Clarifying Questions about an FJ Cruiser

[Hedgehog]

There are very conflicting information out there on the web, and basically because most of the info on the web, is coming from the USA and they have a very different model line up to us.

So here goes:

We have only one model in our line up. What is our model's specs with regard to knoppies?
Who has done a suspension lift on it and why?
What suspension lift works best in your opinion? (If you keep the tyre SIZE stock)
What is the radio like and what does it feature? (Hands free, blue tooth, voice activation etc?)
Can it tow a trailer like the Comfort? (Have you towed with it and what?)
What kind of tow hitch does Toyota fit? (Removable or fixed)
Does the rear suspension cope with a trailer of that size?

I see there are more than 130 FJ owners on this forum so please share your experiences.
Thanks!!

[HugoNotte]

We have only one model in our line up. What is our model's specs with regard to knoppies?
Have you checked the Toyota SA website? Not sure what you mean by "knoppies", but you get basic aircon like in the 90s, mechanical difflock on the rear axle and A-Trac2 with crawl control. (Search FJ Cruiser A-trac on youtube). The A-Trac system is Toy's offorad traction control and works at slow speeds with 4L engaged. It also keeps on working on the front axle when the rear difflock is engaged. Both A-trac and difflock disengage above a certain speed. You can disengage the normal traction control and stability control with a button. When selecting 4L, both disengage automatically.
THere is rear PDC and a reverse camera with a minute display in the rear view mirror, nothing fancy, but it works.
Ask if you need more specific information.

Who has done a suspension lift on it and why?
Mine came with a 50 mm lift.

What suspension lift works best in your opinion? (If you keep the tyre SIZE stock)
I got Old Man Emu, the lightest constant load. When selecting a load rating for an aftermarket suspension, keep in mind that the FJ springs & shocks are the same as for the Prado 120, which is something like 300 kg heavier. Hence the "medium" load suspension will be harsher in the FJ than in a Prado. There will be less sag in the rear, due to the shorter wheelbase in the FJ.
I have heard people complaining about a harsh suspension, but it usually turned out to be EFS or Iron Man and often a higher load rating.

What is the radio like and what does it feature? (Hands free, blue tooth, voice activation etc?) Mine is the 2012 model, I think the current radio is a different unit. Nothing fancy, you do get hands free & bluetooth. There is a USB port in the console, you can play MP3s from a memory stick.

Can it tow a trailer like the Comfort? (Have you towed with it and what?)
I tow a Jurgens XT 140 camping trailer. Max trailer GWM according to Toyota is 1500 kg. I dunno the Comfort. Yes, the FJ can tow and you can leave the gear selector in D and tow in 5th. The gearbox is very protective of the 5th gear and will shift down to 4th the moment it senses increased torque demand.

What kind of tow hitch does Toyota fit? (Removable or fixed)
Duno

Does the rear suspension cope with a trailer of that size?
The XT140 is quite nose heavy, mine is around 90 kg on the tow ball. My suspension copes well.

There is the rumor floating around on this forum, that the Aisin gearbox is "sealed" and "filled for life". It's BS! According to the service schedule in the owner's manual, the gearbox oil needs to be inspected every 40k km and changed when required. I had mine changed at 120k km (shortly after I bought the FJ) and again at 160k km, because I tow the trailer offroad and in soft sand. I also intend to keep the FJ for a while.

[Hedgehog]

We have only one model in our line up. What is our model's specs with regard to knoppies?
Have you checked the Toyota SA website? Not sure what you mean by "knoppies", but you get basic aircon like in the 90s, mechanical difflock on the rear axle and A-Trac2 with crawl control. (Search FJ Cruiser A-trac on youtube). The A-Trac system is Toy's offorad traction control and works at slow speeds with 4L engaged. It also keeps on working on the front axle when the rear difflock is engaged. Both A-trac and difflock disengage above a certain speed. You can disengage the normal traction control and stability control with a button. When selecting 4L, both disengage automatically.
THere is rear PDC and a reverse camera with a minute display in the rear view mirror, nothing fancy, but it works.
Ask if you need more specific information.

