January 2009

The Tillamook State Forest, located in the Coast Range mountains of northwest Oregon, offers some of the best Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) trails in the Pacific Northwest.  Browns Camp is one of four areas in the OHV Trail system filled with moderate to extreme rated 4×4 trails, as well as a few that are labeled severe.  Connected by logging roads, the wide variety of trails places drivers in some of the more remote and scenic parts of the forest as well as providing excitement for beginners and experts alike.

Browns Camp is in the North West FJ Cruisers Club's (http://nwfjcc.com)  backyard and the club decided it would be perfect to show off everyone's lighting mods with a night of wheeling under the soft moon glow and blazing off road lights.

Discipline makes the difference.

Those of you who have followed my “Expedition Wheeling” articles know that I have tried to lay out the contrast between overlanding and recreational 4wd use. There is one area that really illustrates those differences. Believe it or not, it has nothing to do with snorkels, fridges or even a roof top tent.  The simple daily routines of vehicle dependent overlanding that sets it apart is the discipline to record your route log, backup the camera memory, charge the batteries for tomorrow, look over that rig and fix the little things and most importantly assessing your plan that keeps the “expedition” from falling apart.

When we venture from home on a day trip or long weekend, the risk of getting stranded or having a major breakdown is not really any different than if we are crossing the desert southwest for three weeks. The difference is shown in regard to our remoteness or distance from home & rescue. When overlanding, your trust is put in your rig and your self repair ability. The best way to keep things running smoothly is to fix little problems before they become big problems. And that requires daily checks. These checks are best done in the daylight and with time for repairs. Obviously, that is not in the morning when everyone else is ready to hit the trail or you are still hugging that steaming cup of caffeine.

2008 was a great year for Off Road 101. We covered all the basics that a new FJ Owner should know:
January: Know your FJ
April: Tires & Wheels
July: Trail Armor
October: Suspension

Now that your FJ can handle most trails, we want to talk about being safe on the trail. We've divided emergency gear into Survival and Recovery (Part 2 April 2009).   Contents of emergency gear is always debatable. Some of the items included in your emergency kit will ultimately come down to personal preference, however, there are a few basics that virtually everyone agrees on. Please keep in mind that the items included in this article are what we feel are a good place to start. Some of them may not apply to everyone, and most people will certainly include additional items. Our objective is to give the new off road enthusiast a jumping off point for emergency preparedness.

For this month’s featured rig we have a very unique FJ. To our knowledge, this is one of the only FJ’s in our small community to have a complete frame replacement through the dealer. For details on that situation, visit the FJ Cruiser Forums.

Mike’s ’07 Black Cherry FJ is built for expedition travels. In fact, he was part of the 2007 Disabled Explorers Continental Divide Expedition, so his truck has seen a few miles on the trail. This Black Cherry (Beauty) is easily recognizable, just look for the well used BC sporting a Baja Rack and a few Arizona pin stripes. If it’s missing the rear bumper, that’s probably Tibaal89’s truck.

Mikes mod list breaks down like this:
For under armor, Mike went all All Pro. The Transfercase/exhast skid, front skid, transfer skid, and rock sliders all came from All Pro Off Road. His front tube winch bumper was custom built, as was his ‘Ultimate’ rear bumper mod. His front end is lifted 2.5” using a FOX system from All Pro with the sway bar removed, and his rear uses All Pro springs, a 2” spacer, and FOX 2.0 shocks. Mike was one of the first to install & review the Baja Racks FJ Cruiser Roof Rack, and it’s usually loaded for an extended stay in the backcountry. The FJ rides on 275/70/17 Goodyear MT/R tires mounted to stock alloy wheels.

In the electronics department Mikes Black Cherry is ready for anything. He’s using a Radio Shack TRC-447 CB with a 3’ Firestik on a Bandi Mount, along with a Kenwood TR-7720 2m Amateur radio for communication. He mounted his laptop on a Jenico mount and runs Topo USA, USAPhotomaps, iGuidance, and Google Earth for navigation. There should be no getting lost when Mike’s in the group! He keeps all these electronics, his ARB MT45 Fridge/Freezer, and 2x 7” Kragen/Checker HID lights running smooth with a National Luna Dual Battery System.

There is no doubt that Mike’s Black Cherry is built for the long haul. If you’re ever looking for an expedition partner, give Tiball89 a shout, he’s ready to go!

 

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