00N8's 2001 LX470 repair/build thread
Thanks to a great many of you that have provided excellent information and significantly swayed my decision which hundy to buy.
I initially thought that I wanted a 2003-2004 model, they run about $23000-26000 depending on mileage but after some reading some good thoughts around the navigation units I decided to buy an older higher mileage model with no nav for cheaper and use the extra cash on resto and mods.
I decided on the LX over the LC mainly due to the headlight projectors, extra sound deadening, and mark levinson stereo. In my local area (Wash DC) there wasn't much of a price difference between used rigs, so I figured the extras for the LX were worth it. I know if the AHC dies I'll rip it out and replace with aftermarket
After searching for nearly 2 months and looking at over 50 rigs online and test driving 10 or so locally I decided on a Pearl White 2001 LX470 for $14,800. It has 137k miles, the exterior is in excellent condition with only a single rock chip on the hood. The interior needs a little TLC, the front seats are cracked and speaker covers need new cloth. The foam around the subwoofer needs to be replaced. The dash, steering wheel and other interior trim pieces are in excellent condition. Some of the carpets need multiple sessions of TuffStuff cleaning. There is a burn mark in the rear seat. I made a list of everything that needed to be done to restore this rig to near new condition from a cosmetic perspective. I'll also include what I understand should be restored from a mechanical standpoint. I plan to link to the threads I used to do this work myself or to use for directions given to my local shop.
A little about me, I work in finance and am not exactly handy, I'm going to try as many of these as I can and take the rest to the local shops.
- Replace springs in steering wheel, they are causing noise when turning steering wheel (ended up only needing to squirt some WD40 into the steering column, thanks to this post from bkgee, only a half banana job)
- adjust headlights Done
- check heat shields on catalytic converters, they rattle when vehicle is in gear and stopped like at a light (Had Midas tack weld the heat shields back on, they removed the shields off the flex pipes, hindsight i wish I'd read this thread before spennding $200 on the midas repair)
- check the rest of the exhaust pipes and mountings and heat shields (no issues)
- 90k service, change oil, oil filter, change differential oil, transmission fluid, transfer case oil, power steering fluidDone
- inspect brake line pipes and hoses Done
- replace front and rear rotors and brake pads, install brake shims to prevent squeakingDone
- flush brake fluid Done
- inspect front wheel bearings and drive shaft bushing grease
- lubricate propeller shaft and tighten bolts Done
- check steering linkage Done
- inspect ball joints and dust covers Done
- inspect drive shaft boots, passenger side is weeping grease slightly, should be able to inject grease into it without rebuilding entire cv Done
- replace boot clamps with pfran clamps, ensure rolled edge of clamp is installed in toward boot on both sides Done
- replace timing belt, water pump and idler pulleys Done
- replace air filters and cabin filters Done
- inspect gasket in fuel tank cap
- replace sparkplugs Done
- perform VA state inspection Done
- check emergency brake and adjust as needed Done
- flush AHC (suspension system) Done
- rotate and balance tires Done
- flush engine coolant/radiator Done
- check all engine drive belts Done
- 4 wheel alignment Done
- repair antenna mast (fixed that using this thread, one banana job)
- Replace front seat leathers
- replace speaker cover cloth
- replace gear shift surround (what a pain in the ass! you have to cut the O/D button to get the damn shifter off, I'm taking the wimpy way out and having the local shop do that for me) Done
- order floormats (used this thread to decide to go with Weathertech Digital Fit liners)
- Passenger rear mirror doesn't auto adjust up after reversing (after reading this thread I decided to leave the switch in the middle to defeat the auto adjust action)
- replace or repair 3rd row subwoofer (after reading this thread I decided I better take a look at the sub to see what the problem was, it's the foam surround. Was only a 1 banana job to take everything out, the hardest part was the rear hatch trim that flops down when the tailgate is dropped down had the rear left panel caught. I stopped by a local car audio store and they wouldn't replace the foam but did have a Kicker sub that would fit. It was going to cost $100 for the Kicker sub, I decided to spend $20 on a glue gun and fix it myself. Here's the post of the final result
