Recent content by Jim_Chow

I just bought the fuel tank plate and full bottom plates (front, engine, transmission+cats, transfer case) in aluminum on sale at Talons Garage (4 plate set was under $1K, shipping was $70 cross country, no tax). Haven't installed them yet (waiting for some aluminum coating treatment to arrive)...

Also running the Naviks NK2300 HDMI video unit and Kenwood CMOS-230LP on the 03 LX

'03 and newer LX/LC's had the ATF dipstick...dunno if anyone has tried to retrofit one into a '04-07?

x2. '05 LS is my DD, 195K mi. Parts for the LS's 3UZ 90K service are all the same as the LX except the radiator hoses and air filter, so you can buy the LS parts online from Toyota for a '03 LC.

Autotrader shows $20-40k ish. In 2006, I paid $40K for my '03 LX w/ 45K miles in AZ. Talk about holding its value!

Just finished rust cleanup on the LX. I used a chemical rust remover, which works well if mostly surface rust. It especially worked well on the accumulator valve units (fins, fasteners). Next, I applied a primer for steel boats and zinc chromate on the cleaned fasteners, then John Deere Blitz...

Makes me wonder why one couldn’t just use the red bolts in lieu of the purple ones? Looking at the P/Ns, the purple ones are the same bolts for the 100 series front skid and large plastic plate under the tranny while the red bolts are the same part as all the skid and cross member bolts on the...

I got the Creader Launch Elite T for Toyota/Lexus on Amazon. Definitely worth the money. It took a bit of experimentation to read the pressures. You need to put the AHC in L, then raise it N to update pressures. I was able to properly adjust the torsion bars, bringing the front AHC pressures...

Recently upgraded front brakes with a big brake kit. I now have front left/right OEM brake calipers w/ attached stainless brake lines for the taking. Also includes lightly used Porterfield R4s pads (slots weren't cut very deep, but pads only have a few months of use). Free local pickup or pay...

I have the USA Spec BT45TOY (from Amazon) in both my '03 LX470 and '05LS430. So far had them for about 2 yrs, very happy! Sound quality is quite good. The LX required an adapter than I got from Crutchfield.

Bracket appear to be CNC machined and anodized aluminum. There are two 10mm Allen head bolts that attach the bracket to the vehicle at 90 ft-lbs torque. The heads of the allen bolts are countersunk into the bracket so they are just about flush when tightened. As you can see, the face of the...

I used one of the wheels turned upside down to work on the hub/rotor when torquing the rotor bolts. I also use a 2x4 block and hammer to seat the oil seal for the inner bearing after a repack. Anyways, got the rotors bedded in the following morning, two sets of 10 slow downs from 60 to 10mph...

First photo shows the OEM caliper below. Stoptech calipers for the 100 series have 42mm and 44mm pistons. Calipers are a tad thinner than OEM. I’m running 2006 18 in wheels. The OEM calipers had maybe 1/8 in clearance. Stoptech calipers have around 1/4 in clearance. I go mine in the classified...

Spent New Year’s Day installing new Stoptech BBK (thanks to bjowett!). Also installed new rear slotted Stoptech rotors. Installation went pretty smoothly. Only difficulties where the old rotor had seized to the hub, so I had to soak with PB Blaster and use a screwdriver and sledge to gently...

I think the stiffness is ~1/R^2, so (24/23)^2 equates to 8.8% stiffer, not much. Now 27mm vs 23mm is 37.8% stiffer. I just upgraded the rear sway on my LS430 to from stock 13mm to the sport (14mm). While it's only 1mm It's more complicated than that. Check out this website to calculate the...