I need some quick schooling on FJs

[kai38]

I need some quick schooling on FJs
I have owned two cruisers in the past an ‘84 FJ60 & ’95 FZJ80 both set up for off road /back road trips. I sold the ’95 a year ago before fuel really got expensive & got a ’06 dbl cab Tacoma 2wd I get right under 20 mpg in town using sysnthic oil.
I’ve missed having a cruiser I can get back into places to explore so I’ve been looking at used FJs. I found a ‘07 at a Toyota dealer for what seems to be a good price under 20K. 28K miles.
Has the V6, 6 speed manual transmission, full time 4x4 (not sure I like the full time the 80 was full time and got crappy mileage) I know 6sp only comes in full time.
What kind of mileage are you all getting with this set up? FJ also has:
Differential w/Locking Feature (?)Locking rear diff, Control Traction (VSC), Upgrade package #1 A-TRAC, 17” alloy wheels, TRD quick shift 6 speed, factory brush guard, silver/white
What do I need to look at; I’ve heard about cracks in the body under the hood,
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
K

 

[OneTime]

Go to Ih8mud.com and post is the FJ Crusier forum. All the info you need.

 

[ginericLC]

Kirk,

You want the Auto with part time. The 6 speed with the full time sucks major gas. You should really just follow the logical sequence. 100s are cheap now I'm getting a pretty consistent 15 mpg running about 80 mph and around town with 315s. I can do a LOT better if I slow down. I bought a Scangauge and it really helps me monitor my driving. When it dips down to 1.6 mpg with a full throttle acceleration my foot pops back up pretty quick.

 

[Layonnn]

I am getting 18MPG highway and around 16-17 in the city with a 4x4AT FJ Cruiser. Before all these mods, i was getting 22-23 highway.

Mods contributing to this mileage:
TRD Supercharger
TRD CAI
Safari Snorkel
JBA catback

now the weighty, non increasing HP ones
285 BFG AT's
ARB bullbar with warn M8000
ARB rockrails w/skids
OME heavy front/medium rear suspension lift
Dual battery (optima as aux.)
(supercharger also weighs about 80lbs)

What you need to look for:
Check the build date. Early build 2007's (with a build date in 2006) have really brittle rear gears. The majority of the people that have broken them have had that era of build dates.

Check along the inner fender for bulges and or tearing. This is not build date specific, but on the newest ones there is a new fender design apparently. If you don't know exactly where to look, go to FJcruiserforums.com and search, inner fender bulge. You will find a thread with about 250,000 views.

Whatever you buy, make sure it has the rear locker. A-TRAC isn't a huge selling point because if you have the rear locker, all you need to access a-trac is to add the little switch (50 bucks), it is already built into the ECU.