FJ Overlanding REBUILD - Part 1 - Electronic Rust Prevention |

[@DarrylLawson]

When are you opening your custom outfitter shop?! 😉 Masterful work

[@4xAdventures]

Ha! Oh, I’d love that I think! I’d be as happy as a pig in mud! Thankyou kindly!😊👍

[@poets-speak]

Elegant solution to the wiring!

[@4xAdventures]

Thank you kindly! 😊👍

[@andrewmcmahn7946]

Great work Artie, 👍

[@4xAdventures]

Thanks very much Andrew! 😊👍

[@CiscosDisco22]

Good to see you!

[@4xAdventures]

Yes, it’s been a long time!! 😊👍

[@TheMigPicture]

Welcome back brother! Happy to see you’re doing well!

[@4xAdventures]

Thanks very much!! 😊👍

[@adammacfie8591]

Good stuff Artie!

[@4xAdventures]

Thanks very much Adam! 😊👍

[@suzyschwenke6750]

Thankyou Attila, for showing and explaining your work,love the Beard.

[@4xAdventures]

Hi Suzy! Thanks very much! 😊

[@markg2137]

Thanks as a fellow fj owner enjoyed this video and looking forward to the next

[@4xAdventures]

Thanks very much! My I commend you on your excellent taste in FJ’s! Yellow is the best colour!! 😂👍

[@markg2137]

@@4xAdventures' fellow' fj owner not yellow haha , mine is titanium silver , I like the yellow though stands out :)

[@4xAdventures]

That was my mistake! You still have great taste for choosing the 2nd best colour! 😉

[@ivanbiscan1587]

great video Artie ....love the mods....and you got a unboxing in too!...lol

[@4xAdventures]

Unboxing! Yes I did 😂 Thanks very much! 😊👍

[@peterhantzis7239]

Nice to see your back. Looking forward to this series.

[@4xAdventures]

Thanks very much! Thanks for watching!! 😊

[@seantowlson7051]

Awesome, glad to see you back. Beard is looking great. Meticulous work. Looking forward to the next update.

[@4xAdventures]

Thanks very much Sean! All the best! 😊👍

[@joeldobbinsmusic]

Great work Attila! Can't wait to see all the custom build modifications and improvements and reasoning behind them in this mini series and all the space and weight efficiencies that go along with it. Clever idea with reusing the seat hinges for the platform to place the fridge on it!

[@4xAdventures]

Thanks very much Joel!! 😊👍

[@chrisharris4047]

thanks Artie - I took my rear seats out some weeks ago because l wanted to put a water tank in - haven’t got round to putting in a plywood base yet, but now I’ve seen your way, using the seat hinges, it may well be the option for me too - love the channel - thanks for sharing your build

[@4xAdventures]

G’day Chris, I’m glad you’re enjoying the channel & thanks very much for watching! What size water tank are you going to put in? And which one are you thinking of? I’m just looking for suitable tanks too.

[@chrisharris4047]

@@4xAdventures I’ve bought an Ironman 60L - it’s rectangular so it’s not too high and it’s the width of the seat part of the body - my fridge is in the back so I have the whole width of the back seat area, which will be occupied by the tank plus a Duoettto water heater

[@4xAdventures]

Thanks Chris! Sounds like a great setup!! 😊👍

[@terryoleary5424]

Looking good Artie. Looking forward to seeing your install design

[@4xAdventures]

Thanks very much! Lots of work to do!

[@tbillington]

Nice work on that battery wiring. Looks very neat and tidy without being ridiculous like a lot of 12v systems these days.

[@4xAdventures]

Thanks very much! I was going for functionality over looks. I think it’s an improvement! Thanks for watching!! 😊👍

[@Mark-ks9jj]

I was at the wreckers earlier this week & came across one of these units in a 4WD, an hour or so later I had the majority out with the wiring & capacitance pads, along with the other bits & pieces the total was $50 so well worth the visit given the costs of these units, new pads are a whole $28 so if any don't function after I test install them are easily replaced. I think this technology is sound although I have seen a few negative review videos about having to get it checked yearly by an approved installer otherwise the 10year warranty isnt valid. A good additional level of protection with some non rust coating for beach work methinks at this price regardless.

[@nealcoombe1293]

Good to see you back Attila even though I have a different 4WD I find our modifications very interesting. Your overlanding videos series e.g. Mungo National Park are professionally done and well researched. Hopefully see you out on the track one day, stay positive this Covid -19 business is almost finished?!

