FJ Cruisers of Northern California

New to the FJ world...

I just bought a 2013 Trails Edition for my wife. She loves the truck and I'm looking forward to having some fun with it too. We'll be very interested in your advice. The first must have is a tow hitch. I can't believe it's not a standard feature. Is the OE hitch strong / versatile enought for recovery or should I be looking an aftermarket solution? We'll be using the FJ to tow a small 2500 lbs trailer for our band about once a week so the hitch will be used a lot.

We're in El Dorado Hills and look forward to meeting you.

Alan

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cowboy on May 26, 2013 at 7:26am

The OE hitch is very solid and can be used for recovery. Welcome to FJ-Cruiser land : )

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Yose FJ (David) on May 26, 2013 at 9:25am

Howdy from Yosemite!

Yeppers, OEM hitch will work fine.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by NestahEdition on May 26, 2013 at 10:45am

Welcome aboard!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Steve Hope on May 26, 2013 at 12:11pm

Welcome to the group.

Steve Hope.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by DWH on May 26, 2013 at 12:57pm

The trailer I have is 2000 empty. The OE hitch handles the trailer plus the load with no problem.
I am in Placerville and commute to EDH for work. Maybe I will see you around.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Alan Olson on May 30, 2013 at 7:14am

Thanks for all the info on the hitch. I bought and installed the OE hitch yesterday. I still can't believe they don't include any provisions for a break controller. I guess that will have to be another project for another day.

Alan

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Alan Olson on May 26, 2013 at 2:50pm

Guys, thanks for all the welcomes and responses to my hitch question!

DWH, we just moved to El Dorado Hills from Elk Grove this month. Still getting use to the new area... Do you have any suggestions as to local entry level trails with about 75 miles of El Dorado Hills? It would be great to meetup sometime!

Alan

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by DWH on May 26, 2013 at 4:23pm

You could go to Prairie City OHV just south of Folsom. The El Dorado National Forest is about 45 minutes east on Highway 50. There are many trails closed in the EDNF so be sure to pick up a current map before you go.

I lead several cleanup runs per year on our adopted trail (Long Canyon Trail) in the EDNF. Keep an eye for those, there should be one coming up shortly. It is a pretty easy trail. It is also one of the closed trails, so we have to get a permit to use it.

Otherwise there are many books and websites that list trails in the area. http://4x4trailmaps.com/ is a good one.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Maximus (Max) on May 26, 2013 at 7:10pm

welcome! i'm also looking into getting an OEM hitch as ive been "hitch-less" since '07 and its jut too good of a feature to not have. cheapest place i've found online is the trdparts4u site.