The first hurdle was to devise a way to be able to drop the height – wait for it – a whopping 30-inches. While most will see a three-inch drop as dramatic enough, Jason wanted to achieve the impossible: getting the underbelly of a Landcruiser to lick asphalt. To do this, the Landcruiser body was massaged, pummelled and beaten into submission to accept a Hilux chassis.
There’s extensive modifications to the suspension too, as Jason outlined from the beginning that the Landcruiser wasn’t going to be a showpiece, but rather a completely driveable proposition. At the rear, LLC devised a custom four-link setup. The airbag setup heralds from Slam Specialities in Fresno California, measuring 6-inches in diameter at the front and 7-inches at the rear. The main benefits of Slam Specialties’ bags are in their inherent design: they can run more than twice the pressure of conventional air bags, offer more stroke for increased driveability, as well as faster and more balanced weight control. Indeed, the ride of the Landcruiser is surprisingly supple, mimicking that of a luxury car as opposed to a vehicle so drastically modified as this is.
Compounding the headaches – and no doubt adding weeks of sleepless nights – was the fact that Jason had his heart set on fitting 22-inch rims to the Landcruiser. And rather than have anorexic, tram-like widths, Jason demanded that the rim diameters stretched to a whopping ten-inches and the tread footprint an enormous 295. When you consider their ride height objectives, you’ll start to fathom just how hard this part of the project was going to be.
“Making the wheels fit was one of the most difficult aspects of the build” Jason reveals. After commissioning Intro to fabricate the custom wheels, the daunting task of making the car fit the wheels (rather than the more conventional method of getting the wheels to fit the car) began. All four arches had to be unceremoniously cut away, with new inner front guards along with taller and wider rear tubs fabricated out of metal and welded into place.
There’s extensive modifications to the suspension too, as Jason outlined from the beginning that the Landcruiser wasn’t going to be a showpiece, but rather a completely driveable proposition. At the rear, LLC devised a custom four-link setup. The airbag setup heralds from Slam Specialities in Fresno California, measuring 6-inches in diameter at the front and 7-inches at the rear. The main benefits of Slam Specialties’ bags are in their inherent design: they can run more than twice the pressure of conventional air bags, offer more stroke for increased driveability, as well as faster and more balanced weight control. Indeed, the ride of the Landcruiser is surprisingly supple, mimicking that of a luxury car as opposed to a vehicle so drastically modified as this is.
Compounding the headaches – and no doubt adding weeks of sleepless nights – was the fact that Jason had his heart set on fitting 22-inch rims to the Landcruiser. And rather than have anorexic, tram-like widths, Jason demanded that the rim diameters stretched to a whopping ten-inches and the tread footprint an enormous 295. When you consider their ride height objectives, you’ll start to fathom just how hard this part of the project was going to be.
“Making the wheels fit was one of the most difficult aspects of the build” Jason reveals. After commissioning Intro to fabricate the custom wheels, the daunting task of making the car fit the wheels (rather than the more conventional method of getting the wheels to fit the car) began. All four arches had to be unceremoniously cut away, with new inner front guards along with taller and wider rear tubs fabricated out of metal and welded into place.
In terms of the Landcruiser’s exterior, there are countless alterations that have been done, yet are subtle enough not to be immediately noticed. This is without hesitation deliberate, all done to elaborately emphasise the contours of the Toyota body. Everything from the wiper sprays, rear wiper, indicators and door locks have all been shaved. To further clean up the lines, the fuel filler was rerouted to the rear of the car, and is now hidden from view behind the passenger rear-taillight. Even the firewall didn’t escape an overhaul, and has now been flawlessly smoothened to mirror the finish of the new inner guards.
While most sane people would have been considerably chuffed with completing so many modifications, for Jason it was literally only the halfway point. After an unobtrusive coating in the standard 100 series maroon, Jason turned to the Darkness comic books to complete the rest of the exterior and interior.
While most sane people would have been considerably chuffed with completing so many modifications, for Jason it was literally only the halfway point. After an unobtrusive coating in the standard 100 series maroon, Jason turned to the Darkness comic books to complete the rest of the exterior and interior.
Exploding out of the body is striking air-brushing inspired by the Marc Silvestri comics, and when you pop the boot you’ll see a continuation into the audio install. Cleverly done, the install gives the appearance of the white leather interior tearing and stretching to reveal a screaming corpse. Jaw-dropping to say the least.
At this point we have to agree with Jason that a book could be written on this Landcruiser. Indeed, after filling so many pages in ASM, we haven’t even touched on the extensive drivetrain modifications, the Eaton supercharger beneath the bonnet, its five LCD screens or its brake upgrade. There’s simply too much to talk about.
At this point we have to agree with Jason that a book could be written on this Landcruiser. Indeed, after filling so many pages in ASM, we haven’t even touched on the extensive drivetrain modifications, the Eaton supercharger beneath the bonnet, its five LCD screens or its brake upgrade. There’s simply too much to talk about.
Which brings me back to my original point of exactly why this Landcruiser is one of the most poignant and earth-shattering cars to come out of Sydney. While 99% of enthusiasts will always remain within the comfort of bolt-on modifying, Jason and the team at LLC have snubbed the safety of convention and devised this totally insane creation. No part available? No problem, we’ll make it. Looks too hard to accomplish? Bah, it can be done. Aren’t we glad that there’s that 1% of enthusiasts that are willing to tear up the rulebook.
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