2011 FJ Cruiser Build!

Hello Folks,

I'm new here. I've been happy owner of my 2011 100% OEM FJ for 7 years. I was generally content with the way it ran out of the box given it was my daily driver and I've typically have little time to get out off-roading.

52,000 Miles later, I opened a pandora's box when I order a new steel winch bumper 3 months ago. As I started to research more of the possibilities of what I can do to my FJ, and where I can take the 4x4 if I modified it with some proper care and research. So, it's gone from, let me modify the front end to a mean looking beefy steel winch bumper, to... now my head is spinning with all the other things I should do to the FJ.

I'm generally a proponent of doing things right the first time around, and keeping a reasonable budget in mind where I don't overspend for the functional use and value of the vehicle - daily driver/soon-to be seasonal overlanding road warrior.

Here's a list of things I have done/ordered and things on the agenda to be done to the FJ for this build. I'd welcome any advice and thoughts on areas that have not been ordered/done.

In the build plan already -

1. Bumper: Front - ReszFab Steel bumper - 3 Hoops Rear bumper - Keeping OEM (for now), matte black painted trim - waiting on completion
2. Recovery: Smittybilt X2O Synthetic line waterproof winch - in the plan
3. Suspension: King 2.5 Coil over (0-2.5' lift), 2.5 King Rear (2" Lift OME Springs), SPC Upper control arms, Upgrade lift adjusted heavy duty rear upper & lower links, pan hard bar with duroflex joints - in the plan
3a. Differential drop? Yeh or Neh 3 of 4 suspension folks I spoke with say don't do diff drop, since i'm not going to lift beyond 2.5" - thoughts here?
4. Roof rack mounted 52" LED Light Bar - done
5. LED Replacement H4 bulbs - done
6. Allpro heavy duty rock rails - needs too be painted
7. Sealing undercarriage/frame from rust (rust-converter, enamel spray paint, rubberized coat) - only some surface rust here and there, but the road salt and debris here is the north east is intense, I want this baby to last!

So I can use a little guidance here on the other parts of the build that have not been decided/ordered -

7. Wheels/Tires suggestions ? - I'm currently running the 8 hole OEM alloy wheels 17"x7.5", I like them, the look fits the "retroish" look of the headlight and overall car shape. However once I upgrade to larger tires (have to do that now right? since i'm getting a lift), so no body mount chopping I'm looking to go with the 285/70/17 tires (can I squeeze more, playing with different rims/offsets?) will they look good on the 7.5" rim, or would it look better on a 17"x9" rims with a negative offset? Would I get a wider looking "stance" sort of speak, I've seen some builds where the wheels stick out slightly from the fender. Looks pretty mean!

8. Skid plates - Recommendations? RCI/Richochet/ARB? I do not intend on doing any rock crawling, I'd like to protect my precious underbelly, in case I F'up, or just find myself saying where the hell did that big rock/tree stump come from - Aluminum/steel?

9. Trying to close the pandora's box from here - we'll see. This build is just mostly in planning phase right now, rolling up my sleeves to install some of these upgrades will be interesting and fun.

Thanks for reading my post, any useful advice or suggestions on the build, would be greatly appreciated. Particularly on the wheels/tire situation and skid plates, but if you have thoughts on other parts of the build plan not already installed/done please feel free to share some thoughts.

Also, considering in a few months I will be in the position having a lot of non utilized OEM FJ Cruiser parts for sale and for free/goodwill

- Tires (recently replaced 5k ago Goodyear DuraTrac 265/70/17) and perhaps wheels
- Front Bumper/components
- OEM style Running boards
- OEM upper control arms
- OEM links and pan hard
- OEM Front/Rear shocks/coils
- perhaps anything else I might have missed

Thanks folks!

 

Welcome!