She's mean, green, big, and Japanese. GoJira is the Japanese word for Godzilla! "FJIRA" is a simple play on that original Japanese word.
THE STORY OF FJIRA
My life with FJIRA started in Late December of 2013, I was looking for an FJ Cruiser to replace my old Ford Ranger as my life needs had changed and I wanted to start doing a lot more traveling and exploring. Prompted by my discovery of "Overlanding" thanx to video's by Expedition Overland, I was set to buy an offroad capable vehicle and outfit it for traveling and offroading.
While on the long search to find the perfect FJ Cruiser I stumbled upon FJIRA which was previously called "Big Green" by its previous owner. An Airforce F16 and Drone pilot who was set for a 6 month deployment to Afghanistan and had the belief of when deployed he just sells off everything before hand.
After some quick negotiation and an arduous week during Christmas securing financing I was on a plane to Houston, TX to pick up the now named "FJIRA". The previous owner bought her completely stock nearly 1 year earlier, a Voodoo Blue 2007 FJ Cruiser which was originally sold back in 2006 in Denver, CO and slowly found its way to Texas. He also had very similar plans as I did but a LOT more res$ource$. After roughly 6-7mths he spent about $18k in upgrades including Armor by Expedition One and Ricochet, Suspension by FOX Racing, and a new skin by LineX.
Lucky does not describe my position enough in being able to stumble upon this extremely well built rig when I did. I got her for half of the cost she was built for which is fantastic because I could have never done it all myself. I have a feeling a fully LineX'd vehicle was a bit intimidating to most when they came across the for sale thread on the FJ forums where she was posted. For me it was simply perfect!
I land in Houston,TX and scramble out of the terminal to start scanning for my new beauty somewhere coming down the road. Finally after the most difficult 22 minutes I spot the new to me monster coming down the road. She was more impressive coming down the road than I could have ever imagined, while not lifted to the moon she easily stood out from the crowd, even in the heart of Texas Truckland.
I've never owned a Toyota, neither has any of my family growing up. My history has mostly been Honda's and Ford's mostly with a MINI thrown into the mix. I bought FJIRA with 86k miles on the clock for slightly more than I had ever paid for a vehicle new. Personally I was putting a TON of trust into the Toyota brand and stereotype that they last forever.
After a fantastic Texas sized lunch at a nearby Rudy's BBQ I set off on a great roadtrip back to Miami. I had 3 days to mosey on back down to Miami. First hitting New Orleans for the first time, not much time for partying since I didn't want to leave my new toy alone. So much so, I spent my first night sleeping in the back of the FJ in 42deg weather with no sleeping bag haha. But I had a fantastic time driving around enjoying the FJ. For a vehicle with 86k miles she drove like new. All the modifications were incredibly well thought out and done.
Modifications:
*Olive Drab Linex
*Expedition One Trail Series Front Bumper w/ Center Hoop
*Expedition One Rear Bumper w/ Smooth Motion Tire Carrier System
*Expedition One Tire Carrier Rotopax Mount
*BajaRack Utility Rack
*Fox Racing Front Coil-Overs 2.5 front w/ external reservoirs
*Fox Racing Rear 2.0 adjustable shocks w/external reservoirs
*All-Pro 3.5" Rear Springset
*All-Pro Rear Lower Control Arms
*All-Pro Spindle Gussets
*All-Pro Front Sway Bar Links
*All-Pro Front & Rear Stainless Brake Lines
*Fabtech Upper Control Arms (1" Uniball)
*Body Mount Chop
*Ultra Mongoose 17x9 Wheels (-1mm OS)
*Goodyear DuraTrac 315/70/17
*Spidertrax 1.25" Spacers
*Bushwacker Fender Flares
*All-Pro Sliders
*All-Pro Rear Link Armor
*All-Pro Rear Shock Armor
*Ricochet Full Underside HD Skids
*All-Pro Bandi Mount
*Midland CB Radio
*Customized Interior Storage w/ Molle Bags (Rear door, side panel, and front console)
*Piaa 510 & 540 Driving Lights
*DigiDiodes 50" Curved 240w LED Lightbar
*All Performance Shop LightBar Mount
Recovery Gear:
*Engo 9000s Winch
*2x Maxtrax Boards
*Factor 55 Pro-Link (Black)
*5x Shackles
*2x Tow Straps
*1x Tree Saver
*1x Rotopax 2 Gallon Water Container
*2x Rotopax 4 Gallon Gas Container
*1x OD Green Trenching Shovel