Cody's 2012 FJ Cruiser Build

[Cohinds4x4]

Hey guys, thought I would finally do a build thread. I bought the FJ back in 2015 and started modding it almost immediately, although I really hadn't decided the style or purpose behind my build and I had zero experience off road, but I knew I wanted a capable rig to learn in. So of course, my first mods were Plastidipping the silver parts and adding a light bar... Then me and my brother with no experience welding, welded together a roof rack out of EMT tubing (Toxic gas... yeah, I know) and some scrap steel. Its not the prettiest roof rack but it has served its purpose up till now, I plan on keeping it till the rig budget permits an upgrade. After about a year of inspiration seeking and research I set out to build a overlanding adventure vehicle. The Expedition One builds were my main inspiration, I fell in love with their Diamond Series bumper and the red skid plates all set on beefy tires. I ended finding an Expedition One bumper on a shady Craigslist post, and dragged it out of his yard for 170$, the deal of a lifetime. All it needed was a little prep work and paint, and I had some hoops welded on to complete the look. I added four Piaa Ion lights and a Smitty Bilt 9500 synthetic winch to it and mount my Hi-lift via four treks mounts on the center rail. Thanks for reading yall, I'll do a list of current mods and future mods below.
Follow me on Instagram! : https://www.instagram.com/Cohinds4x4/
Full List:

• Expedition One Front Bumper
• Demello Rear Bumper with Custom 3 Can Swing Out
• Nfab Rock sliders
• 4 Piaa Ion's
  
• Custom Roof rack
• Firestik 2 CB antenna
• BFG KO2's 285/70/17
• Smittybilt XRC 9500 Synthetic rope winch
• 2 Rear fog lights
• 50" Curved LED light bar
• Custom Light Bar Mounts
  
• FJ Freedom windows (Fav. mod so far)
• Smittybilt 6ft awning
• Midland Portable CB
• 1250 Watt portable Inverter
• Craftsman 1gal compressor
• Toytec Boss 2.5 Coilovers
• Camburg UCA's w ball joints
• Transmission Super Cooler
• Yeti Cooler with Rear Diff plug dent!

Plans for the Future:

• ARB Roof Rack w/ mesh
  
• Dual Battery (Yellow top) and Solar relay (panels on roof rack)
• AC inverter installed in FJ rear compartment
• ARB compressor mounted in engine bay
• Full Skid plates (RCI)
• Sliders (Califab sliders)
• ICON Overland springs (For extra weight capacity)
• Tucked up exhausted (undecided)
• Safari Snorkel
• Delete light bar and adding individual led flood/spot lights

DIY Plans in the making:

• Building driver side rear Molle panels and rear door panels to permanently stow gear like the ones sold by Orange Boxx
• Overhead webbing storage

OB #2794

 

[hopdup]

Truck looks awesome. Do you like those rear windows? Where did you find them at?


Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk

 

[O.Dfj]

Hey guys, thought I would finally do a build thread. I bought the FJ back in 2015 and started modding it almost immediately, although I really hadn't decided the style or purpose behind my build and I had zero experience off road, but I knew I wanted a capable rig to learn in. So of course, my first mods were Plastidipping the silver parts and adding a light bar... Then me and my brother with no experience welding, welded together a roof rack out of EMT tubing (Toxic gas... yeah, I know) and some scrap steel. Its not the prettiest roof rack but it has served its purpose up till now, I plan on keeping it till the rig budget permits an upgrade. After about a year of inspiration seeking and research I set out to build a overlanding adventure vehicle. The Expedition One builds were my main inspiration, I fell in love with their Diamond Series bumper and the red skid plates all set on beefy tires. I ended finding an Expedition One bumper on a shady Craigslist post, and dragged it out of his yard for 170$, the deal of a lifetime. All it needed was a little prep work and paint, and I had some hoops welded on to complete the look. I added four Piaa Ion lights and a Smitty Bilt 9500 synthetic winch to it and mount my Hi-lift via four treks mounts on the center rail. Thanks for reading yall, I'll do a list of current mods and future mods below.
Follow me on Instagram! : https://www.instagram.com/Cohinds4x4/
Full List:

• Expedition One Front Bumper
• Demello Rear Bumper with Custom 3 Can Swing Out
• Nfab Rock sliders
• 4 Piaa Ion's
  
• Custom Roof rack
• Firestik 2 CB antenna
• BFG KO2's 285/70/17
• Smittybilt XRC 9500 Synthetic rope winch
• 2 Rear fog lights
• 50" Curved LED light bar
• Custom Light Bar Mounts
  
• FJ Freedom windows (Fav. mod so far)
• Smittybilt 6ft awning
• Midland Portable CB
• 1250 Watt portable Inverter
• Craftsman 1gal compressor
• Toytec Boss 2.5 Coilovers
• Camburg UCA's w ball joints
• Transmission Super Cooler

Plans for the Future:
Gobi roof rack, Dual Battery and accessory panel, ARB fridge, Onboard Air (VAIR possibly), DIY rear storage with pullout drawers, Full Skid plates (RCI), Sliders (Undecided), HD Toytec rear springs (For extra weight), Tucked up exhausted (again undecided).
OB #2794
View attachment 23738 View attachment 23740 View attachment 23743

You forgot to add custom yeti cooler with diff drain plug dent.

OB 1466

 

[Cohinds4x4]

Truck looks awesome. Do you like those rear windows? Where did you find them at?


Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk

@hopdup They are FJ Freedom windows, I got mine on craigslist for a good deal. Otherwise they are still pretty expensive, also what they don't tell you is that it will cost $100 minimum to have the rear windows removed professionally so that you can do the install. Heres the website: http://www.fjfreedomwindows.com/

 

[Cohinds4x4]

You forgot to add custom yeti cooler with diff drain plug dent.

OB 1466

@O.Dfj There, are you happy? LOL

 

[O.Dfj]

@O.Dfj There, are you happy? LOL

Much better lol

OB 1466

 

[theBROFESSOR]

Any new pics or mods bro?

 

[Cohinds4x4]

@theBROFESSOR, it has been awhile since I updated this thread. To answer your question I have made many changes to the FJ now that I look back. I will go ahead and list them with a short description. First of all I changed my gear storage and water system. I went with three Plano sportsman cases, the same cases that Micheal uses on his rig. They have worked great for me and helped to keep the clutter down inside the FJ. I use one primarily for dry food, cooking utensils, stove, Coleman lantern, cutting boards, and cleaning gear. The other two hold my camping gear such as my tent, tarp, sleeping bags/pads, hammocks, and blankets (for colder nights). For water I upgraded to two 20L Scepter water cans in black, they have worked wonderfully. Mods done specifically to the rig include caps for my Camburg upper control arms, they were getting rusty and I finally forked over the 50$ for the fancy caps. I took @mason0304 and drilled one tiny holes in each of them so they cant be blasted away by the pocket of air beneath them that would expand when the temperature rose. I purchased some Rad Rubber Designs flaps to protect my engine bay from getting too dirty, my stock ones were torn to pieces. I am really impressed with the quality of the rubber and the fitment was perfect. This past January I finally replaced my rear Toytec 2" SD coils with 3" Icon Overland Springs. I was well overdue for this moddification. My rig had a serious upward rake due to the weight of my rear bumper. When the FJ was loaded down with gear, not to mention the overweight trailer I drove cross country this summer, I only had an inch between the bumpstops and the ride was terrible. The overland springs fixed this problem, I have yet to see a change in ride height when loaded down, and the ride drastically improved. Other changes included removing the front bumper Four Trek hi-lift mounts and relocating the jack to the roof rack. I moved my CB antenna to the swing out. I had a problem with the swing gate on the bumper travelling further than 90 degrees so I added a chain that is the corrrect length to prevent this, its not pretty but works. I plan on welding a tube to the bumper and gate that will allow me to drop the bolt down into it and lock it at 90. One idea I have been throwing around is cutting off the three can basket and replacing it with a two can basket produced by an offroad fabricator. My basket is really over built, and this would cut down on weight. I would like to mount my Jack vertically between the basket and the spare. This will allow me to do this. That brings me to my next mod, I have in the mail right now a Prinsu roof rack! I am so stoked, my old rack was practical but I really hated looking at it! lol! So thats coming soon as well as a Tepui Kukenam Sky RTT in green with an annex! Me and my wife have been throwing around the idea for years and this tax return season decided to finally go big! With this new set up I plan on cutting down to just one Plano case that will have a spot in front of the RTT right behind my tan Maxtrax's (Also new as of this year). I am stoked to get this new setup together. The next thing I can forsee changing on the FJ is my rear storage situation. Right now its is a cluster **** back there. I plan on building a pull out system to make it much more practical.

 

[theBROFESSOR]

Very nice bro. Love keeping up with the mods on those rigs like my own. Ride safe!

 

[Cohinds4x4]