6 and out!

THIS SUPER SPECCED D-MAX CLEARS THE BOUNDARY WHEN IT'S TIME TO UP STUMPS AND HEAD ON

- BRAD MISKIEWICZ

YOU see it more often than not on the holiday trail. Dual cabs with overloaded canopies, or swaying wagons loaded to the gunwales, stressing the chassis and suspension well past any reasonable GVM limit. We all know there's only so much four wheels can take, given all that extra load needs to be supported by the often overlooked axle bearings doing their best not to explode on some remote track between paradise and the parts store.

In the case of the 2021 D-MAX you see here, Callum and Nicole McDevitt have plans to do some serious extended touring, but with daughter Mackenzie also in tow they wanted to make it a little more comfortable than a swag, fridge and gas stove. This, of course, was going to level up their tonnage, so they chose to acknowledge the elephant in the room by realising a simple spring and shock upgrade wasn't going to achieve what they had in store, especially when towing a fully loaded caravan nudging nearly four tonnes. Not only that, but it was all going to require a little more mumbo to shift it too.

After punting around in a 2015 D-MAX LS-U both Callum and Nicole were pretty happy with the Isuzu product, but weren't completely set on just grabbing the newest model again. They spent time looking through the usual long-haul options, which included LandCruisers, American trucks, and even a bigger upscale to a light truck, but in the end the features and looks of the newer D-MAX in X-Terrain trim had them frothing for one in a Volcanic Amber hue. They just needed to make a few adjustments before they set off on tour.

"We wanted it to be capable of touring around Aus, taking on the odd track or two, beach four-wheel driving and being able to sustain a couple of weeks off-grid," said Callum. "To be able to unhook the van and go more remote with the car but still be comfortable and self-sufficient if needed."

HUSTLE AND GO