LX470 to build or not to build... (1 Viewer)

[2001LC]

Thanks cap80. I' pickup the rig today, first stop the car wash. Need to clean the engine (rodent droppings) and undercarriage.

Yeah, not much difference in .2". I do indeed like the idea of lots of cost effective option, as jLB has pointed out as well. I see in craigslist tons of wheel w/tires in the 17" or 18" range.

Whish I could find as many cost effective options on a hood, anyone know of any around???

 

[2001LC]

FWIW: I Just wanted to let those that may be interest to know/see/follow, I've started on a 06LC w58K miles restoration.


See my signature:

 

[2001LC]

FWIW: I Just wanted to let those that may be interest to know/see/follow, I've started on a 07LC Unicorn restore project. This one has a blown engine I must deal with first.

Scored a 2007 Unicorn. The holy grail of 100 series.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

That's a link to this thread, fyi.

 

[2MinutesTurkish]

I'm glad you said something. I've been clicking in circles for 30 minutes.

That's a link to this thread, fyi.

 

[2001LC]

Thanks TM, I fixed the link!

 

[2001LC]

Yeti (FKA WhiteLady) has been coming in for repairs. She put on 30K miles on her in 16 months, now at 245K. Seems the ignition cylinder worn out. Lexus want something like $1,200 for the job, $800 just for the cylinder. We found one on ebay for a few hundred, then had locksmith re-keyed cylinder to old keys.

Next repair was e.brake feel apart, something I've not seen before. Last shop to work on brakes Aspen Auto clinic 35K miles ago. Seems retain clips, springs & pins all fell apart also retain plate at top was bent and rear shoe was damage beyond usable. Drum was scored but usable until next brake job, which may be 30K. That would mean pad lasting around 65K, which is a lot for rear brakes.

I suspect Aspen Auto Clinic had left on E.brake as they pulled off drum. I say this because retain plate at top was bent and the one remain pin (other missing) had three washer on it. My guess is they damaged while using the bolt holes in drum that Toyota gives us to press of drum. Thinking drum frozen on as shoe held tight in drum, tech just keep cranking away on bolt. This most likely bent the retaining plate and stretched the pin. Then to get tension back at/on retaining spring with the now stretched pin, he added washer to back of the front pin to shim it.

Oil change, Coolant flush, heater Tee's and thermostat was also done.

 

[2001LC]

 

[2001LC]

 

[farmerlarry]

I'm putting 295/70/18's (~34.5" tire) on my 2006 LX with stock AHC suspension this weekend (UPS delivered them today!). From everything I have gathered from researching here, its possible to stuff these tires on a stock LX minus some rubbing on the pinch weld in the rear of the front fender wells. I plan to pull the plastic fender wells, bend the pinch weld out of the way, then use a heat gun to push the plastic ridge that accommodates the pinch weld as flat as possible.

I plan on posting pictures/impressions as I do it this weekend if you want to hold off on buying till then.

I used to work for a Jeep shop and while everyone was trying to jack their trucks up as high as possible, we subscribed to the lowest center of gravity and largest tire combo possible. The beauty of the LX is that you can drive around in N mode (low COG) then use the H mode when necessary to clear objects.

Looking to toss some 295's on my 99 LX470 with slee AHC override. how did the tires fit in there?

 

[2001LC]

Looking to toss some 295's on my 99 LX470 with slee AHC override. how did the tires fit in there?

Sorry just saw this. Those tire on 20" rims fit fine.

 

[2001LC]

Darn the brake booster motor went out about a month later. I pulled motor apart and the comutator was short and not turn able as it was worn down to plastic insulator.

Then a few months later Fan Bracket bearing went out at 250k miles. I had PO send me video to remotely diagnose, what they feared was water pump. Many not familiar with the 100 series think this a water pump.


Was a 6 hour job R&R fan bracket and I was moving fast to get done before temp drop to 20 F OAT. One hour of that was dealing with issues. First issue found was radiator fan shroud plastic broken at top fastener. I use a pricy super glue with special fill to bond it back together. Stuff said it's better than super glue and baking soda, seem to work great. I was filing it down within one minute. It held as I bolt back up to radiator later. I used this on my GF MDX front bumper inner support and worked great so far. I also use on a plastic fastener tap of door lock motor. I'm getting my $20 worth out of this stuff.

Second issue was getting fan off fan bracket. I think minor rust and heat from fan bracket bearing failure made it the most difficult I've ever pulled. That was extra 45 minute being careful not to damage fan or pulley. The older and higher mileage the more I need to remember to allow addition time for issues.

This was first fan bracket I've replaced for failure. I've done a few a with timing belt, which fan bracket job is more than 1/2 the labor of a T-belt job.

I could see metal shaving from failed fan bracket.

FSM states if oil coming from seal replace the fan bracket. I'd say this one meets that replace criteria.

 

[2001LC]

Interesting fan clutch (COUPLING ASSY, FLUID) was tight. Generally that is a good sign, but this has more resistance than I've felt in new Aisin coupling assy. I'm a little concerned the heat and wobble from failed fan bracket may have damage it. I'll advise owner to keep and eye on.

The upper goose neck of radiator was brittle, even more so than my 350K miles 2000LX. I had addvise owner to keep watch on radiator due to brown and cracking of top. But now this moves up to "warning" and need to be high on list of service/replacement.

Found the Idler pulley of drive belt (serpentine) was free spinning to easily and had mild chirp. It hadn't failed yet but went ahead and replaced while in there with a Toyota OEM I had on hand.

Drive belt is on it's way out, needs replacing. It had metal shards inbedded in that I spend 20 minutes cleaning out.