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Next Level 79 Series LandCruiser

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We just keep going bigger, and just when you think you can’t get any bigger – along comes this next level 79 Series LandCruiser build! It really is the next level here for us, being the first portal axle conversion on a 79 that we’ve done. The results speak for themselves – the portals really make it stand out from anything we’ve built before, but the overall build is a work of art and the customer couldn’t be happier with his dream build being completed.

For those not familiar with the portal axle, the conversion involves mounting a small gear set to the end of each axle tube to transfer final drive from the original axle position to a lower axle position. Effectively this raises the diff height without altering the suspension. Yes, that’s right – we are talking a total of 6” of true lift without altering the suspension!

The kit is a feat of engineering genius, designed and manufactured by Marks Adapters and has a whole heap of other benefits other than just lifting the vehicle. The rear track is also corrected and in addition, the overall track is widened by 80mm adding to vehicle stability and improving axle articulation.

The kit is engineered to a GVM increase of up to 3950kg for the 79 and can be engineered with 35” tyres. The portals themselves have a reduction of 16% between the cogs meaning that on 35” tyres the standard gearing is retained, so no more of those laggy take-offs from the lights after the big rubber is fitted.

The kit also comes with a slotted rotor brake upgrade to ensure that the big beast can pull up with the higher GVM loading.

No change to the original suspension geometry, means panhard rods and control arms stay flat reducing bump steer and with shorter coils you get less body roll, superior stability and better overall handling than a 6” suspension lift can offer.

The extra unsprung weight of the portals, bigger tyres and higher loading capacity means that heavy duty springs and shocks are still a must and on this build the OEM gear was traded for a combination of TJM Pace & XGS gear to get the big Merlot chariot handling its best. Remote res shocks and 600kg load springs take care of the added weight and improved handling.

Of course, there’s much more to this build than just the undercarriage. The other big mod that was performed to get even more out of the tried and trusted 79 Series LandCruiser platform was a 300mm chassis extension. This has improved weight displacement over the rear axle, further improving stability and handling with a heavy load.

Another big-ticket item is the Mits Alloy tray and canopy package. Mits Alloy have designed a tray and canopy package to suit the extended chassis of the 79 Series LandCruiser and this one is finished off with an Enerdrive lithium fit-out, Clearview drop-down fridge slide and Dometic CFX 75 Dual Zone fridge. The canopy package also includes the usual suspects such as built-in water tanks in the headboard, jerry and wheel carrier, trundle draw and tapered toolboxes.

Barwork is by Offroad Animal and includes the Toro front bar and rock sliders for sill protection. The front bar houses a Carbon 12k winch with synthetic rope and a set of Stedi Type X Pro driving lights. The extra track width called for some wide flares and a custom front set were supplied by Mick Tighe 4×4 and colour coded to match the rich Merlot red bodywork.

A Patrol Docta stainless steel snorkel and airbox combo supplies clean air to the intake and a Torqit 3.5” stainless steel exhaust is fitted from the DPF back for better exhaust flow. Other mods under the bonnet include a Diesel Care secondary fuel filter and HPD billet alloy catch can. An NPC 1300Nm clutch was fitted and touring range is now also improved with a 180L long range replacement tank by Long Range Automotive.

A Rhino Pioneer platform with the new Backbone mounting system was fitted to the roof for extra storage and a mounting point for the 180w Enerdrive solar panel. There’ also a Darche 270 awning for protection against the elements at the campsites. There’s enough lighting mounted to the platform to give off 360 degrees of light including two Stedi 13.4” micro light bars.

Interior mods include a Department of the Interior centre and rear side consoles as well as a full set of Black Duck 4 Elements seat covers. Windows were tinted and a set of OCAM weather shields fitted. A TJM Heavy Duty Compressor was fitted behind the rear seat for tyre inflation and also for engaging the free-wheeling hubs.

A Marks Adapters high clearance tow bar improves departure angles and a set of Clearview Next Gen towing mirrors also aid in the towing department. The big beast is rolling on CSA Hawk wheels that are a 17x 9 with a +40 offset and wrapped in Mickey Thompson ATZ P3 all terrain tyres which measure in at 315/70/17.

It’s definitely the next level when it comes to Cruiser builds and our customer could not be happier with his dream build. Can we top this one? It’s a big machine so it’s going to be hard to beat!

