If you’ve attended SEMA in recent years, or even just looked at coverage online, you’ll have noticed that the aftermarket show has been overrun by overlanding and off-road builds based on pickup trucks, SUVs and even small crossovers. The Tokyo Auto Salon is a similar story. For this year’s Auto Salon, Lexus brought an example of the redesigned GX 550 kitted out in parts from JAOS, a company that has been around since 1985 and most recently fielded an LX in last year’s Baja 1000.
The JAOS show truck is based on the GX’s Overtrail trim, which is the most off-road-ready model you can get from the factory. It’s fitted with a JAOS Battlez lift kit consisting of titanium-infused springs and Harmofleq adjustable dampers, and the 18-inch bronze JAOS wheels are shod in Toyo Open Country all-terrain tires.
To complement the lift, JAOS gave the GX a new front bumper made from ABS resin that has additional LED lights, an aluminum skid plate, chunky matte-black fender flares also made from ABS, steel tube side steps, and an aluminum roof rack. My favorite detail is the mud flaps, which feature an aluminum plate and look like they were taken straight off of a Dakar race truck.
While the JAOS Overtrail is billed as just a concept vehicle for now, all of these components preview parts that customers will actually be able to buy. JAOS and Lexus had this to say about the project:
With a base vehicle’s adventurous exterior and exceptional off-road performance, and a design tailored for comfortable driving on any road, the vehicle incorporates distinctive customizations unique to a 4WD & SUV aftermarket parts manufacturer. The aim is to create a style that sparks the adventurous spirit of our customers.
Through collaboration vehicles such as the GX 550 “OVERTRAIL” JAOS version, our goal is to continue showcasing the pleasure of vehicle customization, with the aim of offering our customers increasingly enriching car life experiences.
With the new GX set to hit dealers in the U.S. in just a few months, we’re sure to start seeing hundreds of modded examples at car shows, off-road meets and trails across the globe in due time.
