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One Unstoppable 79 Series LandCruiser

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Ok, so we might be flogging the 79 Series LandCruiser just a tad, but there’s a pretty good reason for that. We can’t think of a more popular 4WD at the moment and when it comes to touring – there just isn’t anything quite as capable.

Truck-like capabilities, with the flexibility to be set up as a comfortable tourer that can still do the hard stuff when you need to.  Reliability, durability, old school live axles, lots of after-market mods available, a motor that will happily lug an overweight 4WD and caravan around all day – have we missed anything?

Yes, they’re on the pricey side and yes, in standard form they lack a lot of features, but with the right mods and set up, there is nothing available on the market today that will match one. And this big white beast is the panicle of what you can actually do to a 79 Series and there has certainly been no expense spared.

The foundation for this build is the Jmacx 300mm chassis extension and coil conversion, running the Kings 2.5 suspension with remote reservoirs. This ups the GVM on the 79 Series from 3300kg to a whopping 4495kg and the towing capacity is also up 500kg to 4t. Ride refinement and axle articulation is increased from the coils with those big remote-res shocks and airbags in the rear also aiding with towing and soaking up the corrugations on those rough stretches.

Another stand-out feature and the epicentre of its touring capability is the Mits Alloy tray and canopy package. Mits Alloy have designed a tray and jack-off canopy specifically to suit the stretched chassis of the 79 Series and this particular unit features two Engle 95L upright fridges, a 130L under-body water tank, trundle draw and the whole canopy is centrally locked.

Power will never be an issue with a Kick Ass 170A/hr slimline AGM battery managed by a TJM 25A DC-DC battery charger mounted behind the back seat, which believe it or not, is actually just a back-up for the giant Enerdrive 200A/hr lithium battery managed by the Enerdrive 40A AC and DC board with Simarine panel mounted inside the canopy. There’s also solar input thanks to a 180w Enerdrive panel for when the big beast is off the grid. This set-up powers a 2000w Enerdrive inverter and all the 12v power you could ever need while out on the tracks.

Vehicle protection is compliments of a colour coded TJM T13 Outback bull bar, TJM brush rails and side steps which have the big, chunky 63mm tubing to make this 79 Series just a little more bulletproof.

Lighting is an all-Stedi affair with a set of Type-X Pro driving lights up-front and a Stedi 50” double row light bar mounted to the Rhino Pioneer Platform. There’s also two side mounted Stedi micro 13.4” light bars for lighting up the campsite.

Recovering Patrols is handled by a Carbon 12,000lbs winch with synthetic rope mounted in the TJM bar, fitted with a Factor 55 Flatlink shackle as well as a rear mounted Carbon 12,000lbs winch with Factor 55 Prolink shackle which has the cradle integrated onto the Jmacx chassis. There’s an ARB twin compressor and 3L air tank controlled by an Airbag Man air control kit which takes care of tyre inflation as well as supply to the airbags, all mounted in one of the rear toolboxes.

Performance modifications include a Safari Armax snorkel which feeds fresh air onto a Patrol Docta stainless steel airbox. The intercooler was upgraded to a HPD S2 top mount unit to keep that air flow nice and cool. The big hefty beast needed a serious kick in the pants after all the weight gain and was sent off to Streamline Automotive at Beresfield for an ECU tune. The guys up there where happy to wring a big torque increase of over 70% out of the lazy VDJ V8 and still retain reliability. The power is dialled up a whole lot quicker with fitment of an iDrive unit for extra throttle response and drivability. A Torqit 3.5” stainless steel exhaust designed especially for the Jmacx exhaust routing was also fitted from the DPF back for better exhaust flow.

Engine protection is courtesy of a Diesel Care secondary fuel filter and HPD billet alloy catch can. A clutch upgrade was also a necessity and the NPC 1300nm upgrade kit is now part and parcel of the Jmacx kit. As is stopping power and the big GVM kits also include an upgraded hydraulic brake booster. A Harrop diff breather kit to both diffs, transmission and transfer case prevent water ingress to vitals as well.

Interior mods started with the whole inside being stripped out and Dynamat Xtreme sound insulation fitted. The factory front seats were ditched for the sexy looking Recaro buckets and the rear bench received a leather retrim to match the fronts. Not only to the Recaros look a million dollars, but the added bolstering and lumber support means you can spend more time in the saddle on those long touring trips.

Department of the Interior centre console and rear seat side consoles were fitted, as well as Cruiser Consoles overhead console with touch lighting.

 

Communications are handled by a GME XRS370C UHF radio running a GME AW4705B antenna, and a Cel-Fi mobile phone repeater with GME AT4705B antenna.

The factory audio system was swapped out for an Alpine touch screen unit with Hema maps built in and a speaker upgrade to DB Drive units gives much better sound clarity and boost than the OEM speakers ever could.

Other touring mods include a Brown Davis 180L long range tank which has been designed specifically for the unique requirements of the Jmacx rear end, a Darche Hi-view 1600 rooftop tent,  270 Eclipse awning on the passenger side and Eclipse 2 x 2.5m side awning on the driver’s side. Roof mounted Maxtrax and shovel holders are mounted to the Rhino Pioneer platform and the whole package is rolling on a set of Method 305 NV HD machined face wheels wrapped in BF Goodrich KM3 tyres which measure in at 315/70 R17.

When it comes to any type of terrain and any long-distance touring, there certainly is no stopping this big 79 Series LandCruiser. It’s a testament to what you can actually do with these things and the capability is far beyond anything else on the market. Keep an eye out for this one around the traps – you certainly can’t miss it!

 

 

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.