We need a vehicle that will get us from Alaska to Argentina. It would also be nice if it got us home.
We opted for a 2006 Lexus LX470. The LX is a rebranded 100 series Land Cruiser, widely considered to be the most reliable consumer vehicle you can buy. It’s also very nice to drive, looks cool, and has excellent aftermarket support. (And yes, I’ve used the phrase “it’s basically a Land Cruiser” without irony.) Here it is…about six months after purchase:
This is a rough outline of our current plan for outfitting the Lexus, which we call Philipe. Phil, for short. There are five basic categories: interior, exterior, suspension, sleeping, and safety. At some point I’d like to go into more detail about specific pieces but…this is a start.
Interior
The interior is where we’ll spend most of our time. We want to keep it simple and organized.
Currently, we have the following:
Owl Expedition Media Mount
National Luna 52L Fridge
GoalZero Yeti 1500X (powered by a GoalZero Car Link v2)
Air Down Gear Up SS-1 drawer system
A custom platform where the 60% rear passenger seat used to be; this holds the fridge and battery.
Various bags and boxes for gear
Exterior
Bits and bobs on the outside for convenience and functionality. Exterior additions include:
Frontrunner Slimline II roof rack
James Baroud Expedition rooftop tent
Slee Offroad Blueberry v2 front bumper
ValleyTech Fabrication rear bumper
Frontrunner Easy-Out 2m awning
Suspension
Phil started life with an AHC system. AHC - hydraulic suspension, basically - is extremely comfortable…but at 200k miles, it was leaking like crazy and I had no confidence in my ability to fix it. So we did an AHC delete and replaced it with some traditional suspension componenets, including:
ARB torsion bars
SPC adjustable upper control arms
Old Man Emu heavy springs
Old Man Emu struts
The new suspension results in a minor lift - about an inch. It’s not nearly as comfortable as the AHC was. And it’s not adjustable. But it’s dead simple and handles the added weight of our gear very well.
Safety
“Safety” here is anything that allows us to be better prepared for rough weather, bad roads, mountain passes, etc. It includes:
COMEUP Seal 9.5k Winch; for getting us (and others) out of tight spots.
Baja Designs 20” LED Light Bar; the stock headlights are so, so bad.
Baja Designs S2 LED Fog Lights; see above comment.
ARB Twin Air Compressor; powers the diff but also has a hookup to air up tires.
ARB locking rear differential; for getting through the sticky stuff.
Asfir 4x4 aluminum engine skid plate.
Conclusion
That’s about it! We’re very happy so far with the setup. I’ve also done a mechanical baseline on the Lexus itself, which is probably worthy of another post. We’re hoping this setup will get us there!