‘Fast Lane Offroad’ Test-drives Wickedly-built Lexus LX 570
Lexus owner responsible for the most rugged ride ever built redefines the term ‘built, not bought’!
Lexus has always sported a reputation for being tough, reliable, and incredibly capable vehicles. With a long and wide stance and the reliability of Toyota’s healthy large displacement V8’s, the interchangeability of the Land Cruiser and the LX 570 is understandable. If you’ve got one, you’ve got the other. Well, maybe with just a little more glamour with the Lexus, but that’s neither here nor there. Let’s take a deeper look into this jaw-dropping LX 570 build.
The lucky owner, Greg, gets to show off his Lexus with The Fast Lane Offroad‘s Andre Smirnov. Andre, a self-described off-road truck nut, can hardly keep his jaw off of the floor while looking at Greg’s Lexus. And who could blame him? With a four inch lift, custom fabricated front bumper and solid rear axle, tall tires, and all around aesthetic would stagger any off-roader. What seemed to baffle Smirnov the most, though, is that Greg did all of the building himself — bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase, “Built, not bought.”
“I started with the suspension,” said Greg. “I took off the entire front end, and switched it to a Tundra front end. It has a ARB lockers underneath it, BDS Tundra suspension, and SPC upper control arms to correct the difference in alignment.”
The Lexus’ former life was that of a grocery-getter in Texas. Before Greg, the LX 570 had never seen dirt that wasn’t a driveway. Greg even mentioned cleaning out glitter from the back seat, finding a tube of lipstick in the center console and more. When the title was in his name, he set to building up almost immediately. He always loved off-roading in Toyotas, and admitted that having a best friend who’s built and wheeled in Land Cruisers before was a big inspiration. He just decided to buy the Lexus version instead. His decision was met with some apprehension, though.”
“I thought it would be something fun to do,” says Greg casually. “And I was told repeatedly that I was insane to do it, and wanted to see if I could.”
Greg’s Fabrication WorkÂ
To Greg’s dismay, it turned out that there weren’t any off-road aftermarket companies that made off-road specific items for the LX 570. Taking matters into his own hands, he borrowed most of the front end components from a Toyota Tundra, and used his fabrication skills to make them fit.
The only thing Greg didn’t build himself was the roof rack, rear bumper, snorkel, ladder, front skid plates, and spare tire carrier. The solid rear Power control system requires him to have two batteries. Despite the trimming he’s had to do to make everything fit with the lift (4.5 inches) and taller tires (37s), it still rubs when he’s turning sharply.
“[The bumper] comes in multiple pieces. We’ve got two flat packs, I cut it up, welded it all together, and then ground down and actually had to build up a bunch of areas to make it fit because it’s for a 2016+ Land Cruiser. But I really love the look of it, and wanted to make it fit the lines of this truck… Then had it painted to match the truck.”
A Come Up winch hides behind a license plate frame that folds upwards. He also utilizes front, rear, and side cameras.
“It’s nice when you’re wheeling because you can actually see what’s coming up, especially when your nose is way up high. You can see down in front.”
Still uses the stock Lexus height adjustment, despite the lift and custom axle.
“Lexus has a very unique hydraulic suspension, and I really wanted to maintain that. I feel like everyone tries to fight that on these vehicles, and for off-roading it’s great because you can adjust that and articulate it and play with it. So, if you need a little more ground clearance you can get it. Or if you want it to go down and be a little more stable, you can get that, too.”
In the back, he has a pre-made steel bumper with a swinging carrier, an ARB fridge and drawers. He sleeps back there.
He’s spent a total of $60,000 not including time. Which Andre feels is a good deal, considering a brand new Land Cruiser costs around $80,000. And surprisingly, MPG didn’t suffer.
Andre and Greg both feel like the steering is heavier, and the body roll is a lot worse. Though, after switching it into comfort mode, it was marginally better. Though in hindsight, he would have saved the money on the locking front diff because the crawl control is so adaptive, he feels the front locker was almost excessive.
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