Build: "Moxie" 2007 LX470 Limited

[cryptyk]

Figured that with all of the parts I have shipping to me, I'd create a thread instead of single posts.

Any build is about tradeoffs. You can't have it all. I wanted to make sure I decided ahead of time what the usage would look like so I can build appropriately.

The goal is to have a super reliable vehicle that has great on-road manners and can then take us anywhere off-road. General usage is that me, the wife, and two boys (13 and 10) will drive Moxie to a destination 20-1000 miles away. Then camp for between 1-10 nights, most of which will require being off-road. Occasionally we'll go to the desert where higher speeds are normal, but this isn't intended to be a baja truck. We may occasionally need to navigate rock gardens, but this isn't intended to be a crawler.

With those goals in mind, I started looking at LC100s and finally found this 2007 LX470 Limited with 134k miles. The limited package was only built in 2007 and only 400 of them were produced. Despite the rarity, there isn't much to it: It includes the following (brochure attached):
- Stone leather interior
- Black bird's eye maple wood interior
- Black cargo and floor mats with Limited badging
- Black Onyx exterior paint
- Liquid Graphite 18" wheels
- Special scuff plates
- Chrome beltline
- Chrome exhaust tip
- Chrome door handles
- Limited badging inside and out

Honestly, I got lucky one was available for sale when I was searching. I chose this package mainly for the interior wood color, which is must more modern than the orange and red woods in the standard LX470.

The car started life in Oregon, then spent most of her years in Arizona. The body has lots of scratches, some down to the metal, but there's essentially no rust and it's in great shape mechanically.

Here are some dealer pictures just before I flew from San Diego to Phoenix to pick her up.

 

[TexLexican]

Very nice. The brochure photo shows what looks like other lights inboard of the fog lights. What are they?

 

[cryptyk]

As soon as I had the title in hand, I checked out the many carts I had built up during the week prior. I drove Moxie home on the day after Thanksgiving and didn't want to miss any of the Black Friday sales!

Here is the list of mods ordered. Each link goes to the installation post for that mod

Mod	Installed
Wheels: Method 703. 17" with 35mm offset in Matte Black	Installed
Tires: Cooper STT Pro. 275/70 R17	Installed
MetalTech sliders	Installed
CVT Mt Washington Tent	Installed
Prinsu Roof Rack	Installed
Dissent front bumper
Dissent read bumper
Dissent tire swingout
Dissent storage swingout
Dissent skid plates
Comeup 12.5 Winch
Grom Vline2 for Android Auto	Installed Removed
Teyes CC3	Installed
ARB Twin compressor	Installed
HFab tailgate storage
OVS 270 Awning	Installed
Delta DL+ 135 battery	Installed
SPOD power distribution and 8 button switch	Installed
OWL expedition Compressor Tray	Installed
Rigid 40" E-Series Pro lightbar
Replace chrome door handles and beltline
RAM Mount with wireless charger for phone	Installed
Custom 3d printed wheel cap extensions	Installed
YotaMD Titanium key shells	Installed
HID main beams in glass housings	Installed
LED Interior lights	Installed
Remove Whale Tail (Spoiler)	Done
LED high beams and daytime running lights	Installed
Build custom climate control for Android Headunit	Done
Waterport Weekender	Done
Baja Designs Red LED Rock lights	Done
Victory 4x4 Molle panels and attic	Done

 

[cryptyk]

Progress: Wheels and tires!

Before:

After:

(also includes the removed steps, in preparation for the slider installation)

 

[excessive]

looking better already! the chrome doorhandles stick out now with the other stuff gone. what a strange "upgrade" that was

 

[cryptyk]

looking better already! the chrome doorhandles stick out now with the other stuff gone. what a strange "upgrade" that was

Totally. I'll likely swap them out at some point. It'll stick out even more with matte black armor everywhere.

 

[cryptyk]

Very nice. The brochure photo shows what looks like other lights inboard of the fog lights. What are they?

There's nothing in that spot on the truck. I suspect it was the artist saying, "It would look really cool if there were lights here..."

 

[pili]

The one time where it’s applicable to say “night view”! - that’s what those little lights are in the brochure. Was an option.

