Editor’s notice: Bryon Dorr constructed up this car and has despatched it to public sale for private sale.
Journey rigs are available all styles and sizes. However for me, the fundamentals are all the time the identical. I would like a car that may carry a lot of kayaks, work effectively in all climate, be capable to deal with distant and rugged terrain, and have sufficient room in it to sleep comfortably.
I constructed my Lexus GX460 again in 2019. On the time, I wanted a car that was additionally nimble, super-reliable, and intensely versatile. That’s why I selected the GX 460 platform. It’s principally a V8 Toyota 4Runner with luxurious touches and a curvy physique.
It’s been immensely dependable for the almost 7 years and 33,000 miles I’ve owned it. I’ve used it on 1,000+-mile off-road overland adventures, cross-country freeway drives, and to deal with the city jungle as my around-town household hauler.
Oh, and on weekends, it’s been my outside journey shuttle rig. From whitewater kayaking, surf kayaking, mountain biking, highway biking, e-foiling, and snowboarding/snowboarding, this rig has been used for some severe journey.
Sadly, I now should half with my beloved Lexus overland SUV construct, as my journey wants have modified. This car was principally designed as my private go-anywhere pictures/work car.
Now, I’ve acquired greater journey wants for my household of three — heaps extra particulars on that entrance very quickly — which this SUV simply wasn’t made for.
‘Exploring Parts’ Lexus GX 460
I constructed this rig in 2019, and it debuted on the SEMA Present that yr — it even gained a Prime 10 Overland Automobile Award. Since then, it has coated hundreds of miles of grime and journey, and located its means ono a couple of journal cowl.
It’s additionally been my private day by day driver — when not driving press autos that I evaluate right here on GearJunkie.
And, it’s been the dependable Lexus/Toyota product you’d count on it to be. Even with 119,031 miles on the odometer, this machine runs like new.
Journey-Targeted Every day Driver
Whereas my spouse’s Ioniq 5 EV is undoubtedly a greater around-town day by day driver, this huge SUV does a reasonably affordable job at these duties. Particularly so when you think about its capabilities off-road and as a distant basecamp.
At coronary heart, I’m a whitewater kayaker, and I see this construct as the last word kayak shuttle rig. It has all the things I ever wanted or needed to move a lot of kayaks (I’ve carried seven on it), gear, and folks to any river wherever. The roof rack particularly is ideal for kayak transport, with its built-in crossbars — a novel design I haven’t and couldn’t discover wherever else.
It’s been nice for winter ski/snowboard missions within the mountains as effectively. Dependable and secure in all situations, which has been super-important to me when transporting my spouse and younger child in antagonistic climate.
It additionally makes an excellent pictures rig — my skilled ardour — as it might probably get wherever in any climate, and the platform on the rack is ideal for getting high-angle pictures.
Whereas this debuted at SEMA, it’s not a typical “SEMA construct.” This one is totally useful and was constructed to work, not only for present.
It has been my main mode of transport for almost 7 years. Apart from a useless battery, which I simply changed just a few weeks in the past, it has labored flawlessly.
Overland Journey Construct
There are such a lot of {custom} and high-quality components on this construct that make it the succesful, comfy, and dependable overland rig that it’s. My thought for it, which proved to work out, is that I may load it up and take off on work journeys to get outside, off-road, and overland content material at any time.
I might be self-sufficient and comfy on this rig. Suppose comfy mattress, energy to cost my laptop computer and cameras, meals storage, and safe storage for tenting necessities.
Construct highlights embrace a TrailReady entrance bumper and Roambuilt roof rack, each of that are {custom} items that I helped design from scratch. There weren’t merchandise in the marketplace — and there nonetheless aren’t — that meet my excessive requirements and useful wants for these components, so I had them made.
Additionally notable is a {custom} Goose Gear drawer/sleep platform, which supplied me with many nights of comfy and quiet sleep out of the climate.
