Builds Hokie's 2003 LX470 (1 Viewer)

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Got the cruiser design and manufacturing cup holder fitted today. I went with it due to being able to handle more cup sizes than other offerings but the finish is really rough with lots of snags and fit is ok. Will need to give it some sanding to finish it but I’m excited to get rid of the horrible butterfly cup holder.

I also replaced my hood struts since they were beyond shot.
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Mine was also broken when I bought the truck and was very annoying. I was thrilled when I saw a thread on here about someone finding that this part fit our trucks and fixes the problem! I don't have a part number but I bought mine on eBay. I would search something similar to this. This is the title of what I bought.

"OEM 2002-2006 Toyota CAMRY Lexus ES300 Console Armrest LATCH 02 03 0405 06 BLACK"

This along with the headlight retrofit is up there with some of my favorite things I've done to the truck!
@Hokie LX my center console latch broke and I'm so tired of trying to epoxy it back together - it never holds. Ran across your post from a couple years ago and want to go this route but don't see how you go about replacing the new latch. Do you have to separate the leather console top of the lid from the plastic bottom to get at the 2 screws?
 
@Hokie LX my center console latch broke and I'm so tired of trying to epoxy it back together - it never holds. Ran across your post from a couple years ago and want to go this route but don't see how you go about replacing the new latch. Do you have to separate the leather console top of the lid from the plastic bottom to get at the 2 screws?


I just took a dremel and sanded back the plastic covering the screw heads. Then you can remove the screws from the latch. Then simply do the same on the new latch. You could also use a drill bit to drill the plastic out above the screw head.
 
@Hokie LX Ahh, I see, thank you very much
 
Got stranded the other night. Was driving home (75 miles) and battery light came on and steering got heavy. Belt was thrown due to a seized tensioner pulley and luckily I got to a gas station as I had both the dogs with me.

Worst part is I had a tensioner and idler pulley in my garage but had procrastinated putting them on so I guess it's somewhat deserved. Got them replaced with a new belt the next day and was back on the road.
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I've also been battling inconsistent voltage readings on my scanguage for a couple of years now. It will fluctuate from 12.4-13.1V then 13.0-13.3V then hold steady at 13.3 while driving and then sometimes be up to 13.8V on startup. No rhyme or reason and the fluctuation happens every couple of seconds virtually 100% of the time I'm driving. I replaced the alternator last May but no difference. Finally looked into it after the battery died from the above issue and went to 3 auto parts stores to get the battery/alt evaluated. Autozone said all was good, Advance said the voltage regulator failed and so did O'Reilleys. So I'm wondering if my "new reman alt" from RA was bad out of the box.

I ordered a new alternator as well as supplies to redo all of the ground lines and main power line from the alt to the battery and we'll see if that helps. I'm also going to replace the battery for good measure as it has swelled some. Probably due to running it down to 8.4V trying to get home after the belt was thrown and then throwing it on the charger to top up. I'll report back if these things fix my voltage issue or not.
 
Got motivated yesterday afternoon and installed my new AHC globes. Truck has 254k miles on it and these were the factory globes. The ride was still ok but graduations were around 6-7 so ready for replacement. My front pressures dropped more than 1MPa under spec with the new globes so had to readjust the front end to put more pressure on the front with less TB assistance.

Took about an hour and then another hour of tweaking the front sensor heigh adjustment, sensor rod length and torsion bars to get the pressures and height dialed.

The ride isn't night and day different but definitely improved. I bought the HF forged service wrench set which worked great. The driver front globe was tightened to a point where the wrench wasn't accessible to hit it with a hammer to help loosen them so I had to get creative with a ratchet strap which worked to get it loose. The others came right off with a quick tap of the hammer.

I bought 2 large cans of AHC fluid but only ended up using just under 1 full can before fresh fluid was flowing on all 4 corners. The bleeding process was easy as usual. I'll keep the other can on hand for the next flush.

Final pressures with new globes:

Front: 6.7 MPa
Rear: 6.0 MPa

Truck on the bump stops
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My ratchet strap contraption to get leverage on the wrench.
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Old fluid which was ~20k miles old and just over 2 years old.
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Old globes:
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Couple of updates. First I built a new rear platform (v2) back in November that houses an ARB fridge I picked up last year for my 60. I still use my 100 as a weekend camping solution so needed something to house the fridge. Wired in a BlueSea fuse block under the hood and a panel in the back cargo area to plug into and provide USB's while camping. I also made a quick and dirty front platform to replace the rear seats so I can sleep on it as I made the new platform taller than the previous one to allow for more usable storage underneath.

However, it looks like it will be short lived. We just got another large dog so the 100 will likely relinquish its camping duties to the 60 as this will need to be suitable to cart around 2 large dogs in the back. Luckily, I already have someone who can use it so it won't go to waste! @liz will be adding it to her rig to make it even more functional!

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I'm also gearing up for a round of maintenance. New AHC globes from Impex, new steering wheel and will be ordering new seat covers soon to complete the interior refurb. The clear coat on the wood part of my factory wheel has been broken and chipping away since I bought the truck due to the PO wearing a lot of rings. The leather is also toast so the replacement is going to be really nice! I got some leather samples from Ridies and will likely be going with them for my new seat covers.