 

[cryptyk]

Just installed the MetalTech sliders. The AHC makes this more challenging for sure. There are some uncomfortable moments where you need to pull the AHC lines away from the frame farther than one would like to get the ubolts and sliders lined up. The sliders also interfere with the holes where the AHC lines attach to the frame via grommets and it also interferes with the hole used to secure the AHC accumulator armor to the frame.

I wish the kit were a little more tailored for the LX470 and AHC system, but it just made the job slightly harder than "bolt on".

A couple of tips for people attempting:
- The instructions say the passenger side is easier. In reality, both sides are about equally hard. There are AHC lines and accumulators in the way on both sides.
- You'll need to remove the AHC accumulator armor and one AHC grommet on each side. You'll also need to remove the AHC line grommet on the driver side that's inside the frame. These will give you enough play to slip the ubolts and slider mount points under the lines. You'll need to really pull them out a bit though in some places.
- The hardest part is that the ubolts are really long and they need to slip under the lines on the inside of the frame. That means that they "stick out" towards the outside of the truck and the sliders need to be slid onto those posts. Normally no big deal, but since the sliders ALSO have to slide under lines on the outside of the frame, you have to kind of pull the ubolt inside as much as possible, stretching those lines. Then pull the sliders out as much as possible, stretching those lines. Once the sliders are on the bolts, it's easy.
- Not bad as a one-man job, assuming you have jack stands and a jack.
- Get the slider up on jack stands just outside of the truck. Position the front about where it will go and put it on a jack stand. Now jack up the back right at the mount point. This will help you get it to the right height and also the ability to wheel it in and out to get it lined up with the ubolts.
- You'll need to cut the accumulator armor (steel) if you want to reuse it. I figured half of an armor piece is better than none. I used a grinder to cut through it and create room for the slider mount. Check out the pictures below for details.
- Pro trick that I'm sure everyone else knows, but I thought of myself! Once the sliders are mounted, there's kind of an ugly gap between them and the truck. I went around and loosened each a little bit, then jacked it up right below the mount point to shift it up on the frame as much as possible, then tightened it back down. This looks WAY better on the truck and there's only about a 1/2" gap now.

Here's some detail on the AHC challenges:

Notice a couple of things:
1) The grommet that used to mount to the frame now cannot. I just left the grommet on there and moved it into the slider to protect it a little. Not ideal, but I don't think there's any harm. The line isn't rubbing on the slider anywhere.
2) The armor used to have two mount points. I used the one that was still accessible, but the other is blocked by the slider. I just cut the armor off about 1/8" from where it would contact the slider and attached it with the one bolt. I think this is better than just leaving it off entirely.

 

[JustEthan]

Great looking truck, it seems like you have a fun build planned. I also have a 2007 limited edition, though mine no longer has AHC and having lived up North has a bit more oxide underneath than yours.

I recently swapped out my door handles from chrome to black, along with the window belt moldings. Door handle replacement is easy and well covered in this thread/video. Landcruiser 100 Series Door Handle Replacement. - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/landcruiser-100-series-door-handle-replacement.1220464/

The door belt moldings are also simple to replace, but the rear quarter windows require that you pull the interior trims/window to get them out. That's not a huge deal, but it does take more than a few minutes.

 

[cryptyk]

Great looking truck, it seems like you have a fun build planned. I also have a 2007 limited edition, though mine no longer has AHC and having lived up North has a bit more oxide underneath than yours.

I recently swapped out my door handles from chrome to black, along with the window belt moldings. Door handle replacement is easy and well covered in this thread/video. Landcruiser 100 Series Door Handle Replacement. - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/landcruiser-100-series-door-handle-replacement.1220464/

The door belt moldings are also simple to replace, but the rear quarter windows require that you pull the interior trims/window to get them out. That's not a huge deal, but it does take more than a few minutes.

Wow, this is awesome. Thank you! Adding it to my list

 

[cryptyk]

We needed to go get a Christmas tree today and therefor needed a way to tie it to the LX. Obviously the stock roof racks weren't sufficient, so I decided today was Roof Rack Installation Day. My two sons (13 and 10) helped for about 30 minutes, lost two bolts, then got bored and went inside.

