AHC Delete on 2005 LX470

[MrBanks]

I'm looking at buying an LX470 with high miles and it still has AHC. Does anyone know the cost to install an OME suspension lift kit? Anything I should be thinking of? Positives/Negatives? I've been looking through the forums and can't find all these details. Then again...I'm new to the forum.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Why remove it if it's working? If it's not, labor to install a lift I would guess at $500-1k. That's just working around the AHC stuff, not removing all the lines etc, which is a lot more time.

 

[MrBanks]

Why remove it if it's working? If it's not, labor to install a lift I would guess at $500-1k. That's just working around the AHC stuff, not removing all the lines etc, which is a lot more time.

If it's in good working order then you're correct. There would be no reason to replace it. However, I'm guessing it might be due for maint. so I wanted a rough figure on cost.

 

[Scrambled]

Its all in the forum. Welcome and keep digging!

 

[ramangain]

If it's in good working order then you're correct. There would be no reason to replace it. However, I'm guessing it might be due for maint. so I wanted a rough figure on cost.

Maintenance usually costs a 30mm socket and 3 bottles of AHC fluid. $90 tops

 

[suprarx7nut]

If it's in good working order then you're correct. There would be no reason to replace it. However, I'm guessing it might be due for maint. so I wanted a rough figure on cost.

I think you're mis-guided. AHC is usually cheap to maintain and lasts longer than most rigs.

AHC maintenance costs far less than a semi-comparable conversion. Keep AHC.

As community knowledge of the system has grown and more and more of us have spent time with the system with fully outfitted rigs, the fear-factor of AHC has dropped dramatically and it turns out there aren't that many expensive fixes within the system. A few common maintenance items cover the vast majority of owners for years and years (pressure checks, T-bar adjustment, rear spring replacement, globes replacement every decade, fluid flush every few years).

Unfortunately, most mechanics have no idea how to work on the system and when a torsion bar just needs free 5 minute adjustment, they quote the customer an entire AHC pump/accumulator assembly, all 4 shocks, all globes, new brake calipers, new brake accumulator, new hood, new fenders, new seats, a new kitchen sink, a new lawn and the cost to import a new spouse from a third world country. The customer then leaves the shop and posts on facebook that AHC costs $14,000 every 90 days and that Lexus made a mistake offering it in the first place. Then every single new LX470 owner comes onto mud and asks the fastest way to remove AHC. A tale as old as time...

Keep AHC.

 

[ramangain]

Ukraine is a third world country?

 

[MrBanks]

Thank you for this input! Great feedback.

 

[lehiguy]

Mine was shiz when I bough my rig, so off it went. I was shocked at how heavy all that stuff was. It took a day and a half to get rid of all of it and the garage floor will take a year to recover from all the suspension fluid that got everywhere.

 

[kwon-offroad]

It's really not expensive to import a Russian bride.

 

[tg470]

When I bought my 03 a year and a half ago, the AHC didn't work above Normal height. I refreshed the fluid and once filled up, it stayed fine over 18 months and several offroading trips. My front ram (what would be a shock absorber on a traditional setup) leaked a bit but ran fine for 10K+ miles...many of them hard.

This year I pulled off the AHC in favor of an ICON setup. AHC worked fine but it's a big job (10+ shop hours) and having it fail on the trail would be catastrophic because the truck would lower and no longer clear much of anything.

If you don't offroad, run it until it quits then go to a specialist for the suspension work. It isn't terribly complicated but there are definitely unique skills you don't want to pay someone else to learn on your dime. I did it myself and it took a couple weeks with needing to order some parts and me choosing to do a lot of additional work "while I'm in there anyway".

Do the fluid refresh. If you are serious about keeping it, you'll probably find the rear springs are shot and need to be replaced along with adjusting the torsion bars up front. The FSM lists specific pressure ranges that tired springs will probably not be able to hit. The good news is the pressure readings are available with the Techstream software. Really couldn't be easier to know where you are with AHC health.

I never looked into how much to pay someone to do the OME swap but figure $1,500 labor + $1,000-$1,500 parts and you're probably in the ballpark.

Shout out to OTRAMM as well -- he posts some fantastic videos on 100 series procedures that helped me a bunch and I had him rebuild my 3rd member and add a locking diff.

