I had steering slop in my FJ. I replaced my lower control arm bushings with Whiteline bushings, new tie rods and that literally was a night and day difference. Most of the abuse on my FJ is from high speed desert driving, surprise jumps and hard landings. I notice the idlers tend to make noises after a deep water crossing so I keep spares. My FJ is an old 2007 but it still takes a beating. Overall, great trucks as long as you don't need more space.
So true, yes I think replacing the steering rack was unnecessary, good call on the lower control arm bushes. I forgot to mention that in the vid. I replaced the whole arm with a Pedders arm that has new bushes and lower ball joint. 🤙🏼
Nice to hear that you are more satisfied with the BP-51 coilovers. I bought my FJ with +/- 200k km. It is a 2012 model year manual transmission, the first owner (German fellow) imported it brand new from the US, used it for about 7 years then decided to sell it. So I jumped on the deal. Never regretted it since. It was still running on the original suspension, but the inspection showed that the rear ones were almost finished off and the front ones were also getting close to their end. I was thinking about several options Icon, Pedders, Dobinson ... but at the end I decided to go for the OME BP-51, and I did it all around, in the rear with the middle strength springs. I am also very pleased with them. No issues so far. I did quite a few mods on it. ARB front air locker, ARB compressor, ARB breather kit, Nitro re-gearing to 4.56 as I installed 295 / 70 R 17 Cooper STT Pro mud tyres, custom made steel bumpers front and rear, custom made skid plates, Nilight off road led lights, and quite a few small items. There are still some other stuff that \I am planning for. But I am really happy with the car and how it behaves on our Transylvanian dirt roads up in thehills and mountains.
Im from the UK and teetering on buying one of these, your video was fantastic, thanks very much! looking forward to checking your other videos out. This was very helpful in tipping those scales further towards buying one!
Thankyou for your long term update. Your Videos are always well thought out and informative. You have pointed out some possible issues that i wasn't aware of . I have a Red 2016 FJ called Elmo. Has been everywhere as well, but been solid as a rock. Absolute Keeper in my view. Keep up the good work. Look forward to more content!
Thanks mate much appreciated, Elmo is a great name for an FJ! Ours is just boring old FJ. Awesome yours gets out and about too, they belong on the tracks 🤙🏼
I replaced my splash guards diy with some extrusion rubber from "hammerbarn", has been going strong for 4-5 years now. Just had the fun experience of my fuel pump dieing last weekend. Not a hard job to replace it, but a little tough to diagnose without the proper tools initially. I think Kaon do a Bandi style mount, but don't think Bandi do them anymore. I replaced my rear links with patrol ones as well about 5yr ago and had no dramas. Wheel bearings are on my list soon with 280k up.
Great vid! Mines done 90k and I’ve had to do the passenger CV seal, air-con relay and drivers side CV failed ( probably my fault that one 😅) Starter motor got a bit of mud and water in it on a particularly wet track and wouldn’t start the next day. Just drained it with the little bung on the bottom and gave it whack, no issues since. Wouldn’t want to change it, have heard it’s a nightmare…
Good to hear of a FJ actually been used as intended 🤙🏼 water is probably the only thing that scares me in the bush, I avoid deep especially muddy water. I forgot about that A/C relay, did a whole vid on it too 😂
Good review thanks. You may want to think about removing the small engine sump and clean your oil pickup mesh filter. Also VVTi filter screens. One each side of the engine. Easily accessible crom the front. Fourby4Diesel on youtube has made these suggestions on his channel. Very helpful hints from you both..
Thanks Michael 🤙🏼 funny you mention that! I actually made a video of the process. The video never made it to RUclips due to filming issues and I wasn’t about to pull it apart again. Your spot on with this suggestion as I’m sure most FJ and V6 Prado’s have never had the VVTi filters changed, the Toyota dealership told me they had never sold a set! Obviously it’s something they don’t do either.
It's not good to hear you have cracked your tank...I have the same tank and have done many corrugations, resulting in a few deep dents on the tank bottom. My tank is only 1 year old hopefully it can survive another 9 years like yours lol.
My tank was one of the first ones built. I understand they have made some changes to the tank in the area where mine cracked. It’s been perfect ever since.
@@OutbackTouringHow far can you still travel after the low fuel light is on mate? I have once travelled 70km after the light on and the fuel gauge is positioning below the E line😂… but I went to servo and have only put in 97L which means still 18L left? So what’s the deal? Can you run the fuel gauge all the way down till it reaches big letter E?
@@wujohn598 I can get around 100km after the light goes on, I also run a scan gauge which tells me distance to empty. I asked LRA if they could adjust my fuel gauge but it didn’t make any difference. Probably the only downside to the replacement tank.
115L Long Range Automotive replacement main tank Not a Long Ranger tank They're two completely different companies Long Range Automotive is in Lilydale Vic and do a 125L sub tank as well as the replacement main tank Long Ranger is in NSW and only does a sub tank
You are correct Mike, the tank I have is the 115lt from Long Range Automotive in Lilydale. How these two manufacturers can have such a similar name is beyond me. I’ll put a link to their page to correct my mistake. Thanks for the pick up there 🤙🏼 longrangeautomotive.com.au/Contact-Long-Range-Automotive
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I had steering slop in my FJ. I replaced my lower control arm bushings with Whiteline bushings, new tie rods and that literally was a night and day difference. Most of the abuse on my FJ is from high speed desert driving, surprise jumps and hard landings. I notice the idlers tend to make noises after a deep water crossing so I keep spares. My FJ is an old 2007 but it still takes a beating.
Overall, great trucks as long as you don't need more space.
