Jacket

Great progress on the GX. I'll be interested to hear what you think about the ride after logging a few miles. Those spacers can be kinda harsh when you preload the spring that much, but maybe it offsets the cushy Lexus OEM ride to find a good middle ground.

I do love the stance.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

Yeah the offset it just right, and I was only hoping for barely enough but it gets the job done the 285/70/17 are on and its not even that close to the upper A-arm. it may rub on some wierd turning and bump situations but looks like it might even not do that.
I wlil get some pictures for you it started snowing this morning again so yeah might be a few days.
on the front fender plastic there is this "bump" at the bottom towards the middle of the tire. its just this little raised portion that rubs, I will probably be taking off the plastics and trimming them, I will be sure to take some pictures of that as well.

Thanks!! you know I tried it but the GX ones have a lip that wont go over my tundra ones without shaving them and I just figured I would keep the lexus caps with the lexus rims. I will give it another try but maybe there are a few versions. Im about to buy the aftermarkets myself

Thanks, I feel like it finally looks right to me size wise. before it was too tall for its tires.
the 285 made it feel so much more stable even with the lift but then again I only got used to the original ride for like a week.

Thanks, I did take it for a spin yesterday it feels great. its maybe like 10-15% stiffer in the rear airbags on each setting but I can simply turn it down a setting still and it feels like before.

My spacer in the front is not a pre-load spacer I got this kind specifically because it bolts on top of the shock top mount, so it does not compress the spring at all.

I had read about the preload toytec kind of spacer working with the GX and keeping the factory dampening actuator on top, because well it goes under the top mount, compresses the spring, and since the actuator mounts to the top hat there is no issue. I decided there was no way I would pay more $$ for a worse type of lift (pre-load stuff is like 5x the cost for a spacer), so /I decided I would just do it my way and find a way to make the actuator work on the other kind, and I did above by modifying the bracket. as far as I know no one has done that on a GX with a non-preload spacer and posted about it, cause I could not find it.

If someone does use a pre-load spacer, do note that you would not have to modify the actuator bracket at all or flip the shock around 180 degrees like i had to (due to using non preload spacer).

This is how the 4 runner guys do it now with a non-preload spacer on top, they just don't have to worry about the dampening actuator thing and bracket like we do if we want to retain it, but it wasn't hard that part only took me 30 minutes to modify both sides.

I really like the way it rides with the lift its quite nice. most cars ride terrible with a 2.5" lift without new shocks but these are adjustable and work quite well still. the airbags still have 2" left of uptravel (i put it in high to see), so I don't think its majorly straining them, but yes they feel that 10-15% stiffer as I was mentioning. we shall see once I get it over some good bumps but so far its still my softest riding vehicle even over the rx300.

Alignment is tomorrow @ toyota looking forward to that.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

wow, that looks really good with the larger tires on also. The hyper silver looks really nice as well.
I am convinced now I got the right set of wheels for the GX. I am even going to grab a 5th for the spare and likely sell off the lexus set.
I will give them another try but I am pretty sure they did not fit,was it hard to get them in there did you have to hit it pretty good or something?
will take another look later today, maybe use one of my suspension adjustment tools (aka rubber mallet).

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

The cruiser wheels look sharp. Yeah the Lexus caps go about half way and then that extra lip on the Lexus cap catches and it wont go in all the way it seems without some cutting. I will just get the ebay specials they have 4 plain silver ones with no logo for $50, and I will leave them plain or get some TEQ badges for them.

got it aligned earlier, went pretty well, they were able to get everything in spec except for the caster which I expected to be off some.
They got the caster to 2.2 and the minimum is 2.5 so its not terrible, and actually feels much better now as you can see the before numbers were pretty horrible.
If I want to restore the caster back to the 4 degree range I will clearly need some adjustable upper A-arms but for now I think its fine.

burtoncr

I'm probably blind, but did you mention where you got the non-preload front top hat spacers?

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

I didn't mention it before, but its from ebay the sellers name is summit-performance and the item is the 2.5" spacer for 03+ 4runners which fit the GX

I went with this one because I read reviews on a couple 4runner forums where people have used them with good results and the deal is pretty good for aluminum spacers.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

Center cap teaser, finally got the plain ones in and the TEQ vinyl badges but of course it randomly started snowing again so waiting till weather is better to install.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

weather cleared up some so got the center caps on. Exhaust is coming in today will update once that gets on the truck.





I remember some were asking about the Tundra wheel offset fitment. Here is a shot from the running board of the same rear wheel.
The tire sits pretty flush with the fender, its 20mm further out compared to the stock setup (10mm from wheel offset, plus 10mm from 285 tire).
The tundra or FJ cruiser wheel with the +15 offset is definitely the way to go on a GX, mostly fixes the factory sunken in offset and will help clear the a-arm if you go 285's.

grego2

Looks great! +1 on the badges, haven't seen those since the last time I went to the Tokyo Auto Salon! Grill looks good, might have to do that to mine.

I have an 06 and have been dreaming of doing a lift to it but in stock form, I am 1" away from hitting the top of my garage with the roof rack, sucks but I am trying to figure out how to lower it instead. If not, I got to put new tires on soon and several of my tire pressure sensors have finally crapped out so I might go with the hyper silver sequoia wheels.
Can

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

I have been so impressed with my Gx470, well I just couldn't resist getting another one for my wife she outgrew the rx300 (aka the "Starter SUV").
This one is a 2004 silver with the black/grey interior, will be a nice addition to our Lexus family. Going to be staying stock though
only picture I have so far of them hanging out.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

Seems like its time for an update, got the exhaust on a while ago but wasn't happy with the bolt on fitment as it was hanging a little low, so went and re-worked the last few hangers with a mallet aka "suspension adjustment tool" and got it to tuck up nicer, its almost touching the bumper now but not close enough to burn it.



compared to the tires it looks small to me still, must have just gotten used to big cans I guess


The best part really though is the sound, since it replaced the midpipe and resonator with aftermarket flow through pieces you can hear the whole v8 roar now.

I know not everyone will like this style on a truck. It has grown on me over the years and on this one I think the sound backs up the look.

LexRex

Yep, that sounds pretty good!

How about any drone on the hwy?

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

Its a pretty deep sound but yeah there is definitely some drone once the rpm's go up like when accelerating. once cruising and it shifts into overdrive its actually quiets down pretty well. There is a silencer but I have not used it yet because it looks likes it makes it even smaller than the stock exhaust with that on.

HiPSI

iTrader: (2)

That's awesome you now own two GX's!

The GX really is a solid vehicle, other than the mpg fuel efficiency being so bad (only gripe) this will be a reliable family hauler.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

Yeah it certainly doesn't win any awards in the MPG department but its not actually that bad with the 5 speed auto I just did a trip into the mountains and on the highway its quite efficient for being fully loaded with gear. I think it does better than my sc300 at times but I have a lead foot pretty much.

The power and size/safety factor more than makes up for the mpg's to me. We had the rx300 before which got great gas mileage even in the city but it felt too low to the ground and small like a car, not to mention the v6 is under powered for the task.