I know what you’re thinking after reading the title. What the hell does changing your oil have to do with gear? Well, having the right tools to make a messy job easier involves some gear. But with all the convenient quick lube shops, why would anyone want to crawl under a vehicle to change their own oil these days? It depends. I recently purchased a used FJ Cruiser that I plan to use as a test mule for The Gear Bunker. And I made a commitment to do as much of the maintenance myself in an effort to save money while keeping an eye on the mechanicals.
Vehicle Maintenance
The first thing I typically do after purchasing a used vehicle is change all the fluids. This gives me a known baseline for future fluid intervals, allows me to see the condition of the outgoing fluid and replace it with a quality synthetic fluid. I like to use Mobil 1 Synthetic Oil. The Toyota FJ’s 4.0 liter V6 adds a few steps to the typical oil change procedure since it utilizes a replaceable filter element rather than a spin off oil filter. So a specific 64mm 14 flute oil filter wrench is required to remove the filter housing as well as a filter drain tool. This is where the gear comes in.
Motiv X Tools
While searching for the wrench, I came across Motiv X Tools. Not only did they offer the filter wrench, but an entire oil change kit for the Toyota engines. Included in the kit is the aforementioned filter wrench, an oil filter drain tool and an advanced engine oil funnel. The drain tool drains the oil trapped in the filter housing prior to using the wrench to open the housing. The advanced oil funnel actually matches the threads of the oil filler cap and simply screws on to the filler opening. Making for a foolproof and drip proof filling of the vital oil.
Because the FJ Cruiser has an aftermarket skid plate with an access panel for the oil filter, there is no need to remove the plate prior to service. The OEM skid plate requires complete removal which is a pain in the ass. But for initial installation of the Fumoto Valve and taking of photos, the skid plate was removed this time. To make this routine maintenance quicker and easier, I also opted to replace the OEM drain plug with a Fumoto Engine Oil Drain Valve. This makes draining the oil as easy as opening a valve. No more replacing drain plug gaskets each time it’s removed. This valve is protected by the skid plate which has a small access hole to open and close the drain valve in the future.
Conclusion
So now the service takes me about 20 minutes start to finish which isn’t that bad. And with minimal mess, there is very little to clean up post-op. Any truck or SUV needs only a set of ramps to allow adequate work space under the front of the vehicle. So this kit was a no brainer since I have a Toyota Tundra and now an FJ Cruiser, I’ll be able to use this kit on both vehicles. Up next is new gear oil for the differentials and transfer case followed by the transmission fluid and filter.
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