Gallery: Custom Baja-bred Toyota FJ45 Land Cruiser

THIS street-driven pre-runner you’re ogling right now was put together by Nefarious Kustoms, a downtown shop located in Las Vegas, USA.

The decision to turn the FJ45 – originally destined to be a rock-crawler – into a pre-runner meant the solid axles needed were ditched and the IFS frame of a donated 2007 Tundra would instead be utilised.

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The Tundra was stripped to a bare chassis and the back half was chopped off, replaced by a fabbed new back half made from steel tubing. A pair of 56-inch trailing arms and the now-trussed Tundra differential on a set of King coilovers were hung from the rear end.

This shortened the Tundra’s wheelbase to match the size of an FJ45. The tube work extends to the front to incorporate the full roll-cage and pick-up points for the front suspension, which features an LSK Suspension long-travel race kit, and King coilover and hydraulic bump stops.

The cab was cut and lengthened by 4 inches, and the floor and roof were hand-fabricated to suit. The bonnet is a Campbell Racing fiberglass piece. At the rear an aluminium sheet is used for the sides, and the top edges from an old Datsun pick-up bed were grafted to the top sides. NACA-style ducts divert cool air to the shock absorbers.

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The FJ45 runs Toyota’s 5.7-litre DOHC V8 engine, which makes 283kW at 5600rpm and 543Nm at 3600rpm in stock form. The trophy truck adds custom headers and a free-flowing exhaust system.

There’s plenty more to this build. To read about it, pick up a copy of the January issue of 4X4 Australia.