Check out the newest footage added to the Videos section of the site. These latest videos were all shot during the 2011 FJ Northeasters event at Rausch Creek Off-Road Park in Pennsylvania. We spent two fun days running blue trails, many of which were overrun with water flow and mud. But despite the high water, drizzling fog, and lower-than-normal temperatures, it was still a great time with great folks. For anyone else who is interested in attending this event in the future, you can get more details at the FJ Northeasters forums. In my opinion, this is one of the best events to attend, whether you’re new to off-roading or an old-school rock crawler. Thanks again to Tony and Rich for all the video capture and a huge thanks to Pete, Jacques, Brian and all the other organizers who help put this event together every year! I hope to see many of you again soon at future Rausch Creek events!
Stepping outside our comfort zone is something that most people will avoid doing unless absolutely necessary. There are those lucky few who seem to thrive by living life on the edge, but for most of us, there’s something truly unnerving about moving into unexplored territory. I guess I’d place myself somewhere in between. I like to push my limits because I feel it improves me as a person and allows me to grow and learn from the experience. But I’m also cautious when I take these steps and prefer to feel my way around before jumping in head first. This is true for many aspects of my life and off-roading is no exception. Every time I push my limits as a driver or the physical limitations of the FJ, I get nervous, but over the years I have discovered a few tips and tricks that help to reduce the stress.
As the number of Expeditionr videos increase, we decided it was time to put together a section on the site where visitors could view them. So the brand-new Videos Section was born. The main reason we opted for a dedicated section here on the site was to allow visitors to view all Expeditionr-related content under a single roof, rather than be redirected elsewhere. This also allows us to relocate the content in the future without any interruption to the viewers. That being said, for the moment, almost all of the videos are hosted on YouTube. So if you have already have a YouTube account and wish to subscribe to our video feeds directly through YouTube, you can visit our channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/expeditionr. For the remaining non-YouTube users, or those visitors who prefer to visit us directly, all video content will now be available here at the site by clicking on the Videos link in the top menu. All the videos have been added in reverse chronological order making it super easy to view the latest movies. Be sure to check back often for updated content and don’t forget to leave us a comment or two if you’re feeling spunky!
For those visitors who prefer their content in a downloadable format, Expeditionr has a brand new feature that will make content on-the-go a whole lot easier. Thanks to a recent upgrade, Expeditionr content is now working with Odiogo to provide readers with a brand new text-to-speech option. Thanks to Odiogo’s full-featured podcasting services, every article hosted on Expeditionr will soon have an MP3 streaming option. This is a great feature for the visually impaired visitors or just those folks who prefer listening over reading. Automated audio podcasts have come a long way in the last few years and the end result is actually quite palatable.
For our regular readers, this exciting new feature goes into effect immediately for the latest articles. However older content may take a bit longer to convert, so please be patient with us as we work through the remaining content. If you’re visiting the Expeditionr web site directly and would like to try this feature out, look for the podcast player just below the title of the article you wish to hear. Click the triangular playback button and in just a few seconds the player should begin streaming audio content for that article. It’s just that easy! So now that you’ve heard from us, we’d love to hear back from you. Be sure and stop by soon and check out our brand new podcasting feature and let us know what you think.
As I head into year five with my favorite mechanical buddy, I am proud to announce that I have officially achieved my goal of bringing this site’s textual content and photos up to the FJ’s current status. I’ve scoured through nearly all of our photographs and can now confirm that I’ve completed documentation on all of the major modifications. There are still a few minor modifications, however, that have remained in hiding thus far. The main reason I have not yet addressed these items is that no one single mod was worthy of an entire article. But rather than just skip these upgrades entirely, I’ve decided to compile them all together into a single mini-mod article. Although a few of the below-mentioned items fall into the pricier category, most of these upgrades are either do-it-yourself type mods and/or modifications that fall into the quick and cheap category. In the end, whether your mods are major or minor in nature, it is the combination of the alterations that makes each person’s vehicle their own. So without further delay, here are a few of mine.
Okay, so maybe the term “bulletproof” is a slight exaggeration. But sometimes it’s the small things in life that seem to have the largest impact. In the case of Ricochet’s lower control arm (LCA) skids for the FJ Cruiser, nothing could be truer. Like their name implies, Ricochet’s assortment of skid plates offer great deflection through light-weight protection. I originally purchased these skids back in November of 2009 and I’ve been running the same set since installation. They have taken a significant beating since they were installed and they have the scars to show for it. But despite the harsh environments they’ve witnessed, these skids continue to provide the same great protection they offered when they were first installed.
