July 2008

Because of the trails being shut down in the Lincoln NF, we traveled to Orogrande (a mining town) and Tularosa for our trail runs.  There were over 100 people with about 40 FJ's, 4 Land Cruisers and 11 FJ-40’s at the event.

Friday night (for those that made it in) we ran a parade run through the town of Ruidoso, it was a awesome sight.  Saturday morning we departed to Orogrande to hit the trails.  There was nothing too difficult, but some great views and some different scenery for those not from around here. On Saturday night at the camp ground, the Trail Teams cooked everyone burgers and brats. They had plenty of goodies to give away and performed some great demonstrations.  Mark from Metal Tech also did a great demo on how to break and reseat a bead while on the trail using a Hi-Lift jack.

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If you’ve not seen Air 2 Air’s rig, we wonder where you’ve been. This truck is perhaps the most modified daily driver FJ Cruiser around, and it certainly is impressive. The custom paint job, internal roll cage, built in computer, and completely redone interior all jump out at you when you see this truck. Rather than go into a dissertation about the mods, we thought we would print the entire amazing list:

Armor
•    Demello Offroad sliders
•    Demello Offroad custom Prerunner bumper
•    Demello Offroad aluminum nose and engine skids
•    Demello Offroad body mount chop and fender clearancing

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Like Air 2 Air’s truck, Mir’s FJ is a very heavily modified example of what a built FJ Cruiser can become. Mark has had essentially all his work done by Man-A-Fre in Simi Valley, California, and his mode list is very impressive as well.

Armor:
•    ARB front bumper
•    AllPro rear bumper
•    MAF/4+ wide rock sliders
•    MAF/4+ four part skid trays (three main pieces plus the piece to connect with the ARB)
•    Total Chaos front lower control arm skids
•    AllPro rear diff cover
•    AllPro rear shock bottom mount skid
•    TLC rear lower control arm mount skid
 

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In our opinion, the stock FJ Cruiser roof rack fits the truck perfectly. The only time we  have issues with it is when we go camping and would like to put our gear up top. The problem is that the stock crossbars are not very sturdy and leave many gaps in the rack. The plastic attachment brackets are the weak spot, so we dare not load more than the recommended 150lbs on the roof.

The thought of spending over $1000 for an after market rack that would hold more gear, never appealed to us. Most of the after market racks are built from thick steel, which makes them strong, but not light. With gas prices over $4/gallon, a 200lb roof rack (before adding gear) wasn't a practical solution for us. We always thought that if there was a basket that could attach to the stock rack, that would be the perfect solution.

Just a few months ago WAAG introduced their FJ Cruiser XS Rack. It was exactly what we were looking for, so we couldn’t wait to take one for a spin. The rack is simply a basket that fits perfectly inside the stock roof rack. It arrives as a single piece, (no assembly required) it's a welded steel basket, made of 1” steel tubing. This basket is STRONG, it’s light, and it’s powder coat finish maintains the original look of the FJ. The front of the basket is sloped and includes 4 front tabs  and 2 rear tabs for off-road lighting. Best of all, it’s very reasonably priced at $560.00 + shipping.

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