- Sound deaden around wheel wells in prep for big gnarly tires soon to come, not sure if I want Fatmat, Dynamat or QuietCrap (I've been reading this thread to see pros and cons of each)
Mods/Upgrades that I plan on doing:
- ARB Sahara front bumper (off an 03 model LX470 that was painted Pearl White) Got the bumper installed thanks to folks from this thread
- ARB rear bumper Done, with swingout tire carrier
- Sliders (I'm thinking White Knuckle, but not decided yet)
- Skid plates (Not sure which ones to go with yet)
- Interior LED's (pfran's are done, one banana job, the hardest part was figuring out how to get the door lights out, pfran has put instructions on his post now using this thread)
- New brake rotors (I ended up finding some SP slotted, cross drilled cryo'd rotors from TopBrakes.com after reading through all of the posts on this thread)
- New brake pads (same as above, SP street plus brake pads from topbrakes.com)
- steel brake lines (looked like these need to be custom, I haven't seen a simple part number that I can order yet)
- [STRIKE]Turbo system (Yep, I said it, next year I am going to get a Turbo installed, via Slee Off Road)[/STRIKE] bought a TRD Supercharger instead Done
- Big knobby tires Goodyear Silent Armor 275/70/18 picked after readingthe Massive 4x4 Tire Guide on FourWheeler Done
- Wheels [STRIKE](Not sure if I want to change anything until my off road use increases, but if that does happen, I might as well go with bead locks if I change the wheels, if I don't go wheel locks, I'm thinking either the 17 or 18 inch wheels that come on newer Yodas)[/STRIKE] That was ignorance talking back in the day, I ended up with 2007+ Tundra TRD Aluminum wheels and got them powder coated black Done
Here she is after purchase and cleanup
Update: 12/21/2011
- there was a leak in the back of the rig, I thought it was the 3rd brake light housing so using this thread I fixed that using Toyota FIPG sealer. Turns out it wasn't that at all, instead it was the rear weather strip was not sealed to the back of the LX.
Update: 12/26/2011
- Upgrade to HID bulbs and ballasts in the Low beam housing (I've read throught a number of threads and saw some mentions of other people haivng issues with HID bulbs fitting into the LX low beam housing, Thanks to UZJ100 in this post for explaining how to fit the Morimoto H1 bulbs into the socket, once I get back from Christmas travel I'll have to fix them)
- Upgrade Hi beams, Fog lights
- Upgrade turn signals and brake lights (any suggestions?)
Thanks to a great many of you that have provided excellent information and significantly swayed my decision which hundy to buy.
I initially thought that I wanted a 2003-2004 model, they run about $23000-26000 depending on mileage but after some reading some good thoughts around the navigation units I decided to buy an older higher mileage model with no nav for cheaper and use the extra cash on resto and mods.
I decided on the LX over the LC mainly due to the headlight projectors, extra sound deadening, and mark levinson stereo. In my local area (Wash DC) there wasn't much of a price difference between used rigs, so I figured the extras for the LX were worth it. I know if the AHC dies I'll rip it out and replace with aftermarket
After searching for nearly 2 months and looking at over 50 rigs online and test driving 10 or so locally I decided on a Pearl White 2001 LX470 for $14,800. It has 137k miles, the exterior is in excellent condition with only a single rock chip on the hood. The interior needs a little TLC, the front seats are cracked and speaker covers need new cloth. The foam around the subwoofer needs to be replaced. The dash, steering wheel and other interior trim pieces are in excellent condition. Some of the carpets need multiple sessions of TuffStuff cleaning. There is a burn mark in the rear seat. I made a list of everything that needed to be done to restore this rig to near new condition from a cosmetic perspective. I'll also include what I understand should be restored from a mechanical standpoint. I plan to link to the threads I used to do this work myself or to use for directions given to my local shop.
A little about me, I work in finance and am not exactly handy, I'm going to try as many of these as I can and take the rest to the local shops.
