This 2008 FJ Cruiser Is Built for the Long Haul

This ‘08 FJ Cruiser is a Keeper

There are impressive off-road vehicles, and then there is Adam Wood’s ‘08 Toyota FJ Cruiser. Not only has this vehicle been upgraded in nearly every way possible, it is also one of the cleanest and most refined off-road vehicles you’ll likely ever come across, even after over 114,000 miles of use all over the American Southwest.

Wood was getting his last vehicle serviced, a Tundra, at the local Toyota dealer and stumbled across a Sandstorm colored FJ in the showroom. He was instantly smitten and managed to sell his Tundra within a week, which wasn’t hard as it was only two years old and in perfect condition.

The FJ had been out for a few years and on Wood’s radar for some time, but the Sandstorm color is what really made his mind up about the purchase. He ended up buying the very same FJ he had seen in the showroom, and nine years later he still has that very same FJ, with no plans of ever selling it.

“Wide tires are the ‘in’ thing in SoCal, so Wood did the opposite and went with tall skinny pizza cutters.”

Elbow Grease

Vehicles have always been a passion of Wood’s, and he takes care of his vehicles to a level that is rarely seen. Even back in his high school days he would wake up early on Saturdays and wash and wax his truck every weekend, going so far as waxing the inside of the truck bed. He has always had “rules” around his vehicles, what is allowed, and more often what is not allowed, inside of them.

In the early days, he didn’t do his own maintenance, but because of how particular he is with his vehicles, he decided from day one with this FJ to try his luck by doing all his own maintenance.

After a quick Google search for “how to change oil FJ Cruiser,” Wood stumbled upon a link to a thread on FJCruiserForums.com. At the time he had no idea what a forum really was or how to navigate one, but quickly dove into the wealth of DIY knowledge the forum offered.

“You could say this FJ literally changed Wood’s life; between buying it and finding the forum, it resulted in his exploration of the outdoors through backpacking, hiking, camping and introduced him to the world of overland travel.”

Brew It Up

He spent nearly a week straight digging through the forum learning about all things FJ Cruiser, going from the basics, like how to change the oil, to building out the entire rig in his mind. This newfound knowledge and community was the beginning of the “Latte Cruiser” project.

You could say this FJ literally changed Wood’s life; between buying it and finding the forum, it resulted in his exploration of the outdoors through backpacking, hiking, camping, and introduced him to the world of overland travel.

His business, Jackcovers.com, emerged from this enthusiasm and has recently expanded into his new company STEP 22 Gear, a company that produces a wide variety of American made soft goods for the off-road and overland markets.

Backcountry Capability

Besides being a daily driver, the FJ was first used for car camping and hiking trips, as well as snowboard trips up to places like Mammoth. The rig offered plenty of room for camping gear, was fun to drive and plowed through snow like no other.

After some serious backpacking trips in SoCal and beyond, Wood got the itch to get further into the backcountry—like the places he backpacked—but with all the comforts that he had with him while car camping. This itch was the impetus to start modifying the FJ for more remote backcountry travel, with the goal to improve the vehicle’s handling and capabilities, without turning it into something that resembled a transformer.

Suspension was the first major mod on the Latte Cruiser project, and only came after almost 40,000 miles already on the odometer. While there are a ton of suspension options out there, and about as many opinions on which to go with, Wood decided to go with the local guys at Icon Vehicle Dynamics (IVD), out of Riverside, California. He only made that decision after meeting the IVD team, touring their facility, learning about their R&D program and driving a lot of FJ Cruisers with a wide range of suspension setups.

IVD also offered an entire suspension kit, which Wood figured was a better option than piecing together multiple components from various manufacturers, as all the components being engineered to work together had a much higher likelihood of creating the refined ride and minimal issues that he was looking for. In the end, the Latte Cruiser project got a full IVD Stage 7 Kit with Overland Series dual rate rear 3-inch lift coils.

