Fixed Annoying Cup-Holder 4 Cheap...

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Markuson

Markuson

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OK... Not rocket science here...
...but the front, center cup holders are the wrong size for just about any coffee thermos you can buy. Either too big to fit...or two small--and tippy as a result.

So... After recently installing slee's tray & ending up with extra **rubber-pad tape.**
(You can buy this stuff for next to nothing)

-Simply lined the upper curve of each holder & got a rattle-free, tip-free fit for any and all cups/bottles, etc. larger than the 500ml ones. -Can still fit 1-liter water bottles from Costco...(dang it! Costco seems to have stopped selling 1 liter bottled water... :( )

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BTW... this particular coffee thing from Walmart/Target is just about PERFECT... ;)

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Again...
No rocket science...
...but one less thing.

-Markuson
 
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I did something similar, took some old cup holder inserts, cut the pieces I needed, glued them and done. Also cut the bottom of the inserts as they are rubber, no more rattling. Funny I have the exact same bottle, awesome thermos for very cheap.
 
Markuson said:
OK... Not rocket science here...
...but the front, center cup holders are the wrong size for just about any coffee thermos you can buy. Either too big to fit...or two small--and tippy as a result.

So... After recently installing slee's tray & ending up with extra **rubber-pad tape.**
(You can buy this stuff for next to nothing)

-Simply lined the upper curve of each holder & got a rattle-free, tip-free fit for any and all cups/bottles, etc. -Can still fit 1-liter water bottles from Costco...

View attachment 1207606

BTW... this particular coffee thing from Walmart/Target is just about PERFECT... ;)

View attachment 1207607

Again...
No rocket science...
...but one less thing.

-Markuson[/QUOTE

@sleeoffroad -- Where does one acquire this magic tape and what is it really called? Thanks!
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You guys do know those middle pieces move to clamp down on your cup?
 
LALC said:
You guys do know those middle pieces move to clamp down on your cup?
Click to expand...

Those help for short stuff like a can of soda...but mine were way too flimsy to deal with the leverage of a tall cup in turns... YMMV...
 
Ah, yeah, maybe starts to fail with age/use. Works well now with a 32oz Yeti cup, but I could see it losing strength in a few years after lots of use.
 
LALC said:
Ah, yeah, maybe starts to fail with age/use. Works well now with a 32oz Yeti cup, but I could see it losing strength in a few years after lots of use.
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It seems like such a silly oversight, doesn't it? I guess cup-holders don't register on the minds of those high-end engineers Mr. T asigns to the LC division. ;)

But ya, perhaps age is a factor. My LC was almost 7 years old when I bought it...so maybe mine's worse than most...? Seems everyone hates the cup holders though... First-world problems--- :hillbilly:
 
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I lined my cup holders with felt tape, same stuff Toyota uses to prevent rattles. Mark, I think you're right about age of those cup holder arms. My '11 cup holder arms will close if trying to hold a tall cup on a turn.

But a 30z RTIC cup fits pretty well, well enough for me to off-road with it.

I miss the FJ Cruiser cup holders, literally a full rubber sleeve inside a hole. No moving pieces, no plastic on cup nonsense, simple and effective.
 
Thanks for sharing this.

I think it comes down to preference on how effective one thinks the cup holders are. I think it's a crap design myself.
The cup holders are too shallow for how wide they are.

Standard plastic 16oz bottle of water? Tips over - arms deployed or not.

These heavier, larger steel cups with flat bottoms fair better - on their own they are less prone to tip regardless of the cup holder design.

Last time I was at the dealer for service the sales guy started chatting me up. Complimented the LC - you know, the standard fluff. Then he asked if I noticed the 2017 in the show room. Being a smart ass I said no and said let's check it out. I took my bottle of water with me. I put the bottle in the cup holder, deployed the arm, and then with little force pushed the side - it fell right over. Then I said aww too bad, it failed the bottle test... The guy had it coming for trying to poach the waiting room.
 
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The GX470 guys had this insert made for their cup holders:
Lexus GX 470 Cup Holder Insert

works pretty good, got one for my dad for father's day. Talked to the guy that owns the company and they are working on one for the 570 now. I believe we have a volunteer to swing by and see if the 570 model will fit a 200, once it is ready.

believe me, I will be posting up when I get one. Since the 80 series, cup holders in cruisers have been disappointing.
 
At least you guys don't have those nice LX crawl, suspension and other controls in a row, RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CUPS. Guess where over-splash goes...

I noticed they moved that whole row up above the shift lever on the 2017, and I assume 2016 LXs.
 
Great idea, thanks for sharing. It bugs why, for a $90k vehicle, we have such shallow cup holders.
 
Cup holders? You mean junk holders ;)
 
TexAZ said:
The GX470 guys had this insert made for their cup holders:
Lexus GX 470 Cup Holder Insert

works pretty good, got one for my dad for father's day. Talked to the guy that owns the company and they are working on one for the 570 now. I believe we have a volunteer to swing by and see if the 570 model will fit a 200, once it is ready.

believe me, I will be posting up when I get one. Since the 80 series, cup holders in cruisers have been disappointing.
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Good find. Do let us know when the 570 model will be ready. Meanwhile, my water bottles will be sloshing around...
 
Chocolate said:
Cup holders? You mean junk holders ;)
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Slightly off topic - but your profile pic has me read everything you write in the Ancient Aliens Guys voice. It’s the strangest phenomena.

As for the cup holders, I use the closed cell weatherstripping I used to change star size on a bottling line. It works like a charm and if you keep a roll in the car, if you have something big that needs to go in the cup holder, just pull the foam, and when you finish, replace with more off the roll. Probably not what Toyota had in mind though.
 
My two biggest complaints are the seats and cup holders. The seats need more bolstering and a thigh extension option, ok one more complaint...the fake wood.
 
I didn't see this mentioned above - the center plastic piece in the cup holder cutout (the part with the little "arms" that expand out to hold a cup) is slotted on each end to allow some side-to-side adjustment within the cup holder cutout. I'm not around my vehicle, or I would take a photo of it. I have mine offset by one slot. I can now fit my Nalgene and Yeti tumbler in the cup holder at the same time.

This doesn't effect the shallowness of the cup holder, but it does allow for some variation in the size of cup/bottle that can be secured in the cup holder.
 
MrCWineMan said:
Slightly off topic - but your profile pic has me read everything you write in the Ancient Aliens Guys voice. It’s the strangest phenomena.
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