Who has done a suspension lift on it and why?
Mine came with a 50 mm lift.

What suspension lift works best in your opinion? (If you keep the tyre SIZE stock)
I got Old Man Emu, the lightest constant load. When selecting a load rating for an aftermarket suspension, keep in mind that the FJ springs & shocks are the same as for the Prado 120, which is something like 300 kg heavier. Hence the "medium" load suspension will be harsher in the FJ than in a Prado. There will be less sag in the rear, due to the shorter wheelbase in the FJ.
I have heard people complaining about a harsh suspension, but it usually turned out to be EFS or Iron Man and often a higher load rating.

What is the radio like and what does it feature? (Hands free, blue tooth, voice activation etc?) Mine is the 2012 model, I think the current radio is a different unit. Nothing fancy, you do get hands free & bluetooth. There is a USB port in the console, you can play MP3s from a memory stick.

Can it tow a trailer like the Comfort? (Have you towed with it and what?)
I tow a Jurgens XT 140 camping trailer. Max trailer GWM according to Toyota is 1500 kg. I dunno the Comfort. Yes, the FJ can tow and you can leave the gear selector in D and tow in 5th. The gearbox is very protective of the 5th gear and will shift down to 4th the moment it senses increased torque demand.

What kind of tow hitch does Toyota fit? (Removable or fixed)
Duno

Does the rear suspension cope with a trailer of that size?
The XT140 is quite nose heavy, mine is around 90 kg on the tow ball. My suspension copes well.

There is the rumor floating around on this forum, that the Aisin gearbox is "sealed" and "filled for life". It's BS! According to the service schedule in the owner's manual, the gearbox oil needs to be inspected every 40k km and changed when required. I had mine changed at 120k km (shortly after I bought the FJ) and again at 160k km, because I tow the trailer offroad and in soft sand. I also intend to keep the FJ for a while.

Much appreciated!!

Two follow up questions:
What is your "off" and on road towing consumption? Give us a ballpark please (I know it will depend on the conditions)

[BruceHun]

Quick answers:

1. std radio is garbage, I fitted a Kenwood ddx919wsw, wireless CarPlay. Works brilliantly. I fitted it myself and still have the details for fitment. No cutting required.

I did not lift it. not needed in my opinion unless you going to rock crawl often which you may do.

for towing, rather lock in 4th otherwise it will look for 3rd gear on uphills. I do not enjoy towing with it on hilly roads due to the gear hunting.

Fit rear airbags for towing, it will sag with your trailer. I fitted dual battery system and arb in engine compartment with fitting at rear for hose connection.

Toyota towbar is detachable. No issues with it.

I also fitted steelmate tpms oem in roof console, easy to fit.

pm me if you need details.

[BruceHun]

My inroad consumption doing 110km/h runs about 8.5km/l.off-road low range is about 4 and towing inroad and then dirt road is 6.

[DCTheron]

There are very conflicting information out there on the web, and basically because most of the info on the web, is coming from the USA and they have a very different model line up to us.

So here goes:

We have only one model in our line up. What is our model's specs with regard to knoppies? Unsure what you refer too here, I think since the upgrade in 2013 the FJ has been the same. Aux fuel tank and Crawl Control added.
Who has done a suspension lift on it and why? First FJ had EFS installed and current one OME. I rate OME better, but not the best - Fox or OME BP51 maybe? but price!. I always want better ground clearance and weight carrying ability. Standard suspension is soft (great ride, but not so great carrying ability).
What suspension lift works best in your opinion? (If you keep the tyre SIZE stock). OME in my experience. BTW - on the 1st FJ I increased the tyre size to 285's, just to go back to 265's. It does impact on the performance of the car and obviously fuel consumption. Also because we towed a lot.
What is the radio like and what does it feature? (Hands free, blue tooth, voice activation etc?). It is in fact fairly crap ito features, many have swapped for a decent system with features like Carplay etc.
Can it tow a trailer like the Comfort? (Have you towed with it and what?). If the FJ is heavily loaded and the ball weight is +100Kg you may find too much sag with the OE suspension. I have towed a Companion and our Ratel without too much hassle, However forget about 5th (unless long downhills), select 4th and forget about it, make peace with it otherwise the gearshifts will drive you insane. The 1st FJ returned ~ 5.8Km/l towing the Companion if driven sensibly.
What kind of tow hitch does Toyota fit? (Removable or fixed). Fixed on our 1st FJ fitted by Toy. We have a replacement bar on the 2nd.
Does the rear suspension cope with a trailer of that size?. Mentioned above.

