Buying my least favourite 4WD - what changed my mind

I might have made a huge mistake here because I've just gone and bought one of those. This right here is a second-hand 2022 GXL Land Cruiser with 35,000k on the clock and as you can see she is absolutely stock as a rock as it was off the factory floor. Now you all know I'm a Nissan man through and through but my initial thoughts on this 79 series is that it is the worst value for money four-wheel drive in Australia. But the fact of the matter is so many of you out there absolutely disagree with me so we're about to find out because this is going to be my new vehicle for one of the biggest years of off-grid we've ever had. We're going to see can I love a Toyota? Now look when it comes to modern four-wheel drives there are few more as controversial as the old 79 series. Those that love them say that they are the most bomb-proof reliable vehicles in Australia. Those that hate them of course cite reasons such as the extreme price tag, the lack of features and the agricultural ride. I however have my own pros and cons and yes there are several features about this vehicle that I do love. So let's start with the pros straight away. First and foremost they are a reliable vehicle and this season of off-grid we're doing something we've never done before and I had to have a vehicle I knew I could trust. Like it or hate it this one is going to get me there. Then of course along with that reliability goes the unmatched after sales service and support virtually anywhere in Australia. Any small country town no matter how remote how rural if I happen to break something on this vehicle they're going to be able to fix it. And then another thing I love about this vehicle and this one will probably take you by surprise a little bit is that I actually like the way it rides. I'm really comfortable in here. I'm not the biggest bloke so I fit this vehicle really well and to be honest with you it's a fun vehicle to drive. There's quite a bit going on for this vehicle that I really do like. Now let's have a look at the cons. First and foremost it represents terrible value for money but let's put that to one side for a second. There are so many things in this vehicle that either just don't work or that Toyota can do so much better and I'm talking little things like you can replace the motherboard in the air con. It's a two-minute job and your air conditioning now goes down to a level that is actually cold. The gear stick down here is too low but you can buy adapters to make it bigger. The auto windows they only go auto down on the driver's side. You've got to hold your finger on the button to come back up on both sides. There are so many bits and pieces don't get me started about the wheel track alignment at the rear. How pathetic. What sort of company puts a whole new engine in but keeps the same chassis? Oh don't worry no one will notice. We'll just widen the front to fit the engine and keep the back one for 70 years. No one will notice. It is mind-boggling. Have a look at the interior in here. It looks like it should be inside a kid's toy not inside a vehicle. You can literally scratch the interior with your fingernail and yet they bring this vehicle out saying that it's a durable off-road robust agricultural car. It is not. This is going to look absolutely terrible after one year of use. There is no doubt that the 79 is an iconic vehicle but why did I decide to buy this one? To answer that question we've got to go and take a look at another much more familiar vehicle. You've seen it on three seasons of Off Grid. We've taken it all around Australia and I wouldn't change a thing. My Y62 Patrol. I freaking love this four-wheel drive. Here's something you probably don't know though. In those three seasons of Off Grid this vehicle, my dream vehicle, has only been here on my property for less than six weeks. So I don't think anyone can blame me for wanting to bring this home now and use it as my daily driver. So in thinking what could I replace my Y62 with I literally started thinking another Y62 but I was thinking maybe I'll grab a wagon this time and I was this close to doing that when I thought, hang on, slow down. This is your opportunity to try something completely different. Something nobody would ever think you would do and at the same time try and unravel the mystery surrounding these right here. But I am super excited for this build-up and I plan to build it and then take it coast to coast, east to west, across the top of Australia, towing the entire way to test this bad boy out so that I can once and for all see if the 79 really is the ultimate touring vehicle that you all think it seems to be. This rig is gonna need a lot of work to be ready for the trip that I've got planned and with just a few weeks to go till we set off, I'm calling in some favours to help to transform this old work ute into a capable Off Grid tourer. First things first, the 79 is heading to my local Pedders for a GVM upgrade and brake booster. Plus I'm going to be swapping over to muddies and a new exhaust. But more on all that later. For the next stage of the build, the 79 is heading over to