draco

Does anyone have a picture of an RX that has had just the WALD front lip installed? Most pictures I see are with the WALD side skirts, but would like to know what the WALD front lip looks like with the OEM skirts and what sort of height difference would be observed on the RX particularly from the side profile (i.e. is the WALD front lip make it look silly with just the OEM's).

mowmow

Silly is a bit harsh, I would say it won't look right for sure, the flow of the car will be off.

draco

I was looking at painting the lip black, so was wondering what it would look like with the front lip only

draco

I have been looking at getting the Lexus RX / Toyota Harrier OEM front lip only.



The primary reason is

1) Need to update the front of the car a bit. The whole angled look at the front is getting to me and I need to give it more shape
2) I will hold onto the car until 2016, so trying to change it a little bit to keep my interest until the next car (no doubt an RX or GS) arrives.
3) Trying not to spend a lot of money (basically the lip will be painted black with some highlights I have in mind).

MrBruin09

Go for it. If you want you should get it.

draco

Finally found what looks like a WALD lip on an RX with the stock OEM skirts (albeit they have been painted to match)




From the looks of it, it doesn't look to be that much lower than the side OEM skirts from the factory (unless I am seeing this all wrong).

MrMark

iTrader: (3)

Looks OK.....very mild so it does not look out of place.

draco

Actually just realised that the front I thought was WALD is actually an "Elford" front lip. It looks very similar to the WALD.

chuckbass

I like it! I also think that the front lip is too angular and this corrects it.

I've read that painting the overhangs/side skirts is problematic, since they're textured plastic.

Maybe when it's warmer, I'll try to spray a couple of layers of plasti dip as a base and then try touch up spray on top with Krylon clear for plastics.

draco

Chuckbass just noticed your pic of an RX400h. Did you paint the lights yourself? Was it an easy process? I may end up going with the vented lip kit (OEM lip) instead as the WALD is too expensive for a car that I won't be keeping for longer than 2 years at this stage. I was going to paint it black anyway as I too have read about the problems with paint on the side skirts. I was going to plasti-dip them and the lip to "match".

chuckbass

I blacked out the headlight reflectors with plasti dip, so I can remove it if I ever want to go back to stock.

The process of removing the headlights, bulbs, ballasts, screws and harnesses wasn't too bad, but everything after that took a lot of time.

After everything was removed I used masking tape to cover any holes (turn signal openings etc), placed on a cookie sheet (center rack) and started with the lowest temperature.

IIRC, I think 200 degrees for about 5 minutes was enough to soften the headlight adhesive and then pry apart with a small plastic pry bar and butter knife. Your oven might be different, so you'll have to play with the temperature settings. Surprisingly, the process of baking the lights didn't stink up the house!

The adhesive cools off quickly, so I would loosen one half, put no it back in for a few more minutes and loosen the other half. It was a little intimidating, as I didn't want to force it and crack the plastic lens.

The reflector part comes off pretty easily. While waiting for the plasti dip to dry, I also swapped the stock projector lenses with TSX-R, which improved the clarity.

I also used this to opportunity to clean the inside of the main clear housing, which were dirty from car washes prior to sealing the headlights with silicon.

Overall, the process was simple, but not easy. It took me about a day to get everything done, but I'm happy with the results.

I figured the WALD lip would be pricey. Maybe I can find another lip that would go with the stock side skirts/overhang.

draco

Thanks for the info. I am intimidated by the process TBH, and to replace them could be a very expensive process. I am seriously thinking of buying a second hand set that I could hopefully find for cheap enough as a "just in case".

chuckbass

Let us know what you end up doing with the front lip. That Elsford lip is nice, but $400+ is pretty steep. I'm also interested in just going with the front lip, vs. entire body kit.

chuckbass

I also saw this lip for the 400h. It looks like the front lip/bumper covers are shaped a little differently vs 330/350. Not a bad price $200 shipped. I would probably keep it black, as the details are a little busy IMO, but it will reduce that angular look.

draco

Yeah the RX400h bottom has a much larger air gap than the RX330/350 so it would work like that. I originally saw that when I first got my car and liked it, and then realised the difference

But I completely agree about the statement about the angular look, or as I like to say "it's like the car got an upper cut at the front and the wind changed". It's just too angular and I know the potential design reasons around it (i.e. a little bit off-roading) but if the car lives primarily in the burbs & city, it needs a squarer front.