2023 Toyota Sequoia Adventurer Concept
Currently, the Toyota lineup of off-road capable vehicles includes the Tacoma, 4Runner and its powerhouse Tundra. The larger Toyota Sequoia SUV, however, is more on par with the Chevy Tahoes and Ford Expeditions of the world and is generally sold more as a kid carrier than overlander’s dream rig. Due to the popularity of the 4Runner model, Toyota opted to redesign the new 3rd-Gen Sequoia to make it more appealing to off-road and overland enthusiasts. Previously, one of the biggest hurdles to its off-road capabilities was the old independent rear suspension (IRS)—they decided to ditch it in favor of a rear straight axle setup allowing its tires to be better planted to the ground on uneven terrain.
Toyota wanted to showcase what the recently redesigned Sequoia is capable of with some help from their aftermarket friends. So, the very first 2023 Toyota Sequoia TRD Pro that was available to customers in the United States found its way into the hands of Jeff and Jessica Westcott of Westcott Designs in Phoenix, Arizona.
No stranger to the industry, Jeff’s background in outfitting and customizing Toyota trucks and SUVs as well as Jeeps, and many years upfitting rigs for Toyota dealership customers looking for quality upgrades is what led to the partnership. Adding to that, his experience in the performance and off-road racing world runs deep. Westcott Designs was launched in order to develop and manufacture parts and accessories for the off-road and overland communities. His philosophy was to help take aftermarket parts to the next level by offering ideal functionality and high-quality manufacturing—and Toyota felt Westcott Designs was the perfect company to create an overlander’s dream rig using the new Sequoia as the foundation.
Enhanced Engineering
One of the most important concepts that Jeff has learned from his racing and customizing past is to improve and enhance the driver’s experience first and foremost. Harmonizing high-quality design with precise engineering; this 2023 TRD Pro Sequoia was customized with that philosophy in mind. And being that it was built in conjunction with Toyota USA and set to debut in their booth at SEMA in 2022; it needed to be done without compromising the new Sequoia’s engineering benchmarks.
The plan was to incorporate the modifications and restyling into seemingly factory features. Starting from the ground up, Westcott Designs began by tackling the basics to make the SUV even more capable off-road.
Rock sliders are a must on any adventure rig to protect the body and not get hung up on obstacles. Westcott developed a set of rock sliders featuring either 0° or 20° angles depending on the level of terrain being tackled. To show this off, both versions were installed on the Sequoia. Following the lines of the new SUV, the sliders were designed to mate up perfectly to the body. And there was no extra drilling required because they mount up to factory holes on the frame. That was another common theme throughout the build that is considered crucial to Jeff—upgrading and modifying the SUV while keeping its factory style and functionality intact. Also utilizing factory mounting locations is Westcott Designs’ low profile Roof Rack, swing-out Hitch Mount Rack, and Rigid LED light bars up front. This approach to customizing emphasizes the R&D time put into designing these parts for the new generation of Sequoias.
Styling was also inspired by factory cues with angles featured on the new Sequoia continued throughout the vehicle including many of the custom billet pieces, the roof rack brackets, billet beadlock rings and the billet exhaust cutout plate that surrounds the rerouted TRD Pro dual exhaust tips out of the driver’s side.
Variation of a Theme
The primary theme of Toyota’s ‘Let’s Go Places’ was carried throughout the Adventurer Sequoia in both its style and build philosophy. “This is an incredible Sequoia build, and seeing it amplifies Toyota’s ‘Let’s Go Places’ credo,” said Lisa Materazzo, group Vice President – Toyota Division Marketing. “This build really shows that Jeff, Jessica and the Westcott Designs team know our vehicles and customers well.”
The no-plugin hybrid engine offers great power and performance from the factory, so no modifications were needed. Thanks to this and built-in towing features, the Sequoia can haul up to 9,300 lbs. making it perfect to haul both gear and adventure crafts of all shapes and sizes.