the Mitts factory in Newcastle where the boys are putting together a new canopy for the big rig. Now at Mitts, the whole process of building a new canopy happens right here with preparation and cutting of the raw aluminium, welding and construction of the canopy, painting and fitting. After just a few days, they've got a new canopy lined up for me and yeah, it's even in sandy torque. Exciting day, just arrived in Newcastle, dropping into Mitts right now to pick up my 79 with hopefully a canopy on the back, that's it. Look at this. Oh, here we go mate. Hey! The keys! There you go mate. Good buddy. Timmy, good to see you. You too. This thing looks smec. They say you can't polish a turd but you actually can. Look at that. That just suits it, doesn't it? You've got a 1700 tray. Yep. A little bit of tray space at the back and then fit it out with all the fruits in turn. Yeah, that's perfect. You've pretty much copied us mate. When I was speaking to Az, we've done a lot of talking about it. I said I want to be exactly like yours. Just about exactly like ours. You've got a lot of space mate, a lot of storage. There is a lot of storage in there. Next level lads, I'm from. Full tow machine mate, it's going to look good. Full tow machine, yeah. Right mate, thank you very much. Who would have thought you'd look this good in the Sandy Torp single cab mate? Settle down what you say there mate. I'm still getting used to this. Looks good. I think I might have to change this badge and put a Nissan badge on. It's got at least something in here. Yeah. Nah, it's come up a treat man. Oh, it looks good. I'm stoked with it. Yeah. All right. I'll leave you to it. Catch you out bush. See you mate. Next stop, see if we can make this antiquated engine go just that little bit better. For my next stop, I'm heading right around the corner to another set of vehicle magicians, our good mates at Performance Tourers. Liv and Tommy have plenty of experience unlocking performance gains out of four wheel drives from D-Max's to Toyota's and even big American rigs. It's a weird looking Y62. First things first, Tommy wants to get a baseline reading on the dyno. Bearing in mind the upgrades so far have added a bit of weight and rolling resistance, I'm expecting to see a few power reductions over stock. And sure enough, it comes in about 10 horsepower less than factory with peak torque of 310 Newton meters at around 2600 RPM and peak power of 130 horsepower at 3200 RPM. Performance Tourers are all about providing safe and reliable performance gains. And Tommy reckons that we can get significant power increases while also reducing fuel consumption. First up, they're installing one of their custom heavy duty clutches. Designed in-house, these clutches offer up to 80% more clutch power than factory, which is perfect for vehicles where the weight is being increased while still keeping a light pedal feel. Next up, the guys are installing a new snorkel and there's also a new airbox in the pipeline, although we couldn't get it in time for filming. Mate, that is primo. It's kind of not. I've kind of missed the line a little bit. I might hand that back to someone who knows what they're doing. With someone more expert back on the tools, the new snorkel is soon in place and no, I haven't gone stainless at this point. Now it's time for the magic to happen as the 79 goes back on the dyno and Tommy starts to tune it. Alright, so we're pretty much finished up with the tuning process. We've made a few revisions and I'm starting to get it right where I want it. So we're probably going to do one final run with it all heat soaked and in operating conditions and we'll see what results we end up with. That is a fair difference. Yeah, that's right. That's a 40% difference in power and a 90% difference in torque, which is 90% difference in torque. It's a diesel. That's what we're here for. So we've got from 310 newton meters to 590 newton meters. So just about double the amount of torque that Drobie needs. That is ridiculous. Now, of course, I'm going to be using this primarily for towing and that's what we want. The benefits here are clear with not only an overall increase in power, but the power coming significantly earlier, meaning I can access more at lower revs. The proof's in the pudding though. It's time for a drive. He's going to blow his socks off. Whoa. Holy heck, man. That's crazy. I'm just under 2000 RPM now and feel that just kick in there. Remarkable difference. What I'm really keen to see, I mean, obviously the proof's in the pudding there, but how this goes under load when I'm towing. Once you find yourself on a highway approaching some big hills, towing some big loads, it will be completely unrecognisable. You're driving like a 19 year old. Sorry, sorry. The drivability, the way that tune has changed, the drivability of this vehicle. Yeah, you've got double the power and double the torque, 500 RPM sooner. Sooner, yeah. Surely I'm going to use more fuel. Surely. It's very, very likely that your fuel economy will improve one to two litres per hundred. Even whilst towing? 