Black Label 200 Series LandCruiser

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When it comes to advertising your business, you want something that stands out from the crowd! Of course, when you want to maximise the use of the vehicle for work as well as play, what better weapon to have than a murdered out 200 Series LandCruiser that well and truly stands out from the crowd.

The tried and trusted 200 Series LandCruiser platform was the perfect base to build a tourer and a mobile billboard for our customer’s business and like any 4WD that is going to be set up to carry the extra weight for touring duties, a GVM upgrade formed the basis of the suspension fit-out.

We went with the TJM GVM Plus kit on this occasion, using the TJM Pace suspension which is a monotube shock body with remote canister and 8 stages of adjustment on both compression and rebound. It has a built-in hydraulic bump stop design and offers the 200 Series LandCruiser about 50mm of lift and a GVM of 3800kg, up from the standard 3350kg.

This particular set-up is also running Roadsafe Blackhawk upper control arms and diff drop to realign CVs and castor. A set of Polyair high pressure airbags were also fitted to assist the rear springs with load carrying duties.

Bar work includes the TJM Venturer bar and houses a 9,500lbs TJM Torq winch fitted with a Factor 55 Flatlink shackle mount. The bar also houses a Stedi 22” double row light bar to light up the tracks at night and a GME 4501B antenna for UHF communications signals. TJM Sidesteps were also fitted for easier access and protection for the sills.

A Rhino Pioneer Platform was fitted to the roof for extra load carrying capacity which also serves as a platform for the Enerdrive 180w solar panel. There’s also enough lighting by Stedi, mounted to the platform to provide 360 degrees of lighting around the vehicle including a 42” double row lightbar up front, a 13” high powered micro light bar on the side and two 10w Mini Leds at the rear.

Inside, the touring fit-out extends to a set of RV Storage Solutions Premium twin draws and cargo barrier with a Bushman 85L upright fridge. A TJM Heavy Duty compressor was mounted inside the rear storage panel along side a 3L alloy air tank to handle airing up duties out on the tracks.

Power needs are taken care of by an Enerdrive 200A/hr lithium battery controlled by Enerdrive 40A AC and DC charging units with an e-Pro monitor, and trickle charged by that 180w solar panel on the roof for when the vehicle is off-grid.

A TJM Airtec snorkel feeds cleaner air into the engine, while the Torqit 4” stainless steel exhaust expels the gasses far more efficiently than the stock item. Performance is also improved by fitment of an iDrive throttle controller for enhanced throttle response.

Under bonnet component protection is aided by fitment of a HPD billet catch can and Diesel Care secondary fuel filter as well as a Harrop breather kit fitted to both diffs, transfer and transmission.

A Hayman Reese towbar along with a V3 Redarc Towpro Elite takes care of the towing duties as well as the new Next Gen Clearview towing mirrors. The big black beast is rolling on matte black Method 301 The Standard wheels and BF Goodrich KM3 tyres which measure in at 305/60/18. This is possibly the best looking 200 Series LandCruiser we’ve built to date and will have no problems standing out from the crowd. Keep an eye out for this one out on the tracks – it’s the unofficial black label edition.

 

Redi Cruisers’ Sandy Taupe Troopy

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Is there a more iconic 4WD on the market than a Sandy Taupe Troop Carrier LandCruiser? We think not, so it’s only fitting that we got hold of one these box-on-wheels machines for our shop and threw everything we could at it to make it the Troopy from hell. We really wanted to show people what we could do with this Troopy and the 70 Series in general, while still making it practical to tour with, as well as hitting some of the harder tracks.

Of course the first thing was to get our good mates from Jmacx involved, with them fabbing up a 4200kg GVM coil conversion kit with some Sandy Taupe colour-coding thrown in…well a lot of Sandy Taupe colour coding actually! Cradle, coils, control arms, panard rods – you name it – it got hit with Taupe! We opted for the Kings remote res shock options for this build as they are the best in the business for load carrying, touring and off-roading which we’re aiming to do plenty of. The 4200kg GVM means that we could throw all the accessories we could at it, without worrying about the legalities when loaded up with camping gear or towing. The certification with this kit also means we can run a fully legal 4″ of lift and 35″ tyres.

