Custom 4x4: Toyota LC79 GXL

BEING located smack-bang between the capital city and the eastern border of Western Australia, the bustling mining town of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has many advantages, and one of them is not being close to a lot of the popular main places of attraction. It’s a four-hour drive for a dip in the ocean, and the state capital a leisurely seven or so hours away. Having a reliable rig capable of extended touring and the ability to do it comfortably, would arguably be high on the wish list of many an adventure seeker from the inland city.

Heading up his own building and construction business has seen Fraser owning a string of standard work utes, a 150 Series Prado and a 2018 Ford Raptor. The Raptor being fantastic for high-speed off-road driving and leaving terra firma on the regular.

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“It was a lot of fun,” he says. “It liked hitting tabletops at 140km/h. They’re made for jumping, and the Fox suspension was pretty cool. You could sit sideways in it all day long.”

They say, once you get a taste for something good, it’s hard to look back, and in the end it was what was limiting the Raptor that had Fraser looking atbuilding something to fix those drawbacks. Not being able to tow a decent load being one of them.

Something with the GCM and GVM capabilities is what he needed, and the 79 Series stood out as his next ride, but with a twist. The new dual cab wasn’t going to be delivered to him in Kalgoorlie until after it had all the mods done to it.

“Creative Conversions took care of everything, managing the whole build from over there (in Queensland),” Fraser told us. This entailed fully revised front and rear suspensions, upgraded GVM and GCM, and a fully kitted out canopy ready for free-camping.

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The LC79 GXL has been put on the rack and is now 300mm longer than before

BRAND POWER

GETTING on the 79 Series train was a logical step, and the big dual cab ticks the reliability box straight out of the factory, with a rock-solid reputation built up over its long production run.

“You’re not restricted by many things, and they’re built to last,” said Fraser. “You’re able to get pretty much anywhere in it. Compared to the Raptor where you are really limited to what you can tow, it’s why I went with the LandCruiser.”

While being match-fit straight off the production line, LC79s aren’t known for offering plush levels of comfort and amenities. So even before laying eyes on his brand-spanking-new 79, Fraser had it on its way interstate to Creative Conversions for a rear coil set-up plus an extra 300mm of chassis length for good measure.

If only the freight industry were as reliable as a Toyota though, as Fraser’s unseen 79 then went missing.

“I ordered the vehicle and it was put on a train in Fremantle to go over east, and it disappeared for two months,” he says. “After it went to Victoria and up to Queensland, they couldn’t find it.”

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Fraser has 31,000km already on the clock in a few months ... with more to come

After a couple of months, it turned up at the Creative Conversions workshop and after a few calls to verify it was the actual car Fraser had purchased, it was all systems go.

The guys separated the frame rails before adding the aforementioned extra length and removing the diff, leaf springs and all hangers. With the rear chassis laid bare, the plasma cutter was swapped for the welder and the boys set about fitting a chock-full pallet of Superior Engineering gear.

The Superior Engineering upgrade kit addresses every detail needed to upgrade the GVM-GCM, starting with a Superior Track Corrected Diamond chromoly sheet metal rear differential housing – this addressed an oddity of the 79 Series, bringing the rear wheel track outwards and in line with the front wheels. With the GXL 79 running diff locks from the factory, nothing needed adding before being slotted into the new housing, however a pair of longer RCV 300M axles were required for that extra width while also providing increased strength over the standard offerings.

Swinging the live axle through its arc of travel are heavy-duty four-link suspension arms, with adjustable upper links positioned in a triangulated set-up to keep sideways movement to a minimum but allow maximum articulation.

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Superior Engineering products were sort for the front suspension and steering set-up

While a ton of work was carried out on the rear, the hits didn’t stop coming when it came to the front end. Superior supplied a pair of its Hyperflex radius arms along with heavy-duty Panhard rod, comp-spec drag link and tie rod. Taming down any unwanted feedback to the steering wheel is a Superior steering damper.

A fat pair of sway bars front and rear cope with the increased load carrying, also being fitted with billet spacers to help handle the displacement caused by the four-inch lifted Superior adjustable remote reservoir shocks and springs.

When it was time to choose a tyre size, Fraser was intent on going with 33 inches, but Jason from All 4 Adventure spied the newly modified 79 Series in the Creative Conversions’ workshop and gave Fraser a phone call.

“They saw my rig there and said ‘Nice rig mate’ and I had a bloody good yarn with them,” Fraser remembers. “I told them I was considering going with 33s and he (Jason) said ‘Nah mate, 35s all the way.’ So he convinced me to go the 35s route.”

