Ollie's "BugEater" Build

[FJ-Ollie]

This thing is pretty crazy! Its awesome though. Any idea how much all the stuff you've added weighs? Have you noticed much of a difference in fuel economy with the additions? To me it seems that while having all that stuff is useful, if the range is significantly decreased it would affect the overall usefulness of the vehicle, particularily in a disaster situation where fuel resources could be limited.

TR,

You make some very valid points here. The gas mileage does start to dwindle at some point and I will admit that I cringe at how often I have to pull up to a pump. A lot of my changes are now based on weight. Kind of like ultra-light backpacking. I have found ways to reduce weight while maintaining function. I love and want Budbuilt skids but stick to the All-Pro skids I'm running because they are much lighter. There are times when I'm loaded out and average between 6500 and 7000 lbs. I've used my truck scales at work to check this. I average between 11 and 13 MPG on a daily basis depending on my mood.:smiley_drive:

There is another critical thing that weight affects that you didn't mention and that is traction. As the weight has grown I've noticed significant traction degradation. Because of that I, at one time, ran the Nitto Extreme Mud Grapplers. I loved the tires and traction was no longer an issue but they wear TERRIBLY bad, they are EXPENSIVE, and the noise is insane. It's sad when you are talking on your radio with the windows up and the guy on the other end of the mic is telling you to roll up your windows. Out of the box, the FJC is a mountain goat when it comes to climbing. It's hard to find a better rig for climbing IMHO. When the weight starts sliding you off of things it gets annoying. No I run ProComp Extreme Muds and they do OK but sometimes I want more bite.

Now my mods are thought out with weight factor in mind. That's another reason I went with the BajaRack Utility Rack. It is super light-weight and still holds up to heavy loads. Everything on my rig has a purpose. I am one of the owners of Outdoor Adventure USA. I lead a lot of runs. 99% of the runs I do are involving groups and a lot of people are relatively new to what we do and often have their families along. Anytime I take a group out I guarantee that I will get everyone going out with me that I will get them out. I want to be prepared to do just that. I'm a Jarhead and I take that seriously. Not to rant but that's where it gets hard to justify lightening up the load.

 

[targa88]

Not including full blown SAS conversions... I think that Thong (TCAO) is getting up there with the mods also

 

[FJ-Ollie]

Not including full blown SAS conversions... I think that Thong (TCAO) is getting up there with the mods also

You are very correct sir and he is on his second rendition of suspension too. Nothing Thong does to his rig is normal either. Everything is modified in some way or another. He can't just stick with normal coils, he calls the manufacturer and had them designed and cut to a specified length. He runs a Gobi rack but wanted it shorter so he wheeled and dealed with them to make him a custom rack. These are just examples. He has an incredible rig.

Thong is a brilliant guy and an engineer that does great things for our boys overseas. I am honored to call him my friend.

 

[FJ-Ollie]

I have been hearing some noises in, what I thought was, my suspension over the last month or so. I was all set to go the TDS Safari with my family last Saturday but the sound turned into something more severe and I cancelled the trip. Turns out that my rear driveshaft forward U-Joint is shelled out. Thankfully I cancelled the trip and I didn't have it break on me with my wife along. I thought it was going to be a rear diff. I took it to M.I.T. in El Cajon and they found it. While they're dropping the driveshaft I'm having drop both the forward and the rear driveshaft and change all 4 U-Joints along with balancing them both. Hopefully I'll pick it up tomorrow and all will be well. It sucks being without my rig for even one day.

 

[FJ-Ollie]

Here's a link to the video I got of my air horns in the snow. We were trying to shake the snow off the trees. It didn't work though. Turn up the volume on your computer.


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqa6AgApLqM"]YouTube - BugEater Horns in Snow.MP4[/ame]

 

[FJ-Ollie]

My rear LED flashers finally bought the farm so I've been looking to replace them with something. A few weeks ago I orderd some white LED light pods to use for rock lights. Upon receiving the lights I discovered that they were flashers instead of lights that stay on. So using four of the six I purchased, I fabricated a new rear lightbar in conjunction with a lip to stop my fuel cans from sliding to the rear. I'm pretty pleased with the final outcome for now.