>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>link to massively built FJ on Ih8mud<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Ah yes, the FJNweb build... very nice, I like that guy. Hope he owns a GoPro for when it's finished and rolling.

Brian's a really smart dude. I check on his build regularly. I'm looking forward to see the completed project .

Kinda been lurking and watching that myself. Thing is gonna kickass.

What the heck do you guys think this guy is dumping into his FJ, 25K??? more? Very interesting for a newb like me to read through.

I've been watching as well. Been slow goings for the last few months. I'd say he's well north of $25K on this build.

This is my favorite photo thus far. Looks like a Autobot from transformers...

That's an awesome build.

Money.

Must be nice to have more cash then brains.....

That combo leaves most people broke at some point.

The wise word of Kurt. Love it! Hope yer all well down there...

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Post subject: FJ done right....LT front, three link, Atlas

Don't get too excited, "done right" is pushing it quite a bit. It is just one paths you can go down, but if I had to start over there would be quite a few changes. My main suggestion would be, don't believe what you see advertised from mfgs if building an FJ is your desire. It will save you a lot of dissapointment and rework down the line.

Originally what started as a 1 month build turned into ~10months when nothing matched up to advertisements.

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Ah yes, the FJNweb build... very nice, I like that guy. Hope he owns a GoPro for when it's finished and rolling.

Sorry, the DVR was to $$$ for me when Rod @ Total Vision quoted me 8 months ago for the camera setup (I barely look at the photos we took over the past 3 years anyways). And as others pointed out in this thread...I'm now too poor to afford the gopro . Feel free to mail me your gopro and I'll grab some video for you .

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Brian's a really smart dude. I check on his build regularly. I'm looking forward to see the completed project

You must have me confused with someone else Don. It is simply a lot of lessons learned and automotives being my hobby. I'm sure you understand with your camera/computer project. All the info I've provided elsewhere is already floating around and if folks really want to, all it takes is time to learn it. I'll be pulling it all into a consolidated resource for them to access it efficiently in the future.

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What the heck do you guys think this guy is dumping into his FJ, 25K??? more? Very interesting for a newb like me to read through.

There is a 4x4 adage (actually general adage) that is used to answer this question...usually that response is "if you have to ask you can't afford it". I'm not that big of an ar$$. It costs quite a bit, no lie there...anyone can look up the part costs for all these items which gives you a ballpark. If you are having someone do the fabrication work than make some assumptions on that cost.

I'll put it this way, I could have a very nicely setup competition buggy once you factor in the vehicle cost itself and modifications (considering bumpers and other crap on the FJ). That being said, what I'd consider a properly setup SA front end would have costed slighty more (I did price out the various options).

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I've been watching as well. Been slow goings for the last few months. I'd say he's well north of $25K on this build.

Waiting on mtr's (last 5 in stock in the country) to confirm bump has slowed things up (pitbull rockers are for sale)..amazing how limited tire options are when you really want them. It's back on the lift again, so headway will be made this month. Really running out of parts at my house to put back on it at this point . To your last question on costs..no I am not well north of that price. As, noted above...I'm under the price of what an equivalent SA front setup, upgraded rear, TC, etc. would have ran.

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Money. Must be nice to have more cash then brains..... That combo leaves most people broke at some point.

Think you mean "than"

Pocket book would be better with no work on the FJC...there is no question about that . Luckily my brains afford me more than enough $$ for this project.

I moved on to the next project once the limitations of the FJC were exposed anywho. I have no plans to get as deep into this as maddog with the FJC as its never going to be a true competition vehicle (that was never my plan...prerunning at most for BRT). Not knocking him or others as a competition fully body FJC is their decision and desire. FJC is never going to be a great rock crawler with the width, nor is it going to be an unbelievable desert racer compared to the alternatives out there...factor in the weight and you are better off persuing other alternatives. I knew that going into this build. Aim was to expand both the crawling and desert capabilities, while keeping it a comfortable expedition vehicle (traveling with 3 large dogs). I'll learn how to the drive this thing to its capabilities and move on from there.

Sneak peak of the next project for 2013 time frame (alternate setup will be in 2012 BRT if all goes as planned).








My FJ build was never targeted to be the cheapest. There have only been ~3 similar builds between Icon, Demello, and SDHQ, so unlike SACs there has been extremely limited information out there. Hopefully my lessons learned (travel #s, suspension geometry advertisements, interfaces) have ate a lot of the costs that other folks would see.



I'm planning on posting my lessons leanred (complete build and tech resource) on a similar website to what Don had for his wikid camera setup. People can take it for what its worth and hopefully my feedback might save them some $$ down the line. If you really want info on IFS setups, give the Gulf Coast Crawl Shop, Demello, SDHQ, or DMZ fab a call and they would provide excellent insight on your options.

Shit! We got caught talking smack about the guy.....I'm outta here....

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Shit! We got caught talking smack about the guy.....I'm outta here....

All in good fun. Please take my post above with a tone of humour and sarcasm.

The build is what it is. It's not the cheapest, most expensive, worst, or best approach. As I noted there is a lot that I would do differently if information I've learned through the process of this build had been readily available from the getgo.

Unfortunately accurate information on the various setups is hard to come by. SDHQ does a great job sharing tidbits on their build here and there, Demello provided great insight on air2air's original build (and what really happened there) when I talked to him at wheeltoberfest, and Tim at DMZ fab has done a lot of the LT kits on Tacomas which makes him a good resources as well. However, it is generally not information that is posted on forums for various reasons. The target of my build thread, and eventually a dedicated website, is to provide clarity on what the various setups, that I went through, truely offered and design differences between them (from someone who has no ties to any of the mfgs).

Aim in the end is to save other folks $$ so they dont' have to go through the same haphazard approach I did. It would have been nice to know that MetalTech's "3 link kit" and springs don't match the 14" of advertised travel I see posted some places or antisquat for that matter. Total Chaos's LT kits don't get the advertised travel either. To get what camburg advertises say goodbye to your fender wells and hello to some expensive axle upgrades (which "may" work). Heck those statements alone would have been extremely valuable to know.

The build could have been done in a month with the TC 2" kit and metal tech's springs on the rear end. However, the quality of that setup pales in comparison to how it will be setup now for little additional fabrication costs. I'd rather "almost do it right" (again not a perfect build by anymeans) than half ass it and get less value out of the money I spent.


Again I stress that there is a lot that I would do differently. That being said, I'm happy to answer any questions you guys might have.

Nice post FJNewb......Keep us posted on the progress!

Great posts and I would like to see it in action.

You absolutely MUST bring that rig to SedonaFest next year....assuming it will be done by then. Hell I bet we could get Cypher and Tibaal to pay you to bring it out as a special expo....maybe even make a bounce house out of it, or fill it with those plastic balls, for the kids to play in.