order of expedition mods

[1leglance]

Hello & Howdy All,
I drive a 2007 FJ Cruiser that I want to setup for expedition travel.
Background:
Previous vehicles 74 VW bus w/ sleeping, fridge, stove, sink..would use as base camp & hike from there, then used a 2006 Honda Pilot (wifes) to travel down mild forest road & basecamp with hikes.
I am a backpacker with tents & gear used to hiking backcountry and camping diff spots each night. I have plenty of lightwgt gear with some car camping stuff used with cubscouts & above vehicles.

Currently done mods:
factory roof rack, ATRAC, E-locker,
285/70/17 BFG AT's,
Allpro 3" lift w/ upper control arms & all 4 corners with adj shocks w/ resv., ARB frt bumper w/ 9000 warn winch w/ synth cable,
Gps with iguidance for street & looking for topo solution,
Midland cb w/ firestik antenna (changing to cobra cb),
scangaugeII for vehicle data/mpg/miles to empty,
2 specter fuel cans, 2 specter water cans,
hi-lift jack, pulaski axe, shovel, tow strap, tree hugger, rear recvr hitch d-ring shackle, snatch block/pulley,

Now for the help I need...this is a list of mods I would like to do but I am unsure of the order for expedition travel...desert AZ trips & mexico between 3-7 days with some 4x4 travel during or basecamp w/ hikes depending on fuel aval.
buy spare parts (which are recommended?)
skid plates (budbuilt complete set bumper to bumper)
rear bumper (looking at warn or waiting for 1 w/ swing out)
bumper & overhead lights
toughbook laptop w/ usb gps for topo & street nav (plus pic's, music, movies)
ham radio/antenna/license (plan to take test but ?'s on which radio for southwest/mex..2M or dual or all bands)
arb/engle fridge
dual battery (w/ solar charger on roof?)
spare tank (thanks scott for the sidekick idea, checking into it)
awning for shade (looking at shadyboy, had 1 on the VW liked it)
pullpal & mount setup for sand desert/rock use
onboard air compressor & tank

Honestly other than the frustration of no topo w/ gps I am set to go now using my backpacking gear and buying some spare parts (fan belt & such).
However with all the cool stuff aval. and since I know I will do most of the above sooner or later I just would like advice from others on what to do first and such.
Enjoy
1leglance

 

[BigAl]

Since you like to hike, you could forego the spare parts:luxhello:
It sounds like you are already really well set up and your list is "would be nices" rather than "must haves". I would go for OBA first. I just got a dual force winch. Now I fuss with tire pressure all the time. I filled my buddies air mattress lastweek and scored a free beer!

 

[kcowyo]

For a Sun Devil - :wavey:

• air
• fuel
• skids
• comm
• fridge
• shade
• laptop
• battery

These options would vary for different locales. :beer:

 

[teotwaki]

I'd install the second battery before the fridge unless you carefully monitor the charge state of your only (primary) battery.

Solar panel is a maybe as it means parking the vehicle in the sun or having a long cable to run to the vehicle.

If you have the money you can go for the onboard air or just buy the portable ones (MV-50) from Pep Boys, CostCo etc.

I saw no mention of hand tools to use when far from civilization.

 

[devinsixtyseven]

Spare parts...honestly the truck isn't likely to break, it's the little things that you put in and on the truck which are most likely to break. The OEM platform is awful sturdy and reliable.

-Bulbs
-Spare air solution (even if just a cig plug cheapie...redundancy is good!)
-Fuses
-Wire of a couple different sizes, and a way to secure to other wire. Baling wire too.
-Factory Service Manual, hand tools, SSTs you're familiar with, most-likely broken parts, solution for stabilizing vehicle. Only bring tools you understand how to use and can do in the field, ie don't bring spare ball joints if you don't also have a press. Best solution is to drive in such a way you don't break anything major. Spare lugs and lug nuts, spare lower ball joint bolts (hopefully you'll never need them!), honestly if you broke anything on the FJC you'd really have to be pushing it hard or being, well, kinda dumb.
-Spare comm solution of some sort. Sounds like you'll have CB, 2/6/70 HAM, probably also eventually have FRS/GMRS...got vehicle chargers or a 12VDC/110VAC adapter, plus backup batteries?
-Most of the stuff you probably used to carry in the van...duct tape, batteries, stuff like that.

Mods...
-Put fluids low, and important fluids out of sight if possible...aux tank where the spare lives, spare on a swingout, etc...
-Do you need solar or will unplugging the battery work?
-Tarp, rope and telescopic poles = awning.
-Exhaust jack. You have a HiLift but do you really want to change a tire with it? I do carry both. One is for extraction, the other for tires and neither for doing anything under the truck. It's easy to roll off a HiLift and looks easy to puncture a Bushranger.
-Lift Mate for the HiLift. These things are great . No need to lift from sliders or bumper just to place traction aids under the tires.
-Try to keep things off the roof, particularly water at 8#/gallon, fuel at 6.5#/gallon, spare tire at 80#, HiLift at 30# or so...I know it's hard with a SWB rig, but it will help in the long run, you'll get better mileage, handle better, and keep a lower profile. Check out the LC guys' solutions for spare tire/gas/CO2/HiLift carriers. On that note, hanging everything off the back also screws with your axle weight ratio ...
-Last thing (maybe it should be first thing)...sort out what you need, not what everyone else thinks you need or what's being advertised to you. I have yet to break drivetrain parts or need a winch (knock on wood), but I have made use of shovels and recovery ladders, rock stacking, bridging, ramping, coolers, regular tents, tarps, and a lot of other lowbuck solutions that work for me vs the expensive stuff that's nice but not exactly necessary.

Take a day and intentionally get yourself stuck, then work with what you have to get unstuck. All the gear in the world doesn't help if you're stuck for real and have to grab the manual. If you put something in/on the truck, make sure you've used it at least once in a controlled environment...including the tools for swapping parts.

-Sean

 

[BajaTaco]

Ok, here is my stab at it:

1. Spare parts
2. OBA
3. Ham radio (if you do trips with others using same, if not do fridge/batt first)
4. Fridge
5. Dual batt.
6. Toughbook w/GPS
7. Bumper(s)
8. Skids
9. Aux. fuel (this should be moved up if you really need it for a specific trip, such as Mexico)
10. Lights
11. Awning
12. Pull Pal

If you need a spares/supplies list, I think there are some listed here on the forum. I can also scan my list from the truck and send it you if you want it. Your FJ should be similar. (Hint: Keep a list of every spare and all supplies in your truck and where they are located. It makes it much easier to find them when you need them.)