Hey Everyone. My Names Jay, and I’m about to take my 2009 GX 470 off the road for hopefully less than a month to finally tackle a bunch of mounting repairs.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a forum, but I used to own a BMW e30 (1991 325i) and it was such a valued resource getting help from the community so I figured I’d give it another shot.
I’ll try and keep it as short as possible. This is my Daily Driver and I have a very small budget for this (I’ve been collecting all the parts for a while now, with a few things to still grab), and I’m going to attempt most of it myself with the help of a few friends and contacts for specific things. I am also pot committed on this thing, so one way or another I’m gonna get through it and hopefully it all works out.
1. The biggest problem is my body mounts. The two mounts on either side in the front seat foot wells have failed. The failure is on the body and not the frame. I know this is not ideal and potentially the tip of the iceberg, but I’ve got a contact who is a whizz with metal and car building and he’s gonna help me tackle this. Im toying with how far to separate the body from the frame to address these mounts and any other suspect spots. I then want to try and wire wheels any surface rust on the frame or underside of the body, seal it with the proper paint, replace all of the body mount bushings and put it back together.
Given I don’t have a lift, and it’s in my garage, I’m wondering how far I should take the separation to be able to address what I need, without going overboard. I don’t need perfect here, just to get some piece of mind that it’ll be good to go for say, 5 years. Again, keeping budget in mind, anything else I should be looking at doing while at this stage?
2. Steering rack. This I haven’t purchased yet, was going to grab an aftermarket rack, maybe with tie rod ends, off of Rock Auto. I heard it’s a tough job, but I figure it might be easier with a bunch of stuff out of the way. The steering has gotten really heavy, especially in the cold and I read that they tend to go around my mileage (270k KM’s) I’ve picked up a new timing belt and water pump kit, and serpentine belt. Any tips on the steering rack or links to that job?
3. Replace exhaust manifolds. These started leaking shortly after I got the truck 1.5 year ago, so I ordered long tube headers with the stud kit to make the install easier, then added a new Y-Pipe and O2 delete sensors or whatever makes it all work after removing the CATs. I know this is a tedious job, but I figure it’s also easier having the body and the frame somewhat separated.
Any tips, order of operation, or suggestions for additional parts I should add or things to look out for would be greatly appreciated. I can post pics and add more detail if needed.
Thanks for looking!
It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a forum, but I used to own a BMW e30 (1991 325i) and it was such a valued resource getting help from the community so I figured I’d give it another shot.
I’ll try and keep it as short as possible. This is my Daily Driver and I have a very small budget for this (I’ve been collecting all the parts for a while now, with a few things to still grab), and I’m going to attempt most of it myself with the help of a few friends and contacts for specific things. I am also pot committed on this thing, so one way or another I’m gonna get through it and hopefully it all works out.
1. The biggest problem is my body mounts. The two mounts on either side in the front seat foot wells have failed. The failure is on the body and not the frame. I know this is not ideal and potentially the tip of the iceberg, but I’ve got a contact who is a whizz with metal and car building and he’s gonna help me tackle this. Im toying with how far to separate the body from the frame to address these mounts and any other suspect spots. I then want to try and wire wheels any surface rust on the frame or underside of the body, seal it with the proper paint, replace all of the body mount bushings and put it back together.
Given I don’t have a lift, and it’s in my garage, I’m wondering how far I should take the separation to be able to address what I need, without going overboard. I don’t need perfect here, just to get some piece of mind that it’ll be good to go for say, 5 years. Again, keeping budget in mind, anything else I should be looking at doing while at this stage?
2. Steering rack. This I haven’t purchased yet, was going to grab an aftermarket rack, maybe with tie rod ends, off of Rock Auto. I heard it’s a tough job, but I figure it might be easier with a bunch of stuff out of the way. The steering has gotten really heavy, especially in the cold and I read that they tend to go around my mileage (270k KM’s) I’ve picked up a new timing belt and water pump kit, and serpentine belt. Any tips on the steering rack or links to that job?
3. Replace exhaust manifolds. These started leaking shortly after I got the truck 1.5 year ago, so I ordered long tube headers with the stud kit to make the install easier, then added a new Y-Pipe and O2 delete sensors or whatever makes it all work after removing the CATs. I know this is a tedious job, but I figure it’s also easier having the body and the frame somewhat separated.
Any tips, order of operation, or suggestions for additional parts I should add or things to look out for would be greatly appreciated. I can post pics and add more detail if needed.
Thanks for looking!