An Icon Automobile Dynamics {custom} Stage 7 suspension system with rear hydraulic bumps allowed me to drive throughout rugged terrain with ease at a lot greater speeds than any inventory car could be able to (in addition to a Ram TRX, B-Raptor, or F-150 Raptor). The rig was regeared with 456 Nitro Gears, which additionally made it rather more drivable with the larger, heavier tires.
I fitted 34-inch BFG KO3 (LT285/75R17) tires. I selected this measurement as a result of it’s the largest you’ll be able to match on this platform with out having to do severe surgical procedure — solely fender liner trimming and a physique mount chop have been wanted, together with the Icon suspension. The 17-inch EvoCorse Dakar Zero wheels — the identical which have gained on race Hilux on the Dakar Rally — match the efficiency and attractiveness of the KO3 tires.
Of notice, on the potential facet of issues, are ARB AirLockers at each ends and custom-welded rock sliders. The lockers are the simple buttons when issues get actual on the path, and the sliders have protected the physique from injury numerous instances.
In fact, these are simply the highlights, as this construct has so many {custom} touches that make it so clear and useful. These embrace:
- Warn Zeon 10S winch with hawse fairlead and Factor55 Flatlink
- PIAA 10-inch lightbar/LED Fogs/HID Spots/LED driving lights
- Dobinsons Safari Snorkel with Sy-Klone pre-filter
- Customized-welded rock sliders
- Dobinsons 4×4 Rear Bumper with twin swing-outs and rear 12-inch LED lightbar
- Kurt Class 3 tow hitch
- MSA Fridge Drop-Slide with cage
- Nationwide Luna Legacy DZ50 fridge/freezer
- Hardwired GoalZero Yeti 1500x with Hyperlink
- Change Professionals SP9100 8-Change
- Hardwired 3-way 12V splitter in passenger footwell
- SDHQ billet battery terminals
- ARB TwinCompressor/Manifold Equipment/AirUp Equipment
- Slee Offroad under-hood compressor bracket
- Customized 3M graphics and blackout package deal
- Maxtrax MKII traction boards with spare tire service
- DMOS Delta Shovel with mount
- Fuel jerry can
- Weathertech floormats
All of those mods work collectively to create functionality and luxury — on the freeway, path, and round camp. They’re additionally all top-quality merchandise designed to reinforce, not diminish, the legendary reliability and sturdiness of the bottom car.
Construct Completely different?
I get requested if I’d do something completely different with this rig. There are actually solely two issues.
One, I’d put a special rear bumper on it. It got here with this bumper, nevertheless it’s not held up effectively. It has some rust, it mounts too tightly to the physique and has cracked the rear decrease lights on the car, the LED lights have leaked and crammed with water just a few instances (new, upgraded replacements are included within the sale), and the hinges don’t totally perform correctly.
Sadly, there are only a few choices for rear GX 460 bumpers within the U.S., and most have some huge flaws and/or simply aren’t my model. They’re additionally all fairly costly. I imagine the Kaymar bumper for the Prado is the very best bumper for this car, nevertheless it’s close to inconceivable to get within the U.S. nowadays, is hard to suit to the GX, and could be very costly.
And the second factor I’d do otherwise is skip the lights on the roof rack. Firstly, they aren’t wanted, and the bumper-mounted lights — 10-inch hybrid lightbar, LED fogs, and HID spots — are the proper combo and all that’s wanted. Secondly, they put an excessive amount of mild on the windshield, even with the blacked-out hood, mild covers, and all of the lights being long-range spots. However, the rack lights do look actually cool!
Dream Construct Up for Public sale
As a result of its time to alter adventuremobiles in my altering way of life, I’ve put this 2013 Lexus GX 460 construct on Carry-a-Trailer, with the public sale ending the morning of Saturday, November 8.
I’m going to overlook this journey rig rather a lot! However, instances and wishes change, and it’s time to go a bit greater for the household adventures on my horizon.
Additionally, for the public sale, I put the unique heated and cooled entrance seats again within the car. However, the heated scheel-mann touring seats that I’ve had in it throughout my possession — one in every of my very favourite modifications — can be found individually, and can bolt proper again in if desired.
