Unlike 2011, we actually found a couple of FJ Cruisers on the SEMA floor this year! We once again made the trek to Vegas (this time we made it an epic road trip: 6 states in as many days) to see get the skinny on the latest and greatest in the off-road (and automotive) industry. We certainly were not disappointed.
Warrior Products brought the only other FJC into the building at SEMA, this time showing off their very-much-requested bumper filler plate. This new plate covers the gap between their low profile bumper and ‘most’ skid plates, protecting your radiator from rocks.
In addition to scouring the floor for FJ’s and FJ related goodies, it was great to meet up with familiar faces and make new friends in the industry. We got to spend some time with Superwinch, Asfir 4x4, Trail Gear, and of course our great friends at Outback Proven & Maxtrax. Toytec Lifts also exhibited at the show for the first time this year and had fun experiencing SEMA for the first time.
Trail Gear had a huge booth as usual, but they also had their very well outfitted FJC parked out front. This truck is fully ready for rock crawling and/or overland duty. Trail Gear is working on adding a tent to their lineup, so they brought the prototype (with over 100 nights on it) to the show. Back in their booth, they setup a really cool rock crawling RC game which had a constant line of people all 4 days of the show.
Expedition One also brought their nearly brand-new 2012 Trail Team FJ to Vegas this year. This truck is fully outfitted with Exp One armor, but the item we’re most excited about is under the hood. With the 2010 engine and model changes, Exp One was the first to come out with a washer fluid bottle replacement, but many weren’t excited about the cost & low capacity aluminum option. This new version uses a cost effective plastic bottle with a custom mount. Pricing/availability??
Of course it wasn’t all FJ’s & off road at the show. We made our way over to the Odyssey batteries booth to see what they have in store for 2013. We love their extreme series battery (see Dual Battery install, page 28). This year they launched their performance series, a more consumer friendly battery that will meet the needs of most users a more economical price. We really loved the Battery Powered Bigfoot in their booth. Maybe we can build a battery driven FJ Cruiser someday? We visited the Baja Rack booth & saw the new prototype electric hideable light bar, and really cool side LED lights. Finally, our favorite interior/exterior cleaner, 303 Aerospace was showing off their wipes and brand new Speed Detailer. We’ll be testing these products out for our April “Annual FJC Cleaning” article.
It was another tiring, but very exciting trip to the SEMA show. It’s great to see more FJs in the mix this time, and we did hear from our sources that Toyota will produce a 2014 FJC for sure. We can’t wait to see what’s at the show next year! See you next fall in Vegas!
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More Photos!
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