April 2008

As the beloved FJ Cruiser continues to gain popularity, the number of FJ Groups & Clubs have been steadily growing (See FJ Cruiser Groups & Clubs, Page 30). One of the first and certainly most active FJ clubs calls the east coast home: the FJ Bruisers. This great group of people asked us to help spread the word about their upcoming annual event: The Spring Mud Fling.

We asked Josh (the Treasurer for the Bruisers) if he could provide photos and stories from the first Spring MudFling.

First, the photo:
 {mosimage}

The story:
Vaughn Ripley (AKA: Rip), whose rig, Black Beauty, can be seen in this month's Reader's Rig section, was leading a line of a dozen FJ's through the Dry River Run section of the George Washington National Forest. After pausing momentarily before one of the deep mud holes that can be found scattered all around this section of trails, Rip decided to have a go at the bog.

He started out slowly, smoothly rolling through the nearly 3-foot deep section of swampy water. As he progressed through the morass, which was about 100 feet long, Rip started realizing that the end of the bog was getting deeper than the earlier sections. Applying more gas, Rip attempted to finish the bog off and found that his chassis was grounding in the muck that lay below the innocent surface. After only a few seconds, it was apparent that Rip's Black Beauty was stuck and unmovable. Because his rig is a manual transmission, Rip decided to stop fighting the back-and-forth motion for fear of stalling while his exhaust was submerged.


{gallery}issues/2008/apr08/NEFJCMeet{/gallery}

{tab=Vaughn's TRD ~Black Beauty~}

{gallery}/issues/2008/apr08/reader_rigs/vaughn{/gallery}

Nominate a GREAT FJ for our Reader Rigs section.

{tab=Ben's SuFU : FlyNDrive}

{gallery}/issues/2008/apr08/reader_rigs/ben{/gallery}

All of Ben's Mods:

• Tires: Mickey Thompson MTZ  315/70-17
• Wheels: American Racing Crater Teflon 17 X 9
• Lift: OME Springs: 886 front, 896 rear
• Shocks: OME 140 front, 142 rear shocks
• Front Bumper: ARB Bull Bar W/ 2 IPF 900XS, IPF fog lights, recovery points
• Rear Bumper: ARB Rear bumper modified to dual swing out carrier by CrozFab & Hawse fairlead.
• Skids: All-Pro engine, Trans, & lower link skids
• Rails: ARB
• Winch: Warn M-8000 Front & Rear, dual in cab switchs
• Air/Co2:  ViAir 450C W/ 2.5 gal tank
• Rack:  Gobi Ranger W/ 4 IPF 968 on a custom Dirty Parts light bar on front, 2 868 side lights, 2 camp lights rear (all to “Taco” switches), Gobi Axe & shovel mount, Gobi Hi-Lift mount.
• Other Suspension:  All Pro Upper control A-Arms. All-Pro upper and lower rear links.
• Other Mods: A custom rear winch, Safari Snorkel, Dirty Parts dual battery system W/ 2 Optima Yellow Top Batteries W/ Ellis Precision battery clamps, Parana Prado 120 battery mount, Eclipse AVN navigation, CD, DVD, Sirius & backup cam., Scanguage II, Man-A-Fre brake line extensions, Valet 9104 Tire Pressure Monitoring System, Cobra 75 WX ST CB Radio, Toyota vent visors, Air2Air computer mount W/ Toshiba docking station for tablet PC, DeLorome Topo 6.0, Kiddie auto fire extinguisher. Wellcraft tail light protection.

Nominate a GREAT FJ for our Reader Rigs section.

{tab=Flynn's BD "MoabFJ"}

{gallery}/issues/2008/apr08/reader_rigs/flynn{/gallery}

Nominate a GREAT FJ for our Reader Rigs section. 

{/tabs}

FJC Magazine April 2008

Thanks for checking out the latest issue of FJC Magazine. We've been working hard to bring you the most interesting and helpful content possible. Enjoy this issue!

Some of the topics in this issue include:

• We installed a Toytec 3" Lift on our TRD - Check out the full writeup with step-by-step instructions & plenty of pictures
• CO-Jeff is our featured rig this issue
• We have some great Reader Rigs as well!
• Expedition Planning : Lance is back to share his knowledge and advice when planning for an expedition
• Off Road 101. . . Tires & Wheels . We discuss which tire may be best for your FJ
• Scangauge II : Eric tells us about one of the best gadgets for your truck
• Off Road Navigation, Part 1 : Learn about what types of paper maps you should take out wheeling
• Checkout our preview of the Spring Mud Fling
• We also have coverage from the NE FJ Meet , the Colorado FJ's group, a few Reader Rigs, and MUCH MORE!
• We've again created two versions of the only magazine dedicated to the FJ Cruiser:
• *Choose this link if you'll be viewing the Magazine on your computer
  *Choose this link if you plan on printing the Magazine, it has a white background to save on ink.
• NEW! Online Flash Version, Click Here