I’d like to introduce The Drifter - a project that I’ve been planning for a couple of years. It is a 2019 in Magnetic Gray / Terra.
I have 1990 HDJ-81 that has been fun to tinker with, but this time around I knew that I wanted a new or slightly used rig with most of the mods done upfront. Though I’m no stranger to the forum, I haven’t been able to contribute as much as I’d like due to my insanely busy schedule. But I sincerely appreciate the knowledge and spirit of these boards, without which this build wouldn’t have been possible.
Late last year I was finally ready to move forward and spoke to several dealers and 4x4 shops about the project. I ultimately chose to work with Eric Sarjeant at Ed Martin Toyota in Noblesville. Eric and his team brought this project to life over the last 6 months, and I can’t thank him enough for all of the time and effort he put into the build. I had a very specific vision for the cruiser that required quite a bit of custom work and international part sourcing over several months, and we probably exchanged over a thousand emails during that time period. Needless to say, Eric went above and beyond on this project. If anyone is considering a “turn-key” rig, I wouldn’t hesitate to reach out to him.
There is quite a lot to cover, so it may take me a little time and a few posts to go over everything. There are still a few things to be added but by the end of the summer it should be mostly there. The goal for the build was “OEM+” — maintaining the interior and exterior as close to OEM as possible, and where aftermarket mods, electrical, etc. were added we tried to make things very clean, using oem switch panels, hidden mounts, etc. This is more of an overlanding / family expedition build rather than a rock crawler.
I took delivery earlier this month and immediately drove The Drifter to Utah for a shakedown in and around Moab and Canyonlands for a couple of weeks. A couple of things need some fine tuning, but overall I’m staggered by the capabilities of this platform. It beggars belief what something this comfortable and refined can do off-road.
I’ll start with the Suspension / Drivetrain setup:
- King 2.5 Coilovers with remote reservoirs and compression adjusters, extended travel with 700lb springs up front and OME 2721 in rear, black anodized components. I’m going to add a trim packer in the rear to even it out and then probably 2723s or Trail Tailor / Tough Dogs when the rear bumper is installed. I really like the feel of the 2721s around the city; the front is a little proud right now because it is setup for the weight of the steel bumper that will be installed in a few weeks.
- SPC upper control arms
- OEM 10mm coil spacer up front
- Timbren bump stops
- 4.88 Nitro gears (broken in prior to road trip)
- ARB air lockers, front and rear
- Diff drop
- Slee KDSS relocation kit
- Icon Rebound, 17x8.5, wrapped in Toyo Open Country M/T 315/70r17 with Bora .75” spacers (off-road)
- Rotiform CCV-OR, 20x10, wrapped in Toyo Open Country R/T 35x12.5r20 with Spidertrax 1.25” spacers (city)
More to come...
I have 1990 HDJ-81 that has been fun to tinker with, but this time around I knew that I wanted a new or slightly used rig with most of the mods done upfront. Though I’m no stranger to the forum, I haven’t been able to contribute as much as I’d like due to my insanely busy schedule. But I sincerely appreciate the knowledge and spirit of these boards, without which this build wouldn’t have been possible.
Late last year I was finally ready to move forward and spoke to several dealers and 4x4 shops about the project. I ultimately chose to work with Eric Sarjeant at Ed Martin Toyota in Noblesville. Eric and his team brought this project to life over the last 6 months, and I can’t thank him enough for all of the time and effort he put into the build. I had a very specific vision for the cruiser that required quite a bit of custom work and international part sourcing over several months, and we probably exchanged over a thousand emails during that time period. Needless to say, Eric went above and beyond on this project. If anyone is considering a “turn-key” rig, I wouldn’t hesitate to reach out to him.
There is quite a lot to cover, so it may take me a little time and a few posts to go over everything. There are still a few things to be added but by the end of the summer it should be mostly there. The goal for the build was “OEM+” — maintaining the interior and exterior as close to OEM as possible, and where aftermarket mods, electrical, etc. were added we tried to make things very clean, using oem switch panels, hidden mounts, etc. This is more of an overlanding / family expedition build rather than a rock crawler.
I took delivery earlier this month and immediately drove The Drifter to Utah for a shakedown in and around Moab and Canyonlands for a couple of weeks. A couple of things need some fine tuning, but overall I’m staggered by the capabilities of this platform. It beggars belief what something this comfortable and refined can do off-road.
I’ll start with the Suspension / Drivetrain setup:
- King 2.5 Coilovers with remote reservoirs and compression adjusters, extended travel with 700lb springs up front and OME 2721 in rear, black anodized components. I’m going to add a trim packer in the rear to even it out and then probably 2723s or Trail Tailor / Tough Dogs when the rear bumper is installed. I really like the feel of the 2721s around the city; the front is a little proud right now because it is setup for the weight of the steel bumper that will be installed in a few weeks.
- SPC upper control arms
- OEM 10mm coil spacer up front
- Timbren bump stops
- 4.88 Nitro gears (broken in prior to road trip)
- ARB air lockers, front and rear
- Diff drop
- Slee KDSS relocation kit
- Icon Rebound, 17x8.5, wrapped in Toyo Open Country M/T 315/70r17 with Bora .75” spacers (off-road)
- Rotiform CCV-OR, 20x10, wrapped in Toyo Open Country R/T 35x12.5r20 with Spidertrax 1.25” spacers (city)
More to come...
