America’s Truck Night I think is the show’s title, every Tuesday in this area. Surpised to see a Lexus in the line up. I didn’t know Lexus even makes trucks. But one surely appeared.
A Lexus in a serious truck vs truck competition??? It happened, I’m not making this up! … lol … The competing truck’s really get a beating in this show, so a modern era Lexus seems a poor choice for this event. Suspension system was modified though, so the owner/driver gave it a shot. First big jolt, Lexus hits dip, stops cold , airbag deploys, and back end flips into the air … lol … even worse, tipping forward causes front bumper to hit surface & collapse, poking a hole in the radiator … lol … Owner/driver not petulant, not a complainer, good for him, so he just bypassed the leaking radiator and continued with competition. Lexus then won a tug of war, but, end of the line, couldn’t make it through the next crawling-through-an-arroyo segment.
The Lexus LX and GX are body-on-frame SUVs, and are pretty capable in moderate off road conditions. The LX is an optioned up Land Cruiser, and the GX is one size smaller. What were the competition?
Not sure, but the tipping incident (or what it looked like) can be seen in the 4th photo
That’s a GX, competing against hard core offroad Wranglers. Just put in there for laughs.
One of the Jeeps (Wrangler IIRC) was driven by a young woman, Jennifer. Like most of the drivers, she’s a very positive gung-ho person, whatever happens, fine by them. While attempting to climb a really steep hill, more like a cliff, the Jeep lost its fore/aft balance and fell over backward, landing on the roof and sliding back down the hill. She climbed out smiling, Wrangler was tipped back onto its wheels, a little shop work, and she and her truck were back in the competition.
This is one of the aspects of the show I like, no whining, no complaining. Wrangler power steering pump damaged in the fall though, or maybe the fluid just ran out when upside down, so she couldn’t make it through the entire rest of the course.
Lexus GX that was already in a major front end crash and rebuilt after the owner’s bought it back from the insurance company. Not the usual competitor on the show but something different from the usual trucks, Just got really stuck in that last challenge.
Rollovers like that are part of the fun. The vehicles have a strong roll cage and short of a several ton boulder rolling over them, the driver will almost certainly come out uninjured. I also looked at the list of trucks in one of your references. All were 1985-2000 except the 2008 Lexus. It’s unlikely that the owners use them for anything but off-road fun. As long as they don’t impede motion, dents are a badge of honor.