2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser Adventure - The Final Chapter

In case you're wondering, this is not Jon's cabin. His has a heater and a water tank (plus a few other amenities).

After running a few trails, Jon, Terry, and Sarah had to head back to the shop. Blue skies, plenty of fuel, and yet-unexplored trails meant I wasn't taking the direct route home if I could help it. Leaving the desert valley, I took California State Highway 18 up into Big Bear and partway around Baldwin Lake. I diverted from the pavement onto Forest Service Route 3N16, which leads to historic Holcomb Valley. Before I got to the site of the old gold rush, I spied the entrance to trail 3N61. It begged to be driven. This route drops from the pines nearly all the way to the cacti, rejoining Highway 18 midway through its run up Big Bear's north slope.

Plenty of north-slope trails were left to explore when I finally headed home. The FJ's trail-friendly wheelbase (neither too short, nor too long), smooth suspension, and just-right track width meant I could attack everything but the tightest and the roughest spots in a gear other than 4-Lo First. Although the 4.0 V6 is strong enough to run in High range over much of what I drove, shifting into Low range gave me six usable gears instead of one or two. The clutch thanked me for not smoking it.

Gibson Performance Exhaust's FJ Cruiser cat-back system was along for the ride on the trail run with All-Pro. The system is a true bolt-on and can be installed in a driveway using basic handtools. The system includes all mounting hardware, aluminized tubing, and a stainless steel Superflow muffler. The Superflow muffler has a much lower profile than the OEM part, giving FJ owners nearly 3 inches of additional ground clearance under the muffler. Superflow mufflers feature Convergent Flow Technology and have no packing to blow out or internal baffles to come loose. Superflow mufflers are available in aluminized steel or stainless steel, carry a lifetime limited warranty, and are made in-house by Gibson in the USA.

Since we were short on time, a visit to Gibson's facility for the installation was our best option. R&D Supervisor Shawn Seidelman quickly disconnected the stock parts, slid the Gibson components into place, and fastened the clamps.

Though it's a bolt-on system, welding the muffler into place eliminates the need for the clamps, which means that there are no bolts to check periodically. Seidelman made sure the muffler was level before fusing it into place with the MIG gun.

The cat-back system includes a classy bolt-on chrome tip, but there was no question it'd get smashed on the trail.

Out came the Sawzall. Cutting the tailpipe back a few inches netted an exhaust system that's tucked out of harm's way. "The stock muffler system actually flows really well," Shawn reveals. "We were still able to get an additional 7 hp and 10 lb-ft of torque out of the engine with our cat-back system." On the road and the trail, the Gibson-equipped FJ did feel faster, but it wasn't a night-and-day difference. No problem: We weren't expecting one. The biggest difference was the engine's new throaty note. Gibson managed to tune the sound to be aggressive and noticeable without becoming an obnoxious, overpowering din. We appreciate the additional power output, dig the sound, and love the extra ground clearance.

Blame it on the DMV. Our preproduction FJ has a vehicle identification number (VIN) assigned to prototype vehicles; as such, it cannot be permanently registered and can only run a special manufacturer's license plate. That ordinarily wouldn't be a problem, but the California DMV has not provided Toyota (who loaned us the FJ) with enough manufacturer plates to go around. Driving around without a proper plate means we get to talk to more than our fair share of peace officers. We've been treated respectfully and professionally every time and have been let go after explaining the situation and presenting our temporary operating permit. Just the same, driving around with the constant worry of being pulled over got old a long time ago. It's time to be done. We've enjoyed The FJ Adventure. We hope you have too.