Toyota

FJ-OLLIE

First of all... Where did "BugEater" come from? Well, I'm a Cornhusker (Huskers now) at heart. Back in the early 1900's the Nebraska football team's name was actually the BugEaters. So there you have it. The "BugEater" is set-up for emergency response and recovery on a daily basis. It converts to expedition mode in a few hours time. It likes to play rough occasionally too. I bought it 3 months after they released the FJ-Cruiser. I bought it fully loaded minus the roof rack. I perform all my own work on my rig except for front end alignments.

Just a baby with 200 miles on it...


Here's as she sets today...



Here's a shot of me in front of it. A few of us were featured on Land Cruiser magazine. I got this shot on the day of the photo shoot.




SUSPENSION & DRIVE TRAIN:

ProComp Xtreme Mud Terrains (305/70/17's) on PrComp Wheels

Icon Racing Front Coilovers

OME Heavy Coils in the Rear with Sway-A-Way Racerunner Shocks

Factory Rear Electric locker

Active Traction Control (A-TRAC) - Factory

A-TRAC Hack (Allows use of A-TRAC and Rear Diff Lock at the same time on older FJC's)

VSC Disable Mod

Rear Locker Anytime Mod


ARMOR:

ARB Front Winch Bumper w/Warn CE XD-9000 Winch

Warn Rear Bumper

OEM Rock Rails

All-Pro Skid Plates (Front, Transmission, Transfer Case, and Rear Diff)

Self fabricated rear control arm forward mount armor.

Self fabricated rear control arm armor. (Encase factory control arms in 304 SS tubing.)


Communications:

Kenwood TM-D710 Dual Transceiver Radio w/APRS (GMRS/FRS Capable)

Yaesu FT-857D Multi-Band (2M to 80M) HF Tranceiver w/ATAS-120 Screwdriver Antenna (GMRS/FRS and 11M Capable)

Uniden CB w/Firefly antenna on a Bandi mount

SPOT Messenger


NAVIGATION:

Garmin GPSMap 478 Chartplotter

Garmin GPSMap 60Cx

APRS linked with GPSMap 478 Chartplotter

HP Pavillion Laptop (on RAM Mount) linked with GPSMap 478 Chartplotter for running Delorme 6.0, TOPO 4.0, and Google Earth (when available).


ILLUMINATION

(4 ea) PIAA 510's facing forward on roof rack.

(2 ea) PIAA HID RS800 9-Inch Shock Lamps on Front Bumper

Hella Fog Light on each side of roof rack for side illumination.

(2 ea) Rear facing Hella fog lights for rear illumination.

(6 ea) Peanut lights on undercarriage for rock lights.

Red LED inside dome light conversion for night vision protection.

Hi/Lo HID headlight conversion.


MISCELLANEOUS:

Twin VIAIR 480 Compressor System w/2 Gallon Air Tank

Dirty Parts Dual Battery System

Odyssey PC-1700 MJT Primary Battery

Dual Optima Yellow-Top Batteries for additional juice.

50 Quart ARB Frig-Freeze

10 lb Self Made CO2 System

ARB X-Jack

Molly Rear Cargo Barrier w/Gun Rack

7 Trumpet Train Horn and Alarm System

Blue Sea Lighting Control System controlling all exterior lighting.

ARB Safari Snorkel

Scan-GuageII Engine Monitoring Computer

Oil-less MAF Engine Air Intake Filter

Internal On-Dash Video Camera Mount for awesome action footage.

Self-Fabricated Gear Storage Box (POW-MIA)

FJ-OLLIE

Some cabin shots...

FJ-OLLIE

Cargo Area...

FJ-OLLIE

I originally installed an Extreme Outback Extremaire compressor in my rig. It was a great compressor. I had it installed in my cargo area inside my truck though. It is a loud compressor and I got tired of hearing it running in my truck when charging my tanks. Additionally, I had it installed on top of my subwoofer and when I changed my stereo to an aftermarket one the subwoofer was made ineffective. The dead woofer was taking space which could be better utilized for more economic gear storage. I started doing research but couldn't find a smaller compressor that could perform as well as my Extremaire. I finally came to a solution when I installed the ARB bumper. I ended up buying a Viair 480C Twin-Pack compressor system. The ARB has enough space in each bumper wing to mount a compressor. I just had to come up with a way to get the intakes up out of the wheel well area due to water crossings.
I installed the compressor in each wing and put a QD from each compressor through the top of the bumper so a have a connection source on each side of the truck. I then ran a 3/8" rubber line down each frame rail back to my 2 gallon air tank to feed my air horns and effectively tie the two compressors together so they air volume to each QD feeds off the cumulitive output of them both. I also valved them so if one fails or if I develop a leak in either side I can run off of one side independently sacrificing half the air volume due to the loss of one compressor. I can live with that in a pinch. I will just have to wait longer to fill a tire.

FJ-OLLIE

Warn wireless winch remote install..

FJ-OLLIE

More progression pics...

I was stowing my new ARB Freezer Fridge in my back seat because I had no room for it in the cargo area. I finally dirched the huge Contico box I had in the cargo area and created a home for the fridge back there. Tonight I fabricated a new cargo box for the open space so I had a place to stow my gear. One of the prblems with cargo boxes is access. If it is a top loader you have take everything off the top to get inside. If it is a side loader it can be a pain to stash everything in the box and utilize all the space. So I made a combination of the two.

Side View


Front View before adding memorial.


Installed next to the fridge.


All packed up.

FJ-OLLIE

Here's some progression shots of my wiring projuect when I did the wiring. What a PITA.

Here's some pics of the relay panel, wiring mess, and reinforcement bar.

FJ-OLLIE

Odyssey 1700 Primary Battery (Primary battery is nly for starting and my ham radios. All my other accessories are wired to my secondary battery.):


Dirty Parts Dual Battery System (I will be upgrading the Optima to an Odyssey 1500 shortly. Need to fab a battery box.):

FJ-OLLIE

More Electrical Stuff...

Spare Fuse Boxes (Convert to Breaker Boxes):


Relay Panel:


The Firewall:

FJ-OLLIE

Needed some additional aux plugs...

12V Aux Plug Switches (Dash, Center Console, and Cargo Area) - The one above the dimmer supplies power to the lighting switchgear.:


Additonal 12V Aux Plugs:

DASH:


CENTER CONSOLE:


CARGO AREA: