FJ Cruiser in KOH

[Mad Dog 1]

I just read the thread about F-toys in KOH and thought I would throw the question out about the possibility of an FJ Cruiser in KOH. No I do not plan on it, but it would be alot of fun, what do you think the chances of an FJC In KOH would be, maybe turbo charger Stock or possibly with a V-8 swap oh, lets go 600HP.

[Mad Dog 1]

Oh yea, with a good driver( not me)

[plnfixr320]

Jeff your truck could easily be ready the KOH '11 I'm sure you'd have no problem finding a left seater to take the wheels for you.

[Mad Dog 1]

I am already involved in a KOH build, dont thnk I need to spread myself thinner. But thanks for the compliment

[Tech Tim]

We were going to do the FJ Cruiser build for 2009 KOH for 4WD Toyota Owner mag 2 years ago, but corporate bureaucracy got in the way... shame too, we would've showed up with an IFS rig the same year SC first ran his.


Here is what we were going to start with:


A built FJ Cruiser with Total Chaos, Sway-a-way COs & Bypasses, SCORE legal cage, PRP etc. It had raced 2007 Baja 500 and the V2R 2008

Then we started building from there:

Currie 9" rear
IFS, yes IFS front using a Currie 9" housing.
RCV D60 CVs
Atlas 4

Here it is on 39s with a little photo chop fender trim job.

[Hilux_Max]

Do you happen to have any more info or pictures of the front Currie 9" IFS housing?

Am interested in the setup.

thankyou.

[Tech Tim]

This is the one we were going to use or one similar to that.... they had only just started designing these back then. If they couldn't get it done in time we were going to fall back on a Dutchman or a cut down Diamond.



Go here to find out more about the Currie F9s: http://www.currieenterprises.com/ces...E.aspx?id=3498

We were going to use the Total Chaos long travel/Sway-a-way IFS that was already on it with fabricated spindle uprights to fit Spidertrax Unit bearing hubs.

BUT as mentioned above the project got stalled out and we never got that far.

[Wilson]

bummer, would have been cool to see it against the poly jk. What is that fj running engine-wise.

[Mad Dog 1]

[QUOTE=Tech Tim;11811716]We were going to do the FJ Cruiser build for 2009 KOH for 4WD Toyota Owner mag 2 years ago, but corporate bureaucracy got in the way... shame too, we would've showed up with an IFS rig the same year SC first ran his.

THis would have been very cool, but here it is going on 2011 and still no FJC in KOH. WHat kind of corporate bureacracy. You mean the guys paying for it backed out.None the less that is a very cool rig, where is it now?

[Tech Tim]

Originally Posted by Wilson

What is teld a candle with my 425ish hp pig of a 40hat fj running engine-wise.

One more time please?

Originally Posted by Mad Dog 1

THis would have been very cool, but here it is going on 2011 and still no FJC in KOH. WHat kind of corporate bureacracy. You mean the guys paying for it backed out.None the less that is a very cool rig, where is it now?

Nope, done after the 2009 fiasco.... Long story and I started to write it all out, but it is done and I don't need to bring up all the back story BS. In the end, unfortunately, we ended up having to bail on the 2009 KOH and letting Dave and Jeff down after they went out of their way to get us into the race.

Kind of sad, it would have been cool, especially if we could have finished and we would have brought IFS to KOH at the same time the Campbells did.

That rig is currently sitting at my place, last month we finally just got the replacement 4.0 V6 from Socal (Thanks again to Tim Florian, Nate LaRusso and team Ring Leader - Pook, Bernie and Big Ern) and just got it up and running. What the future holds we don't know.

We do need a couple straight OE spindle uprights and a replacement oil pan assembly, know anyone with spares????

[Tech Tim]

Originally Posted by Wilson

What is that fj running engine-wise.

Fixed it for you maybe?

Toyota 4.0 V6 with the 6speed, it really gets up and moves, has no problems with 33s getting up to 60-70 through the rough stuff. We figured for the 39s we were going to gear the 9s and then a few mods to increase the power.

Of course we had no delusions we were going to beat the high end buggies, it was more of an effort to get a stock bodied FJC across the finish line at the toughest off road race in the world.

[Mad Dog 1]

[QUOTE=Tech Tim;11814101]Fixed it for you maybe?

Toyota 4.0 V6 with the 6speed, it really gets up and moves, has no problems with 33s getting up to 60-70 through the rough stuff. We figured for the 39s we were going to gear the 9s and then a few mods to increase the power.

WHat gearing were you thinking of going with? I'm running 4.88's in my D-60's with 42's and am topping out at about 50+ in the woops. The only engine mods I made were custom long tubes(no cats) and an Air Raid intake.Do you think 4.56 would work with 39's and still get you to 60+. Are you thinking of a supercharger?

