Corey's 2007 FJ Cruiser built for expedtion/overland, & daily driver

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
Corey, I have been watching your build here and on IH8MUD. Great build. I live across the Sound from you on the Olympic Peninsula. I'm building a 2007 FJC also.

Aloha,
Aukaiiki sends...
Thanks!
Oh man, you live in a very pretty area.
I use to camp at Kalaloch and other areas in Olympic National Park back in the 60s with my parents.
One day I will have to check out some of the areas there to camp again for a week long trip.
I took a drive through a campground with my sons back in the early 90s, I think it may have been Staircase?
Campground was not flat, it had some inclines you had to walk/drive up if I remember, and a creek running through it.
 

aukaiiki

New member
Corey, we are all over the peninsula, but mostly along the coast from the Oregon border to the Straits. We have started alone Hood Canal and over to Fort Warden with 1 trip to Orcus Island.

Did you get the Base Plate direct from Goose Gear or from someone local in the PNW. If so who & where local? Right now I have a 50 Qt ARB with an ARB Slide in the back. I want to organize the back of the FJC and the Goose Gear looks clean in the back of the Toyotas.

IMG_9658.jpg

Aloha,
Aukaiiki sends... Washington Plates "OVRLNDR".
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
The fort, was there as a Boy Scout back in the early 70s, so it has been a long time.
That is another place I would like to visit.

I got the cargobox and plate direct from Goose Gear by talking with Brian there.
The cargo module hold down rings I ordered those from Paul at Equipt Expeditions in Utah as Goose Gear now likes to sell through a dealer network, and at Equipt they added them to their website.
However the rings shipped with my plate direct from Goose Gear.
Buying from Paul May at Equipt is fast, as I usually get stuff within two days from them.

Goose Gear makes a nice module for various size fridges that would look great in the back too.
And then you could place a tall two drawer system next to the fridge cabinet.
The stuff is pricey, but very well thought out and built.
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
Goose Gear Phase III, Tembo Tusk Fridge Slide Installed 12-3-2017

Getting near done with the Goose Gear cargobox/drawer setup.
I see other peoples rigs and it gives me ideas, kudos to those who hath given me inspiration.

I have seen kitchen setups in the back of rigs before on a pull out, and a fridge next to it.
I am happy where my fridge is now behind the drivers seat, but I thought it would be practical to have my new Trail Kitchens chuckbox on a fridge slide on the right side of the new cargobox.
This way if I do not feel like setting up my chuckbox on one of the Eezi-Awn K9 medium tables, I can prep food and cook right out of the back of my FJ Cruiser.

Turns out this slide and the chuckbox were made for each other, as the fit the long way side to side there is no gap.
Front to rear there is a few inches, and that can be useful if you want to lay something down in that area.

The instructions called for 5/16" bolts, but Brain from Goose Gear told me to pick up the 1/4" stuff that I bought below.
Jerry from Tembo Tusk said the 1/4" would be fine, but to use a flat washer on top too under the head of the bolts.
You also use a flat washer on the inner bottom side inside of the cargobox along with the Nylock nut.

Very happy with the way this turned out, and I can either strap the Camp Chef stove to the top of the chuckbox in transit, or have it off to the side.
I had picked up a Blue Ridge Overlanding Gear stove bag awhile back they make for the Camp Chef Everest stove, but it fits my Camp Chef Denali perfectly.
With the old wood chuckbox the stove was stored inside, but this chuckbox is smaller to save weight and space in the rig.
The stove could fit inside, but I would lose the space on the bottom of the chuckbox where I store stuff.

Also installed the Goose Gear Anchor Pack, Module 1/4" Thread I had bought awhile back that is linked in a previous post in this thread to the top of the cargobox so I have tie-down points for lashing camping gear to the top of the cargobox.

Yes, I am pretty stoked overall of how the Goose Gear cargobox turned out, and also the Tembo Tusk fridge slide.

