When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hi Guys, thought I would start a thread to keep track of my GX470's progress and share/get info from other members along the way
A little history on the car. I was looking at several toyots/lexus models trying to decide what I wanted when I came across this 2003 GX470 with a broken transfer case. It was a 1 owner and serviced at Lexus all its life, which was both good and bad because it had the transfer case actuator leak and Lexus only offered a replacement to the PO (previous owner), which they did not take and instead decided to keep topping off the transfer case every 15k.
Here is the GX470 when I first got it.
Well...long story short... the Transfer case eventually failed and made a bunch of clicking/grinding noises when accelerating more than a hair (when barely pressing gas pedal drove fine, slow but fine). Lexus rightly told the PO it needed a new transfer case and this is when the PO decided to sell the car and I came in and got it for the most ridiculous deal I have ever gotten on a car (so ridiculous I am not going to say, just know it was silly ridiculous good deal).
that week I ordered a transfer case from a 2005 with 119k on it, and installed it with the help of my brother and it went pretty straight forward except if anyone is doing it do remember to pull the transfer case shifter out from the console before you start pulling the transfer case out. luckily I realized before we tried the GX has a forward shift case, so shifter has to come out first.
This is the only action shot I have of that, if anyone needs specifics on the Transfer case swapping just ask and I can help out lets just say I got very familiar with it.
Here is the GX out and about with its new transfer case driving like its brand new!!
Not much time has gone by before I want a mild lift and larger A/T tires, so that had to be addressed. In an effort to fit the largest tires on there that I feel comfortable with I picked up a set of 2006 tundra wheels that have a 15mm offset vs the GX's 25mm, so that should give me 10mm more room to work with for wider tires. cleaned up the wheels now waiting for the lift to come in before tire shopping.
Some of you may have noticed how bad the front grill looked in the second picture, the Lexus emblem was missing and I am not "feeling" the spurts of random chrome they decided would be a good idea on the grill (does anyone else think the bar of chrome on the tailgate looks like a chrome moustache??). anyways gonna work on those one at a time.
a little plastidip and the grill is looking a whole lot better to me.
Have one finishing touch left for the grill, to truly start the build JDM style.
TOYOTA TEQ BADGE!!!
Here is a close-up shot installed on the car
Also installed HID's for low beams and that is where the car is now waiting for the lift and then I can work on fitting tires on the GX with the tundra wheels. any comments or suggestions are welcome will keep updating posts as time/projects go on.
Ali, seriously loving your build. I love builds/cars thats totally out of the box and not cookie cutter. That Teq badge really does it for me. Hardcore Toyota enthusiast.
I wanna see your lift mod. I know the spacer up front is not gonna make a difference to the ride quality nor the wear and tear, just not sure about tricking the rear air suspension? Does that mean its gonna over inflate itself all the time since its thinking its sitting lower than normal? How would that translate to wear and tear? Like I said, I really love the ride quality of this SUV for now, just wanted a mild lift and some decently offset wheels and a tad bit wider tires just like what you're trying to accomplish. It's funny cause my dad wanted the same wheels you got for his SUV, and was hogging me to get a set for mine too when we got the GX. Great minds think alike I guess. LOL
Thanks for the kind words King Phillip, my whole family is Toyota/Lexus crazy and I decided to build this one with the toyota badges to change things up a bit. Hopefully the truck will feel at home with it's fellow Land cruisers when I am done, lol. I will get around to the rear badges in good time.
Yeah the spacer up front is more of a leveling deal. I am guestimating that you realy only need 1.5" in the front to level it out since the rear sits up pretty high stock, so since its 2.5" I would expect it to maybe go about an inch higher than where the rear is at. That would mean only tricking the rear airbags like an inch which I don't think will affect the ride quality that much. I will not be adjusting it to where it is on high that is like lifting the rear up 3" or so I would think we would need a 3.5" or even 4" in the front to match that.
I also read about a member in the tricking the sensor thread that made a spacer for the stock airbags, so that way the ride isn't changed cause pressure in the bag is the same so they still operate like stock, if I don;t like my first method I will look into this. If none of that works then I will jsut remove the bags and install FJ springs but I don;'t want to do that right away I want to keep the ride height switch, I think its a cool feature. I mean how bad can the ride be when I have 4 damper positions to play with, you know. I think its one I will have to just experiment myself and I will keep you guys posted on what I end up liking. Im sure for everyone its a little different.
