1989 Toyota FJ-62 Land Cruiser.

1989 Toyota FJ-62 Land Cruiser.

Front Axle with full OME suspension.  Front anti-inversion shakles can be seen.  I still need to cut off the extra lenght on the OME U-Bolts.

Front Axle with full OME suspension.  Your looking at a 14 year old truck.  Notice the distinct lack of rust.

Rear axle with full OME suspension.  No PB Blaster, No WD40, No Nothing, We just unbolted the stock springs and bolted on the Old Man Emu.

Custom aluminum block to raise the rear brake load sensor.  You can see that the FJ-62's rear axle is a semi-floating unit with a rear removable cover.

Stainless brake line, lengthened factory extended breather & Daystar #KU09036  poly bump stops on custom made 1" aluminum blocks.

Custom exhaust routing to avoid the OME springs and prevent rock damage.  The stock pipe when straight out the back under the rear bumper.  You can see the OME anti-inversion shackle.

Custom exhaust end pipe.

1989 FJ-62 dash board.  190,000 Miles.

Front seats which were completely re-upholstered.

Rear cargo area.

Rear seats which were completely re-upholstered.

Massive 29" tires and 6" stock rims shown here with Aisin Manual Hubs.

Yokohama Geolander II AT 31 X 10.5 X 15 tires and American Eagle 055 wheels.  After seeing Pete from California climb Yellow Belly ledge in Martinez Canyon with these meats I was sold.

Yokohama tires and 055 wheels.  Eagle Alloys, Series 055, Part# 0559-5866, Size: 15x8, Finish: Polished, Pattern: 6 on 5.5, Offset: -30 mm, BSM: 3 1/4, Cap # N/I, Load: 1900 lbs, Ship Wt: 20 lbs.

Dash view with ARB switches, Panasonic MP3/WMA receiver added along with Polk speakers.  The pocket below the radio originally came in my 1999 4Runner.

ARB compressor switch, ARB Rear Locker switch, HVAC, Transfer Case Switch and Factory Hand Throttle can be seen.

ARB Compressor mounted in the engine bay.

4.0 Liter EFI inline 6 cylinder engine.

Original window sticker from 1989.

Rear ARB locker installed and rear axle completely rebuilt.

Drivers side exhaust skid.  The inline 6, uses 2 catalytic converters, 1 for 3 cylinders that then join back together and head to the rear.

Erika wheeling the FJ-62 over the "ledge" on the Lake Pleasant to Crown King run.

The original owner smashed one and we smashed two on the first run we took it on.  Obviously these are rock magnets.

Replaced the stock Toyota nut and washer with a washer cut from 3/8" plate and TIG welded a 1 1/2" inner ID pipe shaped as a skid to the 3/8" washer.  Bomb proof and should slide over the rocks.

Stubbs square bottom tube sliders.  These were shipped to me without legs.  I made 5 of the 6 legs and Hunter Off Road here in Tempe, made the curved DS front tube leg to clear the exhaust and welded the sliders to the frame.

The Land Cruiser out on FR-42 near Bartlett Lake.

Kaymar rear bumper part number # KA 1315.  No pivot points, I don't want a rear mounted spare on this vehicle.  The spare will stay in the stock location under the cruiser.  Most of this bumper is made of 3/8" plate.  It's one heavy durable piece.  After a few weeks I decided to remove this bumper in favor of a high clearance custom made rear bumper that matches the front bumper.

The Land Cruiser out on FR-42 near Bartlett Lake.

Drawing of high clearance front bumper.

Drawing of high clearance front bumper.

Completed high clearance front bumper.  The bumper was built by Randy Ellis Design in Tempe, Arizona.  It all 3/16" plate and retains the original Toyota front tow hook.

After seeing the front bumper Randy Ellis made I had him make a matching high clearance rear bumper.  

FJ-62 up on top of Blow Sand Hill near Ocotillo Wells, California.

Stubbs Sliders on the Rocks/Sand.

Out on FR-42, Near Bartlett Lake, Arizona.

Crossing the Verde River near Bartlett Lake, Arizona.

All-Pro Profield joints, All-Pro 4340 Chromoly Inner Axles & ARB RD-02 Air Locker.

ARB compressor plumbed for 2 lockers and tire inflation.

The way it should be.  The three magic switches.

Front axle was completely striped and rebuilt with all new Toyota parts as well and the ARB and All-Pro aftermarket items.

The front rotors and pads were replaced with Vented & Slotted rotors made by DBA, Disc Brakes Australia.

Slotted rotor installed, the front brakes are a know weak spot on the FJ-62.

To adjust for the larger than stock tires and to re-gain performance and gas mileage, I installed Precision Gear 4.88 ring and pinion.

ARB RD08 in the semi-floating rear FJ-62 axle.  It took a bit of creative engineering to get the ARB and the 4.88 gears to all work together.

I was waiting for this day to come.  A 15 year old vehicle with 200,000 miles certainly is going to need a refreshing.  I planned for this all along and I was just waiting to find the right mechanic.

Complete top end rebuild and overhaul by Mike Thiele of Thiele's Automotive. He is a Toyota Master Mechanic as was the lead tech at a local Toyota Dealer for over 10 years.