I see there are more than 130 FJ owners on this forum so please share your experiences.
Thanks!!

My 2 sents input above

[Hedgehog]

Quick answers:

1. std radio is garbage, I fitted a Kenwood ddx919wsw, wireless CarPlay. Works brilliantly. I fitted it myself and still have the details for fitment. No cutting required.

I did not lift it. not needed in my opinion unless you going to rock crawl often which you may do.

for towing, rather lock in 4th otherwise it will look for 3rd gear on uphills. I do not enjoy towing with it on hilly roads due to the gear hunting.

Fit rear airbags for towing, it will sag with your trailer. I fitted dual battery system and arb in engine compartment with fitting at rear for hose connection.

Toyota towbar is detachable. No issues with it.

I also fitted steelmate tpms oem in roof console, easy to fit.

pm me if you need details.

That looks very neatly done!
Ja I think I might need a bit of a lift

[HugoNotte]

Much appreciated!!

Two follow up questions:
What is your "off" and on road towing consumption? Give us a ballpark please (I know it will depend on the conditions)

My average over the past 60k km is 7 km/l.
I get around 7.5 km/l at an indicated 130 km/h which is 120 km/h GPS speed.
At 120 km/h (indicated) I get just over 8 km/l.
Towing and offroad similar to Bruce's.

Keep in mind that lifting the FJ increases fuel consumption.

[HugoNotte]

And in addition to the above: that Aisin 5 speed gearbox is much unloved due to its tendency to shift down from 5th to 3rd on inclines with cruise control engaged. It's not a modern box at all.
However, it lasts. And, unlike so many modern gearboxes, it does NOT shift up beyond the selected gear. It leaves it to the engine rev limiter to take care of the red line. Very useful in soft sand / dune driving!

[Bex]

There is a another question I would like to add as I could also not clarify it even though I did a comprehensive search on the internet.
Is the FJ limited to 4th gear in Low Range , or is it supposed to be able to shift to 5th?

[Hedgehog]

Has anyone noted a change in consumption when fitting other tyres like for example BF's?

I know it seems that I am worried about the consumption, but I am not really.
I am just wanting to have a way of confirming items that I have thought of, and that has happened to me previously.

I am walking into this process with eyes very much open..

[Ejay]

Has anyone noted a change in consumption when fitting other tyres like for example BF's?

I know it seems that I am worried about the consumption, but I am not really.
I am just wanting to have a way of confirming items that I have thought of, and that has happened to me previously.

I am walking into this process with eyes very much open..

I can't comment on a change in consumption from when I changed to BFG's as I went from 265's to 285 x 70's but have found that the BFG's are scary on tarmac in wet weather.
Note I have always been a BFG fan and had them on all my previous 4x4's so I am not knocking the brand. Just my experience on the FJ

[BruceHun]

Has anyone noted a change in consumption when fitting other tyres like for example BF's?

I know it seems that I am worried about the consumption, but I am not really.
I am just wanting to have a way of confirming items that I have thought of, and that has happened to me previously.

I am walking into this process with eyes very much open..

You will see a difference from the stock tyre to AT and more to BFG plus a big increase in road noise. My friend has an FJ on BF's and he did a major sound insulation upgrade to reduce noise. Cost him about R10k.

