Ghost - LX570 Build/Documentation Thread (10 Viewers)

[GOLIGHTLY]

Is this going to be an all-Slee-everything build thread? Nope. Just my 2010 LX570, Ghost. Adding to it as budget and skills allow. Never been a mechanic, never will be, but enjoy working on this thing.

Originally purchased in 2020 in Houston. First real car I'd ever purchased (ie, cost more than a combo washer-dryer). Paid way too much for it, couldn't have cared less. Thought I took a big dub when I paid asking out the door and had them do an alignment. Whatever man.. money is just fun tickets.

Was clearly a toddler wagon, lots of goodies in the crevices, under carpet, in between seats, under the cup holder etc. Can confirm that someone was ripping packs of Pokemon cards in the thing and so help me God, given the number of wrapper pieces I found in the thing, they better have pulled a Felt Hat Pikachu.

First major upgrade was... buying a 100 from auction. Still miss it. I have a problem.

First order of business was yeeting the third row seats, building a homemade drawer system. Justa bunch of plywood, sized to fit some long storage boxes from Target.

Then tires and a roof rack..

Then moved to CO during the pandemic, like everyone else who wanted to live somewhere they liked.

And now that he's paid off, I'm approaching things a little differently. Aiming to make it a little more capable, and to start learning how to properly 4WD, not just slam mud holes. Will update with more recent and substantive work here, but have a dinner to get to.

 

[GOLIGHTLY]

Started seeing the value of knowing how to work on these things yourself and did a couple items that needed doing. The little crack in the top of the radiator was emerging, so swapped radiator, water pump, rad hoses. Also did spark plugs and coils.

Nothing really to report on the 570 for a while, so got some practice learning some new skills on the 470. Starter, wheel bearing and studs, exploded power steering lines, valve cover gaskets and plug tube seals etc.

 

[GOLIGHTLY]

By then, was noticing coolant loss in the 570.. oil changes every 3-5k miles were all fine so figured it was time to do the valley plate. Had obviously been brewing for quite some time. Definitely the most satisfying before/after photos of any work I've done myself.

Thought I'd destroyed the truck when I fired it up, started overheating, and steam spewing, but it was just an air bubble and a poorly seated o-ring on the water tube. Job so nice, I did it twice. Silicon lube on the o-rings and a proper coolant bleed and we were right as rain.

Was also time for LBJs and opted to just swap the LCAs as a whole. Should get on the uppers here soon, but even just the lowers tightened things up a fair amount. Not pictured, because it's 4 bolts and not that interesting lol.

Most recent was wheels and tires, front brakes/brake lines/calipers, and all the usual fluids after a long road trip across the country.

Up next will be CVs and wheel bearings, getting a pretty heinous squealing under certain speed and turning conditions, and I'm just getting tired of all the looks.

Power steering is also starting a very gradual weep (which of course I discovered after springing for wheels and tires) so Stop-Leak it is until I can pick up a steering rack for a good deal and tackle that one. Weeping has ceased though, so who's really winning?

 

[GOLIGHTLY]

Lastly, have a lot of things sitting around from when I'd planned some fun stuff for the 100... dual battery and light overlanding setup. Awning, fridge, lights, outlets etc. Also putting together a trail toolkit that I'll never have to use (fingers crossed, knock on wood, three spins counter clock-wise...).

Mostly just looking forward to summer... moved to CO because we wanted to explore the state more, given that we'd spent a lot of time in the Arkansas Valley. Got here and it's been 70+hr work weeks for both of us and got stuck in our ways, so going to make a good effort to change that going forward.

Just going to use this as a thread for documenting work done to the truck and maybe some photos of what I learned/saw/got myself into in future.

 

[GOLIGHTLY]

And thanks to whoever posted about the custom Japanese license plates. A little wall art for the office.

 

[GOLIGHTLY]

Probably already heavily documented on here somewhere, but I rarely seem to have the right search keywords to find the thread I need. Anyway, saw mention of a Group 24 potentially fitting in the SLEE aux battery tray and I can confirm. Well, as long as you remove 1/5th of the tray surface lol. Chopped the DRL end off, fashioned a DRL bracket (a word used VERY loosely as I'm currently in the minimum viable product phase here), put maybe 3-5 degree outboard bend in the PS reservoir mount, and trimmed a little of the airbox mount. No, that's not the inside of the airbox, that's a weird intersection of a handful of extruded supports. We're good. Still have reasonable access to the headlight bulb housings, no extra holes drilled in the body, didn't have to cut the tab on the side of the radiator that impinges on the PS reservoir, didn't have to elongate or modify holes already drilled in the SLEE tray.

Battery has tons of room, probably another 1 1/8th inch front to back, somewhat snug side to side. If that DRL module were relocated somewhere else entirely, you'd probably have plenty of room for a Group 27.

 

[GOLIGHTLY]

Dual battery setup finally finished up. Had to do this over a couple days.. work sucks. Using and Blue Sea ML-ACR with remote switch, and an 8 gang switch wired through a master power switch, so that I can run the rock lights on the trail, then leave them on when the truck is off, but then kill all accessories at the end of the night, or when I'm not going to be on trails/camping/etc and keep all draw off the primary battery.

Switches for house battery items installed in the factory jack cover panel. Have a handful of additional things that need to get wired, but one spot for everything and a readout for house voltage. Plenty of room in that panel to add another 5-switch panel when the time comes. Ironman awning LEDs wired to this panel as well.

Ignore the sawdust.. cleaning up currently. Rear LED pods mounted, and solar charger with Bluetooth monitoring dongle mounted on the panel under the glovebox, with a cutoff switch to isolate the 100W panel from the controller when it isn't needed. Both mounted with Velcro in case plans change down the road.

Unsure why my thumb looks like it's about to hit the event horizon... hand to God I have normal fingers. Rewarded myself with Giordano's heart shaped spinach deep-dish, only because I demolished the sausage one over the past few days.

Very excited to have this project wrapping up. Wanted to do this for a couple years now and would do some research, get intimidated, put it off, repeat. Thank you @MANUCHAO for the simplified wiring diagram you posted (in 2015.. how about that for a thread resurrection). Spending some time understanding how/why you set it up that way was super helpful, little clearer than Blue Sea's documentation for my purposes.

Next up is a couple waterproof 12V quick-connect plugs up toward the grill for portable compressor and shore power. Would like to be able to run a 2-bank battery maintainer for periods where I'm not driving the truck for a while, just to keep things in good shape.

 

[GOLIGHTLY]

Solar installed. 100W Renogy Panel (spray painted the frame black) with 10A Renogy solar charge controller and Renogy BT-1 Bluetooth charge controller monitor. Wired panel through a cutoff switch so that I can just have the system dormant while not in use. Just in time to park it at an airport parking lot for a couple days and test the setup. Thinking I'll leave my fridge running to see how it does with keeping everything topped up. Working well when I flipped the switch.