 

[seiko2rolex]

howdy y'all. first time poster, long time lurker.

i actually just had my AHC replaced with a kit i picked up from cruiser outfitters. i have an '00 lx470 with about 230k.

i chose this kit:
Stock/Light Load Replacement Suspension 1.5" Lift
50-150 lbs Front Load & Stock - 250 lbs Rear Load. Includes new front torsion bars.
Part# OME100STKTOR
1 - OME 303001 Front OME Torsion Bars
2 - OEM Toyota Front Shocks/Bushings
1 - OME 2865 Rear OME Coil Springs (Pair)
2 - OEM Toyota Rear Shocks/Bushings

had it installed at an indy shop and picked it up yesterday. labor was right at $1k. the ride home was great. a huge improvement as all 4 of my globes had failed and the shocks were toast. it was starting to feel like driving a pogo stick.

however, i woke up this morning to a large puddle in my garage at the rear driver side. a closer inspection revealed that none of the old AHC equipment was actually removed, only disabled. i'm guessing the puddle is from leftover AHC fluid that had not been fully drained?

not sure where to go from here. i'm about a 1/2 banana mechanic and worried if i remove the parts myself i'll do something dumb. is there any issue with just driving the rig as is and letting the remainder of the AHC fluid drain on its own? i had assumed this work would be done at the shop, but after reviewing the quote/invoice it only says "disabling the AHC."

if i were to take it back to the same shop, what would be a reasonable amount of labor to finish the job and remove all the old parts and lines?

 

[suprarx7nut]

howdy y'all. first time poster, long time lurker.

i actually just had my AHC replaced with a kit i picked up from cruiser outfitters. i have an '00 lx470 with about 230k.

i chose this kit:
Stock/Light Load Replacement Suspension 1.5" Lift
50-150 lbs Front Load & Stock - 250 lbs Rear Load. Includes new front torsion bars.
Part# OME100STKTOR
1 - OME 303001 Front OME Torsion Bars
2 - OEM Toyota Front Shocks/Bushings
1 - OME 2865 Rear OME Coil Springs (Pair)
2 - OEM Toyota Rear Shocks/Bushings

had it installed at an indy shop and picked it up yesterday. labor was right at $1k. the ride home was great. a huge improvement as all 4 of my globes had failed and the shocks were toast. it was starting to feel like driving a pogo stick.

however, i woke up this morning to a large puddle in my garage at the rear driver side. a closer inspection revealed that none of the old AHC equipment was actually removed, only disabled. i'm guessing the puddle is from leftover AHC fluid that had not been fully drained?

not sure where to go from here. i'm about a 1/2 banana mechanic and worried if i remove the parts myself i'll do something dumb. is there any issue with just driving the rig as is and letting the remainder of the AHC fluid drain on its own? i had assumed this work would be done at the shop, but after reviewing the quote/invoice it only says "disabling the AHC."

if i were to take it back to the same shop, what would be a reasonable amount of labor to finish the job and remove all the old parts and lines?

I'm guessing you're looking at another $500-$1k to remove most of AHC properly. $1k in labor is pretty low for a complete suspension install AND AHC removal, so it makes sense they left stuff in there.

I don't think it'll do much harm to leave it there, but if you can get it off without any damage you can sell some of the parts as spares and recoup some costs.

 

[tg470]

I just did the delete in my '03 LX470. I wanted to at least remove the major modules (pump in engine bay, 3 on frame driver's side, 2 on frame pax side). Engine bay is easy, front 2 modules aren't too bad. The rear are impossible on mine without dropping the gas tank and muffler. The problem is the components have a bracket that bolts to the side and the bloody top of the frame rail. If you can't get a 12mm socket or wrench up there, it doesn't come off.

Removing hoses and wires seems like you'd risk damage that would be expensive and difficult to troubleshoot/repair.

It's hard to believe how much "stuff" there is in AHC. I decided to do what was easily removed and not worry about the rest. It took a couple weeks for all the fluid to stop weeping out of the system but it will stop.

 

[l3n0x]

howdy y'all. first time poster, long time lurker.

i actually just had my AHC replaced with a kit i picked up from cruiser outfitters. i have an '00 lx470 with about 230k.

i chose this kit:
Stock/Light Load Replacement Suspension 1.5" Lift
50-150 lbs Front Load & Stock - 250 lbs Rear Load. Includes new front torsion bars.
Part# OME100STKTOR
1 - OME 303001 Front OME Torsion Bars
2 - OEM Toyota Front Shocks/Bushings
1 - OME 2865 Rear OME Coil Springs (Pair)
2 - OEM Toyota Rear Shocks/Bushings

had it installed at an indy shop and picked it up yesterday. labor was right at $1k. the ride home was great. a huge improvement as all 4 of my globes had failed and the shocks were toast. it was starting to feel like driving a pogo stick.

however, i woke up this morning to a large puddle in my garage at the rear driver side. a closer inspection revealed that none of the old AHC equipment was actually removed, only disabled. i'm guessing the puddle is from leftover AHC fluid that had not been fully drained?

not sure where to go from here. i'm about a 1/2 banana mechanic and worried if i remove the parts myself i'll do something dumb. is there any issue with just driving the rig as is and letting the remainder of the AHC fluid drain on its own? i had assumed this work would be done at the shop, but after reviewing the quote/invoice it only says "disabling the AHC."

if i were to take it back to the same shop, what would be a reasonable amount of labor to finish the job and remove all the old parts and lines?

