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Follow along Folks as we take a Journey of Building, Rebuilding, Tidbits and Dodads on my FJ Cruiser we have named:
BlueJ
Ok so the buildup continues...as you can see I am
adding to this BlueJ page with the newest stuff and the top...scroll to
the bottom to see the beginning.
I do it this way so folks can watch for updates by quickly checking this page...
So my laptop mount is in...
I have to say that this mount from Jeniko.com is the best thing going
for $50 and worth twice that easily. I looked at the Ram mounts...the
part that holds the laptop was too thick. Nothing else out there really
grabed me until I saw Jeniko's website. They do have a "no drill" mount
but I wasn't sure about clearance in front of the seat bolts and if you
have looked at any pics or seen my FJC in person you know I am not
afraid to drill a hole somewhere.
The mount went in super easy and as you will see in my pics
the only mod's I did were to shorten the swing arm since it looked like
it might hit the dash and to angle the underside of the swingarm for
the sake of the passengers leg...I will more than likely email a pic to
Jeniko since I think that angle would be something that would help
anyone.
Figure 2 hours for install only if you mod it like I did, otherwise
less than 1 hr.
I did a desert night run and really pounded on some
washes and whoops and the mount held my very heavy Toughbook without
any trouble. Yeah it wiggles a touch but nothing serious. If you were
really concerned Jeniko has a leg brace that goes to a seat bolt that
would help.
Check out the pics and feel free to ask any questions you have.
Dirtyparts.com did my BlueJ:
Like most folks I had an ideal ride in mind as I
progresses along with my FJC mods...luckily enough for me my ideal ride
was owned by a fellow member of adventure4x4.net cruiserlarry owner of
dirtyparts.com (located in LA California). Not only did he have the
lights, roof rack, and dual battery setup I liked but hey came up with
the dual battery kit I wanted to use anyway.
So knowing that he must be a man that thrives on
challenge I called him about a month before the 2007 FJ Summit (1st
ever national gathering of FJC owners...google it & be amazed).
Once he figured out that I was asking for a Custom Gobi Rack (with
sunroof opening), 12 lights, skids, dual battery kit, extra fuse block,
wiring and extra outlets in the back...oh and can I bring my FJC to LA
and leave it? Oh and I would like to pick it up a couple of days before
the Summit. Well either he is as crazy as I am or he just knew he
could make it happen.
I can tell you all day long about the great
customer service, high class employees and general good naturedness of
Larry and his guys. However I all know what you really want to know is
how much????? Well I ain't never gonna put that out there but I will
say not only did Larry give me a good deal but it was worth every penny
to have the job done right the first time.
I drove out to LA from Phoenix, left the BlueJ
then fly back home to await word of the transformation. Not only were
they done ahead of schedule but with little extras that really finished
the job off nicely.
Here are some pics and explanations to show everyone the excellent work of dirtyparts.com. You can go to the gallery to see more and larger pics:
 This
is where all the Fun took place...don't walk in there unless you are
ready for getting some goodies as that place is cram-full of cool toys.
I hadn't been bugging them too long before they tore
right into my project. I was very impressed by how fast they got the
factory roof rack & rear bumper off.
 Here
she is back at home a couple of MONTHS later....now now that doesn't
mean it took that long..Hey I told you it was done before the FJ
Summit! No all that happened was after going from LA to PHX for a
couple of days we went to Colorado for the Summit then were home for 1
day before going to Peru. After Peru I wanted to play sooo bad with my
toys it took me a couple more weeks to get the pics and write up
done. Oh and yeah it is dirty but that is the natural state of
the BlueJ and it is important not to disturb things in their natural
habitat.
In the above pic you can see 12 lights ( they are
like tatoos as I want even more & brighter), the custom Gobi Ranger
roof rack (cut out for sunroof) and Gobi Hi-Lift mount.
Here you get to check out the lights some more...I
really dig the side action for wildlife at night and looking down side
trails...not to mention camp setup. You can also see the Gobi Tool
mount. Disregard the wire above the drivers door as that is a temporary
cell antenna
setup.
 The
pretty back end of the BlueJ...baby's got back! Rear lights help make
sure I don't back off the side of one of our desert mountains and the
ladder is great for the boys to jump on the roof and play. Oh and hey
you can see the dirtyparts.com sticker in yellow on the pass. corner! I
love antennas, can't you tell...only 4 on the BlueJ for now but maybe
more in the future.
Here is the switch for the dual battery setup so I can't mess things up too much.
 And
of course you need to see the dual battery with tray and extra fuse
block. The nice thing here is that Larry ran extra wire into the cabin
for anything else I want to add in the future. No punching through the
firewall for me....Nice work Larry. Now I just need to wire up the
Laptop, new ham radio, radar, missle system.........
More wires and very cleanly done...even if I don't keep the rest of it clean.
 Most
important to me in the brutal summer heat is my Engel Fridge and to
show the kind of thougth Larry and his guys put into the project they
placed 1 outlet at the rear for the fridge and 1 outlet where I could
use it for other toys. They also mounted them facing up so I could move
my fridge over and gain space. Now I just have to build a mount
platform and storage box to take advantage of their foresight.
What you can't see in the pics are...Budbuilt skids,
Allpro Suspension with shock, and trailing arm guards, rear diff guard
(welded by Larry), e-locker guard, a really cool sunshade, and lots of
wiring that is clean and well done.
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