Here are some tips for the Prinsu installation on a 2007 LX470:
- It feels flimsy, but once it's all bolted down, it's rock solid.
- The bolt holes don't line up great between the Prinsu and the roof. This is a pretty common complaint. I felt like a couple of the bolts were going to cross-thread, but none did. The trick here is to get everything dry fit, get the silicon and spacers down, then barely thread each bolt. Being able to lift up on the rack to get each bolt started is key.
- There are 4 mount points on the roof. The stock roof rack uses points (from front to back) 2 and 4. The Prinsu uses 1, 3, and 4. This means that you're going to need to drill through the trim to get to holes 1 and 3, and that you'll need to fill in or cover hole 2.
- The wind noise is negligible. I can't tell the difference with the sunroof closed.
- I went the route of drilling out the holes in the trim for the new mount points, then using grommets with the spacers going through them (see pic). This was a pain in the ass because the hole had to be almost the full width of the trim piece and the grommets needed to be trimmed. When all was said and done, I still had to silicon around the grommets (top and bottom) because the trimming left a gap. If I were to do it again, I would just drill the hole big enough for the spacer and silicon around it. It would be better looking I think.

Pics!

The hole I drilled for the grommet. Very tight tolerance on the edges. I used a step bit.

The hole/grommet/spacer solution (before silicon)

Installed

Final grommet/spacer/silicone solution (after installation and while the silicone is drying)

Hauling her first load! Smooshed tree.

 

[dbleon]

We needed to go get a Christmas tree today and therefor needed a way to tie it to the LX. Obviously the stock roof racks weren't sufficient, so I decided today was Roof Rack Installation Day. My two sons (13 and 10) helped for about 30 minutes, lost two bolts, then got bored and went inside.

Here are some tips for the Prinsu installation on a 2007 LX470:
- It feels flimsy, but once it's all bolted down, it's rock solid.
- The bolt holes don't line up great between the Prinsu and the roof. This is a pretty common complaint. I felt like a couple of the bolts were going to cross-thread, but none did. The trick here is to get everything dry fit, get the silicon and spacers down, then barely thread each bolt. Being able to lift up on the rack to get each bolt started is key.
- There are 4 mount points on the roof. The stock roof rack uses points (from front to back) 2 and 4. The Prinsu uses 1, 3, and 4. This means that you're going to need to drill through the trim to get to holes 1 and 3, and that you'll need to fill in or cover hole 2.
- The wind noise is negligible. I can't tell the difference with the sunroof closed.
- I went the route of drilling out the holes in the trim for the new mount points, then using grommets with the spacers going through them (see pic). This was a pain in the ass because the hole had to be almost the full width of the trim piece and the grommets needed to be trimmed. When all was said and done, I still had to silicon around the grommets (top and bottom) because the trimming left a gap. If I were to do it again, I would just drill the hole big enough for the spacer and silicon around it. It would be better looking I think.

Pics!

The hole I drilled for the grommet. Very tight tolerance on the edges. I used a step bit.
View attachment 3185468

The hole/grommet/spacer solution (before silicon)
View attachment 3185470

Installed
View attachment 3185471



Final grommet/spacer/silicone solution (after installation and while the silicone is drying)
View attachment 3185473

Hauling her first load! Smooshed tree.
View attachment 3185474

Big load there ! That’s the most work that truck has ever done

 

[cryptyk]

Big load there ! That’s the most work that truck has ever done

I think it's the first time it's been anywhere but Starbucks.

 

[cryptyk]

Today is VLine Grom installation day! I grew up as an Android Software Engineer, so the factory system left a lot to be desired for me. I want to eventually do a nav delete, but with the parts so hard to find I figured I at least need Android Auto to hold me over. Honestly, if there was a way to replace the resistive touchscreen with a higher resolution capacitive screen, I would be 100% satisfied.

I've got to say that the Grom installation was REALLY easy. Those guys did a great job with the hardware and the software. Their clearly limited by the screen in the LX, but there's not much they can do about that without a totally different approach of replacing the screen itself.

I followed this video - found it to be the most helpful:


One thing I did hung up on was that I turned the car on with the radio console out of the mount and resting on the gear selector lever. It was pushing forward on the lever, up from park. This made it so the key wouldn't turn to "off" and the key wouldn't come out of the ignition. Finally, lifting the radio up off the gear selection lever released the pressure and I could turn the truck off and remove the key.