Protection was the next order of business. While Wood did not foresee any rock crawling in the Latte Cruiser’s future, he still wanted protection from obstacles on the trail and wild animal strikes on his wilderness adventures. An airbag compliant ARB Bull Bar was the first armor upgrade.

The next was to fully armor up the undercarriage. Wood went with a full set of Bud Built skid plates, including gas tank skid, and a set of their beefy Bump Out Sliders. The red accents on the truck happened by accident, with a mix-up between multiple shops involved in the armor program. In the end, Wood just went with it, and every accessory under the vehicle is now red, including the rear Inchworm Gear E-Locker Skid.

Pizza Cutters

Wide tires are the “in” thing in SoCal, so Wood did the opposite and went with tall skinny pizza cutters, 255/85R16 BFG KM2 tires. Besides wanting a different look than the masses, he also wanted to keep the rotational weight down and have a tire that worked in the environments that he primarily finds himself in, namely winter snowy conditions and rocky hard pack trails. Deep mud and sand aren’t the natural habitat for the Latte Cruiser, where wider tires would be more effective.

Just like everything on the Latte Cruiser, Wood is religious about upkeep. He balances the tires with Dynabeads, regularly checks for proper tire pressure and does a five-tire rotation every three to five thousand miles. The KM2 tires seen here have over 70,000 miles on them, and are just now in need of being replaced with a fresh set.

Rack Up

With the heavier larger spare tire, Wood needed a stronger rear tire carrier that would take the extra weight off the rear door hinges. He went with an Expedition One Trail Series Rear Bumper and Smooth Motion Tire Carrier. This setup transfers the added weight to the frame and allows space and capacity to carry spare water and/or extra fuel.

The factory Toyota roof rack stayed on this Cruiser for 8 years, as Wood just couldn’t find a replacement that he was in love with. The Front Runner Slim Line II ended up being the perfect choice, as it perfectly contours to the body of the vehicle and offers up a ton of versatile load carrying space.

“While Wood doesn’t foresee any rock crawling in the Latte Cruiser’s future, he still wanted protection from obstacles on the trail and wild animal strikes on his wilderness adventures.”

Breathe Easy

The Latte Cruiser’s first exhaust upgrade was a bolt on unit from AFE, but when Wood decided to add JBA headers he went all out with a full custom exhaust by Jose Pulido in Santa Ana, California. The custom setup consisted of JBA California-legal shorty headers, a Magnaflow muffler, ceramic-coated copper lined tubing and held together with v-band clamps. This system cools quickly and cleans up nicely, allowing Wood to keep the undercarriage looking as good as the rest of the vehicle.

“Wood is able to mix and match the components on this rig to precisely match his style and requirements, as there are no sponsored parts on the Latte Cruiser.”

Now that air had an easier way out, Wood wanted it to have an easier route on the way in. A Safari Snorkel was added, not really for water crossings, but to get cleaner, cooler air into the engine. Because of the stock air intake location under the fender, Wood would regularly see intake temps 20 to 40 degrees above ambient temp on his ScanGuage. With the Safari Snorkel, intake temps now stay within 10 degrees of ambient air temps most of the time.

Because of the higher cleaner air, Wood also sees more than four times the lifespan out of his air filters. An AFE CAI filter setup was also added to help the engine breath easier, and an AFE Throttle Body Spacer was also added, mostly because the CAI tube is known to be a little short and adding the TBS pushes the tube over to the correct location. The TBS also adds that extra growl to the exhaust note.

Mix & Match

Wood is able to mix and match the components on this rig to precisely match his style and requirements, as there are no sponsored parts on the Latte Cruiser. This is most evident in his lighting choices: PIAA reverse lights in the rear bumper, IPF spots on the bull bar, ARB fog in the bull bar, a Rigid combo bar in the bull bar and wheelwell rock lights by Rigid. All of the lights are controlled through an sPod system and powered by a dual battery system, consisting of a Diehard Platinum AGM and Odyssey AGM.

The clean looks of this Cruiser come from the tiny details. The door handles have been swapped out with Tundra passenger side handles, which changed them from FJ silver to black and got rid of the keyholes. The side mirrors were also painted black, as Wood didn’t like the silver with the tan color paint. Wood liked the clean look of the OEM wheels, but the silver had to go, so he had them powdercoated black.

Meticulous Maintenance

While Wood does most of the maintenance himself, anything he can’t handle he takes to John Levy at Toyota San Diego, his service writer for his last three vehicles. It’s a three-hour roundtrip drive for him, but he knows that John and one of his techs are the only ones that will touch his vehicle, and will treat it with the same care that he does.

All maintenance is done early on this Cruiser, and fluid samples are regularly sent off to Blackstone Labs to make sure everything is wearing as it should. Wood has even hand coated the undercarriage with POR15, which has prevented any rust on the Latte Cruiser.

Keepin’ It Clean

Wood regularly gets asked: “How the %^*$ is your FJ so clean?!” His answer is always because he cares, and his OCD helps. Wood is religious about using special cleaning products that provide UV protection and are meant for lasting results, not the stuff that just makes it look shiny today.

He uses a series of waxes and most importantly NEVER lets the FJ sit dirty. He has been known to go to the car wash at 2 a.m. after a day on the trail, as there is no way he could sleep knowing there is mud on the Latte Cruiser. Wood is also careful about which trails he chooses to drive, as this is his daily driver and not a vehicle he ever plans to sell. Scratches, dings and dents are something he would loose sleep over!

“He ended up buying the very same FJ he had seen in the showroom, and nine years later he still has that very same FJ with no plans of ever selling it.”

UPGRADES

2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser

Wheels & Tires: PowderCoated Stock Wheels wrapped in BFG KM2 255/85R16 Tires

Suspension: ICON Ext Travel Coilovers with CDC Remote Reservoirs (IVD Plated), ICON Billet Upper Control Arms, ICON Rear V.S. 2.5 Shocks with CDC Remote Reservoir, ICON Rear Overland Series Coils 3″ lift Dual Rate, ICON Billet Rear Lower Trailing Arms, ICON Billet Upper & Lower Trailing Arms, ICON Adjustable Rear Pan Hard Bar, Aluminum Adjustable Sway Bar Links

Armor: ARB Bull Bar, Expedition One Rear Bumper with Smooth Motion Tire Carrier, Full set of Bud Built Skid Plates, Bud Built Beefy Kick Out Sliders, Inchworm Gear E-Locker Skid, ICON Rear Shock Shin Guards, STEP 22 Gear Coilover Covers

Under The Hood: Long Tru-Cool Transmission Cooler, JBA Headers, AFE Cold Air Intake, AFE Throttle Body Spacer, PIAA Dual Horns

Electrical: sPod, DieHard 31M AGM Main Battery, Odyssey PC1500DT Aux Battery, Aux All Weather 12v Outlets

Fluids: Redline Trans Fluid & Amsoil for all others

Exhaust: Full Custom Jose Pulido (Ace Auto Care) Exhust with Magnaflow Muffler

Off-road Accessories: Safari Snorkel, Hi-Lift 60″ First Responder Jack (Custom Zinc Plated), Jackcover, Powertank 10 lb Co2 Tank System, Maxtrax

Lighting: PIAA Headlight H4 Extreme White Bulbs, ARB Fog Lights, IPF Extreme Spot, Rigid SR-6 Specter Bar, PIAA Fog Reverse Lights, Rigid Dually Rock Lights

Interior: ScanGauge II, Ellis Precision Custom Interior Grab Handles, Ellis Precision Custom Shift Knobs, Custom Overhead Map Light (Red LED), Weathertech Floor Mats, Springtail Solutions Console Rack & Rear Side Rack

Roof Rack: Front Runner Slim Line II

Exterior Looks: Tundra Door handles, Black Painted Mirrors