Links:

Standard Front Pull Fridge Slide

Extreme Duty Fridge & Cargo Tie Down System
Also known as Buffalo straps


Obviously I did not need 100 of each item below, but I wanted to build up my supply since I did not have any laying around.

1/4-20-Inch x 1-Inch Grade 5 Coarse Hex Cap Screws, 100-Piece

Nylon Insert Lock Nut, 1/4-Inch by 20-Inch, 100-Pack

1/4" Stainless Fender Washer, 1-1/4" Outside Diameter, (100 Pack)

Pics:

14.jpg


Fridge slide in place and bolted down

15.jpg


Trail Kitchens chuckbox strapped in and sitting pretty

16.jpg


Slide extended with chuckbox closed

17.jpg


Slide extended with chuckbox open, and with the stove setup on top

Video:

 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
ATC Tool Pouch & Mesh Organizer Inserts 12-16-2017

I added an SAE socket set to my right the other day to go along with my metric set, and instead of carrying two plastic cases in my new Goose Gear cargobox, I bought another medium sized tool pouch and insert from Paul and Amy at Adventure Tool Company.

Their gear is great to organize your tools, as I already own three of their products for organizing my tools in the rig.
This keeps all sockets and their handles in two separate bags.
One for the metric set, and one for the SAE set.
And since they are made out of waxed canvas, they smell very nice!

Links:

Adventure Tool Company

Tool Pouches Medium Lined With Blazed Orange Cordura, And "Sockets" Name Tag Insignia

Mesh Organizer Inserts, aka See-Ums (Set of 4)

Pics:

17.jpg


Always a pleasure to receive a package form Paul and Amy, as they go the extra distance to make it personal for you

18.jpg


All the booty laid out

19.jpg


The two cases the sockets came in

20.jpg


Two of the four mesh bags loaded up, hmmmm, what to do with the extra two

21.jpg


The new bag is at the top of the cargobox

Next mod is the longer fridge slides for the Tembo Tusk so my chuckbox will come out further.
They arrive today...
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
Phase IV Goose Gear/Tembo Tusk Updated 12-21-2017

Phase IV you say?
As you could see from the previous pictures, when the chuckbox was pulled out there was not much room to stand when its door/table was in the down position.
I would have had to dis-mount the Outer Limits Weekender first aid kit to stand there, and it would still be tight.

Rotating the chuckbox 180 degrees so it opens on the passenger side the door would not drop down due to it hitting the rig inside by the tail light area.

I got a hold of Jerry at Tembo Tusk and asked if they had longer Accuride slide tracks, and why yes they do.
He had to order in a pair of 35" ones for me, drill a few new locating holes. and ship them out to me.

He had detailed instructions for removing the original ones, and mounting up the new ones, so it was a very easy job.
Now when I pull the chuckbox out, I have room to drop down the door and use it as a prep table facing it from the passenger side, very nice.

I started removing the stock rails yesterday, and they are around 28" long, and the new ones are 36" long.
Ooooops, I thought they might have to hang out the back, and that would require me not having a rear door :D
I got a hold of Jerry, and the extended length actually comes into the cab, I was unaware as I thought these were tripped stacked rails instead of double like the stock ones, but Jerry informed me on the phone triples would reduce the weight handling capability of them.
This would mean loosing some cargo space inside, but I can work with that.
Remember, I am on a reduction diet of the gear I take, and I have already cut back to two Alu-boxes instead of the three I have now :D

It turned out very nice, and it was below 30° this morning, but very sunny.
Usually not doing work on the rig when it is cold out there.
I did have to cut the tray on each side with a hacksaw, as the ends of the rails butt up against a lip, and the longer length of the new rails would not work, unless I wanted to use the upper mounting holes, but that would raise the tray the chuckbox sits on about 1/5" higher, so I opted to notch the lip.

