Off Road Adventure » How To Info

Time For A Change Sparky

Paul — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:19:37 +0000

One of the best ways to avoid trouble on an off road adventure is to know your rig… inside and out. One of the best ways to get to know your rig is through regular maintenance. Toyota recommends changing your spark plugs every 30,000 miles. Changing the spark plugs on a Toyota FJ Cruiser is [...]

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Time For A Change Sparky

Mounting Your Off Road Adventure Stuff

Paul — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:57:44 +0000

Long off road adventures are all about having the stuff you need to get unstuck, stay safe and remain comfortable. Some of the most import safety equipment on a 4×4 adventure, a shovel and Hi-lift jack, or fire extinguisher are also the most cumbersome and difficult to store. And like a teenager reaching for the [...]

Oil Can Betty…

Paul — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:07:00 +0000

One of our friends, Beau Jaramillo, from Amsoil, sent us a care package that included: Ea Oil Filters Signature Series 0W-30 100% Synthetic Motor Oil Ea Air Filters Engine Flush Severe Gear 75W-90 Series 2000 Synthetic Racing Grease With the Rubicon off road adventure coming up, this was the perfect time to change the oil. Engine oil has the primary functions [...]

Big Breath, Hold It… Hold It…

Paul — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:30:43 +0000

Ok, Let it out… and breath. When your rig can’t draw in the fresh air it needs, your engine runs less efficiently, gas mileage plummets and horse power evaporates. The easiest way keep your engine running at peak performance is to regularly check the air filter and change it when it becomes filled with dirt and debris. How [...]

The Wheels On The Rig Go Round And Round

Paul — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:03:19 +0000

Yup, I’m talking beadlockers. IHRA Pro Stock cars, CORR trophy trucks and vertical wall scaling rock crawlers all use them. But how exactly do they work and what does it take to install them. When an IHRA Pro Stock car travels down the quarter-mile in under eight seconds or an off road rig airs down real [...]

Get The Lead Out (it is all about balance)

Paul — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:40:17 +0000

No more shakes and shimmies, better gas mileage and longer tire life what’s not to like… Spinning tires wobble if they’re not perfectly balanced. To avoid having your rig shimmy and shake while bombing down the back roads, usually means taping lead weights on the sides of the wheel until a bubble level reads top dead [...]

15 minute Gadget Wire-Up

Paul — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:42:31 +0000

I love all the gadgets available these days that make getting to your off road adventure a breeze. But I hate wires dangling all over, getting in the way and generally creating a big spaghetti mess. Sure you can hard wire the gizmo into your rig’s electrical but than you can’t easily move it to [...]

How To Install Rear Lower Control Arms

Paul — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:06:30 +0000

Sooner or later anyone who spends a little time on the trail will hear a story from someone they know who bent their rear lower control arm (LCA). On FJ Cruisers the stock rear LCAs are not the strongest in the world and the first time they get dragged over a rock or log, they’ll [...]

The Return of Scuba Steve

Paul — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:06:37 +0000

When we last left our hero, Scuba Steve had just saved the orphans from the waters of the 100 year flood and was riding off into the sunset to wheel another day. Scuba Steve’s rig had barely dried off when a cry for help came over the CB. Dastard Dobbs, Scuba Steve’s arch enemy, had [...]

IFS Axle Disassembly (Old School)

Paul — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 07:53:31 +0000

It does not happen often, but when you need to rebuild your font axle, its good to know how it all comes apart. Recently Metal Tech upgraded our front end, which involved rebuilding the front axles with longer shafts. While we where there, Mark demonstrated how to disassemble the front axles. [...]

Knuckle Buckle Buster (say that fast 3 times)

Paul — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:53:06 +0000

Turns out there is a weak spot in the FJ Cruiser’s front knuckles that can give out under the right circumstances. Now those circumstances include speed, suspension extension and brute force, all in the right combination… Since we look for places that set up situations where all those circumstances come together, we thought we would see [...]

How To Clean A Mass Air Flow Sensor

Paul — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:10:02 +0000

Today’s sophisticated computer controlled fuel injected engines squeeze a significant amount of horse power out of each combustion chamber. In order to achieve their maximum output, they need precise input. That precision involves 14.7 parts air for every 1 part fuel or 14.7:1. How-to Clean Mass Air Flow Sensor from Hula Betty on Vimeo. In order to [...]

What Goes Up Must Air Down

Paul — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:48:47 +0000

If you wheel your rig on the sand, into the mud or along 4×4 trails you realize the advantages of letting a little air out at the start. Lowering your tire’s air pressure, known as “airing down” has a number of benefits including: In sand lower tire pressure increases the tire surface that comes in contact [...]

Eyes In The Back Of Your Rig

Paul — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:15:53 +0000

Everyone who owns and FJ Cruiser knows how difficult it can be to judge distance when backing up. Little cars that sit below your line of site which are impossible to see make parallel parking hell. Luckily Toyota added a set of backup sensors to tell you when you’re getting close. Awhile back we ran into [...]

Lights… Camera… Action! – The Director’s Cut

Paul — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 06:59:10 +0000

Search You Tube or Vimeo for “FJ Cruiser” and you will find a truck load of videos showing a rig crossing a river, crawl over a rock garden or wheeling up hills. They are great fun to watch and equally addictive, as I usually find myself forced to step away from the computer at two [...]

Always Carry Protection (Sliders)

PJT123 — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:16:01 +0000

I always enjoy any opportunity to meet up with Mark and LT from Metal Tech and this project brought me to their shop in Newberg, OR. These guys are a couple of the most knowledgeable guys in all things Toyota 4×4 and wheeling. What makes these guys special is their willingness to spend [...]

Scuba Steve Drives an FJ

Paul — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:23:51 +0000

…the water was exceptionally wet with the rain, heavy snow melt and oceans rising from the global warming. As the water in the rivers crested and levies broke, flood waters rushed over everything west of the Pacos. The only hope for saving the orphans was Scuba Steve riding high in his FJ Cruiser. [...]

Sex and Cars Still Sell

Paul — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:25:22 +0000

“Why would anyone want to sponsor you… What makes you guys so special?” Nice… Thx! Usually I just smile and let them think about it. However, if you really want to know than lets talk. First and foremost if you want a sponsor you need to ask yourself what is in it for them. Companies are [...]

Not Your Mother’s Headlights

Paul — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:50:42 +0000

Freud can take that headline for what it is worth… But when we started planning for the Baja we know we would need some serious lighting if we were going to explore the desert at night. Not wanting to take any chances we looked at a lot of manufactures’ lighting systems. [...]

Keeping the Vision Clear

Paul — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:44:54 +0000

Everyone asks… How do you like the rig… How did it perform on the drive to the arctic? Our answer… IT IS Great. The only thing we would fix… The windshield! The windshield picked up a number of star cracks which in the cold weather this winter turned to crack across [...]

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall…

Paul — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:42:57 +0000

Everyone knows the old joke… A tourist pulls up to a man on the corner and asks: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The man on the corner says “Practice… practice… practice” That is good advise and especially important when you are stuck on the trail. This is not the time [...]