Silvia, My Saloookqi is stock no mods no lifting no nothing, only ARB shock observers and you saw how it was performing in the GPS Challenge and it has been to Liwa many times, your FJ has a powerful engine can take you anywhere, you may need to change your FJ shock observers later on as they will get softer and softer later on, keep your car as stock as it is and think of the other tools for the time being.
To me I do not believe a lot about modification for the cars specially Nissan and FJ.

Work on your driving skills and understand different driving techniques in the desert and stop worrying about mods at this stage.

The best mod that was required at this stage was better tires and you got them.

Bumpers will only break if you come down a slipface fast and hit the sand so just be gentle with the going up and coming down bits.

Metal bumpers are a waste of money and add weight, not recommended at all.

Once you reach say Senior level then you can think of lifting the car and such but right now just get more mileage on the sands under your feet

Okay, my turn

The guys have all responded correctly and I agree with them.

BUT, if you have money to burn, and would like to do mods to your rig, you can do any of the following:

1. LIGHTING - Install LED's for night drives. That's a good mod.
2. WINCH - Install a winch and help us out on recovering stucks, and recovering yourself too.

Over and out

Whaaaaaaaaat??? Buy a 6" lift, 42" tires and 18" rims, front and rear steel bumpers, the biggest exhaust on the market and a duel intake airfilter system. This will make you the most capable offroader on the planet, period!!!



























Only joking bud, do as the above have said and you will do fine. After all, it's the driver, not the car!

Silvia wrote:Dear experienced offroaders,
As a new regular sand driver, I've been searching for some tips and advice about what safety modifications/add ons/changes I should make for my darling FJ to make it cope better with weekly sand offroading. What I found on the wide web though, is more confusing than helping and it's mostly for mud/rock terrain. I would greatly appreciate if you could share your thoughts on what first safety mods a JO should consider making and where/how it's possible to do it.
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Silvia, the first mod you should do is get a good quality skid plate and I don't mean the trash Futtaim sells with the FJ. I recently sold a second hand one to another friend. I don't know if you have one already but i can guide you on where to get a good one.

Get a good set of bump stops which prevent damage to your car if you do come down a bit more heavily than eventually planned.

Next as all the good marshals have pointed out, drive your car stock till you reach SO position.

This way you will learn how your car behaves when you are cresting up and down a slope, going up a tall dune and down again.

I broke my FJ bumper in the first drive with UAE offroaders. But what the heck, the new aftermarket bumper costs 300 to 500 AED. So go figure.

Once you do have about 20 to 30 drives or lesser depending on how confident you feel about handling the car, go for good tires, a not more than 2"lift and spacers if you are intent on using stock tires.

This is all I have done on my Fj. Oh yeah, I forgot the roof rack, snorkel and lights. These are cosmetic to a certain degree but also useful. Have a look!



Lastly, I would suggest you google Fjcruisersforum.com. Plenty to learn on this site. Avoid cosmetic changes. They are heavy on the purse and heavy on the car.

Hope my two fils worth is useful.

AyoobAli wrote:FJ's bumpers, they are fine,, the only thing that "I saw" that takes damage is the two extra parts at the sides, if they take a hit, they will fall, but just by pushing them back in you'll be good to go.

but that doesn't mean go crazy and nothing will happen, no matter what car you have or what mods you have in the car, you have to be careful, any car will get damaged if it got hit hard (Even with metal bumpers).

But as Salih said, if you feel that you need more performance just change the tires to either "Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S", "BFG All Terrain", or "Cooper STT"

One thing I can add to this. Having a steel bumper is not the best thing as stock bumpers are designed to actually absorb a lot shock on the impact. Steel bumpers are attached to the chassis so become as one. When the car has an impact the shock passes through the softer parts in the car which is us.

On Tires go for Cooper AT3 or Geolander ATS. Don't use STT as they are very noisy.

Mosalf wrote:Hi Silvia, the first mod you should do is get a good quality skid plate and I don't mean the trash Futtaim sells with the FJ. I recently sold a second hand one to another friend. I don't know if you have one already but i can guide you on where to get a good one.

Get a good set of bump stops which prevent damage to your car if you do come down a bit more heavily than eventually planned.

Next as all the good marshals have pointed out, drive your car stock till you reach SO position.

This way you will learn how your car behaves when you are cresting up and down a slope, going up a tall dune and down again.

I broke my FJ bumper in the first drive with UAE offroaders. But what the heck, the new aftermarket bumper costs 300 to 500 AED. So go figure.

Once you do have about 20 to 30 drives or lesser depending on how confident you feel about handling the car, go for good tires, a not more than 2"lift and spacers if you are intent on using stock tires.

This is all I have done on my Fj. Oh yeah, I forgot the roof rack, snorkel and lights. These are cosmetic to a certain degree but also useful. Have a look!



Lastly, I would suggest you google Fjcruisersforum.com. Plenty to learn on this site. Avoid cosmetic changes. They are heavy on the purse and heavy on the car.

Hope my two fils worth is useful.

Mosalf wrote:One thing I can add to this. Having a steel bumper is not the best thing as stock bumpers are designed to actually absorb a lot shock on the impact. Steel bumpers are attached to the chassis so become as one. When the car has an impact the shock passes through the softer parts in the car which is us.

On Tires go for Cooper AT3 or Geolander ATS. Don't use STT as they are very noisy.

Thx Mosalf Always Getting Info From Different People Helps, More Info More Knowledge. Also As An Owner of An Fj Your 2 Fils Helps Alit More To Other Rellow Fj Members Coz You Would Know Some Of Issues, Dos And Donts,.... With Fj

AyoobAli wrote:FJ's bumpers, they are fine,, the only thing that "I saw" that takes damage is the two extra parts at the sides, if they take a hit, they will fall, but just by pushing them back in you'll be good to go.

but that doesn't mean go crazy and nothing will happen, no matter what car you have or what mods you have in the car, you have to be careful, any car will get damaged if it got hit hard (Even with metal bumpers).

But as Salih said, if you feel that you need more performance just change the tires to either "Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S", "BFG All Terrain", or "Cooper STT"

Thanks, Ayoob! Already changed the tires with slightly bigger ones (Kalemero lost on this one :whoo !
By the way, I thought the recovery pack and the air compressor kits were already sold!

Ali wrote:Silvia, My Saloookqi is stock no mods no lifting no nothing, only ARB shock observers and you saw how it was performing in the GPS Challenge and it has been to Liwa many times, your FJ has a powerful engine can take you anywhere, you may need to change your FJ shock observers later on as they will get softer and softer later on, keep your car as stock as it is and think of the other tools for the time being.
To me I do not believe a lot about modification for the cars specially Nissan and FJ.

Ali, nothing quite bits your Salooqi! It's the old built - strong and powerful! I do not doubt FJ's engine, and since everybody says I should leave it like it is, I'll do just that and concentrate on the next item on my tools' list - flag and pole!

Wasif Ahmed wrote:Work on your driving skills and understand different driving techniques in the desert and stop worrying about mods at this stage.

The best mod that was required at this stage was better tires and you got them.

Bumpers will only break if you come down a slipface fast and hit the sand so just be gentle with the going up and coming down bits.

Metal bumpers are a waste of money and add weight, not recommended at all.

Once you reach say Senior level then you can think of lifting the car and such but right now just get more mileage on the sands under your feet

Aye, aye, captain WaWA GarGar sir!