Pics:

18.jpg


Showing the door/table not being able to drop down all the way due to the stock shorter slide rails

19.jpg


New 36" rails in place

20.jpg


Shot of the chuckbox tucked away, same as before

21.jpg


Shot of it from the rear closed, it comes out about 8" more than before

22.jpg


With the door/table in the down position

23.jpg


Rear shot with the Camp Chef Denali stove on top

24.jpg


Side shot with the stove setup

25.jpg


Inside shot showing how the rails protrude into the cargo area, and you can see the two notches I had to cut in the lip

26.jpg


Down to just one Eezi-Awn K9 table now, with the rails extending into the cargo area, the rail was hitting a second table

I may have a solution to rectify that at a later date

Now I need a food truck license ;)
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
Update To The Stove Height/Chuckbox In The Rig 12-30-2017

So as seen in the last set of pictures, the stove sat too high on top of the chuckbox, so high I would have to stand on a step stool, and risk falling off.
The solution would be to just move the stove down to the chuckboxes door/table, but the backside of the latch prevented the stove from sitting flush and level.

I had some of these plastic plugs leftover from some extensions for some studio monitor speakers that just happen to go into the holes on the bottoms of the stoves rubber feet.
They raise the stove up high enough that I can now place the stove on the door/table and use it.
Problem solved!

First up though is a picture I took a few days ago with my tablet showing how Alu-Boxes are going to fit perfectly in between the extended rails for the fridge slide.
Even the Blue Ridge Chair Works chair fits withing the rail too to snuggle up against the Alu-Box.
This is just the 42 liter one which I will not be using, as I will be taking the 60 liter one for dry food, and the 73 liter one which houses miscellaneous gear.
They will double stack in this space perfectly.
I will move the solar panel though and stand it up on its side, as I think the weight of the two Alu-Boxes will compromise the padded case and might break the solar panel glass, not good.

27.jpg


Here are a few shots of the bottom of the stove showing the plastic extensions inserted into the stoves rubber feet.

28.jpg


29.jpg


And finally the stove sitting on the door/table of the chuckbox, thus lowering it to a more suitable height in which to cook food.
I always have the option though to just move the stove to one of my camp tables.

30.jpg


31.jpg


32.jpg
 
B

BPD53

Guest
Corey:
I've been looking at your build updates for a awhile. I actually took the time to read through the entire build this morning. I will say that you got a lot of stuff. I was hoping for more actual camping photos. I think I counted 4-5 throughout these 25 pages that wasn't in a parking lot.

Please go camping.

All your gear looks like it never been used once.

Please go camping.

You overlanded the hell out of that parking lot.

Please go camping.

If you weren't so far away I'd take you on a week long WV tour and put some of that stuff to the test. Please accept my invitation for a WV trip if you ever get out here.

Get out and.....Please go camping!

Less buildy....more campy.
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
Corey:
I've been looking at your build updates for a awhile. I actually took the time to read through the entire build this morning. I will say that you got a lot of stuff. I was hoping for more actual camping photos. I think I counted 4-5 throughout these 25 pages that wasn't in a parking lot.

Please go camping.

All your gear looks like it never been used once.

Please go camping.

You overlanded the hell out of that parking lot.

Please go camping.

If you weren't so far away I'd take you on a week long WV tour and put some of that stuff to the test. Please accept my invitation for a WV trip if you ever get out here.

Get out and.....Please go camping!

Less buildy....more campy.
You must have missed our week long trip to Mount Rainier this past August then.
I would love to go camping right now, but up where we go in the summer time is under several feet of snow.
I do not like winter camping, I like camping from May through early October.
I did my share of snow/winter camping when I was much younger.
 
B

BPD53

Guest
You must have missed our week long trip to Mount Rainier this past August then.
I would love to go camping right now, but up where we go in the summer time is under several feet of snow.
I do not like winter camping, I like camping from May through early October.
I did my share of snow/winter camping when I was much younger.

