Another Pearl GX Trail Ready Project Begins... (1 Viewer)

[BobinBend]

Well, I painted the sliders with some self-etching primer and a couple of coats of bed liner paint (rustoleum) and dropped the GX off at my local Les Schwab for a 4 wheel alignment (I went to school with some of the Schwab grandkids, but that is another story). My Les Schwab guy loves how the GX looks by the way. He keeps asking what I am doing next.

Anyway...after a little while, I got a call and some not so good news. Seems that the lower control arm adjustment bolts are frozen/rusted in place and we can't do the alignment. Now we are looking for options, but sounds like we need to cut them out and replace with new (or rebuilt) control arms and bushings.

Anyone know a good source for lower control arms that are good but reasonably priced?

 

[The Great Him]

Buy new cams, cut the old ones out if you have to, but I'd recommend soaking them in penetrating oil -pb blaster or the like daily and keep trying to work them. If after a couple weeks they are still froze, then cut the bolts(cams) and drive them out with a punch and hammer, then lube up the new cams and install them and do the alignment. Go to a Toyota dealer and get cams for a 4runner same year, same chassis and probably cheaper than going to Lexus

 

[ChiTown]

Have you thought about Fox for suspension? I did 2.5 coilovers and 2.0 in the rear and it rides great.

 

[BobinBend]

sliders are on... need to finish a couple more bolts on the middle support, but they look pretty good. after crawling under the car and wrenching...I am ready for some advil (and a glass of wine)

 

[GXO]

Very nice!

 

[BobinBend]

installing sliders isn't as easy as I thought...I got as many bolts in as I could and just could not get the nutserts to work for some reason. I finally got them to what I thought was "secure" enough to take it in to have someone help. Ended up at a new place I had not tried but had heard good things about...Auburn Car Repair and Offroad in Auburn Washington. John (the owner) got me in without an appointment and put the GX up on the rack where we looked at the Lower Control Arms, the CV Boots and a few other things.
I have been pretty bummed the last couple of days while getting quotes for new control arms and axles. But John checked it out and gave me a very fair price quote so I will bring it in tomorrow for the full day and get that all replaced. Meanwhile my install job on the sliders was making them wonder. It turned out the nutserts were not installed correct. He took one look at the sliders and said, "what would you think of welding them on?" ...to which I replied, "yes please"
So sliders are finally on and they look great (and they are not coming off very easy).
Next step tomorrow is the CV boots/axles and the control arms.
I think I found my go to place for work...big thanks to John at Auburn Car Repair (my blood pressure has gone back down a little)

 

[BobinBend]

So now that I am happy the sliders are on, I worked on a few little projects. Just cutting and sanding some walnut pieces to add a few helpful modifications...
I wanted to have a place on the center console to mount my RAM mounts for my CB and for my iPhone mount. It's hard to imagine, but a side piece goes between the seat and the passenger side of the console to hold the pcs. One strap of walnut fits between the cup holder and the rear bin. I also cutout and shaped two drawer front pcs. Last is a trim pc to mount in the ashtray front for my driving light switches. More too come on these...

 

[470SNC]

builds looking good Bob!

 

[BobinBend]

a little more progress...
glued and screwed the walnut pcs together for the center console pc and attached the drawer fronts. next step is to stain the wood on both. I think the Ram mounts will work nicely on the console

 

[BobinBend]

We took a weekend off and went to the NW Overland Rally in Plain Washington. Super nice folks and lots of great ideas for set ups. We ran up to sugar Loaf mountain lookout one day and a more challenging run up to mill creek peak. The Radflo set up worked fantastic.

 

[lndshark]

Looks great Bob! Glad to hear that you're liking the suspension choice.

So...there's a mall at the top of Sugarloaf Mountain? LOL...just teasin'!

 

[BobinBend]

well...been driving it for a while and just using it and up to 180K miles now. I still like this old rig, it just feels great to drive and been pretty damn dependable (although just replaced a radiator, O2 sensors, put some new redline oil in and a few normal maint items). For some reason, I am getting the bug to do a few more things. Here is my "hoping for list" for this year.

• New tires Toyo AT2s 285/70/17 (or equivalent)
• Total Chaos Upper Control Arms
  
• Avid front light bar with existing Rigid D2s and maybe some better "light up sh!t" lights than the hella 500s
• Ham radio / antenna mount
  
• add vertical "attachment wall" along rear driver side quarter window for rear compartment (hold fire ext bracket, paper towel roll, other accessories
• new large screen stereo with apple play, backup cam, Bluetooth phone and gps
• simple exhaust replace tubes and new muffler (maybe flow and with better sound)
• removable mount fox wing awning
• remount CB to work well with Ham
• maybe some interior work - put some nice stain on the wood drawers and the other trim added, might have the front seats rebuilt with better support, new front floor mats
• fly rod and long ham/cb antenna holder behind rear seat

 

[Webguy]

a little more progress...
glued and screwed the walnut pcs together for the center console pc and attached the drawer fronts. next step is to stain the wood on both. I think the Ram mounts will work nicely on the consoleView attachment 1093752View attachment 1093753View attachment 1093755

Just stumbled across this. Nice and ingenious. Any more pictures of it finished? What all do you mount on it?

 

[BobinBend]

It was kind of meant to be a "trial run / mock up" until I figured out what I really wanted to use. But a few years later it still works. I have a ram mount for my iPhone on the front piece and a ram mount with a mounting plate for clipping on my small CB on the cross piece (just in front of the center console storage area. I also have a stainless ball mounted on there for my HAM or CB mic (I glued the little magnet to the back of the mic).

I also just mounted a ham head unit to the suction cup ram mount base by the shifters. But basically this wood piece gives me a way to try out mounting locations without drilling or ruining my surfaces. This one has epoxy repairs and at some point, I still plan to build another one, maybe out of a different material.

these pictures aren't the best, but hopefully it gives you a better view from a different angle...

 

[tlin]

What's that little baby Bull Bar you've got there????

Nice ivory GX, running the same over here but not quite as clean as yours appears to be .

 

[nirschl]

Great looking ride and dig the drawers. I’m about to tackle that myself and you have me a couple ideas.

 

[MaverickFiveO]

I like the drawer setup. I'm currently mocking up a design for my GX in foam boards. What drawer sliders did you use? I'm looking for a set that have a "stay out" feature to hold the drawers open if the truck isn't level.

 

[BobinBend]

Thanks
Bull bar is a Westin, it’s a good light holder, but I really want to get a front bar from avid at some point. drawer slides were some soft-close rated for80# from rockler woodworking supply. I still need some sort of lock for them

 

[MaverickFiveO]

I've found either stay-open or stay-closed drawers, but not one that can do both. I'm thinking I'll get the stay-open variety and put a simple latch on the drawers to hold them closed during transit. I'll report back this Spring when my shed it warm enough to actually build the dang things.

 

[BobinBend]

Finally getting some new tires installed this week (285/70/17 GY Ultraterrains) so I will post pics later and update on how they do after we do some mountain snow/ice driving this month.
One thing that comes to mind is upper control arms. I’m having them checked out and suspect some worn (slight squeak/rattle at times). If I do need UPCs, which brand are the best for the money? The total chaos are pretty spendy, but is there a good brand that will work for less $