“Finishing” the GX 460 overland build

BY BRYON DORR

You might be familiar with this silverand- orange-striped 2013 Lexus GX 460, because it graced the cover of the March/April 2020 issue of Tread. While outwardly this overland build doesn’t look all that different today than it did then, it’s actually seen some major upgrades since.

Refinement and details matter, because they make a quality build foundation into a truly capable, reliable and comfortable overland adventure machine.

Let’s dive into the details of how I “finished” this Lexus GX 460 build. Hopefully, some of these finishing touches and build philosophies will help inspire other builds to a better state of completion, thus providing years of adventure enjoyment to come.

Basics First

With any vehicle build, start with the basics. A quality foundation on which to build is critical. Make sure the vehicle has good bones and a strong “heart.” You don’t want to put a lot of money and time into building on something that’s prone to failure in the first place.

When adding weight and complexity, you’ll find that parts wear faster, and flaws in the base truck quickly reveal themselves. Staying on top of maintenance items is critical, especially with a loaded-down vehicle.

I was lucky and smart with this GX: While it has some mileage—87,000 miles upon purchase and 100,000 miles today—it was free of rust and had records to show a long history of regular dealer maintenance.

Build Big, Then Refine

As you might have read in the last article about this Lexus build, it was built with remote, offroad adventures in mind while also needing to transport a plethora of adventure sports gear and remain capable as a daily driver. That’s a tall order to fill, but it’s one this luxury SUV has delivered on as a result of careful selection of quality parts and the omission of other parts.

A custom-built Trailready front bumper provides impact resistance, quality recovery points, an improved entry angle, protected PIAA off-road lighting and a solid perch for a Warn winch with Factor55 accessories. A Safari snorkel with