Toyota LandCruiser 300 GR Sport modified to the max

One of the many great things about Toyota LandCruisers is that no sooner than a new one hits the market, LC enthusiasts will be modifying them and making them their own.

With so much heritage behind the LandCruiser badge, those who own them will always return to the marque when it comes time for a new off roader. That wasn’t quite the case for Bruce Stewart, the owner of this GR Sport. He’d come from 20 years of driving dual-cab utes but he grew up travelling in LandCruisers.

“I grew up camping and off-roading with my family in my old man’s 55 and 60 Series LandCruisers, which led me to always want one myself,” Bruce told us.

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That time finally came with the launch of the 300 Series as his teenage kids had grown to a size that wasn’t ideal for the cramped back seat of a ute.

Bruce went for the most capable LandCruiser in the 300 Series range with the GR Sport offering triple locking diffs and the added articulation of the clever e-KDSS suspension… but the factory offerings weren’t enough for Bruce’s off-road trips and he had a long list of extras and modifications planned for it.

Starting with a vehicle that is arguably the pinnacle of 4x4 wgons available today, Bruce wasn’t about to fit any second-rate products to his Cruiser. An ARB Summit Mk2 bull bar sits up front with side rails running back to sliders also from ARB. A 12,000lb Warn EVO winch is nestled within the bullbar while a pair of Supernova Infinite 8.5 LED driving lights sit up top along with a GME UHF antenna.

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Underbody protection comes courtesy of a set of stainless-steel plates from Custom Offroad, with the four-piece set protecting under the radiator, sump, transmission and transfer case.

At the back of the Cruiser, a bar from The Cruiser Company not only protects the lower parts of the rear quarters but provides a mount to carry the 35-inch spare. On the other side of the rear bar is a box that holds recovery gear and the chainsaw.

Coming from utes to a wagon poses a problem for storage space and Bruce admits he had to get smart when loading up the Cruiser.

“After having dual-cab utes prior, the reduced space in the rear of the wagon was a new challenge,” he said. “I had to rethink how I’ve set up other cars and change camping gear, like chairs, cooking equipment and tools to more compact products.”

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Thankfully the GR Sport only comes as a five-seat model leaving more space in the cargo area which Bruce has filled with a drawer system from Beast Tourers.

These Queensland-made drawer systems use lightweight Thermolite, which is claimed to be lighter than most commonly used materials without sacrificing strength.

To the side of the drawers sits a Dometic CFX 95L fridge on an MSA 4X4 fridge slide while above there’s a small oven to heat those tasty treats on the road. The neat table that folds down off the side of the fridge was custom made by the team at Bruce’s business using stainless steel, and it makes food prep and unpacking the fridge easier.

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The crew there also designed and fabricated a 105L stainless steel water tank that sits in the rear floor well with a Shurflo pump feeding the outlet at the back and Topargee H2Flow Bluetooth flow meter.

Up top an ARB Base Rack carries a 150W solar panel, Darche 180° awning and TREDS recovery boards, and still has space left to carry more gear when needed.

Bruce’s game of Tetris continued when he went looking for somewhere to mount the ARB air compressor. It’s now in the engine bay where it’s out of the way and shares space with a pair of Deep Cycle Systems 90Ah Lithium batteries that are controlled by a Victron management system.

The Toyota twin-turbo V6 diesel benefits from a Just Autos Stage 3 multi-mapping tune with an extra front-mount heat exchanger, Safari intake snorkel and 3-inch Manta stainless steel exhaust system.

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The custom tune proved positive with the big Cruiser spinning the rollers up to 745Nm between 3100-3400rpm, measured on the 35-inch Nittos.

There’s no doubt there’s a lot of gear in the Cruiser but Bruce planned ahead for this by fitting a JAMCX 4200kg GVM upgrade before the vehicle was registered. Part of the hardware for this kit includes a replacement rear axle housing manufactured by JMACX using 6mm plate steel and custom axle tubes.

The housing holds the factory Toyota locking differential and connects to the chassis via an adjustable panhard rod, uprated lower control arms, Superior Engineering coil springs with airbags, and JMACX Alpha remote-res shock absorbers.

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Another set of the impressive JMACX Alpha struts support the front end with help from Blackhawk upper control arms. The front differential, also equipped with the factory locker, was lowered to maintain CV angles using a diff drop from Superior Engineering.

“I had the GVM upgrade done pre-rego, however, after getting the car built, it’s actually ended up lighter than expected,” Bruce told us. “As a result, the suspension feels like it needs more rebound damping when going through washouts and deep corrugations. I’ve changed the rear springs so far and I’m working with Mountain District 4x4 and JMACX to further improve this.”

We said at the start that Bruce had only fitted top-notch products to his Cruiser but he has also worked with the right people to get the best advice and work done on his rig. These include Paul at Outback 4WD, Mark at Mountain District 4x4 and Troy at Beast Tourers.

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He also thanks his team at LGPM Process Innovation for their help and input.

As you can tell from the vehicle build, Bruce doesn’t do anything by halves and the first big trip for the Cruiser was Cape York where he says it was perfectly suited to the conditions and performed faultlessly. He’s still working on refining the suspension settings to best suit the weight of the 300, and further trips will include Tasmania and South Australia.

As good as the LandCruiser wagon is, it seems that Bruce still can’t go past the carrying capability of a ute. “There isn’t much more I want to mod on it,” he says, “although a chop in future could be on the cards.”