2024 Toyota LandCruiser 79 GXL: Multidrive rear track correction and NSV gear

One of the most often spoken about aspects of the VDJ LandCruisers is the discrepancy between the front and rear wheel tracks.

The wheel track is the width between the wheels across the vehicle, measured at the centre line of the tyres. There was never a problem with the wheel track on 70 Series LandCriuisers prior to 2007, but that is when Toyota introduced the VDJ V8 engine. To make the V8 fit in a chassis that was designed for an inline six, Toyota had to widen the chassis rails at the front of the vehicle and this included the front live axle setup, thus widening the front wheel track.

Toyota never saw fit to widen the rear axle to match the new wider front, resulting in a difference front to rear of 95mm, which might not sound like a lot but having the rear wheels out of line with the front has a considerable effect on the way the LandCruiser handles, particularly on rutted roads and sandy tracks where the rear wheels don’t follow the tracks created by the front wheels, so they end up squirreling the vehicle around when trying to drive in a straight line. This problem is amplified if you have a heavy load in the tray or on the towbar.

Even after more than 25 years, Toyota still refuses to acknowledge that this is a problem with the 70 Series LandCruiser and says there is no reason to rectify the wheel track discrepancy. Thankfully the aftermarket does recognise the problem, and a number of companies have come up with solutions. One such company is Geelong’s Multidrive Technology, which is where we sent our LandCruiser to rectify the track.

A modification that changes a vehicle’s wheel track in this way is something that needs to be engineer approved and the Multidrive solution has second stage manufacturing (SSM) approval so it is covered nationally when done before the vehicle is first registered. If the work is done after the vehicle is registered it will need to be approved by an engineer in the state of vehicle registration… and again anytime that registration is transferred interstate, so it’s always best to get the mods done pre-rego if possible.

Multidrive Technology works with Terrain Tamer on the engineering side of its GVM upgrades to the 70 Series and the rear track correction is covered under the GVM SSM on our vehicle.

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Multidrive currently has two options for widening the rear track on the 70. The first is the Tru Tracker which uses replacement bolt-on stub axles that widen the rear-end and use wider axle shafts. The Tru Tracker only allows a GVM up to 3780kg but for our vehicle, with its 3950kg Terrain Tamer GVM upgrade, we went with the higher rated option.

The 3950kg rated rear diff employs a remanufactured OEM axle housing using the OEM stub axles and replacement axle shafts. The remanufacturing process cuts the OE housing into sections with new billet axle tubes and housing sections welded back in between the centre and outermost parts of the housing. The remanufactured housing also extends the buttressing that is under the factory housing, wider than OE to the outer ends for increased strength.

The remanufactured diff housing is refitted with the original diff centre and brakes and fits back in using all the original mounting points and hardware. New brake lines are required to reach the brake calipers as these are now further out from the centre and these are included in the kit, along with all other hardware required.

Installation

Installing the wider rear axle into our LandCruiser was relatively easy for the team at Multidrive’s HQ. Most of the company’s work is building and modifying 4x4 vehicles for various departments such as fire brigade, forestry, mining and other industries that require built-for-purpose 4x4 vehicles.

Along with the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux, many of these vehicles are LandCruiser 79s with modifications ranging from simple upgrades to chassis extensions, 6x6 conversions and complete builds. Rear wheel track correction is usually a part of all the 70 Series builds as the relevant departments also want to rectify this shortcoming in the Toyota product to ensure the safety of their staff who drive them.

To put it simply, once the rear wheels have been moved, the brakes are likewise taken off allowing the axles to be slid out of the housing and the diff centre removed as well. Then the housing can be unbolted from the leaf springs and removed, and the replacement wider housing installed in the reverse order. Once the job is completed you’d swear it was like this when it came out of the Toyota factory, and only an eagle-eyed spotter might notice the extra width between the leaf springs and the backing plate on the brakes where you can also spot the extra bracing under the housing.

A perfect fit and retaining the factory look of the diff isn’t the only advantage of using the remanufactured housing over a fully fabricated one. By retaining the factory Toyota centre section where the diff centre bolts in, you maintain the correct lubrication required for longevity of the mechanical parts. Some fabricated housings with flat steel rather than the bowl-shaped Toyota housing have been known to suffer from premature failure.

We’re yet to load the Cruiser up and hit the tracks with it so we can’t comment on the way it drives, but we can say that the 79 now looks ‘right’ with its rear wheels in line with the fronts.

NSV extras

While we were at Multidrive we slipped in next door to NSV Australia to see what was going on. Both Multidrive and NSV Australia fall under the umbrella of Kinetic Engineering who perform a wide range of engineering services and work for a variety of industries and companies.

NSV is more of a vehicle accessories business which has until recently concentrated on the Middle East and USA 4x4 markets, but is now trading in Australia and was happy to fit some of its 70 Series accessories to our ute.

NSV’s Smart Air Compressor kit mounts an air compressor out of the way, yet still easy to access under the passenger seat. The unit mounts on its own bracket which is then held in place using the OE LandCruiser seat mounts so there’s no additional drilling or fabrication required.

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The included wiring harness plugs directly into the Cruiser’s harness so there’s no dodgy wiring or connections needed – it’s simply plug and play.

The single pump compressor is a compact unit that is rated to >50L/min@40psi with a maximum working pressure of 150psi and a duty cycle of 20 minutes on/40 minutes off. Sure, that’s not going to challenge the speed of the big twin-pump compressor that you might have already, but there’s more to the NSV compressor than you might expect…

A control panel that mounts into the dash on the passenger side of the vehicle allows you to set the pressure you want the tyres set to, be it for on-road, sand, gravel or heavily loaded; screw the included hose onto the tyre valve and the pump will automatically inflate or deflate the tyre to the set amount. As the tyre valve connection is a screw-on type it allows you to step away from the wheel to do other things while the compressor does its work and the control panel switches the compressor off once the desired setting is reached.

The kit is high quality and is made to OE standards, hence the plug and play nature of the fittings.And when we say OE standards we mean it; the NSV compressor kit for the Toyota Tacoma is offered as a factory accessory under a Toyota part number in the USA. That kit mounts the compressor behind a panel on the load bed with the air outlet and control panel in the tray where it is easy to access.

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At the time of writing, NSV was working with Toyota Australia to hopefully offer a kit for the 250 Series Prado as a genuine accessory sometime in the future.
Ahead of the passenger seat NSW can fit a quick release fire extinguisher bracket that is mounted using the seat mount bolts and holds an 80mm fire extinguisher securely in an easy to access position.

The bracket has been crash tested to ensure it meets all ADR requirements for an extinguisher mount to safely contain a relatively heavy object. NSV offers these extinguisher brackets for dual and single-cab LandCruisers, plus the popular Isuzu D-MAX, Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux utes.

Other products already coming from NSV include a child seat mounting bracket for 79 Series, arm rests for 70 Series, and an integrated light bar for 200 Series LandCruiser, and we expect to see more products coming for the Australian market soon.

Building and equipping 4x4 vehicles for various industry uses as well as recreational four-wheel drivers has allowed Multidrive and NSV to develop high quality products to OEM and better specification that you know will fit and perform reliably.

Pricing

• MDT0039-ESC MDT welded diff disc ESC: $5850 plus freight ($6570 installed)
• LC70 Integrated Smart Compressor: $1177 plus freight ($1538 installed)
• QRFE Bracket (no extinguisher): $110 plus freight ($180 installed)