January 2010

Everyone loves a great roof rack! To be classified as a great rack, it needs both form and function. Unfortunately, the stock FJ Cruiser rack has form, but falls short in functionality. The stock rack adds to the cosmetic appeal of the FJ but the design of it lacks full functionality, specifically in the front half of the rack.

Lucky for us, BajaRack out of Vista California, has created a great looking and fully functional solution that won’t break the bank. BajaRack offers a modified version of The Mule rack specifically for the FJ Cruiser OEM rack. The rack is light, easy to install, and looks great. The BajaRack fits inside the front arms of the stock FJC rack and mounts with brackets along each side. At first, I wondered how the lines of The Mule and the stock rack would align, but once the rack was in place the lines looked great and gave my FJC a tougher, more complete and capable appearance. The airdam on the front of the BajaRack really seems like the finishing touch that  the stock rack lines were missing.

We’ve been running the Aluminess FJ Cruiser front bumper for a little over six months now so we thought it was time to give an update on how it’s working out for us.

So far this bumper has exceeded our expectations. It’s light, strong, and holds up well to everything we’ve thrown at it. It didn’t take long after we installed the bumper to get a ding as well as a scuff. On a tight trail just outside Idaho Springs, CO we barely squeezed between two trees on a difficult climb, which resulted in the first scuff. Shortly after (on the same trail) we got bumped by a Jeep Wrangler that was in a bit of a hurry to get turned around. That left a small ding in the bumper that we still haven’t touched up. Since this bumper is made of aluminum, we don’t have to worry about rust. In fact, other than those two minor incidents, this bumper looks just as new as it did when we installed it.

The 2010 FJ Cruiser’s have been available at dealers for a couple of months now. We were lucky enough to get in contact with Mike from Colorado Springs, who trekked all the way to Salt Lake City to pickup one of the first Army Green 2010 FJ Cruisers. We’ve already had one run with Mike in his ’10, and in mid-December we were able to meet up to get some great up close shots of some of the changes for 2010.

From the outside, the color is the only thing that sets this ’10 FJ Cruiser apart from earlier years. The Army Green is very close to what we expected from Toyota. I know many FJ Cruiser lovers were hoping for a ‘matte’ finish, but we think the glossy-subdued-forest-green look works quite well for the FJ. Mike's Army Green (AG) came with Upgrade Package 2, so the door inserts are the same color. Overall this new color is now our favorite.

We all have that image of a dream rig covered in stickers, out on some epic adventure, writing our magazine articles or filming our TV show and not a penny came out of our pockets. Or maybe you have heard one of the thousands of people say something like “well I hit tons of trails and do cool stuff, company X should give me some gear”. Well what if I told you that hour for hour you will work harder when sponsored than if you just paid for things yourself? Follow along and you will see why.

First we need to clear up a few misconceptions with some questions you need to hear. Why  you? Who really cares what you do or say? What have you done before that was worth knowing about? If you can't come up with some very high quality answers that you only need about 10 seconds to give, then read on, but keep those questions in mind.

It is important to know why a company might sponsor you and who your competition is. Magazine ads,  racers, non-profits, the owners' brother in law, and even those people who pay full retail and then go post an excellent writeup on a forum or website, these are all your competition for those precious marketing dollars. And worst of all, most of these are easier and more proven than you as an unknown.

Companies sponsor in exchange for brand building exposure. Increasing sales is an indirect result (if you can show a direct result that is very powerful). You have to bring eyeballs to their product as well as influence wallets. This happens through shows, print, TV and the web. Plain and simple: if you can't reach more people than a magazine ad then you have little chance.

So if I haven't scared you away yet, and you have some good answers to the “why you” question, then let's get down to 7 tips I can offer to get you those sponsor relationships: