EXPLORING ELEMENTS
LEXUS GX460 ADVENTURE MOBILE
Nothing is left to chance when I build an overland adventuremobile, as I have a deep depth of knowledge and experience to draw from. I lived on the road full time for nearly seven years, first in a 4x4 E350 Sportsmobile van and then in a RAM 2500-based custom expedition camper. Both of these vehicles taught me so much about what I need and what I might want for my style of travel. Add to it the fact that I’ve also been an automotive journalist in the overland and off-road space for more than eight years, which has allowed me to see and try a huge diversity of adventure vehicles. This combined knowledge from my personal travels and my work led me to build the ultimate overland vehicle for my current needs.
This ’13 Lexus GX460 is my latest adventuremobile. It is my daily driver, weekend adventure sports transport and North American overland adventure machine. While there is no perfect vehicle out there, there is always a vehicle that is best suited for your needs and desires at a specific time. This is mine—until my needs change.
Buying a Lexus
I’ve been looking for a GX460 for some time now. The vehicle checks a large majority of the boxes on my personal adventuremobile checklist. It is reliable, extremely off-road capable and comfortable cruising at highway speeds for long durations. It has enough room inside to sleep and a quality payload capacity of 1,472 pounds. It is also a vehicle that just recently became cheap enough on the used market to be popular among off-road and overland enthusiasts and for the aftermarket to notice. It is basically a 5th-gen 4Runner with
a V-8 under the hood, a comfortable luxury interior and a uniquely sculpted body.
I found this no-rust, three-owner, full-maintenance-history, 85,000-mile, mildly built 2013 model in Atlanta through the GXOR Facebook group.
I bought it quickly, as there was a line of about 10 people trying. It came with bumpers, winch, lighting, snorkel, sliders, traction boards, tires and a lift. A majority of those parts just weren’t up to my standards however, and were quickly removed. While bling is always nice, functionality and durability are the main drivers to any modifications I have on my vehicles. I’m also adamantly against knockoff products, so the cheap copycat lights and traction boards were the first things to go.
“I SEARCHED HIGH AND LOW FOR A QUALITY BUMPER THAT OFFERED SOLID RECOVERY POINTS,
A WINCH MOUNT, GRILLE/LIGHT PROTECTION AND IMPROVED ENTRY ANGLE, AND WAS LIGHTWEIGHT AND LOOKED GOOD. I COULDN’T FIND ANYTHING THAT MET MY STANDARDS, SO I DESIGNED AN ALL-NEW BUMPER WITH DORIAN AT TRAILREADY BUMPERS.”
Rolling Right
The first thing that should get attention on any modified vehicle is the tires. Quality rubber for the vehicle’s intended use is key to optimal performance. For this overland-style build that sees lots of daily-driver duty and time in snowy environments, the BFG KO2 all-terrain is a great choice. I wanted to maximize tire size without having to do crazy modifications, which for this platform worked out to a 33.8x11.2-inch (285/75R17/E) tire.
Wrapping that quality rubber around a durable, good-looking wheel that has the correct offset for the application is also key. For this build I went with a set of bronze Evo Corse DakarZero (17x8x0) wheels from Main Line Overland. These wheels are forged and finished in Italy, are a super clean design and won the Dakar Rally on the Hilux last year. If they can hold up to Dakar, then they should be fine for my ride.
Fitting that much tire wasn’t all that easy, however, and doing so included a good bit of wheel well massaging and a body mount chop. It also required a quality lift and suspension package. I’ve been a big
fan of the quality and adjustability of the
Icon Vehicle Dynamics suspension systems for many years. I went with an Icon Stage 7 tubular system for this rig, along with 3-inch dual-rate rear springs and rear hydraulic bumpstops. Vince at Mach1 Motorsports in Portland, Oregon, did the full suspension install and body mount chop.
Front Bumper
Now that I had the vehicle rolling right, it was time to address the front bumper. The aftermarket bumper that came on this truck had no real recovery points, gave the truck a cleft chin and had cheap knockoff intensity LED lights mounted. I searched high and low for a quality bumper that offered solid recovery points, a winch mount, grille/light protection and improved entry angle, and was lightweight and looked good. I couldn’t find anything that met my standards, so I designed an all-new bumper with Dorian at TrailReady Bumpers.
The now available TrailReady GXplore bumper was created through 3-D scanning, CAD and multiple prototypes. It is a truly refined piece of quality equipment that features an aluminum body, stainless-steel swivel shackle mounts and steel tubular guards. It allows for full winch access, from the front and top, to the Warn Zeon 10-S winch, access not found on other bumpers for the GX460. This bumper also has a quality integrated 18-inch PIAA hybrid beam lightbar in the upper grille guard, as well as two PIAA amber LED foglights and two PIAA Halogen driving lights in the bumper body.
Transporting the Toys
I love my adventure toys, and many of them are quite large. I’m an avid whitewater kayaker, surf kayaker, skier/snowboarder, mountain biker and rock climber, along with just about any other outdoor action sport I get an opportunity to experience. The main reason I got into overland vehicles is because living in a van down by the river is
the ultimate kayaker dream life.
Because I carry around big adventure sports gear like kayaks, bikes and skis, I need the roof of my vehicle to be dedicated to carrying gear. I also need a versatile and large rack system, which also offers up an elevated photography platform. Nothing on the market got anywhere close to meeting my needs, so I worked with Roambuilt to create the ultimate adventurer roof rack system. The rack is all aluminum, super lightweight and as wide as necessary and as narrow as possible. It has lots of deck space that can support my weight, it holds five big PIAA LED driving lights, and it is completed with a Yakima Skybox 12 and a variety of Yakima rack accessories.
“BESIDES HORRIBLE FUEL ECONOMY ON PREMIUM FUEL, THE LEXUS GX460 IS A VEHICLE PLATFORM THAT I’M EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH AND WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND
FOR OVERLAND TRAVEL.”
I Sleep Inside
Because the roof is for gear, I either need to sleep outside or inside the vehicle, but not on top. I travel a lot for work and regularly traverse the country a few times a year putting in big highway miles, so I find it essential to be able to stealth camp in my vehicle. This means a comfortable, flat sleeping area that is always set up or really easily deployed is part of the DNA of any adventure vehicle I own.
I worked with Goose Gear to create the perfect drawer system and sleep platform. The setup allows me to retain all my seats but also leave the sleep platform in place most of the time. It was an easy install after removing the third row of seats and putting in the custom GX460 Goose Gear plate system, to which everything mounts. There are two drawers, and they are designed to allow access to the passenger-side drawer when the MSA 4x4 drop-slide is deployed. The slide is mounted atop the drawers, holds a National Luna 50L Legacy Series dual-zone fridge/ freezer and is caged in with an MSA barrier system. The drawers securely hold all my tools, STEP 22 recovery gear, Primus camp kitchen setup and general camping gear.
My Broken Back
I broke my back about a decade ago kayaking off a big ramp, and it’s never been the same. Long days on road trips are tough for me, as I usually end up in serious pain