Builds 2003 LX470 Overland Build (1 Viewer)

[AlamoCruiser]

Last weekend I decided to do a pre-trip inspection to check for any anomalies that might keep me from hitting the road after Christmas. I unfortunately found a leaky driver side valve cover gasket, the culprit being a break in the gasket as it peeled out the bottom. This was “replaced” but the dealership I bought it from, but I’ve driven all of 600 miles since purchase and found it. Either an incorrect installation or they just tightened the bolts and said it was changed. Either way, it’s necessary I fix it.
I also found some crumbling front sway bar bushings which I assume to be the source of slight clunking when I go over bumps. Easy fix!

 

[AlamoCruiser]

 

[AlamoCruiser]

Ordered the parts I needed on Monday and had them by Friday. I fixed the head gasket yesterday and it’s been running good. I’m keeping an eye on it just in case I need to adjust bolt tension or need to remove to apply ultra black in the corners (I didn’t realize it was recommended). I used the FelPro kit off of RockAuto and it went smooth as hell though. I couldn’t have asked for a better process in what I expected to be a headache. Not nearly as difficult as everyone here made it seem.

I also replaced the PCV valve, and I’m glad I did. This thing was caked up real bad!

 

[AlamoCruiser]

Ordered more goodies for my truck, and they should be here later in the week. ARB tire repair kit and traction boards are on their way, and I'm going to be getting a spare tire as well. That should be all that I really need before taking on this trip

 

[AlamoCruiser]

Goodies are here! These knockoff MaxTraxx look to be built pretty well, I'm curious to use them in the field!

 

[AlamoCruiser]

Trip Report!

The overland trip I had been planning went well. We had issues come up with camping and available spots due to COVID, burn bans, and lots of rain, but it was a blast nonetheless. I've also got a ton of photos so be forewarned, I'm about to photo dump on this thread. Thanks for browsing and enjoy.

Gassing up at the gas station before leaving at 5:30am!

Found a cool dirt road during the sunrise and just had to get a photo. I think it was like 18 degrees F

Already have a dirty ass windscreen thanks to my terrible wipers, but this dirt road ended up being really cool. We passed a group of overlanders on dual sports too, so that was cool!

First water crossing (1 of 2 on public roads) of the trip. It's not much but dammit I was excited!

 

[AlamoCruiser]

I'm a beer lover, so the arrival to Marble Falls was marked by an impromptu visit to Bear King Brewing, which was only ~15 minutes away from Hidden Falls Adventure Park, the destination for the day and our campspot!

Arrived to Hidden Falls! This was the park trail map. We stuck to 1 and 2 diamond trails since I didn't have sliders. If I had sliders, I would've definitely pushed to 3 diamond.

First things first: need to establish base camp. This spot turned out to be a really sick spot with a great fire pit that was already established. The only issue we had was that red and white monstrosity in the background with their 9 million toys, loud music, drones, and partying until 2am. It didn't ruin my time though!

This was the first trail we hit for the day, called North Pole. It had some spots of somewhat challenging obstacles, but was honestly just a great spot to start for the day with good views of the whole park. We also ran into this giant group of Toyotas out there. They had some cool rigs, but we stayed our distance because some of their driving tendencies were a little suspect (bumper to bumper hill climbs are not my thing ).

As we passed to Toyota crew, we spotted the only other Lexus ( we saw) out there for the day. This GX was pretty sweet!

 

[AlamoCruiser]

Unfortunately, it looks like somebody had a hell of a day a while back with what looks like an old chevy square body. This is a good reminder to take precautions and approach all obstacles with the respect they deserve. Even a well outfitted truck can run into major issues and make it a giant paperweight.

I got a little muddy leaving the trail and heading back to the campsite. We stopped to grab some firewood that was lying alongside the trail, and I had to take a photo. Definitely the dirtiest this truck has ever been!

Our dinner the first night was chicken fajitas with tortillas, créma, cheese, and grilled onions

 

[AlamoCruiser]

The next day brought us chips and salsa, sandwiches, and Karbach Hopadillos for breakfast/lunch

On our way out for more trails, we saw this absolutely insane Toyota Previa and had to take a photo. I left the other trucks in the picture so you could see how actually massive this van was! It was the factory supercharged version too

 

[AlamoCruiser]

Day 2 brought some more challenging trails. I'm continually surprised how well this truck handles trails with just tires!! People were asking me about it at the park and everyone couldn't believe it was stock other than rubber. Toyota/Lexus made a hell of a Land Cruiser with the 100, I'll say that!

 

[AlamoCruiser]

Drove on through this mud pit and managed to take some of the mud with me as my rear diff high centered. This KM3 MTs didn't give a damn about it though; they're basically a mud cheat code!!

