This is our FJ Cruiser build that has evolved over the last two years. When it came in, the 2008 Toyota was riding on a Stage 5 Icon suspension, 33" MTZ's, modified fab fours bumpers, sliders, Bud built skids and a TRD brake upgrade. "Stage 1" involved Total Chaos knuckle gussets, eccentric cam bolt gussetts, and a Inchworm Lefty t-case with 4:7 gearing and twin sticks.

As she came with the Icon suspension

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/january_19_014.jpg

Total Chaos knuckle gusset

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/january_19_017.jpg

Total Chaos eccentric cam gussetts

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/FJ_002.jpg

Fab Fours bumper modified with a grill guard and LED bar, Bud Built skid

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/FJ_003.jpg

Inchworm "Lefty" 4.7 t-case

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/FJ_005.jpg

twin sticks

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/FJ_006.jpg

aluminum console trim

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/march11_024.jpg

Stage 2 happened a month later after Ed saw our 05 Tacoma build. While we did rip off the front suspension, it got re-used on his daughter's 4runner. What replaced it was 2" over Total Chaos long travel kit with the upper a-arm gussets, lower a-arm skids, King 2.5" coilovers and bypasses, 1.25" roger Brown body lift, and 35" Toyo's.

Icon suspension before tear down

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/march11_009.jpg

suspension laid out after coming back from powder coat

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/march11_001.jpg

upper a-arm gussets

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/march11_010.jpg

new Total Chaos installed

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/march11_020.jpg

bottom view

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/march11_016.jpg

front view

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/march11_027.jpg

full frontal

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album342/march11_026.jpg

After he got it back, it wasn't fast enough. Stage 3 was a TRD supercharger, APR X1 piggy back fuel management system with 7th injector, cam gears, smaller pulley for 8 psi of boost, Doug thorley long tubes, O2 simulators, and a 2.5" stainless exhaust built out of pre-bent mandrel pieces. In the name of performance, it was also regeared with 4.88 Nitro gears and a front ARB to rival the factory rear e-locker.

Stage 4 was literally a month after... Off went the Bud Built skids. Chris (85mudblazin) cut off the trans crossmember and built a new one flush with the bottom frame rails. Ed wanted 6061 3/8" skids with as much ground clearance as possible. We CAD'ed all the pieces on our Torchmate, and Chris TIG'd it up. Countersunk bolts are used to flush mount the skids.

the front skid is flush with the edge of the bumper

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album395/027_G.sized.jpg

access panel for the oil pan drain plug

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album395/028_G.sized.jpg

this shows the transmission skid and the gas tank skid

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album395/029_G.sized.jpg

close up of the gas tank skid

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album395/031_G.sized.jpg

flush frame side shot

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album395/032_G.sized.jpg

gas tank bolt strap protectors

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album395/033_G.sized.jpg

beveled lip and countersunk mounting bolts

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album395/034_G.sized.jpg

bad ass

Nice!

I saw this one on your website. Definately one of the nicest FJC builds I have seen on the web. Cheers to the work you guys did.

I am surprised I have never seen this one on the trails at various TLCA events. I know you guys work on Nick's FJC...which is the nicest FJC build I have had the pleasure of seeing in person.

Great build,
Have you dyno'd to see what you HP are with the power upgrades ?

Nice work. Really like the finishing details on the interior to conceal the shocks/coilovers.

Great build,
Have you dyno'd to see what you HP are with the power upgrades ?


Curious to see how the lefty works out with that HP.

Is it running standard XD gears or trail gears? The majority of the lefty cases that have failed in FJs were those with S/Cs (running stock boost). He might want to consider upgrading to the chomoly competition series if Marlin ever gets the 23 splines in stock again, they've been out of stock since October of last year.


Hopefully see the owner on the trail some day. Haven't seen him at any of the TX parks/events before, but perhaps thats cause his FJ seems to have a long term residency at your shop :laughing:. Turned out well.

Lookin good.

JB

Great build,
Have you dyno'd to see what you HP are with the power upgrades ?

We had it dyno tuned when we put the APR X1, cam gears, 7th injector, and the boost pulley. At the wheels through the 6 speed manual, t-case, 4.88's and 35" tires... it had 300 HP and 284 ft pounds. The tuner thought it was close to 400HP at the crank, and said the parasitic loss was huge with the big tires and low axle gearing.

Nice work. Really like the finishing details on the interior to conceal the shocks/coilovers.




Curious to see how the lefty works out with that HP.

Is it running standard XD gears or trail gears? The majority of the lefty cases that have failed in FJs were those with S/Cs (running stock boost). He might want to consider upgrading to the chomoly competition series if Marlin ever gets the 23 splines in stock again, they've been out of stock since October of last year.


Hopefully see the owner on the trail some day. Haven't seen him at any of the TX parks/events before, but perhaps thats cause his FJ seems to have a long term residency at your shop :laughing:. Turned out well.


You hit the nail on the head. It hasn't had any real world testing besides the fire roads on his ranch, because we keep working on it. I can't remember the specs on the Lefty because he bought it. But knowing him, if there was an upgrade option he would have sprung for it. If that Lefty gives us problems, we'll throw a Stak or Atlas. i don't want to blast anybody, but we had some noisy bearing issues with that transfer case when we first installed it.

i don't want to blast anybody, but we had some noisy bearing issues with that transfer case when we first installed it.

Fully understand. When my inchworm lefty with XD Gears sheared off a few teeth on the 4lo gear set, I wasn't exactly pleased with the customer service that I received - warranty wasn't what was advertised.