100%. My biggest problem is going to be doing that all the time. It's chalk and cheese. It's a different car. The 79 is already pretty unrecognisable from how it started, but there's a lot of work to be done. And next I'm gassing it up to Brisbane to see the guys at Pinnacle 4x4. Now, if you've watched our show long enough, you'll know that Pinnacle are the guys we go to to look after all of our four-wheel drives on the channel, from maintenance and repairs, all the way to the design and install of custom modifications. The guys have got a huge laundry list of mods lined up for the 79 to get the big rig ready for everything that life on off-grid will throw at it. All right, just got the phone call that I've been waiting for. Steve has called me from Pinnacle. Apparently, the 79 is ready. Let's go and check it out. Steve! Hey, mate. How you going? How are you, buddy? Good, good. Burning the midnight oil, I hear. Yes. Holy balls, man. Yeah, mate. She's come together real well. As a staunch dyed-in-the-wool Nissan owner, it's paining me to say what I'm about to say, but that honestly looks red hot. Yeah. I'm a little bit speechless, mate. I didn't expect to have this kind of a feeling for it straight away. They say sometimes when you lock eyes with the one you're meant to be with, you'll know. I'm not saying that's happened, because you were the first one I locked eyes with, but that does. I think anyone would agree. Anyone that loves four-wheel drives, in general, would agree that is a good-looking vehicle. It is, mate. It's come together very nicely. Steve, I want to say a big thanks again, man. You guys have pulled out all the stops to get this thing ready. Totally welcome. I'm going to go for a quick drive, and then I'll stop, and I'll do a walk around and show you guys my new four-wheel drive. 79 life. Let's give it a go. Hard as it is to say, I'm already loving this rig, and I reckon she's ready for a big year. Well, I do say so myself. I reckon that looks like a bit of a rig. It's been my experience, when folks buy themselves a brand new 79, before they even get it dirty, they tend to throw everything at it. 40-inch tyres, they stick it on portals, they lift them, they lock them. Look, we have not gone over the top. It's a bit more than the basics, I'll say yes to that, but it's not a massive 79. I think it looks in proportion, and I have kept in mind exactly what I'm going to be using it for, and that is to be a tow vehicle to take me to some of the most remote places in Australia. Let's have a walk around the vehicle, and I'll talk you through exactly what I've done, but more importantly, why. Let's start from the bottom and work our way up. The very first thing I did was stock as a rock, took it into Pedders and got a GBM upgrade done on the big girl. That GBM upgrade has given me an extra 690 kilos of payload. She's now sitting at 4,200 kilos, and the number one reason I did that was so that I am legal on road, knowing that I'm going to fill this thing to capacity in order for me to go off-grid for as long as possible. With the GBM upgrade, we also did a brake upgrade as well. We're talking lines, brake pads, and of course, we've got a brand new brake booster up there too. I have had to use that in anger on the road, and it pulls this vehicle up beautifully. Tires. It's going to surprise you. I've stuck with the standard 16-inch rim size and gone a 285 75, so a 33 in the old money. A couple of reasons for that. It's better on fuel with 33s. I can get 33s anywhere in Australia, and it drives beautifully. Speaking of driving, come and check this out. Up the back here, one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen in a vehicle. Toyota, in their infinite wisdom, decided they would bring out an entirely new model of vehicle and stick with an old model rear, meaning that the rear track on this sits significantly inside the front track. They've never addressed it. Never fixed it. It blows my mind that a company can do that. My solution to this problem is a bit of a clever one. I've put a zero offset at the front and a neg offset at the rear. That means this track is now perfect. It actually looks as if I have addressed the problem using a more In future, I probably will have to address this rear end, but we're going to give it a year and see how we go. Until then, Mr. Toyota, come on, lift your game. Up the front, I needed a front-end solution up here that meant I was safe from animal strikes. To that end, I've gone with an off-road animal bar. A couple of things I love about this, I can get to my control box for the Runvo. This is a 13 XP, so easy to plug my winch in. I'm not, you know, diving down behind bars to try and plug it in. It's got mounting points for spotlights, of course. I've gone with the same or very similar solution to what I have on the Y62, and that is gone with the steadies up the front here, and I've also got some steady light bars up the top. I've also got steady lights all around the canopy and on the roof, so I can really illuminate not only my campsite, but down the road in front of me. Ah, Toyota. They've been running the same factory mirrors on 70 Series for over 40 years. Do they work? Yeah. I mean, you can see behind the vehicle. Do