Hi Everyone,
First off, thank you to all of the posters who have gotten me this far. I've been reading as much here as I can, and I'm grateful for all of the vast information on the site. It's really great, and I deeply appreciate the effort it takes to run a forum like this (so also thanks to the moderators and owners).
Just got a GX460 Premium certified pre-owned a couple weeks ago. As much as I wanted a gray or black one, the white seemed more practical (and it was in the best shape / mileage from the ones I looked at). Anyway, I'm on the fence about some stuff.
In a few months, we will be moving to a fairly rural area of northern Nevada. Because I do like to use BLM land for recreational shooting and hiking I was thinking I'd lift the 460 a little to get some additional ground clearance. Nothing too extreme. I don't abuse my stuff generally and since I opted for the Platinum extended warranty (I have bad luck sometimes) I don't want to venture too far out and cause warranty denials later on.
Thus far, here's what I'm looking at -
1) Getting the MTS and Crawl control happening. Already ordered the MTS module and the CC switch (thanks again to the great info on which part numbers and install instructions!). Hopefully I can install these without messing anything up too badly.
2) There's a local place called 88Rotors, and I've been discussing suspension options. My goal is to keep things as simple and bulletproof / low maintenance as possible. The nearest Lexus dealer is about an hour from where I'll be living, so my desire is to be as self-sufficient as I can reasonably be. Usage will just be BLM roads and maybe a few medium difficulty trails. I have zero interest in the rock crawling thing, it scares the crap out of me just watching other people do it.
Here's where I'm at in terms of a prospective setup:
Fox 2.5 non-reservoir coilovers, Eibach springs, Method 17" wheels, and either Toyo AT3's or K02's in 275/70/17. 2" lift.
And here's what I'm stuck on:
- UCA choice. From all the reading I've been doing, and for my needs of lowest maintenance and dummy-proofness, I'm leaning towards the Dobinsons UCA's. I like that they're sealed and use the Japanese ball joints. The uniball options didn't appeal to me because I've gathered that they're more prone to wear and won't be as low maintenance in the long term (I realize they have advantages, but I'm not sure those would help in my scenario).
- Wheels / tire size and spare location. Since it looks like going up in size of the tires will force me to not use the stock spare location, this is a bit of a sticking point. I haven't seen many good options here. Losing a good amount of the already-limited cargo space doesn't appeal much to me, and the spare carrying options haven't stood out as great. The upcoming Ronin metal rear carrier looks good in the single pic on the site, but it's hard to say (plus, I'm really ignorant about this stuff in the first place). Right now, if I decide to pull the trigger, I'm thinking I'll carry the spare in the cargo area until the Ronin option appears, and make a decision then. Hoping that's sound thinking, but not sure.
- In order to maximize longevity, should I also have the installers replace the panhard rod and links, or would that only be applicable to situations unlike mine? I'd rather buy-once-cry-once than wish I had done it later. Especially if it takes strain off of the KDSS components or things like that. It's not a gigantic investment to get those parts, so if there's a long-term advantage I'm open to it. Is there?
- I like the idea of larger non-reservoir shocks. The Ironman Foam Cell Pros seem great from what I've read, but the installer doesn't carry them. Are they better than Fox to the extent that it would be worth buying them and just having the shop install those instead?
Enough of me droning on and on. Sorry about that, just wanted say hi and maybe get some advice about some stuff that's been swimming in my head non-stop for a couple weeks.
Thanks in advance for any replies,
Sfx
First off, thank you to all of the posters who have gotten me this far. I've been reading as much here as I can, and I'm grateful for all of the vast information on the site. It's really great, and I deeply appreciate the effort it takes to run a forum like this (so also thanks to the moderators and owners).
Just got a GX460 Premium certified pre-owned a couple weeks ago. As much as I wanted a gray or black one, the white seemed more practical (and it was in the best shape / mileage from the ones I looked at). Anyway, I'm on the fence about some stuff.
In a few months, we will be moving to a fairly rural area of northern Nevada. Because I do like to use BLM land for recreational shooting and hiking I was thinking I'd lift the 460 a little to get some additional ground clearance. Nothing too extreme. I don't abuse my stuff generally and since I opted for the Platinum extended warranty (I have bad luck sometimes) I don't want to venture too far out and cause warranty denials later on.
Thus far, here's what I'm looking at -
1) Getting the MTS and Crawl control happening. Already ordered the MTS module and the CC switch (thanks again to the great info on which part numbers and install instructions!). Hopefully I can install these without messing anything up too badly.
2) There's a local place called 88Rotors, and I've been discussing suspension options. My goal is to keep things as simple and bulletproof / low maintenance as possible. The nearest Lexus dealer is about an hour from where I'll be living, so my desire is to be as self-sufficient as I can reasonably be. Usage will just be BLM roads and maybe a few medium difficulty trails. I have zero interest in the rock crawling thing, it scares the crap out of me just watching other people do it.
Here's where I'm at in terms of a prospective setup:
Fox 2.5 non-reservoir coilovers, Eibach springs, Method 17" wheels, and either Toyo AT3's or K02's in 275/70/17. 2" lift.
And here's what I'm stuck on:
- UCA choice. From all the reading I've been doing, and for my needs of lowest maintenance and dummy-proofness, I'm leaning towards the Dobinsons UCA's. I like that they're sealed and use the Japanese ball joints. The uniball options didn't appeal to me because I've gathered that they're more prone to wear and won't be as low maintenance in the long term (I realize they have advantages, but I'm not sure those would help in my scenario).
- Wheels / tire size and spare location. Since it looks like going up in size of the tires will force me to not use the stock spare location, this is a bit of a sticking point. I haven't seen many good options here. Losing a good amount of the already-limited cargo space doesn't appeal much to me, and the spare carrying options haven't stood out as great. The upcoming Ronin metal rear carrier looks good in the single pic on the site, but it's hard to say (plus, I'm really ignorant about this stuff in the first place). Right now, if I decide to pull the trigger, I'm thinking I'll carry the spare in the cargo area until the Ronin option appears, and make a decision then. Hoping that's sound thinking, but not sure.
- In order to maximize longevity, should I also have the installers replace the panhard rod and links, or would that only be applicable to situations unlike mine? I'd rather buy-once-cry-once than wish I had done it later. Especially if it takes strain off of the KDSS components or things like that. It's not a gigantic investment to get those parts, so if there's a long-term advantage I'm open to it. Is there?
- I like the idea of larger non-reservoir shocks. The Ironman Foam Cell Pros seem great from what I've read, but the installer doesn't carry them. Are they better than Fox to the extent that it would be worth buying them and just having the shop install those instead?
Enough of me droning on and on. Sorry about that, just wanted say hi and maybe get some advice about some stuff that's been swimming in my head non-stop for a couple weeks.
Thanks in advance for any replies,
Sfx