FJ CRUISER
WHEN Sav Giannoukas purchased this 2011 Toyota FJ Cruiser in 2015, it took all but a few short months before the spanners came out and the mods began. The previous owner had already given it a two-inch lift and installed an ARB bullbar, a Long Ranger fuel tank and an ARB roof rack, but Sav had grander plans than those simple modifications – he wanted to convert the FJ into a hardcore off-roader that doubled-up for family touring duties.
Sav also loved the look of the FJ, so his intentions were clear: he didn’t want any modifications to rob the vehicle of its retro aesthetics. Job well-done, we say.
Sav opted for a 4-inch adjustable lift kit to enhance the FJ’S clearance and off-road capabilities. “The difference between the 2-inch lift and the 4-inch lift is that I now have suspension,” he joked.
Pre-runner King remote reservoir shocks and Icon coils are used in the back, and “the coilovers in the front are set to three inches over standard to maximise droop”. Blackhawk upper control arms with three degrees of caster and tilted ball joints ensure increased clearance and travel, and the front diff was dropped 30mm to fix CV angles. “My actual CVS are completely horizontal. Same level as a stock FJ,” Sav said.
The diffs have been rebuilt with a 4.56 ratio to turn the 35-inch Mickey Thompson MTZ P3s, and a body-mount chop up front was done to clear the tyres. The off-road rubber covers 17x8.5-inch Walker Evans Street Legends wheels with a 0 offset.
The current suspension set-up has been fine-tuned to keep the FJ comfortable on bitumen and on coarse off-road tracks, with its owner more than pleased with the outcome.
“You can really hammer along and it keeps the car very stable and very level,” he said. “If it does drop down, I’ve got the airbags to level it out. “The turning circle on-road with the upper control arms; we
just brought it back to factory spec, and on-road it glides like you’re on a cloud.”
Sav also spared no expense when it came to lumens, as his FJ lights up brighter than a Christmas tree thanks to STEDI. Lighting includes an ARB-STEDI fog light replacement, 8.5inch Type X LED driving light, 50-inch ST2K curved roof LED bar, 4x10w side floodlights, H4 LED headlight conversion, and 2x20w Wurton flood cubes at the rear. Plus, all internal and reverse LED globes have been installed.
“The quality of the light bars from STEDI is second-tonone,” Sav explained. “It’s the dream team of lights!”
With almost 200L of on-board fuel – factory tank is 72L, plus a 127L Long Ranger sub tank – Sav reckons he can get between 1100 to 1300km with constant highway driving.
However, Sav felt the FJ needed more work done to it before it could seriously be considered a rock-crawler, and so, since our adventure, Sav’s made plans for his Toyota.
“I’m flying up to Brisbane to see Brad from King Shocks to get my rears extended and rebuilt. So I’ll have a rear compressed length of 435mm and extended 735mm. That’s 3.5in more droop over what I had,” Sav told us after the shoot. “Shocks will be just shy of 29-inch-long open, then my set-up will be the way it was supposed to.”
A rear bar and bash plates are also the next pieces of the puzzle before Sav will be completely satisfied, then it’s off for a trip to Fraser Island and/or Tassie.