[Ejay]

The first and only real mods necessary on a FJ is to change the Sound system and Hooter.
The OEM stuff is rubbish.
Earlier models did not have the aftermarket long range tank. You will need it!
If the orange fuel light comes on, get to a garage quick or make sure you wear comfortable shoes.

Towbar was fitted by Toy dealer in 2011 and has removable hitch

Changed my suspension to Ironman with 50mm lift and fitted 285 x 70 tyres just because. The FJ std kit is more than adequate for Namibia's dunes or any of the general offroad trails in SA (Berakah etc)

[dirtshark]

You will see a difference from the stock tyre to AT and more to BFG plus a big increase in road noise. My friend has an FJ on BF's and he did a major sound insulation upgrade to reduce noise. Cost him about R10k.

He must have fitted muds, it's early days on the consumption which I am certain will be heavier(got 12.5l/100 on a long trip)
The road noise is negligible if anything but I have another issue with the BFGS - I have tried all pressures but there is a noticeable vibration as if one or more tyres is out of round......definitely not right imo as all my other tyres were very smooth is this normal for them??

Sorry for the slight hijack, but I suppose it's related.

[Hedgehog]

is this normal for them??

Not at all!

I have experienced that the BF's are probably the easiest tyre to balance that I have had. With some requiring very little or even no weighting.. (If the valve dot is in the right spot)

[dirtshark]

Not at all!

I have experienced that the BF's are probably the easiest tyre to balance that I have had. With some requiring very little or even no weighting.. (If the valve dot is in the right spot)

I thought as much as I never had issues with them before, there is no steering wheel vibration so if it's balancing it must be rear, imo it feels like an out of round tyre which I have had before.

[Kooskop]

The questions have mostly been answered. I prefer to stick to the OEM suspension. Below is a picture I took before taking off for a long weekend trip almost 2 weeks ago. For me personally, the sag is not enough to justify spending money on suspension upgrades. Word of caution though if you go for BFG's...hulle gooi klip.... I had to extend my rear mud flaps...and have the front bed panel on the Miskruier resprayed...

I also upgraded the hooter and have done 2 partial gearbox oil changes over 2 services. My FJ is used for camping only and the gearbox works hard. As for fuel consumption...this is my 3rd V6 so not something I try to calculate. As hy leeg is maak ek hom vol.... I tow in 4th and avoid cruise control...it makes it feel and sound like the FJ is being driven by a boy racer....

[dirtshark]

There are very conflicting information out there on the web, and basically because most of the info on the web, is coming from the USA and they have a very different model line up to us.

So here goes:

We have only one model in our line up. What is our model's specs with regard to knoppies? It has knoppies
Who has done a suspension lift on it and why? Never had the need for a lift as my tyres were always standard
I would consider upgrading the shocks after 50k imo the stock shocks are weak and don't last.....go for a Bilstein or the like.
What suspension lift works best in your opinion? (If you keep the tyre SIZE stock)depends on intended use imo
What is the radio like and what does it feature? (Hands free, blue tooth, voice activation etc?) The head unit sound quality is pretty good, the only sound improvement needed is an amp, speakers and sound deadening, I really didn't need a bigger color screen, CarPlay etc...so purely a sound upgrade was all i needed, it cost a bit but sounds superb!!
Can it tow a trailer like the Comfort? (Have you towed with it and what?)No problem but its no diesel, ive towed my boat plenty (1.5T)
Leave it in D and go, only use the cruise control if its very flat.
What kind of tow hitch does Toyota fit? (Removable or fixed)all have been Toyota fitted removable.
Does the rear suspension cope with a trailer of that size?No problem, even towed a mates boat with a 140kg ball weight and it coped.
That said having a shortish wheelbase it porpoises a bit, airbags could help.

I see there are more than 130 FJ owners on this forum so please share your experiences.
Thanks!!

[jacovdh]

one

Onenav in mineworks good.