[@4xAdventures]

G’day Neal, thanks very much!! I can’t wait to get out there again! But first, I need to re-assemble the 4WD :) Regardless of what 4WD people have, I hope that some people might get ideas from seeing what I do with mine. Hopefully more trips coming up soon as well. All the best! 😊👍

[@eds4wdcamping]

Looking good there good to see you up at about. Why not do some upgrades while you're in lockdown thanks for sharing.

[@4xAdventures]

Thanks very much! Yes, this is the perfect time to be doing this - I can’t drive around anyway, so I figured, why not?! All the best! 😊👍

[@michaeld1167]

Hi Attila, great job. I like how your main battery wiring has turned out. My fridge is in the same place as yours and the Engle lid opens up just perfectly with around 30 mm clearance from hitting the roof lining. If you don’t have one, I strongly suggest a high amp isolator for your winch supply. The ones used for competition rock crawlers are good but you will need to 3D print up an insulated cover. The Hella type with red plastic T shaped key are not rated enough. As you may know the dust can come in the hidden flaps in the rear quarter panels that are there I understand to help let air out when you close a door etc.

[@4xAdventures]

G’day Michael! Thanks very much! That’s interesting about the winch isolator… my winch has a switch in the cabin which turns it off via a relay. Do you think an additional isolator would be required?

[@michaeld1167]

@@4xAdventures yes to help ensure whilst driving around town if you have a bingle it reduces the risk of fire from an electrical short.

[@4xAdventures]

Ah! Good to know! Thanks! 😊👍

[@GaryTischer]

Nice one Artie - I've had the CouplerTec system in my Hornet Yellow FJ for 10 years now and no rust. I've been to Fraser and Moreton Islands so it seems to work. Look forward to following your build. There is always something to add/improve but I'm starting to run out of ideas for mine.

[@4xAdventures]

Thanks very much Gary! I have a huge list of ideas and lots coming up. Thank you so much for watching! All the best! 😊👍

[@HammerRocks]

I'm one of the people who are sceptical about these after-market electronic anti-rust devices. I figured, car manufacturers spends millions of $$$ on R&D to prevent rust on their products etc. (if you've read books on car manufacturing or have ever watched one of those car production line documentaries, you'll see what I mean), And all they have to do is fit one of these devices, yet not a single one does it, it makes you wonder if they work. So it'll be good to see if it actually works for you. Have you noticed any interference with your radio and/or UHF (ie. more static noise etc) since you've fitted the device? Coz' I've read it could cause that on some vehicles.

[@4xAdventures]

Yes, it's pretty difficult to prove one way or another. I bought the FJ new and the dealer fitted a similar electronic rust prevention device, although it only had a single point of contact with the vehicle, and so seemed to be far inferior to the Couplertec module. That said, i did get a nasty stone chip on the bonnet about 5 years ago. It was down to the bare metal, however even to this day, there is no rust apart from a light coating of brown on the top of the chip that I can just scratch off with my fingers. I think the previous device was doing something, but only time will tell. It finally gave up the ghost, hence the Couplertec. Thanks again for watching & commenting! All the best :)

[@benmorrison9004]

If your vehicle rusted out within 10-15yrs, then the manufacturer gets to sell you/someone a new car. Why would vehicle manufacturers want a vehicle to last forever???

[@4xAdventures]

They make far more money on regular dealer servicing & spares than they do selling you a new car. If you think about how many thousands of components go into a car, even at the wholesale prices they buy the components for, the sum of all those parts leaves not that much profit I think. So it seems to be in their best interest to keep your car on the road as it’s a cash cow for them. That’s just my 2 cents worth! ☺️👍

[@MuggsFJ]

Ok, I was going to resist commenting on this, but as someone who has a PhD in corrosion and an SME in this area, these electronic rust protection devices are a scam. They do not work. Years ago just for fun a group of us approached some manufacturers of these and asked them how their devices stop corrosion. It was all buzz words and scientifically incoherent. I work for one of Australia’s largest oil and gas companies and my entire job is trying to prevent our facilities from corroding. If it was as simple as installing one of these devices, we would. But they are nothing more than a scam. They usually try to make them sound like cathodic protection systems, then gloss over the fact the shell of the car isn’t in contact with an electrolyte which is an essential element of a CP system. You can cathodically protect buried or constantly submerged structures, (requires a huge constant current supply btw, way more than your little battery) but not the shell of a car. I am aware of a friend who was investigating a radiator corrosion failure in a new car still under warranty. This was a legal challenge where the car manufacturer was claiming the owner must have filled the radiator with some corrosive liquid. This was challenged by the owner. Upon investigation it was found the owner installed one of these electronic rust protection systems and had wired it in such a way he made an electrical link from one of these electrodes, through the liquid filled radiator, back to the battery. You can google stray current corrosion, this is what was happening inside his radiator. His warranty claim was rejected. Also, in the US, it is illegal to sell these devices at the dealership. I’ll also add, even with an engineered cathodic protection system of a submerged structure, which is extremely expensive to install and maintain, you can still have corrosion occurring at certain locations, so given the relatively low cost of these units, that should give you pause for thought. One key consideration when sizing a CP system is the surface area of exposed metal (I.e. uncoated metal), this is why we paint submerged and buried structures. The idea that the massive surface area of a car chassis could be protected by the small current front a battery (as most of the time your alternator is off) is ridiculous. The battery would be dead every time you go to start the car if you calculated the current requirements 😂 Your stone chip is not corroding because the steel has a good micro alloy composition and is galvanised, not because of this system. Ask the guy who sold it if he can explain to you corrosion mixed potential theory or any electrochemistry, for that matter… But I bet he will know a lot of bro-science.