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Old wheel
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New wheel
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Where did you source the new steering wheel?
 
I have had quite the AHC journey since installing the new globes...

While bleeding the system after installing the new globes I had an air bubble when the truck went to Low. The last 1/2" was a harsh drop in height. I bled it several times and finally ran out of time so I decided to "do it later". Drove to work the next day and on the way home the system OFF light flashed and the height dropped going down the highway. The bubble had worked its way upstream somewhere. I've fought air in the system when I've flushed it previously but this was much worse than before. I got home and started bleeding again to no avail. I ran out of fluid to continue working on the system and reached for a leftover plastic bottle from years ago that I had on the shelf.

This was my mistake...

Refilled the reservoir with the plastic bottle fluid (I completely forgot about the plastic bottle issues from years past) and dropped the truck into Low to do another bleed and the truck wouldn't raise up. My pump was running when wired to the battery but no fluid was moving, the active-test was not doing anything either and I was losing hope thinking I burned something out after running the pump so much diagnosing. Long story short, after several days diagnosing and trying to get it working again with the Active-Test, I finally got it working normally again. This thread was invaluable in helping me diagnose AHC pump out? With code 1762 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/ahc-pump-out-with-code-1762.1226629/page-6

Ended up removing the pump, attenuator, accumulator, disassembling and cleaning them all and blowing them out. The pump had some gunk in it but nothing crazy. The screens were definitely clogged and the accumulator had nasty fluid coming out of it that was flushed out.

The system is finally working again and after cleaning the pump out, the system adjusts at least twice as fast as before. I had already ordered a new AHC pump sub-assembly and all new o-rings and reservoir early on in this diagnosis saga that I can't cancel so I'll probably just install them once they arrive.

Pic of truck back at ride height. The front is much higher than it was previously... I wonder if the clogged up accumulator was limiting fluid to the front? Need to readjust it.

I also scored a couple of Packasport roof boxes recently. IYKYK. Bought the black skinny one first and then stumbled on the full width white one locally for $200. Haven't decided if I'll keep both or not. Maybe the black one will live on the 60...

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Misc pics from the pump disassembly and truck being on the bumpstops
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How is your helicoil repair on the hydraulic tensioner pulley bolt holding up? Any tips on ur technique?
 
How is your helicoil repair on the hydraulic tensioner pulley bolt holding up? Any tips on ur technique?

Sorry for some reason I thought I responded to this. It’s holding great! I’m due for a timing belt in the next 25k or so and I’ll check it then.

Just go slow and don’t force it.
 
Another Hokie checking in here (07'), I just wanted to say I enjoyed going through your build thread, beautiful rig! I just bought a twin to yours, same color, just an 05'! Cheers and GO HOKIES!!!
 
I went to go start the truck this morning and felt something in the ignition cylinder break and the key was freely moving back and forth. After some searching it seemed like the ignition transfer rod snapped. I had never heard of this issue until I started searching for causes for a broken ignition and seems it is somewhat common...

Ordered a replacement from the dealer 45280-60610 and it should show up tomorrow. As is common knowledge, you have to buy the entire bracket assembly that houses this rod in order to get a new one, you cannot buy it separately.

I got it taken apart afterwards to confirm my guess and sure enough...the culprit.
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This is what was taken off to access it.
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Truck should be back up and running in short order tomorrow once I go get the parts from the dealer. I am glad this happened in my driveway and not at an event or on a trip somewhere!
 
All fixed. As mentioned, you have to buy the entire bracket assembly in order to get the new rod. The bracket uses single use torque to failure bolts to attach to the column and you have to pull the column and drill out the old bolts to install the new bracket so I opted to not do that...

Starts up like she should now!

FYI: this PN is only for the trucks with electronic tilt wheel.

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Got my new steering wheel installed as part of this project. My OEM wheel’s clear coat had been chipped and broken since I bought the truck due to the PO wearing rings. The leather has only gotten worse over the years too.

This new wheel is a fantastic color match and the wood looks exceptional. Very happy with it.

Old vs. new
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Well my CV's have been throwing a tiny bit of grease lately out of the inner shaft clamps and I purchased reboot kits that I was planning to do in the next couple weeks. Well that timeline has been moved up as I was rotating my tires this morning and saw this...boot opened up. I was under the truck 2 days ago and this was not there so I guess it must have happened in the last day or so. Will tackle this tomorrow. I have new diff seals, inner c clip and new drive flanges in case I need them once I get it apart.

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Got my cv's rebooted yesterday. Didn't take many pics as I was under a time crunch but got them knocked out regardless. First time rebooting CV's and it went smoothly. Also replaced my outer tie rods on both sides as the ones on the truck both had torn boots.

I also used the McMaster clamps instead of the toyota clamps.

The culprit. Driver side CV inner boot tore
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CV reboot kit
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Driver side CV outer joint after 2 cans of brake cleaner and some towels
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Both outer tie rods. Replaced with 555
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All that's left today is to top up front diff fluid, reinstall skid plates and test drive.
 
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