So true, yes I think replacing the steering rack was unnecessary, good call on the lower control arm bushes. I forgot to mention that in the vid. I replaced the whole arm with a Pedders arm that has new bushes and lower ball joint. 🤙🏼
I'm not sure how I missed this video. Thanks for showing us through the list of what to look for. 👍🏼
Hopefully now the list stops for a while!
Nice to hear that you are more satisfied with the BP-51 coilovers. I bought my FJ with +/- 200k km. It is a 2012 model year manual transmission, the first owner (German fellow) imported it brand new from the US, used it for about 7 years then decided to sell it. So I jumped on the deal. Never regretted it since. It was still running on the original suspension, but the inspection showed that the rear ones were almost finished off and the front ones were also getting close to their end. I was thinking about several options Icon, Pedders, Dobinson ... but at the end I decided to go for the OME BP-51, and I did it all around, in the rear with the middle strength springs. I am also very pleased with them. No issues so far. I did quite a few mods on it. ARB front air locker, ARB compressor, ARB breather kit, Nitro re-gearing to 4.56 as I installed 295 / 70 R 17 Cooper STT Pro mud tyres, custom made steel bumpers front and rear, custom made skid plates, Nilight off road led lights, and quite a few small items. There are still some other stuff that \I am planning for. But I am really happy with the car and how it behaves on our Transylvanian dirt roads up in thehills and mountains.
Great to hear your happy with the BO51 suspension too, your FJ sounds amazing! They really are a great Rig 🤙🏼
Im from the UK and teetering on buying one of these, your video was fantastic, thanks very much! looking forward to checking your other videos out. This was very helpful in tipping those scales further towards buying one!
Happy to help, good luck with your search. Maybe just watch the chassis rust in the UK and check around the rear door seal.
Thankyou for your long term update. Your Videos are always well thought out and informative. You have pointed out some possible issues that i wasn't aware of . I have a Red 2016 FJ called Elmo. Has been everywhere as well, but been solid as a rock. Absolute Keeper in my view. Keep up the good work. Look forward to more content!
Thanks mate much appreciated, Elmo is a great name for an FJ! Ours is just boring old FJ. Awesome yours gets out and about too, they belong on the tracks 🤙🏼
The undercarriage is mint 🔥
Yes she’s a very loved and looked after FJ 🤙🏼
I replaced my splash guards diy with some extrusion rubber from "hammerbarn", has been going strong for 4-5 years now.
Just had the fun experience of my fuel pump dieing last weekend. Not a hard job to replace it, but a little tough to diagnose without the proper tools initially.
I think Kaon do a Bandi style mount, but don't think Bandi do them anymore.
I replaced my rear links with patrol ones as well about 5yr ago and had no dramas.
Wheel bearings are on my list soon with 280k up.
Nice work on the splash guards. Thanks for the feedback on the patrol rear links. 🤙🏼
Great vid!
Mines done 90k and I’ve had to do the passenger CV seal, air-con relay and drivers side CV failed ( probably my fault that one 😅)
Starter motor got a bit of mud and water in it on a particularly wet track and wouldn’t start the next day. Just drained it with the little bung on the bottom and gave it whack, no issues since.
Wouldn’t want to change it, have heard it’s a nightmare…
Good to hear of a FJ actually been used as intended 🤙🏼 water is probably the only thing that scares me in the bush, I avoid deep especially muddy water.
I forgot about that A/C relay, did a whole vid on it too 😂
Good review thanks. You may want to think about removing the small engine sump and clean your oil pickup mesh filter. Also VVTi filter screens. One each side of the engine. Easily accessible crom the front. Fourby4Diesel on youtube has made these suggestions on his channel. Very helpful hints from you both..
Thanks Michael 🤙🏼 funny you mention that! I actually made a video of the process. The video never made it to RUclips due to filming issues and I wasn’t about to pull it apart again. Your spot on with this suggestion as I’m sure most FJ and V6 Prado’s have never had the VVTi filters changed, the Toyota dealership told me they had never sold a set! Obviously it’s something they don’t do either.
Is there anyone who hasn't replaced the air con relay?
Probably not 😂
It's not good to hear you have cracked your tank...I have the same tank and have done many corrugations, resulting in a few deep dents on the tank bottom. My tank is only 1 year old hopefully it can survive another 9 years like yours lol.
My tank was one of the first ones built. I understand they have made some changes to the tank in the area where mine cracked. It’s been perfect ever since.
@@OutbackTouringHow far can you still travel after the low fuel light is on mate? I have once travelled 70km after the light on and the fuel gauge is positioning below the E line😂… but I went to servo and have only put in 97L which means still 18L left? So what’s the deal? Can you run the fuel gauge all the way down till it reaches big letter E?
@@wujohn598 I can get around 100km after the light goes on, I also run a scan gauge which tells me distance to empty.
I asked LRA if they could adjust my fuel gauge but it didn’t make any difference. Probably the only downside to the replacement tank.
115L Long Range Automotive replacement main tank
Not a Long Ranger tank
They're two completely different companies
Long Range Automotive is in Lilydale Vic and do a 125L sub tank as well as the replacement main tank
Long Ranger is in NSW and only does a sub tank
You are correct Mike, the tank I have is the 115lt from Long Range Automotive in Lilydale.
How these two manufacturers can have such a similar name is beyond me.
I’ll put a link to their page to correct my mistake.
Thanks for the pick up there 🤙🏼
longrangeautomotive.com.au/Contact-Long-Range-Automotive
I got another 5 years till I do a 10 year review
Only a baby FJ 🤙🏼
Funny havent had a single one of these problems with ny 2012 aus FJ or with my 2017 model. Maybe its cuz i dont treat them like shit?
Well if enjoying your FJ as intended is treating it like shit, then so be it!
10 year's! You must mean 10 days
😂 I’m guessing you don’t like FJ cruiser.