Boss 6x6
Toyota Landcruiser JMACX 6×6 – Ultimate Touring Rig
Nov
The 79 Series Toyota LandCruiser, widely regarded as one of the toughest 4wd’s on the market. But what if you want to carry more equipment? You could do a 300mm chassis extension, but what if you want even more yet again? Well this is where the 6×6 conversion comes in. This is exactly what one of our recent customers went with, and there is a few reasons behind his decision.
Why A 6×6 Conversion?
The main driving factor was space. This customer has a Travellanda slide on camper which he initially ran when his Cruiser was a 4×4, however he quickly realised that he was pushing the limits of his GVM. With plans to go on longer trips therefore carrying more gear, the standard GVM and amount of space available was just not going to cut it. The 6×6 conversion can be built all the way to a 5800GVM however to allow the vehicle to still be driven with a standard car license the customer opted to build it to a 4495GVM.
By upgrading to a 6×6 we are essentially adding an extra metre onto the chassis. On a standard dual cab 79 Series we elect to put a 1800L x 1850W tray on here at Boss Aluminium. The 6×6 allows us to turn this into a whopping 2800L x 1850W tray providing an incredible amount of usable space.
This means that the customer can now comfortably carry his camper and also have a small canopy up the front of the tray for extra storage.
What Is Underneath?
The obvious main feature is the brand new Jmacx 6×6 chassis, this is not just an addition to the factory chassis but it is molded to it and strengthened all the way to the front cross member. The chassis is cut just behind the cab and the Jmacx system slides over the top of the remaining chassis rails. This is a major modification to the vehicle. The key feature of the JMACX 6×6 Conversion is the substantial GVM upgrades that can be done, as stated before it can be built to have a 5800GVM but to allow this 6×6 landcruiser to be driven with a standard car license the customer opted for a 4495GVM with a 4.5T tow. To achieve this you must also increase the breaking capacity so we have installed a Marks Hydro Brake Booster which significantly upgrade the 79’s braking power, some say its equivalent to having 200 series brakes.
We have the ability to go to a 4 inch lift and 35 inch tyres, however that is not what this customer was after. He was looking for a touring rig but it needed to still be capable for off-road conditions. It has a 2 inch lift, Kings Remote Res Shocks and 33 inch Toyo Open Country tyres. These tyres are a cross between a mud terrain and an all terrain giving you good grip on and off the road and remaining quiet when cruising on highways. The tyres need to at least be rated at 1500kg each to fit within the GVM requirements.
One of the other advantages to the Jmacx kit is that it incorporates a coil conversion in the rear and corrects the rear wheel track by 100mm to match the front. This provides the obvious comfort benefits and GVM upgrades, but also gives you a vastly improved driving experience.
The rear of the kit has an integrated rear winch cradle which is a good security measure for when you are doing solo remote touring, you don’t need one until you need one! We have hidden the fairlead behind the number plate which simply flips up out of the way when you need to use the winch. We have also added a reverse camera which is definitely an important addition since this cruiser is now a whole 1m longer in the rear.
This Cruiser is equipped with 2 fuel tanks, just behind the cab is a 160L Boss and Brown Davis Collaborated Fuel tank which drops down into the chassis and at the rear it has a 185L Brown Davis auxiliary tank creating a huge fuel capacity of 345L. The fuel filler location has been placed in the side of the tray that leads directly into the fuel tanks.
Tray and Canopy
With a huge tray sitting at 2800L x 1850W this customer was left with some room to play with after his Travallander has been fitted.
We will start from the front with the sheet metal headboard. Inside this headboard is 90L stainless water tank which is gravity fed just behind the cab. On the front of the tray is a small Boss Canopy filled with adjustable half shelves allowing for ample storage of smaller items that you need frequent access to. The canopy doors utilise an Eberhard compression locking system which locks the door in 3 places giving you the best seal and security possible. All Boss Canopy doors are reinforced preventing warping and increasing security.
The spare wheels are mounted to the back of the canopy, due to the customer wanting to put a slide on camper on the back that makes it impossible to use the normal mounting systems. At Boss we developed a system which allows the spare wheels to be bolted on from the inside of the canopy and then they simply roll out the side when needed.
From here back is where the Travallander sits, we have incorporated 15mm steel plates in the side of the tray to act as a tie down point for the front of the camper, and the tail piece has been strengthened so it can be used as the rear tie down point. When the camper is not on the back the customer can put their double skinned tray sides back on giving you a huge amount of useable space. Double skinned tray sides provide extra protection and strength, the checker plate is actually panelled in on the inside rather than just a cap across the top, what this does is create an extra layer and keeps the sides rigid for when you tie down over the tray side.
With the Boss Premium Tray, the under body boxes have a tapered design but we ensure that we don’t take a large chunk out of the box so we can still have a good amount of usable space. Inside the underbodies is a set of shelves that have the mounting points for a compressor and allows you to store and organize many other frequently accessed items. If you ever need access to the back of the box there are panels which simply unbolt and you can run wires, plugs or anything else that you need without actually penetrating the box itself.
The under tray draw on the Boss Premium Tray has a ribbed floor which prevents flex in the draw so when you do load it up it won’t pull any rubbers off. This draw in particular has an increased weight capacity as we have doubled up the draw slides, the customer intends to run a lot of heavy gear in this draw hence why the upgrade was required. Just like our canopies, all under tray draws and under body boxes have a 3 point locking system for the ultimate seal and security.