[Wilson]

Originally Posted by Tech Tim

Fixed it for you maybe?

Toyota 4.0 V6 with the 6speed, it really gets up and moves, has no problems with 33s getting up to 60-70 through the rough stuff. We figured for the 39s we were going to gear the 9s and then a few mods to increase the power.

Of course we had no delusions we were going to beat the high end buggies, it was more of an effort to get a stock bodied FJC across the finish line at the toughest off road race in the world.

Yes, not sure what happened there

[Hilux_Max]

Just a question....how did you manage to fit 39's on the FJ ?


Im assuming you had to cut/trim the mount at the rear of the front guard...any chance of some pics so we can get an idea if you did anything different to the norm?

Alot of FJ members on the FJ Forum struggle to fit 35's on a 3" lift....can you help explain to me how you managed to run 39's?

or was that just a poser shot with them fitted?

Thanks mate.

[Tech Tim]

Originally Posted by Mad Dog 1

WHat gearing were you thinking of going with? I'm running 4.88's in my D-60's with 42's and am topping out at about 50+ in the woops. The only engine mods I made were custom long tubes(no cats) and an Air Raid intake.Do you think 4.56 would work with 39's and still get you to 60+. Are you thinking of a supercharger?

We were talking about running a True Hi 9 in the rear, so we would've been limited to 5.14s. They didn't yet have the 5.43s and the 5.38s would not have been a perfect match with other gearsets for the front.

5.13s w/ 39s would've given us about 2300 rpm at 65 in 6th gear, it's away down the powerband, so it would've sucked a bit.

4.56s w/ 39s would give you around 2000 rpm at 65 in 6th, so the engine would be even worse than we were planning.

A Supercharger was a back up plan in case we needed it.

So much of this is unanswerable as we never had it running on the 39s, the rig was delivered to us with a rod through the side of the block and getting the replacement engine was one of the things that got caught up in the "corporate bureaucracy".

We were offered a Lexus 4.0 at one point in time and in hind sight we should have taken the guy up on the offer, but it was an unknown quantity and we were already short on time to get all the mods we wanted done, a V8 swap would've hurt even more.

[Tech Tim]

Originally Posted by Hilux_Max

Just a question....how did you manage to fit 39's on the FJ ?

or was that just a poser shot with them fitted?

That is definitely a poser shot, look close at the photo chopped fenders, but we did have them on and the truck could be pushed around no problem.

Our plan was lots of cutting and trimming; there we no worries on cutting up the body other than to keep it decent looking. The interior is stripped and it has a full on SCORE legal cromo desert cage inside from the firewall to the tailgate. We've got the Trailer Products desert flares front and rear to cover up the larger openings.

Now that we've got it running again we've been joking about giving it another go, we'll have to see if it is even a viable idea. KOH is lightyears ahead of what it was 2 years ago, I think it would be better to build a smaller buggy with FJC skins running the engine/trans/t-case/suspension that are on this car.

Im assuming you had to cut/trim the mount at the rear of the front guard...any chance of some pics so we can get an idea if you did anything different to the norm?

Yes, but but only a small amount, we were planning on slicing the OE IFS brackets off the frame, plating them up for more strength and then moving the whole IFS assembly forward a couple inches to help with the needed clearance.

[BellyDoc]

The SDHQ build, in progress right now, is every bit the quality of construction that you'd probably need to get a full bodied FJC through that race. However, for some reason they're going with some stock systems (like steering and front CV axles) that would probably be a deal breaker. In particular, I don't see putting that thing up on 39's without breakage.

I still love it, though. That engine gives me a technoboner.

[p-disetoy24]

Here is what we were going to start with:



Hey that's our bumper...... GO DEMELLO

[Mad Dog 1]

Should have started with this. LOL

[Tech Tim]

Meh... solid axle....

[Tech Tim]

Though a SAS could be a good thing... Do you still have your spindle uprights?

Ours are bent, we need replacements....

[Mad Dog 1]

Originally Posted by Tech Tim

Though a SAS could be a good thing... Do you still have your spindle uprights?

Ours are bent, we need replacements....

No got rid of those long ago, Your right Long travel IFS seems to be the wave of the future and would handle better in the desert portions. SAS still does pretty good in the woops with the bump stop pressure cranked up. I think you would have to stretch the front IFS to even get 37's on other wise you would have to cut into the frame for clearance and some of the body.Were you going to move the dif forward?

[Tech Tim]

Originally Posted by Mad Dog 1

I think you would have to stretch the front IFS to even get 37's on other wise you would have to cut into the frame for clearance and some of the body.Were you going to move the dif forward?

Yep all of the above, but its too bad and that was for 39s. 2-3" forward and trim into the body.

[larsdennert]

Or this. Already SC'd.

[Mad Dog 1]

Or this. Already SC'd.[/QUOTE]

Nice Rig!