When it came to bar work, we thought we would do something slightly different to our normal 79 builds in the way of the TJM T15 Deluxe bar. The fleet style bar, while a little more basic than the traditional T13 Outback bar that you’ve all become accustom to seeing on our big builds, still caters for the GXL owners with it’s slightly wider design to suit factory flares and built in fog lights. There are a set of TJM brush rails and side steps which match the 63mm tubing of the bull bar and give the sills a bit of extra protection if we ever manage to reach them with anything.

The bull bar houses a TJM Torq 9,500lbs Black Edition winch fitted with a Factor 55 Ultrahook winch hook with built in closed system shackle mount.  There’s a set of Stedi Type-X Pro LED driving lights and GME 4705 6dBi antenna also mounted on the bar.

A Kaymar rear bar and wheel carrier offers rear protection for the big girl and a place to mount the spare to get the weight off the rear door. Up-top is the Rhino Pioneer platform for extra storage and provides a good base to mount the solar panel and Darche 270 Awning for the ultimate protection from the elements.  The awning is running Korr adjustable strip lighting with dimmer switches for ample shades of light for the campsite. There’s also 5 of Stedi’s newest light-  the LED Quad 12 driving light. These things are packing a mean punch in series together and turn night in to day out on the tracks. The square look is the perfect alternative to a roof mounted light bar as well. There’s also plenty of camp lighting from Stedi with 2 rear mounted 10W LED’s and a side mounted ST3520 13″ Micro light bar for lighting up the campsite.

We’ve gone to town under the bonnet as well with an upgraded stainless steel air box and snorkel combination by Patrol Docta. We wanted to ditch the leaky old OEM units for something seriously well designed and engineered to handle the sort of conditions that would be thrown at it. They also look mint in the powder coat black finish and the induction noise resonating from the staino snorkel sounds great without being intrusive.

There’s a HPD high-flow intercooler to keep turbo temps down and a billet catch can to catch any unwanted oil contaminates. This will really come into play when we take the Troopy up to Torqit for some performance tweaks, where they will be playing around with some new technology which we’re pretty excited about. We also fitted a Diesel Care pre-filter to give the engine the best protection from dirty fuel.

Inside, the vehicle has had a complete work over with over-head and centre consoles by Department of the Interior. We’ve added a little Redi Cruisers touch of our own to the consoles which is a sneak peak of something special to come. The floor console is fitted with a Redarc dual battery voltage gauge and a series of Stedi Carling style switches for lighting.  The overhead console houses the Uniden UH9050 din size UHF radio for communications and there is a ton of netted storage compartments to hide all your goodies.

We took the Troopy to House of Soundz at Hamilton so that those guys could work their magic with the sound system featuring a Kenwood touch screen unit with Apple and Android play as well as a set of door pods and DB speakers to suit. Seats are covered by a full set of Black Duck 4 Elements seat covers over the standard Toyota seats. The back has received a once over by RV Storage Solutions with an Easy Access Combo draw system with fridge and cargo barriers. We went with a Bushman DC65-X Upright fridge for cool storage and we’ve fitted out the TJM Heavy Duty 12v compressor hidden away in the wing panel of the draws.

To power the lighting and electricals we’ve done a full lithium battery set-up by Enerdrive comprising of a 200A/h battery, 40A AC and DC chargers, inverter, 180W solar panel, all controlled and monitored through a Simarine panel. There are a series of Enerdrive USB outlets and sockets to run any additional accessories flush mounted into the panel. All the charging units, inverter and breakers were mounted on the side of the fridge barrier to keep them out of the way, but still accessible when the need arises.

The whole package is rolling out on a set of Method Beadlock wheels that are 17×8.5 and a set of Toyo Open Country R/T tyres measuring in at 35 x 12.5/ 17, supplied to the us from the legends at Race Wheels Australia. Even the GXL Troopies miss out on factory flares so a set of  TJM Deluxe flares, colour coded by T&K Restoration were fitted to give that factory look, hide the fat rubber and keep it all on the legal side. Josh and the boys in the TJM Hunter Valley workshop put in a big effort as usual on this one and the results speak for themselves.

We’re all about the big Cruiser builds here at Redi Cruisers and we believe that this Troopy represents a big part of what we do here. It’s built Redi to tour, Redi to tow and Redi to hit the toughest tracks in Australia. We’ve bough together some of the best names in the business to supply the best parts so that we go harder, go further and for longer. If you’re looking to get your own tough build done, then get in contact with us.