Starting with 16x8-inch Speedy Territory rims, Fraser wrapped them in 315/75R16 Dick Cepek Fun Country all-terrains, ordering a full complement of six wheels and tyres.

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BACK DECK

GOING full-spec on a canopy was next, with Norweld building a tray and removable canopy designed to utilise the extra 300mm of rear chassis length The guys there hopped to it, melding sheet after sheet of aluminium together to form the 1986mm long tray and 1740mm long canopy. This included internal drawers, toolboxes, trundle drawer, water tank, Maxilamps and internal locking. All doors in a two-pack finish to match the cab.

Norweld also handled the electrical fit-out of the canopy, calling in Rob’s Mobile Auto Electrics to fit a complete Enerdrive electrical system. The substantial fit-out includes a DC2DC+ charger with MPPT solar controller, ePower 3 Bank Charger capable of maintaining charge to three separate batteries at once, a 200amp/h lithium auxiliary battery, and ePower 2000W inverter. Giving a detailed readout of the state of play is an Enerdrive Pico+ Simarine screen, taking voltage and current draw readouts from a shunt, and also keeping an eye on water tank levels.

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Some 200amp/h of Enerdrive ePower B-Tec lithium power keeps the canopy well-supplied with juice while parked at camp

If you add all the extra equipment and upgrades regularly placed on 79 Series utes, it makes perfect sense why the 1VD-FTV engine is so sought after. With around 150hp but more importantly 430Nm available in stock form, it’s a proven performer off-road. Fraser pulled a few of the restrictions off, allowing the turbo to spool up faster with a Lundy Race Fab four-inch stainless-steel exhaust system from front to back. This woke the engine up, and after a tickle by the guys at Reaper Performance in Perth, an extra 65hp was achieved. Making short work of any fuel supply, the turbo-charged Toyota V8 likes to stay well-hydrated out on the open road, so 255 litres of diesel is on-tap from two steel Brown Davis tanks. “We originally wanted three tanks in there, but weren’t able to make them fit because of the coil conversion,” said Fraser.

Doing long trips can suck if the cabin is loud and chaotic, so Fraser kept the interior looking clean, starting with SupaFit seat covers. Giving a place for storage and the famously missing cupholders, is a full-length Cruiser Consoles unit. Also from the same company are speaker door pods containing Rockford Fosgate splits in the door panels. A Kenwood touchscreen stereo complete with Hema maps looks after entertainment, and when it’s time to party, the aftermarket speakers benefit from the extra panel damping of a full Dynamat installation, which do a stellar job keeping out road noise and increasing speaker response.

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Rear drawers of the neat 1740mm long Norweld Deluxe Canopy

Audio signal is sent rearwards through a Rockford Fosgate amp and sub, mounted behind the rear seat. Alongside is a Cel-Fi mobile phone booster pulling signal through a GME Multi-band Cellular antenna on the ARB Summit bullbar. If antenna matching is your jam, then Fraser has it nailed with a GME 6.6dBi Gain Radome antenna mounted next to it for the Uniden RM980 UHF radio to use. Rounding out the front bar is a pair of Great Whites Attack 220 Series spotties, complementing the standard ARB fog lights.

After 18 months of build time incorporating such an extensive list of enhancements, it’s a gimme that Fraser has been enjoying the hell out of his new 79 since finally laying eyes on it in Kalgoorlie. More than 31,000km has passed under the treads within a few months, (not counting its trip accross the country and back) and with destinations calling all over the state, it’s a fair bet the big white ’Cruiser will be comfortably stacking on a whole lot more at, let’s just say, inspiring levels of velocity.

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RED WHEEL WAITING

WHEN an increase in power has been achieved, it’s a sure bet the want for more is just around the corner, or in this case, back in Perth. The 79 will be heading back to Reaper Performance shortly, where it has a G-Turbo ‘Red Wheel’ G350 huffer waiting in the wings, plus a PDI front-mounted intercooler. Feeding the turbo the extra air required via the already fitted Safari snorkel will be a Fatz high-flow aluminium air-box, utilising a cone-style pod filter over the usual OEM panel filter. The extra torque won’t be a problem, however, as an NPC 1300Nm clutch and billet flywheel have already replaced the OEM unit.

CLOSER LOOK

1. Step on down

2. Clear view

Getting a clear look behind the new canopy are a pair of Clearview extendable towing mirrors.

3. Dash cam

Keeping an eye on the road is a Thinkware dash cam capable of 1440P front and 1080P rear resolutions.

4. Fuel watch

5. Ripper gripper

Front and rear differential locks are standard on the LC79 GXL model.