 4Wheel Drive about the expedition and we discussed some modifications that would be within my budget (yes, I do have a budget). The first was a cargo barrier that Troy custom fabricated to fit the FJ. This will prevent the luggage in the back from rocketing forward and beheading either myself or my passengers during an emergency stop. I am rather fond of my head, bald as it may be. I like passengers with heads, too.
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Artistic and Functional Cargo Barrier. |