TOYOTA LC200 SAHARA CUSTOM
IF YOU’RE IN THE MOOD FOR REGULAR CHANGES OF SCENERY WHILE KEEPING ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME, THEN YOU BETTER DREAM BIG ... REAL BIG
SOME people’s idea of living is having the comfort of the same neighbourhood day-in day-out, and recent government-imposed restrictions have assisted in this scenario nicely. It has, however, left a huge dent in the aspirations of those who like to travel. However, as that great 20th Century poet Bob Dylan once objectified: “The times they are a changin’.”
With that considered, many travellers are heading out past their own backyard or, even better, dedicating solid chunks of their time and money to a multi-state lap of our awesome Australian outback.
The owners of the colossal 2016 200 Series Landcruiser Sahara before you are most definitely of the later demographic, and currently doing the lockdown twostep all over Australia. However, Jon and Nikki Mees conceived their travel plans well before the world turned to mush: “We were pretty fortunate as we had the trip planned PRE-COVID. So we had the caravan and everything else ordered beforehand.”
As it was, the brand-new Sahara was Nikki’s daily, with Jon driving a 70 Series ute for work as a custom homebuilder. After 12 months of punting the wagon around their home town of Caloundra, Queensland, the big Onyx Blue Tojo was
IT’S ALL LUXURY INSIDE THE SAHARA, WITH LEATHER TRIM, CLIMATE CONTROL AND ABOUT AS MUCH TECH AS YOU’D WANT FROM A FACTORY-DELIVERED CAR
starting to feel a little too portly for Nikki’s taste. As a joke, Jon suggested he take it over for work duties as long as he could chop it up to fit a canopy. Nikki was all for it, so the 70 Series was moved on and the 200 booked in at Creative Conversions in Brisbane for a date with its plasma cutter. The main aim being the ability to safely tow a 3.5-tonne off-road caravan and be able to carry all the gear for an 18-month lap of the map.
The boys got down to business, slicing off the cabin just south of the second-row seats and blowing the chassis apart just forward of the rear axle. Adding a full 650mm to the chassis rails, they also added more plating to support the increased wheelbase, along with extending wiring, brake lines and the rear tail shaft. With the chassis complete, the cabin was then sheeted in and painted. It’s a job that’s easier said than done, with the end result looking as good as anything to come out of the Toyota factory. Keeping the rear seat also gave Barry, their English Blue Staffy, a seat for the trip. In fact, Barry lauds over the 200 like he owns it, which is just fine with Jon and Nikki.
Keeping the rear cabin wall as straight as possible goes a long way to complementing the square-sided bolt-on canopy. A clever addition to the chop being the inclusion of two extra compartments where the rear wheel arches used to be. Once the welder was packed away, the guys then got to work on the suspension, bolting in and certifying a GVM upgrade. Using a combination of EFS shocks and Dobinson springs brought the allowable vehicle weight up to 3800kg, and packed between the rear coils are a pair of Airbag
REAR- MOUNTED CAMERA KEEPS AN EYE ON THE TRAILER AND HELPS MANOEUVRE THE ELONGATED 200 WHEN HOOKING UP
Man airbags, allowing adjustability of the rear spring rates. Jon is quick to add: “Keeping the fridge packed with beer brings it pretty close to the GVM, but it’s worth it.”
Choosing a bolt-on canopy from Concept Canopies in Brisbane, Jon went to town filling it with all the good gear. Starting up top are a pair of 160W solar panels directing photovoltaic power into an Enerdrive DC2DC+ power charger. This unit also accepts current from the alternator, topping up both the canopy and caravan (through a rear-mounted Anderson plug) batteries while on the road. An Enerdrive EPOWER 3 Bank multistage battery charger is permanently connected to the Enerdrive 120amp/h lithium battery, but can also charge up to three batteries via a 240V power source. All switching and circuit breakers are contained within an Enerdrive ‘Traveller’ housing. The passenger side houses a full complement of locking aluminium drawers and the all-too-important stand-up Dometic fridge, plus a suspended tray above. All canopy locks are wired to work off a key-mounted fob, making security a one-button task. Additional storage can be found underneath, with a rear trundle drawer and tapered toolboxes hiding an ARB twin compressor, pressure gauge and tank. The back wall hosts a spare wheel, water jerry and ladder for upper canopy access.
Keeping the whole roadshow from grinding in to the dirt are a set of Allied wheels shod in 285/65R18 BFG KO2 allterrains. An ARB Summit Sahara bar complete with Kings spotties discourages roadside wildlife from parking in the grille and provides mounting points for the GME antenna, which handle the Telstra Cel-fi GO mobile phone signal booster, and a Uniden UHF radio. A pair of Clearview towing mirrors extend outward
AN ENERDRIVE EPOWER 3 BANK MULTISTAGE BATTERY CHARGER AND ALL SWITCHING AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS ARE CONTAINED WITHIN THE ENERDRIVE'S ‘ TRAVELLER’ UNIT
for a view past the caravan..
You can bet you’re going to need a fair amount of oomph to shift a stretched 200 Series with a canopy and 3.5-tonne caravan behind it. This glaring fact was a big part of why Jon wanted to get his hands on Nikki’s Sahara in the first place – the twinturbo V8 engine is a proven performer with rock-solid reliability. Saying that, the smart money would make a few diligent upgrades to keep the party going while you’re way out in the sticks. Without pushing the mill beyond its limits, Jon had Just Autos fit an external transmission oil cooler and tweak the engine tune with a remap suited for towing. The rest has been left as Toyota intended.
Fuel economy be damned if you’re going to go big, right? But in this case the whole shebang gets along at an average of around 23L/100km.
“You don’t buy a Sahara if you want good fuel economy,” says Jon. “She gets a good workout, especially up some of those hills around Adelaide. The first one got me by surprise, but you soon work out to get a good run-up. We’re very happy with it and she’s definitely capable.”
Keeping up a steady supply of go-juice and extending the range of the 200 is a 180L ARB tank bolted in where the original 45L sub-tank used to reside. Combined with the 93L main tank that gives around 273 litres and roughly an 1100km towing range.
Being eight months in to their 18-month trip, Jon has nothing but praise for the performance of their touring setup: “It’s been everything we’d expected and more. It’s not just about the places you go to but the people you meet too.”
After having to bypass a lot of NSW and Victoria due to lockdowns, Jon and Nikki spent three months in and around South Australia: “It seems to be a bit of a hidden gem. There’s the amazing coastline, Kangaroo Isle, then you’ve got the Flinders Ranges, then obviously the wine regions. Coober Pedy and the Oodnadatta Track. That was an amazing part and gave the car a good workout.
“It’s turned in to a bit of a pub crawl just quietly. And there’s a lot of pubs out there.”
After checking out all that SA, WA and the Top End have to offer, Jon, Nikki and Barry will be making a B-line to Birdsville: “We’re headed to the Big Red Bash in early July this year. It’s a bit like schoolies for adults, with about 10,000 people partying on in the middle of the desert.” Sounds like just the ticket for a nation full of frustrated travellers with itchy feet.