Test Drivin' FJ

[WpgX]

Looking for some opinions on the off-road capabilities of the FJ. I read the post about the blown rear end, and the axles being too small etc. So how does the FJ hold up as a daily driver and off-roader? It seems like there just aren't a lot of options you can just drive off the lot.

[GRMhick]

Lets see, I have a 2" lift, and 33's. wheel it almost every weekend, and figure about 1000 people have done off road test drives in it. Currently have around 56k miles on the truck. No major issues. Wheels great, drives around great, still tows a trailer great. I never got why people think the front end is too small... it uses the same CV's as a tundra and the inner shafts are around 1.5" diameter.

Rear end is a standard 8", and has held up fine for all the use I have put the truck through. Ya, I have been there when other people popped them, but its in a place where many trucks were breaking diffs, and it really didnt matter what diff it was.

Durability of the truck is about 2 steps ahead of my old '85 4runner. But if you want to drive one offroad, find a trail teams event, show up, and take it out on the trail.

[WpgX]

Thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated. I'll take one out for a drive today. Not too many events up here so I may not get the chance to take one on a trail. But I'll keep looking for feedback from that guys who have. Thanks again.

[CB77demello]

Originally Posted by WpgX

Looking for some opinions on the off-road capabilities of the FJ. I read the post about the blown rear end, and the axles being too small etc. So how does the FJ hold up as a daily driver and off-roader? It seems like there just aren't a lot of options you can just drive off the lot.

I bought mine for my company to build products off and for. I have since sold my 99 Tacoma rock crawler and drive my FJ daily. The blind spots kind of suck but I'm use to driving with my mirrors and it don't bother me.

The rear end issue, I have talked to a few people in the know. The rumor is Toyota went with a more britel ring gear curing process. Making the gears easy to break. I have heard they have since fixed this, but there is some discussion of when they did this. The problem started in 05 with the 05 Tacoma and from what I was told the problem should have been fixed in the fall of 07. But I have not been able to confirm that.

My FJ has a URD super charger pushing around 300hp to the rear wheels and runs 33s. I have just under 40k on it. I have not broken a rear gear set yet (knock on wood) but knowing that it could be a problem, I was careful to break in the rear end when I drove it off the lot and I have always changed the gear oil on a regular basis.

I have been on the trail for rear end breaks for at least 4-5 Tacoma's and FJ's I was in the driver seat for a friends 05 Tacoma. They do break pretty easy IMO. But being a former owner of a 99 Tacoma with 37in tires running the same rear end with 4:88 gears and Super Charged. I find it hard to believe that this same axle is too weak for the application. Sure a 9.5in or even that new tundra 10.5in would be nice I don't think the axle it self is the problem, just bad sets of gears. Of course once I re-gear my rear end if I break those that might change my mind.

Over all it's a fun great little wheeler, it's not going to win any rock crawling events but its IMO a solid little out of the box wheeler.