they work well? Not particularly. To that end, I have upgraded the mirrors, of course, to a set of Clearview compact towing mirrors. Now, the installation process on these is so easy that I was actually allowed to do it. Took me about five minutes per side. Here's an interesting fact. The factory mirrors on a 79 are done when the vehicle arrives in Australia. That means that these four holes here are not universal across the range. They can actually differ in where they are. Now, Clearview know that. You'll notice here you've got a huge area. That is so you can actually get these things on nice and neatly because the holes won't always line up if you just had one jig or template to use. Interesting fact. Of course, slide out so I can get even better vision behind the vehicle. Slide back in if you're in tight terrain. And if you really want to, fold them back up against the vehicle if you're in some really, really thick bush. Rightio. This side here will look very familiar to you because I've taken my cues from three seasons of off-grid in the Y62. The mitts canopy down the back here, I have set it up to be almost identical because it just worked for me and I found it to be an absolute joy to live out of. Easy slide over here with a Clearview drop-down pantry. I love this because not only does it give me storage space, but it then drops everything down to be a workable height for a midget like me if you want to be cooking or working out of the back of, I was about to say the Y62, out of the back of the 79. Dometic upright fridge. I love these bad boys right here. How is it all powered? Well, this is where there is one significant change. Come and have a look at this. Over here, we've got the Voyager digital system from Enerdrive and I have gone absolute top table with this bad boy because I'm going to be going remote and staying out there for long periods of time and I want to make sure I can run absolutely everything. That doesn't just mean the fridge. I'm talking cameras. I might need to back up the camera car's battery systems. Whatever we might need to do, I want to be self-sufficient in the vehicle so that if we leave the caravans, we're good to go. To that end, this bad boy in here has got a 3000 watt inverter in here. That would even run Sean's hairdryer. We've got 100 amps of AC and 40 amps of DC to DC charging. That means the 300 amps of lithium I've got in here should never get depleted. Depending upon whether I've got sun or I'm driving, that bad boy will always be topped up. It's a pretty unique system too in so much as that it all comes pretty much pre-wired inside this one big unit right here. You don't need to put your own board up there, put your own shunt, run all your own wires. Realistically, this gets connected up to your power supply, that being your battery. You can then put it to your solar and then to your auxiliary bits and pieces that you need, i.e. your lights and your fridge and you are good to go. That whole thing comes as one big bolt-in unit. We've also got the Garmin system here, which means I can control all my lights and everything around the canopy from either the Apple CarPlay unit or I can use my mobile phone to change all the lights and turn everything on and off. I've got a Simarine system up here so I know exactly what's going on with the battery. Here, of course, we've got the EnerDrive Dometic Inverter Charger going on there. In short, this package right here is everything I need to go to the most remote places in Australia and stay there for as long as I want. And that, at the end of the day, is what it's all about. You've seen these before. These are the Rock Tamers by Clearview. Just stops, stones flicking up, hitting the caravan and coming back to your vehicle. Now, I know, and I've seen folks that haven't got these, do a lot of gravel driving, their camper trailer and caravan looks like they've been shot with a shotgun. They've got that many chips on the front. They are cheap insurance in my humble opinion. Towing-wise, I've got a Hayman Reese X-Bar, the exact same bar that I've got on the Y62. Of course, it works as a tow bar, but it's also got these three big hardcore recovery points right here should I need to get anyone out of trouble. Or, for that point, get myself out of trouble. I know I can rely on these. I've got some steady reverse lights under here too, because there's nothing in the rear of this vehicle. Down here, you'll notice I've gone with another Pacemaker exhaust, same as I have on the Y62. Bomb-proof, and that's what I need. You're all going to be asking, does he still have DPF? Yes, I do. It's a DPF-backed system. I reckon it sounds fantastic without having that uber thong slap that is so synonymous with a 79. It's not coming out. No time soon, anyway. Up the back here, you'll notice I've gone for the exact same setup on the back of the canopy as the Mitts 79. This little bit of space right here, believe it or not, I fell in love with on as a 79 in the Kimberley. So useful for putting firewood in, for putting your barbecue on. You can fit a gas bottle in here if you need to. This little spot here is the bomb. I love it to pieces. Interesting