Expedition One Trail Series Rear Bumper Review
For those quick trips to the trail where you plan to return in a matter of hours, it is probably a safe bet to limit on-board recovery gear to the bare essentials. The story changes, however, when these two-hour trips become multi-day excursions. For longer trips or expeditions into areas devoid of the basic support elements, it’s always a good idea to plan ahead and include additional gear for those unexpected events. As someone who hedges on the side of safety, I tend to carry more gear than I expect to use, but I’d rather “have it and not need it, than need it and not have it”, as the saying goes. But there are penalties to pay for this peace of mind – penalties paid in the form of increased weight and reduced storage space.
One of the best solutions for on-board storage in the FJ Cruiser is provided by a company called Springtail Solutions. I won’t go into too much detail here since I posted a complete review of their storage racks several months ago. Suffice it to say, their rear door storage rack is a life-saver when it comes to the wide assortment of smaller items that I require for longer trips. These racks, and the optional MOLLE bags that attach to them, have no problems supporting the weight requirements for items such as small tools, various camping supplies, and a well-rounded first aid kit. But by the time you add two of these racks, loaded with all the accompanying gear, to the FJ Cruiser’s rear door, the strain becomes somewhat noticeable. The weight of the internal gear, combined with the spare tire and wheel mounted on the outside of the door, is a bit more than the stock hinges can handle. This is especially true for those folks who have upgraded their tires and wheels to larger, heavier models, increasing the outside weight dramatically in some cases.
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Meet the Rock Monster: FJ Cruiser Gets Beadlocked
I spent the better part of three years searching for an aftermarket wheel that not only looked good cosmetically but was designed to meet the rigors of off-road conditions. I’m not sure why, but I’ve always been very picky when it comes to the style of a wheel. Generally speaking it takes a lot to impress me since I find many designs to be unappealing for one reason or another. As such, you can imagine my elation when I first laid eyes on the Rock Monster, a wheel that not only looked good, but was specifically designed with rugged conditions in mind. Hutchinson Industries, the company behind the Rock Monster series wheels, has been manufacturing heavy duty aluminum beadlock and run-flat wheels for the U.S. military for more than two decades. Their product lines are specifically targeted towards emergency recovery and military support vehicles in the field. These wheels have undergone extensive testing and have proven themselves again and again under rather extreme field conditions. Suffice it to say, they are designed to withstand some serious punishment.
Unlike a traditional one-piece wheel, the Rock Monster is a split-rim design where the outer facial portion of the wheel is removable. This two-piece design enables Hutchinson’s proprietary beadlock ring to be installed prior to wheel assembly. Once the beadlock is in place, the wheel is assembled, effectively pinching both the inner and outer tire beads between the respective rims of the wheel. This method for beadlocking is not only high effective, it’s also extremely safe. So safe, in fact, that Hutchinson Rock Monsters are the only beadlock wheel that has been approved by the department of transportation (DOT). Because Hutchinson holds military contracts, they are held to higher standards than traditional wheel manufacturers. As a result, these wheels are produced with extremely tight tolerances. They offer two different sizes of beadlock rings so you’ll need to know what tire you plan to use before ordering, to make sure you get the right size beadlock.
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