That is funny on the wheels, your dad sounds like he has good taste. I love those tundra split spokes, and I thought the GX ones were even cooler till I found out about the worse offset, what a bummer. My dad says he loves his 4runner so much hes never going to part with it and I do not doubt him at all on that one he somehow got a white v8 sport package (has hood scoop) and the kicker is it has leather seats which they don't normally want to give you those leather seats on the sport model. It's what made me want to get the GX when I drove it I was like, this SUV is as good as the 4runner or even better in some cases, so it was a done deal.
here is a picture of those type of wheels on my old 85 pickup that I sold last year.
They are like my go to 6 lug toyota wheel, liked em so much got another set for the GX.
Thanks 470, I figured it was enough little things to start it off. another major plan is to find an armored front bumper (will have it color-matched) but they are pricey so might have to wait till next year for that one or maybe get a custom one made.
Ian, this one has the regular tan leather interior with the 3rd row seats like most of the GX's. It does not have the nav but it has the rear dvd player/entertainment system. I am actually glad this one did not have nav as the climate controls are separate allowing installation of a double din unit.
looking to get a Pioneer Appradio so I can have access to my iphone apps, streaming music, Bluetooth, and all the stuff that newer cars have, and most importantly I think you can run google maps on it (I dislike all other navigation now I Am so used to google maps). At the same time it will get a backup camera and find a way to make the rear entertainment system work with it if the kit does not already do that.
Does anyone know how to tell if its the Mark Levinson audio or not? I just assumed it wasnt but not sure.
I tried to reply to your PM regarding spacers. Was not able to post a picture there so here you go:
Unfortunately I don't have any photos prior to installation but they are a fairly simple design. I duplicated the hole in the top and a dowel in the bottom. I also threw a tack weld on the bottom of them when they were installed to permanently attach them to the axle.
That looks pretty nice. so you just had it made out of metal, guessing steel since you had it welded. It looks like its just a straight spacer and not angled any am I right? I might have a set made at a machine shop and see if they can come up with something similar for me if I need it.
I was doing some reading on the prado forums and seems like those guys are always having issues with these airbags. my passenger one was just replaced, so hoping I can get at least a few more years out of it, I like your spacer idea and there was also some more info on the prado forum. that guy in australia is out though so looks like I will be making my own if I want one. thanks for the pic.
here is the prado link in case anyone is wondering, although I don't like how he angled the spacer, it seems like a good idea but in practice I am not so sure. http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...+airbag+spacer
at first I am going to do the front spacers, and just put washers under the rear height sensor to see how much lift I really need back there to level it, and then decide if I need a spacer or not.
I did decide that either way I am going to install a lock on the bottom of the airbag so it can't lift out, it seems to be the number one way the get damaged is if they pop out and they are pretty much guaranteed to rip the bag at that point it seems. read post 53 here, just drill a small hole and put something in to lock it, I could do this in my sleep.
Now if I could get it to lock into a spacer, and then lock/weld the spacer to the base, that would make an excellent setup. http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...l=1#post441271
Thanks Gassiper, the speakers in the car don't have any marking so I think its the normal setup which is good for me because I plan to change most of it out.
Made some more progress on the GX this weekend.
Starting on the front 2.5" spacer lift to keep factory ride and damper adjustments.
this is the bracket the fancy damper actuator on top bolts to (actuator is normally where the socket is on top).
Notice it is unnecessarily large so it can have 3 wire tie holders clip into it.
My goal is to retain the Damper adjustment so I already knew at this point I would have to modify the bracket.
shock out =) Both sides put up a fight after all the bolts were out it was like glued in place over the years.
A crowbar wedged over the upper A-Arm and a BFH and it finally came free.
This is what it looks like with the spacer on top and the shock back in.
Since the shock top hats did not want to turn easily once the spacer was on to get it to go back in I simple turned the shock around 180 degrees and it went right in (due to the stud pattern flipping on top from spacer).
Clearly this bracket is not going back on anymore as the rod does not extend out as much due to spacer which was slightly over an inch (gives 2.5" total lift though).
The offending bracket. notice the 2 holes for holding wire clips on the long side, and there is a third one underneath on the short side just can't see it cause its upside down.
after some "careful" measuring and an angle grinder. by careful I mean I eyeballed it.
Now the bracket drops down into the spacer and everything fits back like it was stock, except that its now facing the other direction (remember I turned the shock around), and it has a zip tie holding the wires instead of the 2 wire holders I cut off. the third wire holder I just bent and did not cut so its still doing its job.
That was it for the front. it gave me 2.5" and the shock damper functions still work. rides pretty much like before except much much taller.
For the rear to get the same amount 2.5" of lift as the front, I had to move the sensor rod all the way up in the adjustment slot, and when that was not enough I made the rod longer to get more hieght.
If you look at the rod its just a fancy double sided threaded rod with rod ends. if you undo the locking nuts on the rod ends you can spin them off about 4-5 turns each (top and bottom) and then lock down the adjusting nuts again. doing 4 turns out on the bottom and 5 out on top (any more than 5 and they felt loose) made them long enough to give me a 2.5" lift over the stock N height. I did not bother with spacers under the sensors in all honesty it was more difficult to get the first bolt off that spacer bracket than it was to use the factory adjustments as I described.
end results... I had lift but the tires were looking a bit funny from being so small... so a trip to the tire place with my 2006 Tundra wheels....
Action shot of the test fitting, they were nice enough to trim the sideskirts with a sharp body cutting knife so it would not touch the tire. when they were done I really couldn;t even tell, thats above and beyond even for a tire shop in my book. the front rubs a hair on the fender plastic, but I will be trimming that later myself.
This is how it was looking after the tire shop with about 2" lift in the rear.
I then decided it needed another .5" of lift in the rear so I quickly adjusted that =) Keep in mind the driveway slopes down to the right some so it makes it look more raked than it is.
And that is how its sitting until I get my new plain centercaps online. I only had 2 of the original 4 but I don't want the toyota badges on there I want them shaved or possibly Teq badges have not decided yet. And yes I know it looks like the PO played bumper car with the front bumper, but hopefully by next year I will get an armored front bumper and skidplate to bring it back to life again.
I haven't gotten an alignment yet but it rode with a bit of sway before the larger tires with the lift, but with the wider and stiffer tires it seems to drive just fine to me now and I still have it on not the sportiest setting but the second sportiest setting on the damper adjustment. If I adjust it to less dampener it feels almost as floaty as before. once I get an alignment and some more drive time on it if I find its too stiff I will probably do the spacer for the rear airbags. I have come to the conclusion that I like the rear airbags and will just have my own spacers made to make them work for me, and that route the bags will have the factory amount of air in them, I will probably weld the bags to the spacer, and have a way to bolt the spacer/bag to the mount from the bottom through the factory hole for the pin.
If I need a new air shock I will just grind the spacer off and weld it to the new one. I Was thinking of pins and stuff but then I read the airbag has so much force it can basically rip those pins out when it moves, so I don't think a screw on the side or pins will do it, unless its some large grade 10 pin. anyways I will get on it sooner or later right now its working just fine 2.5" above stock. it even goes to the high position although I haven't driven it like that just sitting still.
I basically already figured out the dimensions its just a matter of time before it happens I will post it here when I get around to it! hopefully my machine guy is still around I haven't visited him in a while.
My brother was telling me I need to paint the spacer black because it sticks out and I think he is right so going to add that to the 'ol to do list as well.
I think I will also try and set the rear at 2.25" right between my last 2 tries. before at 2" it was not enough rake and at 2.5" I might have overdone it like factory.
The adjustments are so sensitive you can spend a good afternoon just getting it even lol.
Wow! Huge difference! Looks like those Tundra wheels' offset is spot on! Mind taking a pic from the front and rear to see how it fits in the fender? And also, got any pics of where it rubs in the wheel wells? Thanks Ali, it looks amazing as it is now.
03-17-15, 08:21 AM
Ali SC3's 2003 GX470 build thread