I also had a tough time pulling the cigarette lighter out. I don't have the fancy tool they showed in the video and they don't do a good job of explaining. What I found worked was putting a hook in the lighter housing and finding a gap to grab onto. Then I turned the housing clockwise about 60 degrees. This lines it up with the removal marks and you can start pulling it out. It was VERY tough to get out, but I wasn't worried about damaging it because I'm putting the USB port there. After removing it I grabbed the USB cable and found that it looks very different than the one in the video. That's annoying. So now I need to go source a USB-C extension cable that's made to fit in a cigarette adapter. I wish they would have provided the one seen in the video.

In terms of placement, I put the grom in the glove box. There just isn't much room anywhere else behind the dash. I ran the GPS into the right side behind the dash under the right vent. I ran the microphone up to the rear-view mirror (behind the passenger a-pillar and headliner)

Once the Grom in installed, you won't see play store to download new apps. The trick is to go into Android Settings -> System -> Install GApps.

 

[GTV]

LX470 2004 | Need help with Android Screen

Hello everyone, As the title suggests, i have a LX470 2004 Middle East (UAE) specs and i am looking to upgrade my OEM navigation screen with an Android one. I am particularly interested in the Teyes CC3 head unit. But i am not sure about the compatibility. As per their product page, my unit...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[cryptyk]

LX470 2004 | Need help with Android Screen

Hello everyone, As the title suggests, i have a LX470 2004 Middle East (UAE) specs and i am looking to upgrade my OEM navigation screen with an Android one. I am particularly interested in the Teyes CC3 head unit. But i am not sure about the compatibility. As per their product page, my unit...

forum.ih8mud.com

Definitely aware of those and the Tesla screens. I don't like the hit-or-miss nature of the climate controls, backup camera, etc. that people have. I think the ideal solution would be exactly how the Grom works, where it maintains all factory functionality, but lets you switch to an updated interface. I just wish they could replace the screen with something bigger, higher resolution, and capacitive. Replacing the screen is probably really, really, really hard, though. And getting the old content on a new higher resolution screen would be tough.
As I've been getting used to the truck the last week, I think the best way to handle it would be to remove the tape deck. None of those features are needed unless you want AM/FM radio. Then move the stock Nav screen down to the tape deck area, along with the climate controls. Then you can use the Nav area to house a new double-din android screen. It's kind of like a Nav delete, but you're keeping the stock Nav/Climate controls and just relocating them. Huge job and not something I'm interested in figuring out though

 

[cryptyk]

New "mod"!

As a software engineer and electronics nerd, I went straight to the section on the Nav Service menu. Interestingly, they give the first-level service menu instructions (top-left, bottom-left, top-left, bottom-left, top-left, bottom-left), but they don't give the "second-level" service menu instructions (top-left, bottom-left, top-left, bottom-left, bottom-right). I'm guessing that was only for the manufacturer or similar.

 

[GTV]

Definitely aware of those and the Tesla screens. I don't like the hit-or-miss nature of the climate controls, backup camera, etc. that people have. I think the ideal solution would be exactly how the Grom works, where it maintains all factory functionality, but lets you switch to an updated interface. I just wish they could replace the screen with something bigger, higher resolution, and capacitive. Replacing the screen is probably really, really, really hard, though. And getting the old content on a new higher resolution screen would be tough.
As I've been getting used to the truck the last week, I think the best way to handle it would be to remove the tape deck. None of those features are needed unless you want AM/FM radio. Then move the stock Nav screen down to the tape deck area, along with the climate controls. Then you can use the Nav area to house a new double-din android screen. It's kind of like a Nav delete, but you're keeping the stock Nav/Climate controls and just relocating them. Huge job and not something I'm interested in figuring out though

I don’t have the Teyes kit… technically. Before I learned that was a thing I found the facia and head unit they use separately on eBay. I have about $180 invested into the setup and it works amazingly well. Granted, my 100 is a non nav unit so I didn’t have to bother with HVAC, I also haven’t been able to get the steering wheel controls to work (I haven’t tried since initial install either) but it’s still really good considering the modest investment. Including the reverse camera my truck now has every modern amenity I could ever need.

 

[jLB]

Very nice. The brochure photo shows what looks like other lights inboard of the fog lights. What are they?

The night view lights?

Like this: