Questions before purchasing an FJ

[dirtdiggler]

I plan on purchasing an FJ this year. Two questions to ask please ?
Question #1 - Is the FJ motor a timing belt or timing chain ?
Question #2 – What grade of gasoline does it require ? 87 or higher ?

Thank you

[skrobinson]

don't know about #1.
#2 is 91 Octane which is a problem, as stations in the NorthEast are either 87, 89, or 93. Looks like premium for the time being.
Scott

[OFRD_GRL]

Actually Toyota came out with a bulletin stating FJs do not need 91. (and when they say 91 anyways, it means that grade or higher)
I am running 89 in mine and its fine.
check here for more info on the toyota bulletin: www.fjcruiserforums.com

[Bri487]

i will maybe be purchasing an FJ in the next few days if this guy comes through with purchasing my truck. i too have some simple questions. i am going to go for a 4x4 auto btw, black or silver, fully loaded.

can you engage the rear locker at any time, or only if the vehicle is in 4wd?

do the rear seats fold down, and if they do, do they fold down flush so you have a large even flat area in the back?

do you adapt well to the huge blind spot from the rear pillars?

and finally, would you change anything about them, other than obvious suspension upgrades and what not?

thanks in advance for the help.

[Bri487]

one more, if anyone has a measuring tape handy, can they please measure the usable floor space and the cargo area. length and width, and also how high the seat back is? thank you.

[TRD BlackKnight]

Originally Posted by Bri487

i will maybe be purchasing an FJ in the next few days if this guy comes through with purchasing my truck. i too have some simple questions. i am going to go for a 4x4 auto btw, black or silver, fully loaded.

can you engage the rear locker at any time, or only if the vehicle is in 4wd?

do the rear seats fold down, and if they do, do they fold down flush so you have a large even flat area in the back?

do you adapt well to the huge blind spot from the rear pillars?

and finally, would you change anything about them, other than obvious suspension upgrades and what not?

thanks in advance for the help.

I'll try and answer these questions for you man, even though I own a Tacoma.

For the first, you have to have the truck in 4LO to engage the locker. (It's like this in the Tacoma and I would assume it would be the same for the FJ considering they share the same 4WD components)

About the seats, yes, they do fold down to give you more rear cargo room. I'm pretty sure they don't fold down flush; however, from what I've seen there is only a slight pitch.

The blind spots in the FJ have been harped on a lot. A simple solution that I read somewhere is to add some circular convex mirrors to the side mirrors, which should aid in lane changes and such.

Some things I would upgrade would be a 2.5 or 3 inch lift, 16x8 inch wheels with LT295/75R16/D BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO tires, grill guard, PIAA lights, supercharger, and headers. I probably wouldn't get any upgrade for the muffler, not even a TRD setup, just so that I could hear that FJammer more clearly. I like everything Toyota has done with the FJ and don't think that anything needs to be changed. A dark blue color would be nice though.

Since I own a Tacoma, this info. may not help you at all, but I tried. Good day mate.

[TRD BlackKnight]

Originally Posted by dirtdiggler

I plan on purchasing an FJ this year. Two questions to ask please ?
Question #1 - Is the FJ motor a timing belt or timing chain ?
Question #2 – What grade of gasoline does it require ? 87 or higher ?

Thank you

The 4.0L V6 (used in the FJ) uses a chain whereas the 4.7L V8 uses a belt. The advantage of a chain is that it lasts a really long time, but belts are quieter. My V6 Tacoma idles a lot louder than my dad's V8 4Runner.

The 4.0L V6 has a 10.0-1 compression ratio, which is sort of high, hence the need for 91 octane or higher (premium). Fortunately, VVT-i (Variable Valve Timing with intelligence) is used. This allows the timing to be slowed down (retarded) and compression to be lessened, which enables the use of 87 octane gas without engine knock. Using 87 octane is perfectly fine, although I do notice that the engine runs smoother, has a little more power, and gets slightly better gas mileage with premium (93 where I live) so I fill up with premium. The driving pleasure outweighs the cost for me.

Hope this helps.

[dirtdiggler]

Thanks to all. I bought the FJ and 07 Camry LE on saturday.
purchased them at Metro Toyota.
Dirt diggler

[CorollaKen]

Originally Posted by dirtdiggler

Thanks to all. I bought the FJ and 07 Camry LE on saturday.
purchased them at Metro Toyota.
Dirt diggler

BLING BLING - must be nice !
Congrats on the double Toyota purchase - I wish I could do that

[ddismuke]

They may look neat--but who wants a vehicle with only "part time" 4WD ???? (all auto trans vehicles are part time) Jeeezzz that is 1970's technology.

[mlovett]

"They may look neat--but who wants a vehicle with only "part time" 4WD ???? (all auto trans vehicles are part time) Jeeezzz that is 1970's technology."


I am buying a manual trans FJ today (well, that's the plan anyway, we'll see what they give me for my '04 4x TRD Tacoma....), and stats say full time 4x4, so I'm not really sure what you are talking about with your 70s comment...

My Tacoma is a pain in the butt to get in and out of 4WD.... "auto disconnect", ha!!

Anyway, I need to learn more because I've only done a quick test drive. THey were much more focused on selling us the Prius (which my husband bought last week).

cheers, off to clear out the truck and get it spiffed up for selling...

[smurph]

Originally Posted by Bri487

one more, if anyone has a measuring tape handy, can they please measure the usable floor space and the cargo area. length and width, and also how high the seat back is? thank you.

Anyone have a tape handy?? Haven't had a chance to measure one at the dealer.

[moo.]

i really like the full time 4wd part of our FJ. we've built ours up a bit, but its alotta fun up here in alaska.

It isn't unstoppable, but it does pretty good at most everything.
"looking back"