I've converted mine to non-ahc about a year ago & left the AHC components in place. It did leak for the first few weeks, but that's all. Since then I've removed the pump/reservoir from the engine bay and one globe/actuator assy (PITA as it was rusted) and a couple lines (with a help of a dremel tool - it really speeds up things). But I somewhat gave up on removing the rest of the components as I can't see any benefit for it not being on, while I know the truck won't last another 20 years anyway.. It's good for handling my OCD problem as well, as it teaches me how to not care about things that much even though it would be doable in an afternoon with the right cutting tools probably

 

[MisterMister]

Does anyone know if there is any benefit to leaving the AHC components on the vehicle when I put a full aftermarket suspension on? I'm wondering if the value stays hire with the equipment still there if a future owner wants to use the AHC again. If not, I want to just rip it all out and lose the weight.

 

[OwnerCS]

Does anyone know if there is any benefit to leaving the AHC components on the vehicle when I put a full aftermarket suspension on? I'm wondering if the value stays hire with the equipment still there if a future owner wants to use the AHC again. If not, I want to just rip it all out and lose the weight.

I pulled mine off because I wanted to run three post LC style rock sliders. Even in an area where road salt is not used, rust started forming behind the AHC components that were bolted to the frame. Once I removed the frame components, I ground the rusty spots down to bare metal and refinished the area with primer and paint to keep that part of the frame looking like the rest. I had problems removing one of the top 12mm bolts I used a Sawzall to cut off that one. off.

My only advice about replacing AHC is to do some research and don't be afraid to think outside of the box to find something nice. You'll enjoy the ride both on the road and out on the trail.

The bushings were gone, the pump was weak, and all but one of the accumulators had failed. It was just a tired old suspension that needed a lot of love.

After refinishing the frame are where the AHC components had been rusting.

 

[suprarx7nut]

I pulled mine off because I wanted to run three post LC style rock sliders. Even in an area where road salt is not used, rust started forming behind the AHC components that were bolted to the frame. Once I removed the frame components, I ground the rusty spots down to bare metal and refinished the area with primer and paint to keep that part of the frame looking like the rest. I had problems removing one of the top 12mm bolts I used a Sawzall to cut off that one. off.

My only advice about replacing AHC is to do some research and don't be afraid to think outside of the box to find something nice. You'll enjoy the ride both on the road and out on the trail.

View attachment 2625232

The bushings were gone, the pump was weak, and all but one of the accumulators had failed. It was just a tired old suspension that needed a lot of love.

View attachment 2625237

After refinishing the frame are where the AHC components had been rusting.


View attachment 2625213

That's a great picture of that lower bushing and why it's worth replacing. I think that bushing right there is one of the main drivers for people feeling harsh ride with AHC after basic checks are complete.

For others that will come across this in their AHC decision making process:

All OEM Genuine parts:
$55 to replace all the lower mount bushings
$200 brand new pump
$750 brand new gas chambers
$50 3 liter AHC fluid flush

~$1k for a pretty complete AHC refresh. Throw in some new sensors and you're still under the cost of a new lift kit.

 

[213374U]

I pulled mine off because I wanted to run three post LC style rock sliders.

Glad I found this thread as I recently ordered WK sliders and an IM FCP lift. The sliders hadn't been built yet and so I contacted them to update the order to the 3-post. At least now I know what to expect when getting the AHC bits off the frame, which evidently will require a good fresh set of sawzall blades

 

[MisterMister]

That's a great picture of that lower bushing and why it's worth replacing. I think that bushing right there is one of the main drivers for people feeling harsh ride with AHC after basic checks are complete.

For others that will come across this in their AHC decision making process:

All OEM Genuine parts:
$55 to replace all the lower mount bushings
$200 brand new pump
$750 brand new gas chambers
$50 3 liter AHC fluid flush

~$1k for a pretty complete AHC refresh. Throw in some new sensors and you're still under the cost of a new lift kit.

Yes but will you still have all of the body roll and nose dive? I loved the cushy ride of the AHC but always felt like I was going to tip over on exits even below speed limit.