THE BUILD
PATRIOT started the build with a brand-new
2017 Land Cruiser 79 GXL. When the car rolled
off the truck in Melbourne it had less than
100km on the clock, and when we met the guys
for our drive it had done just 400 kays.
The rear of the Toyota ute was stripped and the
back-end of it effectively cut off. This allowed the
complete JMACX 6x6 system to be installed in place
of the factory rear axle and leaf springs. The JMACX
set-up replaced the back part of the chassis with new rails
mounting the coil spring suspension and trailing arms;
however, the Patriot truck uses adjustable airbags in lieu of
the coils, with prototype TJM remote reservoir shocks.
The airbags were supplied by Airbag Man and are height-
adjustable up to 100mm to allow easier access to the cab
at their lowest and provide better off-road clearance when
cranked up. Plus, the system is self-levelling when driving.
Both of the rear diff housings are made by JMACX; the
rear-most one retains the factory Toyota locking diff, and
the first one is fitted with a Detroit soft locker.
The JMACX 6x6 set-up is designed and engineered to
work with up to 35-inch tyres, but, as usual, Justin took it to
the next level and fitted 37-inch Mickey Thompson MTZs.
This simply required tweaking the adjustable links that
are part of the JMACX set-up. However, even a 6x6 79 on
37s wasn’t enough for Justin. No, he had to go further and
worked with Marks 4WD to fit a set of its portal hubs to
each of the axles. The portals not only add an extra 150mm
of clearance under the diffs, but the gear reduction in them
helps to compensate for the power losses associated with
fitting larger diameter tyres, which is especially needed
when running on 35s (or in this case, 37s).
Pushing all that weight and rubber requires extra power,
and there’s no doubt GSL Fabrications is the king of tuning
single-turbo 1VD engines. Patriot has used GSL upgrades
for a few of its Super Tourer builds, including for its own
cars, and Justin had no hesitation in turning to them again.JUSTIN WORKED WITH MARKS 4WD TO FIT A SET OF
288 http://www.4X4australia.com.auCUSTOM PATRIOT CAMPERS’ LC79 6X6