For the die-hard rock-crawling fanatics out there, I should point out that these skids, like most of Ricochet’s products for the FJ, are comprised entirely of aluminum. Some of the most popular skid plate vendors out there will tell you that when it comes to underbelly protection, nothing beats steel. And from my own experience, I’d have to agree. Steel is stronger, more pliable, and will slide off rocks and other hard surfaces much easier than an aluminum skid. From a material standpoint, aluminum tends to be more brittle than steel and is more prone to sticking on rocks than sliding. The malleability of steel makes it a popular choice for wheels, skids and other parts used in the off-roading arena, because these parts can be bent back into shape when struck and warped by obstacles.
There’s a lot to be said for consistency in life. For a lot of us, the day’s pace is tracked through a step-by-step set of procedures that take us from waking up in the morning to setting the alarm clock again that night. Repetition has it’s place in life but every once in awhile, I like to mix things up a bit and break the trend. In the spirit of adventurism and spontaneity, I decided it was time to change the visual theme of the Expeditionr web site. When the site was originally created back in late 2009, I opted for using WordPress as my blogging engine behind the scenes. I still hope one day to build a fresh site based on my own code, but time is limited and WordPress works quite well. So for the time being, it will remain in place as the foundation for Expeditionr content. In addition to all the other beneficial features of WordPress, the 3rd party support for themes is tremendous. This gives WordPress authors a wide variety of different themes and styles from which to choose. After sifting through several hundred themes yesterday, I finally found one that fit to my liking and the underlying thematic content of the site. So without further ado, I present to you, the recently updated Expeditionr.com!
This article is actually part three in a series involving electrical upgrades to your FJ Cruiser. For those interested in adding a second battery to your FJ Cruiser, I suggest checking out part one, which details the installation of a Dirty Parts dual battery system. The second part provides detailed instructions and photos on how to add an auxiliary fuse panel to your FJ. The current article makes up part three in the series, and will cover the addition of 12-volt outlets to your FJ. In its stock configuration, the FJ Cruiser only provides its passengers with a single 12v outlet. The addition of more outlets gives passengers the ability to plug in extra accessories such as phones and portable media devices.
I spent more than a reasonable amount of time researching and experimenting in order to determine the best location for aftermarket outlets. It sounds a little strange I suppose, but any mod that requires drilling or otherwise modifying the FJ’s stock configuration, normally leaves me to pause a bit. For those keeping up with my previous articles, you’ll note that I prefer to keep modifications as close to stock, in appearance, as possible. It’s about blending in and avoiding the “sore thumb” syndrome. Luckily, there were quite a few folks who paved the road before me, so I was able to view photos of outlets installed in a variety of different locations within the FJ before I began my own 12v installation. When all was said and done, I came up with a perfect outlet location for my needs – the rear vertical face of the center console.
I’m currently working on another update to the electrical system and hope to have the article up soon. In the mean time, I thought you all might enjoy a few videos from various excursions over the last few years. These are not professionally shot by any means, but a few friends were kind enough to hang back and take some shots while we played, so I’m more than happy with the results. Over the last couple of years, I’ve discovered that one of the biggest challenges to writing articles is capturing events as they transpire. Whether the format is audio, video or still photograph, and extra pair of hands is usually required to ensure the time line of events is properly tracked.
In the case of installation, it becomes rather a nuisance to have to stop at every step in order to detail progress after the fact. So much of the time, my photographs only tell part of the story. When I have the privilege of participating in off-road events, event capturing will oftentimes translate to standing in the bushes, hanging from tree limbs, or sinking knee-deep in the mud if necessary, in order to do the shots justice. It also means hanging back from the group while everyone else gets to play. For those of you who are willing to go this extra mile, I extend my whole-hearted thanks. Without folks like you, I’d be left with only memories of events past.
This post is for those of you who utilize Twitter and Facebook to keep in contact with your friends, family and other favorite activities. For anyone who is interested in following our progress here at Expeditionr, you can now subscribe to @expeditionr on Twitter for the latest updates. We also have a Facebook fan page now for anyone who wants to follow us there. Alternatively, if you don’t have a Twitter or Facebook account, you can always subscribe to our Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed by adding www.expeditionr.com/feed to your favorite feed reader. All three of these methods require an account of some sort, but signing up only takes a few minutes and gives you access to all the other cool features that these services have to offer. Or if you’re one of those types that prefers to keep your web travels to a minimum, you can simply continue following us by visiting this site. Zero hassle with 100 percent of the return.
Check out the newest footage added to the Videos section of the site. These latest videos were all shot during the 2011 FJ Northeasters event at Rausch Creek Off-Road Park in Pennsylvania. We spent two fun days running blue trails, many of which were overrun with water flow and mud. But despite the high water, drizzling fog, and lower-than-normal temperatures, it was still a great time with great folks. For anyone else who is interested in attending this event in the future, you can get more details at the FJ Northeasters forums. In my opinion, this is one of the best events to attend, whether you’re new to off-roading or an old-school rock crawler. Thanks again to Tony and Rich for all the video capture and a huge thanks to Pete, Jacques, Brian and all the other organizers who help put this event together every year! I hope to see many of you again soon at future Rausch Creek events!