- Replace springs in steering wheel, they are causing noise when turning steering wheel (ended up only needing to squirt some WD40 into the steering column, thanks to this post from bkgee, only a half banana job)
- adjust headlights Done
- check heat shields on catalytic converters, they rattle when vehicle is in gear and stopped like at a light (Had Midas tack weld the heat shields back on, they removed the shields off the flex pipes, hindsight i wish I'd read this thread before spennding $200 on the midas repair)
- check the rest of the exhaust pipes and mountings and heat shields (no issues)
- 90k service, change oil, oil filter, change differential oil, transmission fluid, transfer case oil, power steering fluidDone
- inspect brake line pipes and hoses Done
- replace front and rear rotors and brake pads, install brake shims to prevent squeakingDone
- flush brake fluid Done
- inspect front wheel bearings and drive shaft bushing grease
- lubricate propeller shaft and tighten bolts Done
- check steering linkage Done
- inspect ball joints and dust covers Done
- inspect drive shaft boots, passenger side is weeping grease slightly, should be able to inject grease into it without rebuilding entire cv Done
- replace boot clamps with pfran clamps, ensure rolled edge of clamp is installed in toward boot on both sides Done
- replace timing belt, water pump and idler pulleys Done
- replace air filters and cabin filters Done
- inspect gasket in fuel tank cap
- replace sparkplugs Done
- perform VA state inspection Done
- check emergency brake and adjust as needed Done
- flush AHC (suspension system) Done
- rotate and balance tires Done
- flush engine coolant/radiator Done
- check all engine drive belts Done
- 4 wheel alignment Done
- repair antenna mast (fixed that using this thread, one banana job)
- Replace front seat leathers
- replace speaker cover cloth
- replace gear shift surround (what a pain in the ass! you have to cut the O/D button to get the damn shifter off, I'm taking the wimpy way out and having the local shop do that for me) Done
- order floormats (used this thread to decide to go with Weathertech Digital Fit liners)
- Passenger rear mirror doesn't auto adjust up after reversing (after reading this thread I decided to leave the switch in the middle to defeat the auto adjust action)
- replace or repair 3rd row subwoofer (after reading this thread I decided I better take a look at the sub to see what the problem was, it's the foam surround. Was only a 1 banana job to take everything out, the hardest part was the rear hatch trim that flops down when the tailgate is dropped down had the rear left panel caught. I stopped by a local car audio store and they wouldn't replace the foam but did have a Kicker sub that would fit. It was going to cost $100 for the Kicker sub, I decided to spend $20 on a glue gun and fix it myself. Here's the post of the final result
- Sound deaden around wheel wells in prep for big gnarly tires soon to come, not sure if I want Fatmat, Dynamat or QuietCrap (I've been reading this thread to see pros and cons of each)
Mods/Upgrades that I plan on doing:
- ARB Sahara front bumper (off an 03 model LX470 that was painted Pearl White) Got the bumper installed thanks to folks from this thread
- ARB rear bumper Done, with swingout tire carrier
- Sliders (I'm thinking White Knuckle, but not decided yet)
- Skid plates (Not sure which ones to go with yet)
- Interior LED's (pfran's are done, one banana job, the hardest part was figuring out how to get the door lights out, pfran has put instructions on his post now using this thread)
- New brake rotors (I ended up finding some SP slotted, cross drilled cryo'd rotors from TopBrakes.com after reading through all of the posts on this thread)
- New brake pads (same as above, SP street plus brake pads from topbrakes.com)
- steel brake lines (looked like these need to be custom, I haven't seen a simple part number that I can order yet)
- [STRIKE]Turbo system (Yep, I said it, next year I am going to get a Turbo installed, via Slee Off Road)[/STRIKE] bought a TRD Supercharger instead Done
- Big knobby tires Goodyear Silent Armor 275/70/18 picked after readingthe Massive 4x4 Tire Guide on FourWheeler Done
- Wheels [STRIKE](Not sure if I want to change anything until my off road use increases, but if that does happen, I might as well go with bead locks if I change the wheels, if I don't go wheel locks, I'm thinking either the 17 or 18 inch wheels that come on newer Yodas)[/STRIKE] That was ignorance talking back in the day, I ended up with 2007+ Tundra TRD Aluminum wheels and got them powder coated black Done
Here she is after purchase and cleanup
Update: 12/21/2011
- there was a leak in the back of the rig, I thought it was the 3rd brake light housing so using this thread I fixed that using Toyota FIPG sealer. Turns out it wasn't that at all, instead it was the rear weather strip was not sealed to the back of the LX.
Update: 12/26/2011
- Upgrade to HID bulbs and ballasts in the Low beam housing (I've read throught a number of threads and saw some mentions of other people haivng issues with HID bulbs fitting into the LX low beam housing, Thanks to UZJ100 in this post for explaining how to fit the Morimoto H1 bulbs into the socket, once I get back from Christmas travel I'll have to fix them)
- Upgrade Hi beams, Fog lights
- Upgrade turn signals and brake lights (any suggestions?)
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