[@1Coolbanana]

Good stuff :-) Glad to see you back. Wondering where you had got to! Also in lockdown here in Sydney so been working on my FJ like crazy as well.

[@4xAdventures]

It’s the perfect time for this kind of work! Can’t wait to get out again & hit the tracks! Take care, and all the best! 🤗👍

[@larryingle9966]

Artie what exactly is the purpose of the two heavy duty terminal stud boxes? They seem superfluous unless I am missing something!? Ta.

[@4xAdventures]

G'day Larry, Great question! I had a huge spiderweb mess of wires running to the battery terminals because I had so many accessories. Each battery terminal had about 14 wires hanging off it. It looked terrible, and made it really difficult to change batteries, not to mention i could barely find space to fit those wires on to the existing battery terminals. So, to make things neater, I have re-routed all the low power stuff to the distribution boxes and have the high current stuff still directly connected to the battery. In the next video, you will see the new battery terminals close up. I only have 3 thick cables hanging neatly off the new battery terminals now. Much nicer :)

[@larryingle9966]

Thx for the explanation and I understand the issue, however couldn't you achieve exactly the same thing by going direct to the fuse box with a single positive and negative wire respectively (from the battery)? I am a bit confused why the boxes are necessary in between the battery and fuse box?

[@4xAdventures]

Ahh I see. Well, the negative wires still need a distribution box. Yes, I could use the chassis at various points, but I simply chose to do it this way, especially since all of the negative wires were all originally connected to the battery itself and so were there anyway, this just seemed the easier thing to do at the time. You're right re. the positive wires straight to the fuse box, however the fuse box I am using doesn't have a bus bar, so each fuse either needs an individual positive wire run to it, or i could connect one side of each fuse together in series, but that would require a larger guage wire, and I'm already using 30A wire. The truth is, i didn't think of it at the time. :) Maybe next time I'll do it slightly differently.

[@larryingle9966]

@@4xAdventures Thank-you, makes sense. Looking forward to part 2!

[@Mark-ks9jj]

I did wonder about the water inlet/outlet underbody, access & damage/dirt etc wise so good move. Where did you site your temper valve?

[@4xAdventures]

The temper valve is in the engine bay, off to one corner. 🙂👍

[@Mark-ks9jj]

@@4xAdventures some great ideas in your build videos mate that I will be incorporating into my Subi Forester fit out.

[@4xAdventures]

@Mark-ks9jj Thankyou kindly! Glad you found them useful :)

[@JamesSecretofski]

Which shop did you have your wiring done originally? Such a shady job... but also... if I'm not mistaken, yours is 3rd gen FJ, you should have factory wiring for fog lights. Ever thought of wiring your fog lights to it?

[@4xAdventures]

It was done by ARB. I expected better from them but 🤷🏻‍♂️. There’s no existing switch in the cabin for fog lights. Maybe there is pre-existing wiring… but I don’t know which one it is. Maybe next time I’m in the mood, I’ll search for it. 😊👍

[@JamesSecretofski]

@@4xAdventures oh the beauty of factory fog lights wiring, is you don't need a button. You need to replace turn signal stork with fog lights turn switch and add a new relay in fuse box, next to blinking ac relay, exactly the same one, I saw you have an empty space there on your video, you can even go with Narva one for $20 instead of $80 for genuinely toyota, narva is a trusted brand. You'd even get a green fog light indicator on dash as a bonus.

[@Mark-ks9jj]

Regarding losing the rear seats did you have to get the vehicle recertified by department of motor transport (or whatever they are called now) as some subi owners up here in QLD have complained that police have defected their vehicles for not having them recertified as a "van" verses an SUV because they removed their rear seats for a camping conversion, regardless of whether it was temporary or permanent.