Ended up ordering from Marlin directly and went with the 4320 gears the second time around and was much happier with the service, even gave a better warranty on the failed case than the other mfg.


Toss of some pics of the rear interior whenever you guys get a chance. Turned out really clean.

speaking of the dyno numbers, less than 2000 miles later after the performance mods, the 4.88 Nitro gears exploded. The Yota axle couldn't handle the torque of the motor and the stress of 35" rubber. We had just finished the Rockjock 60 in Nick's FJcruiser, and decided there were too many compromises with space constraints using that axle... factory frame, gas tank location, height of the link cradle, what had to be removed to properly get the most out of the Metaltech 3 link.

So we cut the frame off behind the rear doors, did a traditional upper triangulated 4 link, got Currie to weld on FJ outer flanges to a chromoly Fab 9 housing. Hi9 built the nodular 35 spline 3rd with an ARB. Fuelsafe built us a custom baffled cell that utilizes the factory Toyota pump/sending unit. Chromo heat treated links from Taylor at Herretic Fab and heims from Dan at Ruff Stuff were ordered. Sonny and Marco from Downsouth Motorsports built our 12"x2.5" King coilovers and triple bypasses.

Here's tearing out the old e-locker Toyota axle and Icon rear suspension.

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/001_G.sized.jpg

Currie and Hi9 test fit

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/002_G.sized.jpg

care package from Downsouth

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/004_G.sized.jpg

all the gusset work is TIG'd 4130 .120 plate

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/4_G.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/5_G.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/6_G.sized.jpg

Backbone truss completed

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/16_G.sized.jpg

Chris used stacked plate and weld washers for all the link and shock mounts

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/022_G.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/021_G.sized.jpg

Adjustable upper link mounts

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/upper_link_mount_001.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/upper_arm_mount_001.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/upper_arm_mount_002.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/upper_arm_mount_003.sized.jpg

here's mock up while we made the frame, shock mounts, and measured for the fuel cell

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/mar256_001.sized.jpg

interior shot

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/mar256_002.sized.jpg

lower shock mounts

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/june2_004.sized.jpg

housing with upper link mounts, bump pads, shock mounts, limit strap tabs

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/june2_008.sized.jpg

close up of the limit strap tab and bump pad

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/june2_012.sized.jpg

shock mounts, the hole is for the swaybar link

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/june2_015.sized.jpg

Here's our fabricated frame out for final welding and fish plating, you can see the bump cans

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/june7_001.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/june7_003.sized.jpg

final assembly with antirock swaybar and axle housing back from powdercoat

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_001.sized.jpg

rear view

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_002.sized.jpg

interior view

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_003.sized.jpg

upper shock mounts

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_004.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_005.sized.jpg

finally on its own weight again

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_007.sized.jpg

22 gallon Fuelsafe custom cell in 1x1 steel cage, shod with 6061 3/8" skid

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_008.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_010.sized.jpg

view of the brake line routing

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_011.sized.jpg

evap relocation

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_013.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_016.sized.jpg

4 link frontal

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_017.sized.jpg

upper link mount and view of flat belly skids/t-case cross member

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_018.sized.jpg

This was after a much needed wash and long awaited test drive

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_021.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_022.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/Ed_s_FJ_024.sized.jpg

As for the interior, we made the wheel tub out of .066 thick aluminum. Chris TIG'd it. Then we sanded a crisp edge on all the panel work and trimmed the interior panels to fit around it

resi's mounted and experimenting with sound deadening

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/ed_s_fj_001.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/ed_s_fj_004.sized.jpg

the aluminum tub

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/ed_s_fj_005.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/ed_s_fj_006.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/ed_s_fj_007.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/ed_s_fj_008.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/ed_s_fj_009.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/ed_s_fj_011.sized.jpg

interior side panels installed and retains the factory rear seats

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/ed_s_fj_012.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/ed_s_fj_013.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/ed_s_fj_014.sized.jpg

http://www.krawltex.com/newtex/albums/album419/ed_s_fj_017.sized.jpg

Unbelievable. Absolutely GORGEOUS work. You are giving me lots of ideas for my 60:)

I think the interior piece is very clean. I like it.... Let's see some photos of it JUMPING!

JB

What's the plans for the finished interior?

Not sure yet what he wants to do. We are going to experiment with different sound deadening options before we cover that aluminum and build the storage rack. Above 60 mph, the road noise was pretty bad.

i used lizard skin, both the heat and the sound stuff..... havent got the truck on the road yet but it came out really nice... and all the reviews say it works great.

Lizard Skin is the bees knees! Let me know if you want some, Cam.

Thanks Dave. Let me put it to you this way, it's louder than driving in a Jeep because the road noise is bouncing around.

Thanks Dave. Let me put it to you this way, it's louder than driving in a Jeep because the road noise is bouncing around.

Lizard Skin will fix that right up. When we put the LS6 in their (Lizard Skin's) 46 Ford, they sprayed the entire interior with it. That busted-ass rattle trap feels like you're riding in a new Corvette at 90+ mph.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$

bad ass

Wowsers that is some clean work! :grinpimp:

This is an awesome build. Are those wheels 17's or 18's? Did they need spacers to clear?

This is an awesome build. Are those wheels 17's or 18's? Did they need spacers to clear?

Those are 18's. We originally had spacers on the rear Toyota axle to match the front width. When we ordered the Currie 9" we had them add a few inches so we could ditch the spacers.

Chris just finished swapping out all the resi hoses for black, extended the rear hoses, and will mount the resi's directly on the frame similar to the front. This is being done to rework the floor and try to minimize the road noise that is coming through that aluminum tub.

pimpin!