I thought a picture of my Overland Bound badge would be cool. I love the product research and videos they put out.

Okay so this was interesting. The park had an air up station, and I had my un-tested air compressor. I figured it'd be a great time to test it out since we had an established, working air system as a backup. My brother and I decided to race and see who could air up 2 tires the fastest, and to my great surprise, that little air compressor worked wonderfully! I ended up airing 3 tires while he aired up 1. It was WELL worth the purchase, knowing it was capable of that.

We stumbled on a nice creek hidden in the hill country and I had to take a photo. This is what I got out on the road for. Peaceful, undisturbed beauty in nature.

 

[AlamoCruiser]

The last day brought us to Flying Armadillo Disc Golf Course near San Marcos, TX. We camped overnight (no photos of the campsite) and then played the entirety of the next day on their 2 courses. We intended on staying there 2 nights after our plan to go to Sam Houston Nat'l Forest was met with a burn ban, but there was a 15 hour-long storm rolling in overnight so we decided to cut the trip early by a day.

this cool ass 100 parked next to me at the course and I got to talk to the owner for a minute. Cool guy and definitely inspired me to get sliders; they looked so good on his truck. I also found it hilarious we had matching missing center caps on only one of our back wheels. Fantastic! (Also note that at some point I lost my trailer hitch cover on the previous day. I'm not sure when or where it went, but it's lying on the ground somewhere at Hidden Falls )

Got some great views of the disc golf course at the top of their 3 story tower.

Speaking of that tower, we had our last lunch of sandwiches and chips/salsa up at the top. To top it off, we had a very tasty barrel aged sour from 512 Brewing in Austin, TX. Cheers to them for making a great beer, cheers to all of the places we visited on our trip providing us with a place to sleep and explore, and cheers to the Texas Hill Country for being so ******* beautiful everywhere. Until next time!

 

[Beauski100]

fun stuff!

 

[Max.Powerzz]

Great trip report!

 

[213374U]

Great thread! I just picked up a 470 yesterday from JD Motors! Looking forward to the build and the adventures myself.

 

[Tastethesoup]

Great thread and trip report. I'm up in Dallas and looking to take similar trips so enjoyed reading up on some of these areas

 

[AlamoCruiser]

Ok so the truck has been doing great. I moved up to the Denver, Colorado area and it’s been great so far. Does anyone know if 100s In The Hills is happening this year or not? I’m really hoping to take my wife and dogs, and meet some other 100s owners

 

[AlamoCruiser]

After some inspection of the truck, I’ve got a list of what needs to be fixed to keep it running great. Today I’m tackling new front rotors, brake pads, and wheel bearings. I’ll have some photos and a video up sometime soon to show my work. I sure do miss wrenching!

 

[AlamoCruiser]

Two weeks ago I was able to replace both front wheel bearings, races, washers, and gaskets with OEM Toyota parts. After taking a day on each side to ensure I installed them correctly, I took the truck out for a drive, had no vibrations, sounds, or issues.

Fast forward to today, I'm on my way home from work and I hear a slight rhythmic clunking coming from front end. I pull over to see if I can recreate it at slow parking lot speeds and am able to hone in the noise to the driver front. I lift the truck up, and wiggle the wheel to find a clear symptom of a bad wheel bearing. My suspicion is that I didn't tighten down the outside nut for the axle enough and it's worked out just enough to cause this issue. To avoid having to do this job a 3rd time on the truck, I'm going to reorder all new parts (again) from Toyota and install again. Let's hope that the second time's the charm.

 

[AlamoCruiser]

Okay so I replaced the wheel bearings with new Toyota parts again, packed with more grease than the first time (upon removal it looked like I skimped on grease a little), used an actual bearing press instead of brass drifts (even though I had set the races in correctly, it took so much less time with the bearing press), and used the correct size axle socket/a torque wrench to take the nuts to factory specs.

For those who are unaware of factory specs, this is what I did (acquired off of a Youtube video):
- Tighten first nut to 43 ft/lbs
- Rotate forward and backward at least 2x each
- Loosen to hand tight
- Tighten first nut again to 43 ft/lbs
- Rotate forward and backward at least 2x each
- Loosen to hand tight
- Tighten to 26 ft/lbs
- Slide on the tabbed washer
- Thread on and tighten the second nut to 43 ft/lbs
- Rotate wheel forward and backward at least 2x each again to ensure no funky noises/binding/grinding
- Bend one tab forward and one tab backwards to lock nuts in place
- Seal the unit back up


After doing so, it seemed to make a big difference when I moved the rotors back and forth compared to prior to reinstalling the second pair of new bearings. This felt much more solid and I feel considerably more confident about the install. Now to drive it and monitor it for a while, and see if it stands the test of time