Vintage Adventure Inspired
With the concept for the build in mind, they set out to create an adventure based, overlanding rig that could take Jeff and his family to the places they wanted to explore and bring their gear along with them. For the Westcotts, that included places on both land and water. A Go Fast Campers roof top tent was mounted up to the roof rack providing the perfect platform for a custom painted set of Trek E Bikes to hit the mountain trails after setting up basecamp for the night. But out back is what truly catches everyone’s attention. Rather than towing a trailer with a pair of jet skis that would be difficult to take off-road; the crew installed one of their Hitch Mount Racks that became a platform for a vintage jet ski.
Jeff went with the classic Kawasaki 550 Stand Up Jet Ski for a few different reasons. Aside from enjoying the nostalgia of river trips past; the color scheme is nearly identical to Toyota’s Heritage striping inspired by famed racer Ivan “Ironman” Stewart. Also, a newer model watercraft has a longer length which would not fit within the width of the Sequoia. Thankfully, the throwback style Kawasaki and mount finds itself two-inches narrower than the widest point of the Toyota Sequoia. And, to make sure everything is still legal, brake lights and reverse lights from Rigid as well as the factory bumper sensors were mounted to the jet ski carrier. The carrier swings out and locks in place so that the driver can easily see once the jet ski has hit the water when launching.
Naturally, a nearly 40-year-old jet ski would need to be refreshed and restored before being loaded up for another trip to the water. Hoagie Shine’s restored and resprayed the factory white paint, added vintage style graphics, and finished it off with a custom upholstery job to give the watercraft its new life.
On the passenger side of the Hitch Mount Rack is their Jerry Can Mount. The cans were painted to match the tri-color throwback theme of the rest of the Sequoia and feature the Toyota slogan ‘Let’s Go Places.’ When the jet ski and gas can mounts are swung out, the rear cargo area is fully accessible for easy loading of camping gear, life jackets and anything else needed for an off-road adventure up into the mountains or down at the water.
All-Terrain Overlanding
Jeff likes to personally test his vehicle builds, whether on the track or off-road, by taking them to places that most people won’t and pushing them to their limits. This ensures that the custom parts and designs on these builds can handle whatever needs a customer might have.
Which leads directly to tire choices—one of the most popular tires sold at Westcott for customer builds is a recently introduced all-terrain tire from Nitto. The Nitto Recon Grappler A/T was designed to perform well in various types of terrain but also ride quietly and comfortably. And as the Sequoia is prime for road trip adventures, it needed tires that could handle both on- and off-road duties. The wide and narrow grooves in the tire’s tread pattern help reduce road noise, increase traction and provide a more comfortable ride than aggressive all-terrain tires usually do.
“The Recon Grappler from Nitto is a good mix of off and on road capability and it has a more aggressive style to it than most other all-terrain tires. But the ride isn’t rough even with its aggressive look.” Jeff said.
The Recon Grappler tires are mated to set of 17x8.5-inch Innov8 Racing G400 wheels. Mixing things up a bit, the wheels feature a polished finish with anodized beadlock style billet rings on one side with an anodized wheel finish and opposite finishes and ARP hardware on the other side. This split style is also something offered on the Recon Grappler tires that have different aggressive shoulder sidewall designs on either side of the tire. “The tire’s reinforced sidewall design offers great traction and support while off road. And its reversible sidewall designs help to pick the look you are going for and dial into what terrain you are tackling.” stated Jeff.
Further increasing off-road performance, the factory TRD Pro FOX suspension was upgraded with Westcott Designs components in order to fit the 37-inch-tall tires up front. Additional clearance and tire coverage was created using Westcott Designs Inner Fender Liner Pullback kit.
Ready to Go Places
Once finished by the Westcott crew, and deemed ready for action by Jeff, the 2023 Sequoia TRD Pro Adventurer concept was revealed in Toyota’s booth at SEMA ’22 as scheduled. Fans of overlanding and Toyota were impressed and inspired by the creativity and capability of the new vehicle and its custom accoutrements. Now, only time (and trails) will tell if the redesigned Sequoia can match the off-road prowess established by Toyota’s other models, and mentioned in the same breath as the Tacoma, 4Runner and Tundra.
