No huge news to report this week with the FJ except that it is beginning to show signs of wear. It's windshield recently took a rock on the freeway and will likely need replacement and it's making an awful gronking sound from the rear suspension.
The sound, which began over the weekend, is going to be difficult to diagnose because it doesn't seem to correlate with any particular body motion or suspension movement. It occurs often, but not with any regular pattern related to speed or driving input...
I haven't been able to duplicate it no matter how I drive -- it just happens. We'll let the dealer sort this one out and report back soon.
Josh Jacquot, Senior road test editor at 15, 130 miles
desmolicious says:
03:50 PM, 09/26/06
Flat windshields are the worst for rock impacts, as there is less deflection. And my Wrangler's is totally flat! I took a big rock on the windshield in Arizona, which left a star shaped crack. I then thought about going to Kragen autoparts and lo and behold, they had a windshield repair kit. Basically a tube of resin/adhesive, a syringe and a suction cup. Worked perfectly and I have since driven 30,000 more miles in Arizona summer heat, CA winter mountain cold, and plenty of chassis twisting off-roading. Through all this the chip hasn't changed in size.