fact, you'll notice I've got two spares up here, but these two kids are not the same. Heavily negative offset, zero offset. Yeah, that's right. In order to correct the wheel track, I have to run two different spares, one for the rear, one for the front. The reality is I can swap these around if I need to. It's not that big a deal, but if ever you look at a 79, have a look at their spares. Have they got a negative offset and a zero offset? If they have, like me, they haven't spent the money to fix something Toyota should have fixed in the first place. Okay, in-cab. Before I get to the in-cab, I'm going to make use of the tiny little bit of roof space I've got up here with a Roller Titan roof tray up here. At present, I'm using this primarily to mount all my lights on. I think, I haven't done it yet, but I think I'm going to put a solar panel up there. That is to be confirmed. But right now, balances out the height of the vehicle and gives me so much more usable space than you would ordinarily have on a single cab roof because there ain't much space up there. In-cab, look, probably the major change I've done in here is to get rid of the uncomfortable factory seat and I've put in a Stratos suspension seat. I've really treated myself. It's just going to give me that little bit more refinement when I'm off-road. You know how harsh the ride is. Now, as the name suggests, suspension, yes, there is suspension under the seat. It's great for corrugations, big washouts, and it helps to reduce and manage fatigue on longer drives. If, like me, you've got a bit of a dicky lower back, then the adjustable air lumbar support is going to be worth its weight in gold. I've tried it for a little while now and I tell you what, it really does work. To be honest, I actually find myself to be quite comfortable in a 79. You often hear a lot of tales from people saying they are an uncomfortable vehicle being, but I think because I'm a little bit shorter statured than most, I can actually put my seat forward rather than all the way back, which means I can lean the seat back. I can actually fit a carton of beer behind my seat. Let me jump in here. Starting on this side here, I've got an EVCX throttle controller over here from Ultimate Nine. I've had them in all my cars. Up here, of course, we've got ourselves a dash cam. This is one of those peace of mind additions. I just want to have everything being recorded up the front, just in case I need that footage. Oh, and we also use that footage on off-grid. Some of the shots you see come directly from that bad boy right there. Now down here, we've also got a Unit N X-TRAC Pro Cart-A-Car comms, vital. I have yet to figure out where I want to mount this. I just, I can't commit. I don't know yet. It's kind of doing my head in. So for now, Toyota gave me a cup holder. Up here, I've got a little mounting sort of boxy type thing up here that's out of my GU. By the time you see this, my GU will probably have been sold. I'm keeping this with all my little sheep tags that I have found all around Australia. That's about it as far as the in-cab goes. I would like to ask all you single cab, not double cab, single cab 79 owners, you want to try and keep your trusty Akubra in here. This cab is absolutely tiny. Look at it, there's no space. Where do you all put your Akubra? I know you can get those things that you put up here, but what that does is it flattens out your brim. So your brim looks stupid when you get it out of the vehicle. I want to be able to mount it like that, so it doesn't stuff your brim up. Now, look, it'll come as no surprise to you when I say that the Toyota floor liners were rubbish. So what I did before this vehicle even left WA was I ordered online a set of these bedrock floor liners to go in the vehicle. I love these things because A, they are Australian made, super cool. B, they fit individual vehicles different. So they custom make each one of these liners for your specific model of vehicle. That means they come in here and fit just perfectly. They've got little edges on them that actually tuck in underneath this sill down here. So there is virtually no way you can get dirt, sand, anything really underneath this. Keeps your carpets spotless. Why is that important? For me, it's important because I'm not going to be hanging onto this vehicle. I don't think I'm going to be hanging onto this vehicle. I want a good resale value in this vehicle. So for me, cheap insurance to drop these things in. All right, well, that's a very quick and brief walk around of the 79. What do I think of the vehicle? Look, it's too early for me to get too in depth yet. Can I go for a drive in at first, camp out of it, use it, and I'll get back to you. To that end, I literally am spending this afternoon shopping because tomorrow I'm picking up something even more exciting than that and I'm leaving for the very first trip for the year for off-grid. We have got a plan this year for off-grid that I haven't been able to sleep. It is the most ambitious plan we have ever put together for off-grid and I am frothing to get stuck into it. So folks, I'm jumping back in my 79. Wish me luck. Cheers, guys.