Build Thread: 2001 LX470 "Stan" (2 Viewers)

[mla9301]

This is where I'll document the progression of my 2001 Lexus LX470. I picked this one up a few months ago in Alabama with roughly 145k miles on it with a clean title, no rust, and a decent maintenance history. First half of it's life was in SoCal, then a SE vehicle after that (TN, MS, AL). I have a heavily used 80 series that's been my dedicated trail rig / weekend toy. The 80 is my first LC and I've learned so much about them in the past 6 years of ownership. I've also learned that it would cost me a small fortune to make it nice, neat, and comfy as my DD GMC Sierra after a hard life of thrashing on the trails. This gave me an excuse to feed my compulsion for adding another vehicle to the collection and source a bone stock 100 series to build into a light trail duty / road trip cruiser. Cashmere Beige Metallic was the last color on my preference list, but I came across a great deal on this rig and pulled the trigger. Thankfully the "Old Man Tan" has grown on me, so much that I subjected my wife to another dad joke and coined a name.
"it'S TAN"

 

[mla9301]

As luck would have it, the AHC s*** the bed on my way home from buying it . I had no clue how AHC worked when I bought it, but after scanning through some forums I determined my globes were toast, considering the ride was rougher than my old F250 and the AHC reservoir only moved about 4-5 gradations going from L to H settings. I also learned very quickly that replacement parts from the Lexus stealership are higher than a giraffe's ass, so I rolled the dice and sourced (4) new globes off eBay that shipped straight from Japan for roughly $600 shipped straight to my door within a few days. I didn't get pictures but the packaging looked legit, and I was hard pressed to see a difference between the new ones and original ones. I replaced the globes and flushed a whole can of AHC fluid through the system all in about 3 hours, with intermittent beer breaks sprinkled in.

 

[mla9301]

Next on the agenda was to get some window tint and install a roof rack. I went with XPEL ceramic tint, 20% all the way around as well as an 8" strip across the front.
This made a HUGE difference keeping the cabin cool in the scorching Alabama sun. The roof rack is a Prinsu unit that I picked up second hand here local. The install was a piece of cake, other than the LX has slightly different mounting points than the LC. There are some threads out there that cover the process in detail, but the front mounting points are just hidden under the weather strip; a little trim and you're good to go.

 

[mla9301]

My OCD wouldn't allow me to tolerate the loose body cladding fasteners rattling around anymore so I addressed that next. I picked up some new fasteners off eBay, pulled the door panel and popped the old fasteners through from the inside. Low and behold I discovered a nice dent hiding behind the cladding that most likely attributed to the broken fasteners. I was able to push the dent back out and it's pretty close to original shape, close enough that the cladding fits as it should. I replaced all the nylon fasteners and used some JB Weld black epoxy to adhere the lower tabs back to the cladding.

 

[mla9301]

My next project was to address the sound system. I really don't blare my heavy metal music while driving like I did in my 20's and early 30's. Since having kids I've turned into one of those weirdos that drives with the radio off more times than not...peaceful moments of silence are few and far between when you have toddlers lol. For those times I do want to thrash a little bit, I figured I would start with the most economical option first and attempt to repair the existing Levinson speakers. Both front door speakers looked like they were replaced recently and sound pretty decent. The rear door speaker cones were beyond toast.
I used the kit from Simply Speakers to replace the foam surrounds. The hardest part of the job is removing the door panel. Once you remove the speaker, just scrape off the old foam with a razor blade, clean/prep both surfaces with some rubbing alcohol, then use the supplied adhesive to install the new foam. It may not be necessary but I did wait a day to reinstall the speaker to ensure the adhesive was totally cured.
2000-2009 Lexus LX470 Mark Levinson COMPLETE System Speaker Repair Kit FSK-LX470 - https://www.simplyspeakers.com/2000-2009-lexus-lx4700-speaker-foam-edge-repair-kit-fsk-lx470.html