4WD Setup (Landcruiser 79)

What 4WD to buy? For me it was an easy decision. Having owned a Landcruiser 80 series for 23 years, made it an obvious choice.

We decided that we didn’t want to tow anything, so focused on getting a Slide on Camper, which made a dual cab attractive. This would enable having up to 5 passengers with a 1.8×1.8m tray to make wine, tomato sauce, olives, collect wood, move furniture etc.

So, we put on order in for a new Toyota Landcruiser GXL 79 Series in July 2020, and received the car on the 24th Dec 2020. A great Christmas present, though certainly was a long wait. I asked Toyota to put on an alloy tray, roo bar and also an upgraded Lovell suspension kit to enable much more weight and towing capability (GVM, GCM)

Once I received the car, we had to consider what options to put on it. Here is a list of all the bits and pieces we added, with a gallery showing some of the kit.

• Tool boxes, tapered Aluminium Under-Body from Global Industrial
• ARB Twin compressor
• Rhino Pioneer Platform roof rack
• GME XRS-370C compact UHF CB Radio
• Under Body Water Tank 70Lt (with Pump) from Superior Engineering
• Across Windscreen Shelf, from the Department of the Interior
• Window Tinting, 3M Ceramic
• Paint Protection, 3M ceramic
• Shovel holder under tray (spring loaded)
• Black Duck waterproof seat covers
• Spotlights: Stedi Type X Pro 8.5” with Anti Theft Kit
• Upgraded Headlights: Stedi H4 Copperheads
• Reversing camera, with separate switch to turn on at any time
• Replaced 5 Dunlop Grand Trek tyres to BF Goodrich AT 265/70
• Towball kit and front recovery points for snatch straps, or towing
• Retune package for more power and torque, which is handy for carrying extra weight and soft sand. Includes new heavy duty clutch, back exhaust and new snorkel head.
• 2x Anderson Plugs on the ute. One to power the camper, and the other to support having a freezer running in the back of the car, which can be powered by the camper, or the Landcruiser
• Air Bags to help distribute weight evenly when camper loaded
• Inmarsat IsatPhone 2. Comes with lifetime SIM card, and reasonable plans

Reversing Camera

Tinting and Roof Rack

Water Pump Switch

Shovel

Tap (Gravity)

Tap (Pump)

Anderson Plugs

Spotlights & Rear Camera Buttons

Toolbox

Some extras for the Landcruiser GXL 79

All these extras need careful planning and fitting by experienced mechanics. In particular, I hadn’t considered that getting an alloy tray (more cost) rather than a steel tray was a disadvantage, if you want to add toolboxes! Alloy trays don’t have the required strength to support the weight of toolboxes. So, need to insert steel rods under the tray to support the toolboxes. Also, the toolboxes can be difficult to install, as the fuel line and exhaust may get in the way. Also required the inlet for the fuel line to be shifted further back

You can probably estimate that all these extras add real cost to the original price. However, if you’re planning some serious trips, I don’t think there is any other way of doing it! You have to consider what extras are needed, and go for it!