August was months ago. Pack up the rig and head to WV. I'll show you what we have to offer out here on the east coast. I'll bet we can even manage to give an FJ Cruiser an off road challenge.
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
August was months ago. Pack up the rig and head to WV. I'll show you what we have to offer out here on the east coast. I'll bet we can even manage to give an FJ Cruiser an off road challenge.
I get out on smaller trips that I do not share here, but only to friends and family privately on Facebook.
I do not post every trip to here or other forums.
I am about out of vacation time from work too until April, and I use it wisely.
When I retire in a few years I will have lots more time to get out.
I am thinking several week long trips up to Banff, Alberta and vicinity.
 
B

BPD53

Guest
I get out on smaller trips that I do not share here, but only to friends and family privately on Facebook.
I do not post every trip to here or other forums.
I am about out of vacation time from work too until April, and I use it wisely.
When I retire in a few years I will have lots more time to get out.
I am thinking several week long trips up to Banff, Alberta and vicinity.


I researched Banff. WOW!

Banff makes WV look like a bus station bathroom. Screw coming out to WV. I need to head your way.
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
I researched Banff. WOW!

Banff makes WV look like a bus station bathroom. Screw coming out to WV. I need to head your way.
I camped there with my parents in my older brothers tent trailer back around '72 or '73.
Took a few days to get there from Seattle, but it was worth it.
The mosquitoes are HUGE, and so are the bears.

This guy I follow on the 'Tube lives up that general direction, I am sure he may be on the forum here too.
I know he is over on Overland Bounds forum.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgRY6WEI8KcAGN5C7lWgHQ
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
Its Hammer Time! 1-13-2018

First day in awhile with it being fairly nice outside, and no rain.
I cleaned out my interior which needed it badly, and was organizing my cargobox a bit, and I spied the plastic tent stake hammer in there that I have been wanting to move to the rear door fold down rack/table.

I had some more of those mini Quick Fists like I used for the small hatchet, but they were too small.
I also had two more pair of the bigger ones like that hold my Fiskars axe to the rack.
Perfect size, and now I do not have to dig through the cargobox when it is hammer time for pounding in stakes for various camping accessories.
This hammer also pulls out stakes too.
I have had the hammer since the late 80s when I use to backpack around Mount Rainier.
Light weight, and it does a great job, even on bigger heavier stakes.

I had bought it at REI, but Amazon carries these too.

Links:

Original Quick Fist Clamp for mounting tools & equipment 1" - 2-1/4" diameter (Pack of 2)

Coleman Mallet with Tent Peg Remover

Pics:

1.jpg


Used the new 1/4" bolts, Nylock nuts, and flat washers that I had bought for the installation of the Tembo Tusk fridge slide to the top of the Goose Gear cargobox

2.jpg


Quick Fists rule

3.jpg


It is a great fit indeed, and much more easy to get to now
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
Spec-D Tuning 3.5" Inlet Snorkel Off-Road 4X4 Installed 2-24-2018

I saw a post in Instagram from a guy I follow with an FJ Cruiser that head one of those round dust collectors that when the air comes into the head, it spins and any dirt that enters gets trapped into a receptacle you can empty out by removing the lid.

I am not sure if this breathes as well as the stock Safari snorkel head, but I will test it out for a few days.
I mainly got this for when I explore the old growth logging roads in the Greenwater vicinity.
They can be very dusty during the summer time, and this will help from any dirt reaching the Toyota air filter, thus keeping it from getting clogged.
They are pricey enough :)

It took less than five minutes to make the swap, just had to loosen a clamp, and take some 409 cleaner to the snorkel and wipe down the outside a bit.

Pics, one video:

1.jpg


Stock Safari head

2.jpg


3.jpg


New Spec D cyclonic head


Link:

Spec-D Tuning SNK-PC35 3.5" Inlet Snorkel Off-Road 4X4 4WD Jeep Cold Air Ram Pre-Cleaner Intake Head
 

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