Welp,
After months of sitting on my brand new parts, I found a buddy who let me use his garage on Sunday as they are closed Sundays. I currently have an '04 GX470 that I've been waiting to lift. There are very few offroad shops in or near Washington D.C. and the two that are close quoted me $2k+ for an install or most wouldn't install with outside parts, so I decided to get a buddy and do it myself.
A little backstory on the parts, I originally purchased an '06 4Runner that I wanted to lift but found out late it was flaking with rust in the upper chassis and would be about $6-8k to fix so I decided to move to the GX platform with no rust and start over. Problem was that I'd already purchased all the lift parts for the 4runner and was out of the return shipping date. Luckily the GX and T4R platforms are very similar and nearly interchangeable.
This brings us to Sunday where I attempted to install:
Fox 2.0 front suspension
SPC Upper Control Arms
Ironman 4x4 airbag delete kit
Old man Emu Heavy-duty Coil springs
Fox 2.0 rear struts
SCS Ray 10 Brushed Bronze
Toyo Open Country A/T
The front was a little difficult as there was still caked-on mud from two Moab trips from 2021 but eventually, we managed to fit and torque everything correctly. I figured the airbag delete kit would cause the most headache but turned out to be the most simple to install.
The issue finally appeared when we went to instal the rear struts. First off, there was only a rubber bushing at the base (pictured), not a metal insert to slide onto the base strut mount. We managed to force the passenger side base strut far enough onto the mount to a point where I could thread the bolt and used an impact to drive the rest of the strut bushing to be 'secure'. This is where disater struck as I drove it too far and stripped the threads of the inner strut mount.... So now the shock was on and the bolt would just spin.
We attempted to do something similar to the other side but the approach angle of the driver side strut mount would not play ball and due to time, I was forced to put the OEM strut back on. the car now sits with three Fox 2.0 shocks, one OEM strut, two SCS Ray 10 wheels with the Toyo Open Country's and two stock Lexus wheels with BF Goodrich wheel.
Please laugh at my expense as I deserve it fully but if anyone has recommendations about what I should do to fix the issue drop a comment as I am SOL right now. I figure I'll have to buy new rear struts but I would prefer not to so if there is a way to fix the bottom bushing situation please let me know.
TL/DR: Used 4Runner lift on GX470, front looks awesome rear looks like I robbed half an offroad store.
After months of sitting on my brand new parts, I found a buddy who let me use his garage on Sunday as they are closed Sundays. I currently have an '04 GX470 that I've been waiting to lift. There are very few offroad shops in or near Washington D.C. and the two that are close quoted me $2k+ for an install or most wouldn't install with outside parts, so I decided to get a buddy and do it myself.
A little backstory on the parts, I originally purchased an '06 4Runner that I wanted to lift but found out late it was flaking with rust in the upper chassis and would be about $6-8k to fix so I decided to move to the GX platform with no rust and start over. Problem was that I'd already purchased all the lift parts for the 4runner and was out of the return shipping date. Luckily the GX and T4R platforms are very similar and nearly interchangeable.
This brings us to Sunday where I attempted to install:
Fox 2.0 front suspension
SPC Upper Control Arms
Ironman 4x4 airbag delete kit
Old man Emu Heavy-duty Coil springs
Fox 2.0 rear struts
SCS Ray 10 Brushed Bronze
Toyo Open Country A/T
The front was a little difficult as there was still caked-on mud from two Moab trips from 2021 but eventually, we managed to fit and torque everything correctly. I figured the airbag delete kit would cause the most headache but turned out to be the most simple to install.
The issue finally appeared when we went to instal the rear struts. First off, there was only a rubber bushing at the base (pictured), not a metal insert to slide onto the base strut mount. We managed to force the passenger side base strut far enough onto the mount to a point where I could thread the bolt and used an impact to drive the rest of the strut bushing to be 'secure'. This is where disater struck as I drove it too far and stripped the threads of the inner strut mount.... So now the shock was on and the bolt would just spin.
We attempted to do something similar to the other side but the approach angle of the driver side strut mount would not play ball and due to time, I was forced to put the OEM strut back on. the car now sits with three Fox 2.0 shocks, one OEM strut, two SCS Ray 10 wheels with the Toyo Open Country's and two stock Lexus wheels with BF Goodrich wheel.
Please laugh at my expense as I deserve it fully but if anyone has recommendations about what I should do to fix the issue drop a comment as I am SOL right now. I figure I'll have to buy new rear struts but I would prefer not to so if there is a way to fix the bottom bushing situation please let me know.
TL/DR: Used 4Runner lift on GX470, front looks awesome rear looks like I robbed half an offroad store.
